Mylène Demongeot: One of the Blond Sex Symbols of the 1950s and ’60s

French actress and author Mylène Demongeot spanned her career over seven decades, encompassing more than 100 film, television, and theater productions across French, Italian, English, and Japanese languages.

Demongeot rose to prominence at the age of 21 with her portrayal of Abigail Williams in The Crucible (1957), earning her a BAFTA nomination for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles and the Best Actress award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. She further solidified her status with roles in Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Les Trois Mousquetaires (1961), and the Fantômas trilogy (1964–1967), where she starred alongside Jean Marais and Louis de Funès.

Beyond her acting career, Demongeot was a writer and advocate. She authored several books, including Très chers escrocs (2019), detailing her experience as a victim of a financial scam. She was also a member of the honor committee of the Association pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité (ADMD), supporting the right to die with dignity.

Take a look at these stunning photos to see the beauty of a young Mylène Demongeot in the 1950s and 1960s.

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30 Photos of Lisa Eilbacher and Eddie Murphy on the Set of “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984)

Lisa Eilbacher and Eddie Murphy on the set of Beverly Hills Cop (1984) captured a great moment in 1980s Hollywood action-comedy history. Eilbacher played Detective Jeannette “Jenny” Summers, a childhood friend of Murphy’s character Axel Foley, who gets caught up in his investigation into a friend’s murder in Beverly Hills.

The film was budgeted at $14 million, including $4 million for Murphy, and was completed for around $13 million. Production began in May 1984 and continued into the summer, taking place mostly in and around Los Angeles. The opening sequence was filmed over several days in Michigan, in Detroit and nearby Wayne. Many scenes set in Beverly Hills were shot in Pasadena, as the city of Beverly Hills prohibited filming after 10:30p.m.

This first film in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise shot Murphy to international stardom, won the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Motion Picture,” and was nominated for both the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1985.

Beverly Hills Cop was released on December 5, 1984, in 1,532 theaters. It debuted in first place at the US box office, making $15,214,805 in its first five days of release. It expanded on December 21 into 2,006 theaters. The film stayed at number one for 13 consecutive weeks and returned to number one in its 15th weekend making 14 non-consecutive weeks at number one tying Tootsie for the film with the most weeks at number one.

The film earned $234,760,478 in the United States, and $316,360,478 worldwide, being the highest-grossing film released in 1984. Adjusted for inflation, it is the third highest-grossing R-rated film of all-time behind The Exorcist and The Godfather. For nearly two decades, Beverly Hills Cop held the record for having the highest domestic gross for an R-rated film until 2003, when it was taken by The Matrix Reloaded.

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The Club 57 Series by Robert Carrithers: Amazing Photos Capture Scenes of a New York Nightclub in the Early 1980s

Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was originally founded by Stanley Zbigniew Strychacki as well as Dominic Rose, then enhanced by nightclub performer Ann Magnuson, Susan Hannaford, and poet Tom Scully.

Robert Carrithers, an American photographer and filmmaker, moved to New York in 1979 and spontaneously documented everything that happened at Club 57. His photographs capture the raw energy, creativity, and personalities of the artists who frequented the club, including early works by now-famous figures like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kenny Scharf, Ann Magnuson, and musicians like Cyndi Lauper and Klaus Nomi.

The Club 57 Series is a unique historical testimony to a pivotal period in pop culture. It showcases the birth of significant artistic movements, the early careers of iconic artists, and the spirit of a countercultural scene that defined the East Village. Many of the artists associated with Club 57 went on to achieve widespread fame, while others faced tragic ends due to issues like drug use and the AIDS epidemic.

In essence, Robert Carrithers' Club 57 Series provides an invaluable visual record of a transformative period in New York City's art and cultural history, capturing the essence of an underground space that nurtured creativity and rebellion.

“I lived in New York during the early ‘80s, a very special unique time of creativity in New York,” Carrithers wrote. “I was a regular at a place called Club 57 in the basement of a Polish church on St. Marks in the East Village. It was a creative laboratory that would change night after night with themes and happenings. One night there would be an art opening and then another night there would be bands, films or a crazed theme party. Many talented and fun people developed their art at Club 57 throughout this time. The following photographs capture some of these memorable people through portraits or at the various events.”

Keith Haring

Susan Hannaford Rose

Kai Erik

Wendy Wild

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Carrie Fisher Hanging Out With Some Stormtroopers While Promoting “Empire Strikes Back” in London, 1980

In real life, Princess Leia may not see eye to eye with the Stormtroopers, who captured her in Star Wars: Episode IV - New Hope, but Carrie Fisher, the actress who portrayed Princess Leia, proved she’s chummy with them off-set. In these classic photographs, Fisher showed off her goofy side posing with her arch nemeses. In fact, she delighted in being carried by not one, but two Stormtroopers.

In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Carrie Fisher reprised her role as Princess Leia Organa, a key figure in the Rebel Alliance and one of the trilogy’s most iconic characters. Her performance in this film deepened Leia’s complexity — portraying her not just as a fearless leader, but also as a woman struggling with love, loss, and duty.

Fisher was only 23 when Empire was filmed. Despite the pressures of fame and a grueling shooting schedule, she delivered a performance that solidified Leia as a cinematic legend. She often injected humor and intelligence into Leia’s dialogue, even improvising or helping to shape her character’s voice.

Amazing 1899 Photos of Finnish Farmers with Their Cows and Bulls

Finnish agriculture, series of photos from The Finnish Museum of Photography, 1899. I. K Inha (1865–1930), on a commission from the National Board of Agriculture, photographed scenes of Finnish agricultural work for the World’s Fair (Exposition Universelle) in Paris in 1900: stables and cowsheds, home economics exhibitions, fields and pastures.

Included among the surviving prints and negatives are nearly 150 individual portraits of cows and bulls. The photographed bovine specimens represented, at the time, the developed state and high quality of Finnish agriculture. In these photos, they pose next to their keepers or owners.

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‘Laugh, Clown, Laugh’: The 1928 Film That Launched Loretta Young

Laugh, Clown, Laugh is a 1928 American silent drama film starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young (her film debut). The movie was directed by Herbert Brenon and produced by Irving G. Thalberg for MGM Pictures. A sound version of this film was released in the second half of 1928 and featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects.

The film was written by Elizabeth Meehan, based on the 1923 Broadway stage production Laugh, Clown, Laugh by David Belasco and Tom Cushing, which in turn was based on the 1919 play Ridi, Pagliaccio by Fausto Maria Martini.

An alternate happy ending—wherein Tito survives his fall, Simonetta marries Luigi, and they all remain close friends—was shot at the studio's insistence in case some studios preferred that ending, but the footage no longer exists.

The film was in production from December 19, 1927, to February 2, 1928, and cost $293,000 to make. The worldwide box office gross was $1,102,000. These vintage photos captured portraits of Loretta Young during the filming of Laugh, Clown, Laugh in 1928.

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20 Amazing Portraits of a Young Brian Wilson in the 1960s

Brian Wilson, who as the leader and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys, has died. He was 82.

The musician’s family announced his death on Wednesday, June 11 in an Instagram post. “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” the statement read. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”

Brian Wilson was the primary songwriter for the vast majority of The Beach Boys’ material in the 1960s, often collaborating with lyricists like Mike Love and later Van Dyke Parks. His songs moved from simple surf and car themes to more introspective and complex narratives.

He is widely recognized for his groundbreaking approach to recording and production. Wilson was inspired by artists like Phil Spector and his “Wall of Sound,” and he pushed the boundaries of pop music by using multiple instruments to create a rich, dense sound (“doubling up on basses and tripling up on keyboards”).

Wilson meticulously arranged intricate vocal harmonies and orchestral elements, creating a “teenage symphony to God” as he famously described his ambition. He saw the recording studio itself as a tool for creation, experimenting with sounds, arrangements, and production techniques to achieve his unique sonic vision. This set a new precedent for creative autonomy for artists signed to labels.

He was among the first pop musicians credited for writing, arranging, producing, and performing his own material, essentially becoming one of the first “producer auteurs” in rock.

In the early 1960s, Wilson crafted the quintessential “California sound” with hits like “Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” and “Little Deuce Coupe.” These songs evoked images of sun-drenched beaches, hot rods, and teenage romance.

After a nervous breakdown in late 1964, Wilson stopped touring to focus solely on songwriting and studio production. This allowed him to experiment further and move the band beyond their initial surf image. This period saw the release of hits like “Help Me, Rhonda,” “California Girls,” and “Good Vibrations.”

The album Pet Sounds (1966) is widely considered Wilson’s magnum opus and one of the most influential albums in music history. It showcased his ambitious craftsmanship, complex arrangements, and introspective themes. It had a profound impact on other musicians, notably inspiring The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Following Pet Sounds, Wilson embarked on Smile, an even more ambitious and experimental project that he intended as his masterpiece. Due to various factors, including Wilson’s mental health struggles and artistic differences within the band, the album was famously shelved in 1967. However, fragments of its work appeared on later Beach Boys albums, and a completed version was eventually released by Wilson in 2004.

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