7 Stars of the 60s and How they Look Now
In their heyday, they had it all: looks, fame, money, talent. Now, no one can take away their genius (however faded), often their purses have grown fat with royalties, and though their fame may have wavered at times, they’re still household names. As for their looks, well that’s another story. Rock n roll lifestyles, creeping neuroticism and band member conflicts have taken their toll, and while once these icons of 60s soared high in the stratosphere of stardom, today spring chickens they most certainly are not. So here are seven stars you might have trouble recognising, in view of their former glory.
The Monkees
The made-for-TV pop quartet of Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Englishman Davy Jones may have spent the mid-60s monkeying around to their bubblegum tunes (then valiantly trying to deny their industry roots) but the ‘pre-fab four’ ain’t so sprightly anymore. After a string of reunions through the 80s and 90s, 2001 saw Dolenz, Jones and Tork tour the US – though the latter’s constant complaining soon got him fired by his band mates. Long gone are the cheeky comic book personae of these erstwhile pop primates, and false teeth and monkey peanuts don’t mix.
Neil Sedaka
Is that a senator smiling an elect-me-please smile? Close, it’s a shot of Neil Sedaka that accompanied a 2009 interview with the singer of “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do”, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and other, erm, classics. Although Sedaka’s popularity had plummeted by the end of the 60s, the cunning multi-lingual crooner made a comeback in the 70s, working with Elton John and tour supporting the Carpenters, who later fired him – allegedly for stealing the show. Sedaka continues to perform today, and even after a career spanning 50 years that tan shows no signs of fading.
Bigitte Bardot
Arguably the 60s’ sexiest star, actress, singer, fashion model and, later, animal rights activist Bigitte Bardot was everything good about France, dressed in a bikini – the garment she helped popularise. Then, everyone loved Bigitte, and with good reason; though latterly matters have taken a turn for the worse. In 1989, she landed in hot water for castrating a neighbour’s donkey due to its “sexual harassment” of her own mare, and more recently for five counts of “inciting racial hatred”. Controversy aside, her looks bring to mind a prune in the sun, but she is 75 and doesn’t look like she’s been under the knife either.
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash may be legends, but behind those false teeth smiles and the band’s elaborate vocal harmonies lies a history of acrimonious discord. Born from the ashes of The Hollies and The Byrds, the sweet-sounding hippy activists with the suspect facial hair recorded their debut hit album in 1969, and went on to recruit Neil Young as a fourth member. Egos, bickering and substance abuse saw the band implode several times through the 70s and 80s, but the good old boys have been gigging again in recent years, including a 2009 show at Glastonbury Festival.
The Troggs
Most famous for their oft-covered hit single, “Wild Thing”, The Troggs formed in 1964, but had disbanded by ‘69, with major success eluding them. After largely fruitless attempts at reviving their career over the decades, peddling various versions of their most famous hit (one of them with notorious booze hound Oliver Reed), two of the original members passed way in 1992 and 2008 respectively. Still, these proto-punkers – never the greatest players – left a lasting legacy, and as pics show, grizzled lead guitarist Reg Presley can still rock the mic with the best of them on stage. Well, sorta.
Ursula Andress
In the light of that scene from Dr. No, where she emerges from the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini, sexiness personified as shell diver and Bond bed notch Honey Ryder, today Ursula Andress looks a bit scary. The movie entrance that made her the quintessential Bond girl – catapulting her to stardom and into the male fantasies of a generation – is often voted cinema’s sexiest moment. So hot was Andress in her day that the bikini she wore sold for £35,000 at auction in 2001. We’d definitely have bought it for our personal collection if it was fresh off her firm flesh in 1962, though maybe not nowadays.
Simon and Garfunkel
School chums turned folk songwriters Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel rose to stardom with “The Sounds of Silence”, and soon made noise as one of the most popular artists of the 60s. Success followed, but so too rising tensions, and the ironically titled album, Bridge Over Troubled Water signalled the duo’s second major breakup. Reunions occurred in the 80s and 90s, before the Noughties saw the old timers reunited for more touring and gigs. The singers with the choir boy voices may not have aged quite as well Mrs. Robinson, but they’re still proof that age is no barrier for partnership able to sing tunes like “I Am a Rock”.
Written by Julian on April 27th, 2010 | Tagged as: Popular Culture
On April 27th 2010, dualscreenportabledv wrote:
I really don't want to get all "I'm a girl, let me take up some feminist cause on digg" right now… but what's wrong with this (to me) is not how hideously old they are but the fact that the western world is so obsessed with youth that we inject our faces with fatal poisons and stretch the skin over our faces until we look like ghouls made of silly puddy just to emulate our ephemeral youthful selves. This is a picture of a 74-year-old woman, mouth agape, in a candid shot and you expect her to compare to what she looked like as a bond girl in her 20's. This woman was born in the 1930's. Come on. Do we really have to be gawking at the fact that she's (surprise) aged? I know I'll probably get buried for this but… I just had to.
On April 27th 2010, RickyRiot wrote:
I agree, and I'm a bloke!
Compare the pictures used for Bardot and Andress and the ones used for Sedaka or CSN.
I've never read PopCrunch before, but if they need to use schoolboy journalistic 'cons' (like unflattering images) in order to prove their point, they've lost the argument already.
On April 27th 2010, Jean wrote:
crappy writing and no "before" pics…. i'm guessing it took about 5 minutes to put that awesome post together.
On April 27th 2010, Kin wrote:
Honestly, most of those guys didn't look that great in the first place. I mean, Simon & Garfunkle? Neither was much of a looker to start with.
On April 27th 2010, Onix wrote:
Word. It's what you make of it. To me it just shows how short life is, and how fleeting fame is—most people today don't know who they are.
On April 27th 2010, Hamranhansenhansen wrote:
Ursula looks great.
On April 28th 2010, Lou WOods wrote:
Wow Bridget Bardow looking kinda scary! Ekk!
Lou
http://www.real-web-anonymity.at.tc
On April 28th 2010, eurnoteye wrote:
did Brigitte Bardot and Jimi Hendrix have a scene together in Psychedelic Days?…. the 60′s memoir just published by gra …..a trip! check it out.
On April 28th 2010, None of your Goddamn Business wrote:
Without before pictures this entirely pointless.
Good job!
On August 30th 2010, Mayhem wrote:
Anyone realize that the ’60′s was 40 -50 years ago, depending on which part of the ’60′s they came from. How are you going to look in 20 years, even? For all this “hard living” and “drug use”, how about the ageing process? Worthless list put together by an idiot.
On September 4th 2010, Karen Deutsch wrote:
The only things I enjoyed about the article were the readers comments. And they made my day. It seems that most of my fellow persons neither scorn nor demean age. We may not be as respecting of elders as some other cultures. But we don’t care for folks who make fun of old people. Thanks, guys and gals. You’ve made a 68 year old farm wife proud of us all.
On September 24th 2010, Cake Mary wrote:
We can hardly expect them all to look young. Mostly they look fine especially considering their ages. Thought S&G were still looking really good.
People should stop trying to halt the aging process, why are so many people so obsessed with it?
On October 15th 2010, I Like Cheese wrote:
I thought the whole idea of all you liberated people was to do exactly as you want, without someone who is totally unqualified to judge being a total nose poker inner? I never understood or could stand a society based on celeb worship anyway.Who Cares what brad pitt thinks about global warming! The fact is if, like me, you were anything from 12 to 25 during the sixties, you accepted these people for what they were, that was the atmos. at the time.Because you think differently now, doesn’t make them more or less worthwhile!We are getting older kiddies, get used to it!
On December 25th 2010, Mishelle LaBorde wrote:
Anyone notice how it is only the woman who are said to be not looking good? What a world we live in. We should all be so lucky as to reach the age where we no longer look good! Merry Christmas.
On January 3rd 2011, Jayne wrote:
Obviously these female stars are confident enough to decline face lifts and Botox.Look at some of the others..stretched to the limit…fat sucked out on a regular basis…pretty sad and desperate women.
On February 9th 2011, DarkestSoul wrote:
You’re so darned lazy, you don’t include before pics??? This is pointless. Get another job you mediocre twat!
On February 13th 2011, Jerseydevil wrote:
A whole lot of research went into this article. It’s spelled BRIGITTE, not BIGitte. Freudian slip maybe?