Take tic-tac-toe, toss in nine celebrities, stir in some questions and add fabulous prizes. What do you get? The original Hollywood Squares game show!
Vintage celebrities & famous people
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While boxes of Jell-O pudding pops may be but a memory, we can still remember their glory days through these magazine ads and TV commercials!
Though she was born famous, then grew her fame as an actress, Jane Fonda’s workout videos were one of her greatest successes. Here’s how it happened.
While she was known to millions as Carol on The Brady Bunch, Florence Henderson had a vibrant, successful career as both an actress and singer.
America flipped over Farrah Fawcett’s famous feathered hair back in the seventies, and the trendy retro Farrah hairstyle was copied by millions of women. Here’s how she created the look – including step-by-step diagrams!
Though the name might not be up there in lights as bright as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry, Bill Haley & His Comets certainly deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence. Here’s why!
Back in the late ’80s, who would have thought that young Robert Downey, Jr – the kid who acted in a few random films – would, a couple of decades later, be one of America’s biggest movie stars?
Annie Oakley wasn’t just the best female sharpshooter – she was THE best. She once sent a shot right through the bullseye, then someone bet she couldn’t shoot through the hole she had just made. Guess what happened next?
Samuel Colt’s Connecticut mansion also known as Armsmear, was built on a huge plot of land owned by the inventor of the famous gun. See what this grand and spacious Victorian home was like in its heyday!
Here’s a look back at some vintage 1980s Nike shoes – from the early ‘just plain sneakers’ to the later mega-successes of classic Nike Air Jordans and the well-known ‘Just do it’ slogan.
George Burns & Gracie Allen were not only married in real life, their work from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s made them one of the biggest comedy duos in Hollywood. Meet the wacky couple here!
Dog Day Afternoon is considered one of the greatest movies of the 1970s, and features a stellar lead performance by Al Pacino. And as fictional as the premise sounded, it was based on a real story. Here’s the scoop..
The nineties was a huge decade for fragrances, coming from the top fashion designers as well as drugstore beauty brands, and pitched by supermodels and actresses. Here’s a look back at some of the most popular vintage perfumes from the ’90s!
When famed dancer Isadora Duncan was killed in a most unusual automobile accident, it was a sudden end to the life of a woman who had seen incredible success as well as unimaginable tragedy.
In one of the stranger television concepts in history, Sally Field played the title role of The Flying Nun – the 90-pound Sister Bertrille, who could use her starched cornette to take to the skies if the wind was just right.
While Benjamin Franklin may be known for ‘Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,’ that wasn’t his only insight on the subject of sleep. In the summer of 1786, he wrote this, summing up his advice for better sleep.
Two big questions that have emerged over the years: Did George Washington have wooden false teeth? Did George Washington’s dentures include actual human teeth that came from slaves? Find out here!
Tang orange drink mix was advertised as a ‘new breakfast drink discovery’ when it was introduced in the ’50s, and went on to become a part of pop culture history – especially once NASA and Mrs Brady got in on the action.
The Nutty Professor is considered one of the best Jerry Lewis movies – a classic comedy in which he played a Jekyll and Hyde role, meaning he could play up his screwball style to great effect.
We have heard Mathis’ voice for years – but who’s the man behind that rich, smooth sound? Find out more about this extraordinarily talented singer here, and see Johnny Mathis as he lived in his Hollywood home back in the 1970s.
When the Disney Channel started in 1983, it was a cable subscription service with shows like Mousercise and Mickey Mouse Club, along with many of the famous Disney movies. See some of the schedules and more here!
Bald, Tootsie Pop-snacking Kojak was the king of the police procedural on TV, from 1973 through 1978. Here’s a look back!
‘All in the Family’ was a huge hit TV show that aired on CBS from 1971 to 1979, and was number 1 in the Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976. Find out about the series here, and see the famous opening credits, too!
Ad Astra… to the stars! John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, and he did it on the Mercury spacecraft named Friendship 7, on February 20, 1962. Here’s how it went.
Although the most popular vintage 1920s hairstyles were dominated by the bob cut, there were lots of different ways to style bobbed hair. Here’s a look back at short and long haircuts (plus old-fashioned styling tips) from the flapper era!
Why stop the party to mix drinks, when you could have the perfect booze blend ready to go right from a can? That was the theory behind the retro ready-made cocktail mixes that were popular in the ’60s and ’70s.
Here’s a look back at the group Tommy James and the Shondells, who were behind top charting singles like Hanky Panky, Crimson and Clover, Mony Mony, and Crystal Blue Persuasion.
During the first few years that vintage Yoplait yogurt was sold in America, the company played up the brand’s French origins, and paid several American celebrities to promote the product en Francais.
One of the most unusual ad campaigns of the seventies featured gruff Western star John Wayne pitching Datril, a pain-relief medicine that was competing against Tylenol. Find out more about the ads here.
Back in the 1960s & 1970s, if you asked someone on the mainland about Hawaiian music, chances are the first (and probably only) songs they’d know would be by Don Ho. The singer’s smooth, laid-back style delighted millions. Find out how it all began here.
Starting before TV was a really big thing, the old CBS Radio shows filled the airwaves with audio-only entertainment and news of every kind. Here’s a look at some of the programming!
Combining Southern icons like moonshine running, muscle cars, car chases and country music, The Dukes of Hazzard TV series ran for seven seasons between 1979 and 1985. Rewind and remember the show here!
CHiPS, a light-hearted one-hour action-adventure series, follows the exploits of a pair of young California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers on the busy Los Angeles freeways, and their encounters with the infinite variety of people who drive there.
Debuting in 1976, the classic TV series Charlie’s Angels was widely popular with viewers, eventually becoming a cult classic favorite and spawning feature films and reboots.
The Monkees may have been a prefab TV band, but there was nothing made up about their real-world success. Here’s a look back!
21 Jump Street was a cop show that debuted in 1987, and immediately found an audience: teenagers, especially girls. That was fair, since the show was about police officers who pretended to be teens. Johnny Depp was the series’ breakout star.
See Fred Astaire in a clip from 1946’s ‘Blue Skies,’ performing ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ – a song associated with him like no other – and find out more about the film itself.
What was the Partridge Family TV series about? In an eggshell: Five siblings made the big-time playing rock ‘n’ roll music, and, led by their mom, toured the country. Squabbles, catchy tunes and hijinks ensued.
Before pro football player OJ Simpson was arrested and tried for the murder of his wife, he was one of America’s top celebrities. Companies paid him to be the face of their brand… which didn’t work out well in the long run.
Charlie McCarthy was the impudent little dummy who sat upon the lap of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, his creator, and entertained millions every week with his comedy.
The Black Dahlia murder – the savage killing of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short in January of 1947 – was one of the biggest news stories of the 20th century, and continues to fascinate people to this day.
Before ‘Murphy Brown’ actress Candice Bergen was a star in her own right, she was best known as the daughter of the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, and, later, as a popular model. Here’s a look back.
Why was Greta Garbo America’s highest-paid film star in the 1930s? A legend during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Garbo was one of the most popular actresses of the era. See what she was all about here.
Here are some interviews with star Rock Hudson from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, during which he talked about his favorite (and least favorite) parts of his hugely successful career.
Before he was a star among stars, Leonardo DiCaprio was a kid taking jobs where he could – including playing an awesome gum-lover in this vintage 1980s Bubble Yum TV commercial.
Rock ‘n’ rollers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & Big Bopper died in a plane crash in 1959 – memorialized as ‘the day the music died.’ Here’s a look at some of the news stories from the time, and photos of the plane.
‘Sliders’ was a sci-fi TV show that told the story of four adventurers who discover a passageway between dimensions that transported them to parallel worlds.
While the stars were still aligning for her first big acting role, young Mariska Hargitay, daughter of the legendary Jayne Mansfield, took on other jobs.
During and after his stint as James Bond, actor Sean Connery played off his fame and good looks by making these ads for Jim Bean Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey – with nary a smile in sight.
Back in the ’60s, The Mamas and The Papas were no ordinary band or singing group – they had that certain extra something that made sure their music would stand the test of time. Here’s a look back.
The ’80s hit song ‘Fish Heads’ didn’t just sound strange, but it was co-created by vintage ‘Lost in Space’ TV show actor Billy Mumy. Find out more here!
Buddy Holly was one of rock and roll’s early pioneers. He remains influential to this day, despite his untimely death in a plane crash. Here’s a look back at his career!
