Billy Dee Williams’ museum-worthy looks made him a star

Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian became an integral character in the “Star Wars” cinematic universe in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” but before charming audiences in Cloud City, he was one of the ’70s hottest actors. Known for his swagger, charm, and overall 𝓈ℯ𝓍y vibe, Williams’ acting career hit its stride with the TV film “Brian’s Song,” and soon he was co-starring with music icon Diana Ross in “Lady Sings the Blues.” In the 1970s, his gorgeous looks were compared to that of another hunky cinematic icon: Clark Gable.

Although not a beer drinker himself, Williams served as a spokesperson for Colt 45 malt beverages in the ’80s and ’90s. The seductive power of Williams’ handsome confidence made him a pop culture icon, with the campaign proving so popular that he returned as a rep for the brand in 2016. Throughout the years, Williams hasn’t strayed far from playing Calrissian, playing the character in a number of “Star Wars” projects. And Williams is so handsome that his looks have been collected by the Smithsonian. A talented painter, his handsome self-portrait is part of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection.

Dame Helen Mirren was a groovy bombshell

Dame Helen Mirren has redefined beauty standards as she’s aged, so it’s not shocking that she was gorgeous as a young actor. In one of her first roles, she lit up the stage at Cleopatra in the Old Vic production of Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” produced through the National Youth Theatre in the U.K. With her groovy style sense and smoldering sensuality, Mirren made her film debut in 1967’s psychedelic art house film “Herostratus,” playing a seductive rubber glove model. Clearly, Mirren wasn’t modest about her beauty, and looking back at her younger days, she told Allure, “I could see why — when I got far enough back from my young self — they called me 𝓈ℯ𝓍y in those days. I fell into the cliché of 𝓈ℯ𝓍iness: blonde hair, t**s, waist, which I hated at the time because it was not fashionable.”

With a litany of film and television credits to her name – and a slew of awards to boot, Mirren’s beauty continues to be celebrated. She was on the cover of People’s “Most Beautiful” issue in 2022, and while she downplays her own beauty, she definitely celebrates cultivating swagger. She told People, “I love the word swagger because I think swagger means I’m confident in myself, I’m presenting myself to the world, I’m enjoying the world around me.” Let’s hope Merriam-Webster gets the memo and puts a picture of Mirren next to the word.

Robert Redford balked at being a Hollywood hottie

In Robert Redford’s early Hollywood days, the handsome actor slowly built his acting career first on television, then on to the big screen. In the late ’60s, he was starring in movies like “Barefoot in the Park” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which capitalized on Redford’s swoon-worthy appearance. By the mid-1970s, Redford was a bonafide cinema idol, but he told The New York Times in 1974, “I never thought of myself as a glamorous guy, a handsome guy, any of that stuff.” Redford’s growing unease about his 𝓈ℯ𝓍-symbol status loomed over his career. He said to the BBC about the attention his looks received in his early days, “I was surprised when it came, I was flattered. And I kind of enjoyed it for a while, and then I realized I couldn’t slide out of it, that it was attached in a way that became uncomfortable.”

But Redford was able to transcend his natural 𝓈ℯ𝓍 appeal and pivot into a behind-the-scenes film power player. His film directorial debut, 1980’s “Ordinary People,” earned Redford an Oscar for Best Director and kicked off his successful directing career. Spurred by his passion for filmmaking, Redford went on to found the Sundance Film Festival in 1984, which has become one of the most important film festivals in the world. And speaking of Earth, he’s also an impassioned environmentalist, working with organizations like the Natural Resource Defense Council and The Redford Center.

Dame Joan Collins had classic movie star glamor

Before she slapped her way to television stardom as the ultra-glamorous Alexis Carrington Colby on the prime-time soap opera “Dynasty,” Dame Joan Collins was a gorgeous British teenage starlet who signed her first movie contract at just 17 years old. Her beauty was undeniable, and she soon found herself in Hollywood, holding her own as one of the 1950s most beautiful movie stars. Her look was full-on Tinseltown glitz. Think sequins, bouffant hair, and very expressive eyebrows.

As Hollywood changed, so did Collins’ career. In the 1970s, her career waned, but the ’80s, with its return to ostentatious glam, saw Collins’ career as hot as ever. During her “Dynasty” years, Collins even posed on the cover of Playboy. At age 50, she was proud of her work and pointed out that women in particular praised Collins for pushing back against ageism. Now in her ninth decade of fabulousness, Collins isn’t slowing down anytime soon. She’s still working, and told The Sunday Times, “I work because I have to make a living. This is what astounds me. What kind of money do you think I have?” Clearly, Collins enjoys the fruits of her labor, and doesn’t miss an opportunity to share her glamorous life on Instagram, where there’s no shortage of fabulous holiday spots, luncheon dates, and fashionably oversized hats.

James Earl Jones looks were as booming as his voice

For younger generations, James Earl Jones might best be known for his voice work. His booming vocals have given life to characters like Darth Vader and Mufasa from “The Lion King,” and he also was the voice of cable news network CNN. So you are forgiven if you didn’t realize that in his early years, Jones was quite a handsome thespian. Before fame, Jones was an aspiring actor who worked the night shift as a janitor to make ends meet. Jones started his acting career on the stage and made his Broadway debut in 1958. From there, he made his film debut in the 1964 classic “Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” as an attractive lieutenant. In the ’70s, he cut a dashing figure in movies like “The Great White Hope” and “The Man.”

After an illustrious career that includes being a non-competitive EGOT winner – he received an honorary Academy Award in 2011 – Jones’ is slowing down on his work schedule. In 2022, after 45 years in the role, Jones himself retired from voicing Darth Vader, but he has allowed filmmakers to continue to use his voice for the character. That same year, Jones’ Broadway career excellence was honored when the Cort Theatre was officially renamed James Earl Jones Theatre. A fitting honor for this legendary actor.

Susan Sarandon was both 𝓈ℯ𝓍y and smart

Susan Sarandon has been a fiery screen presence for decades, and as beautiful as she is today, she was equally gorgeous when she was young. Sarandon came to prominence in the 1970s for her roles in movies like the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and the not-so-classic “The Great Waldo Pepper,” her carefree yet seductive beauty on full display. In the 1980s, Sarandon really hit her 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual stride with hot performances in “The Hunger,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” and “Bull Durham.”

Celebrated for both her mind and her beauty, Sarandon has been vocal about her embrace of both parts of her persona. She pondered to The Washington Post while promoting her iconic 1991 film “Thelma and Louise,” “Is it not then possible to be a smart, 𝓈ℯ𝓍y woman? Do you really have to be the ice queen intellectual or the sl*t wh**e? Isn’t there some way to be both?” Clearly, she has been able to crack the code. Sarandon still makes headlines for her head-turning beauty on the red carpet as much as for her impassioned activism.

Al Pacino was a New Hollywood 𝓈ℯ𝓍 symbol

Al Pacino has been a Hollywood stalwart for decades, but when he started his film career in the early 1970s, his gorgeous screen presence was rather groundbreaking. Pacino was part of the New Hollywood cinematic movement and Pacino’s brooding, everyman 𝓈ℯ𝓍uality helped define a new masculine ideal in cinema. It’s hard to believe that Pacino, considering his smoldering good looks, wasn’t Paramount Pictures’ choice to play Michael Corleone in “The Godfather,” but director Francis Ford Coppola wanted him for the part. And he got him, with Pacino reprising the role in two more “Godfather” movies.

When Pacino wasn’t lighting up the screen as troubled mafioso Corleone, he was starring in other era-defining movies like “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” and “Scarface.” In subsequent decades, Pacino has maintained a steady, influential presence on film. After numerous nominations, he finally won an Oscar for his performance in the 1992 film “Scent of a Woman” – and he popularized the catchphrase, “Hoo-ah!,” while he was at it. Now in his ’80s, Pacino is still making folks say “hoo-ah!” not only in his career, but in his personal life as well. In the social media age, Pacino’s youthful hotness was rediscovered and has a hot topic for debate. In 2023, at the age of 83, Pacino became a new father, welcoming a son with his girlfriend Noor Alfallah.

Sam Elliott was gorgeous even without his mustache

It might shock you that the ruggedly handsome, mustachioed Sam Elliot was one clean-cut young man. No, Elliot didn’t time travel to Hollywood directly from the Old West, but in fact, he moseyed his way into town from the Pacific Northwest. As a young actor, Elliot appeared on popular shows like “Mission: Impossible,” “Hawaii Five-0,” and “Gunsmoke,” but it wasn’t until his starring role in the movie “Lifeguard” in 1976 that glimpses of the 𝓈ℯ𝓍y Elliott – of course rocking his signature facial hair – started to emerge.

It seems that since then, Elliot’s mustache has rarely left his upper lip, becoming a signature part of his allure. In movies like “Tombstone” and “The Big Lebowski,” and TV shows such as “The Ranch” and “1883,” it’s always there. But if you ask Elliott about people’s fascination with it, he’s a little baffled. Appearing on “The Today Show,” Elliott said, “It’s a weird thing, isn’t it? It’s just hair on somebody’s lip. I’m comfortable with it or without it.” Although it’s been decades since Elliott made a splash in “Lifeguard,” he doesn’t deny that he still keeps it hot. When asked if he still considered himself a 𝓈ℯ𝓍 symbol in his 70s, he told The Washington Post, “It’s a little late for that. That’s not where I’m thinking I am in this day and age, for sure. But, yeah, I guess I can cop to it. It’s genetics, I guess.”

Jane Fonda set the standard for beautiful Hollywood activism

Jane Fonda comes from Hollywood royalty. Her father Henry Fonda was an Oscar-winning actor and young Jane inherited her father’s piercing blue eyes. She started working in front of the camera as a model, landing on the cover of Vogue in 1959. The following year, she made her movie debut in “Tall Story,” because, as she exclaimed to Harvard Business Review, “I became an actress because I didn’t know what else to do!” Working steadily as an actor throughout the ’60s, she perhaps reached her peak youthful gorgeousness starring in the title role of 1968’s erotic science-fiction film “Barbarella.”

Acknowledging how her looks offered ease in her career, she told Vanity Fair, “I took the easy road for a while. I would say that ended with Barbarella. [But] I liked playing somebody that caused a certain generation of men to have their first erection.” Shortly after “Barbarella,” Fonda pivoted away from work explicitly about her beauty. She moved onto more dramatic roles in movies like “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “Klute,” and started her extensive activism work. Now in her ’80s, Fonda is as active and beautiful as ever. Whether she’s acting on the popular Netflix series “Grace and Frankie,” encouraging people to stay healthy through fitness, or continuing her activism through causes like her “Fire Drill Fridays.”