30 Amazing Photos of Raquel Welch as Cora Peterson on the Set of “Fantastic Voyage” (1966)

On the set of the 1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage, Raquel Welch portrayed Cora Peterson, a competent technical assistant on a miniaturized submarine crew. The film was a major breakthrough for Welch. It helped launch her into international stardom later that year. Despite playing an intelligent scientist, her experience filming on the 20th Century Fox Studios soundstages was physically exhausting and filled with unique challenges.

Welch wore a white, form-fitting diving suit. The clingy fabric constantly snagged on wires and props. Crew members frequently had to untangle her. To simulate swimming in zero-gravity fluid, actors spent hours hanging from wires. This physical strain led to a genuine near-fainting spell for Welch.

In one scene, the crew defends Cora from attacking antibodies. Director Richard Fleischer had to halt filming. The male actors became far too enthusiastic while pulling the props off her suit. Fleischer noted it looked more like a “Las Vegas showgirl routine” than a medical emergency. Rumors circulated that Welch and leading man Stephen Boyd did not get along well during production. However, their on-screen chemistry anchored the groundbreaking film.

Studio executives initially cast Welch to leverage her athletic physique and screen presence. The film’s massive box-office success, paired with One Million Years B.C. released the same year, launched her into global stardom.

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Ruth Roman: Striking Star of Classic Hollywood

Ruth Roman (1922–1999), born Norma Roman, was an American actress known for her strong screen presence and dramatic intensity in films of the late 1940s and ’50s.

After early bit parts and a serial role in Jungle Queen, Roman gained recognition with performances in The Window (1949) and Champion (1949), earning a Golden Globe nomination. Under contract to Warner Bros., she appeared in a range of films, most memorably as Anne Morton in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1951).

With her dark beauty and determined characters, Roman became a distinctive leading lady of postwar Hollywood and later continued her career successfully on television and stage. These vintage photos capture the strength, elegance, and classic Hollywood glamour of Ruth Roman, a memorable star of the 1940s and 1950s.

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40 Candid Snapshots of Freddie Mercury of Queen Posing With His Fans

Freddie Mercury had a deep and genuine love and appreciation for his fans, recognizing them as the source of his success and fame. While he was a private man, he interacted with fans through performances, often throwing flowers into the crowd. He ensured his staff showed respect to his fans, considering them vital to his career.

Freddie often spoke of his deep appreciation for his audience. He recognized that their participation was a key part of Queen’s success, and he saw himself and the band as creating anthems for everyone. For example, he wrote “We Are the Champions” with the specific intent of creating a song that people could chant together in sports arenas.

In stark contrast to his on-stage persona, Freddie was known by those close to him to be incredibly shy and private. According to Queen’s roadie Peter Hince, Freddie’s ego “was not as big as people think.” He often found the anonymity that came with fame to be a difficult sacrifice and yearned for a simpler, more private life. He famously said: “When I’m performing I’m an extrovert, yet inside I’m a completely different man.”

Despite his desire for privacy, Freddie showed remarkable kindness and care to fans he met. Stories from those who encountered him often describe him as being more grounded and understanding than his public image suggested. One fan recalled how he was incredibly calm and reassuring after a child threw up all over his shoes.

When his health declined in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he avoided going public with his AIDS diagnosis, but fans noticed his frailty. In his final public statement (November 1991), he confirmed it explicitly, seen by many as his way of being honest with fans at last.

Fans played a crucial role in cementing his legend. Outside Garden Lodge, his home in London, admirers left flowers, notes, and graffiti for years after his passing.

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Mitzi Gaynor Doing a Stretch Routine at Home, 1962

Mitzi Gaynor (September 4, 1931 – October 17, 2024) was an iconic American actress, singer, and dancer who was a prominent leading lady during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for starring as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific (1958), as well as major musical films like There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) and Les Girls (1957).

The 1960s was a decade of massive transition and triumphant reinvention for Gaynor. As studio contracts dissolved and traditional Hollywood movie musicals faded away, she pivotally shifted her focus from the silver screen to live stage performance and television.

After starring in the 1963 matrimonial comedy For Love or Money alongside Kirk Douglas, Gaynor retired from feature films. She noted that she felt “kind of ordinary” on screen and realized her vibrant talents were much better suited for live audiences.

Guided by her husband and manager, Jack Bean, she transitioned into a highly paid nightclub headliner. Her glitzy, high-energy musical revues at iconic venues like the Sahara and the Flamingo became legendary, earning her praise from Frank Sinatra as “the best female entertainer working in the business.”

On February 16, 1964, Gaynor appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Broadcast live from the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, she actually received top billing over The Beatles, who were making their historic second appearance on the program that same night.

In 1967, she stopped the show at the Academy Awards by performing a knockout rendition of the theme from Georgy Girl. This sparked a series of nine highly acclaimed, annual prime-time television specials spanning into the 1970s (starting with Mitzi... The First Time in 1968), which collectively earned 16 Emmy nominations.

Instead of letting the decline of the studio system phase her out, Gaynor used the 1960s to transform herself into an independent powerhouse of live showmanship.

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30 Stunning Portraits of Dita Parlo in the 1930s

During the 1930s, German actress Dita Parlo established herself as a major star of European cinema, moving fluidly between German and French films. Within just a four-year span, she starred in two masterpieces that are widely considered among the greatest movies ever made.

Following her rise to stardom in German silent and early talkie cinema (such as Melodie des Herzens in 1929), Parlo attempted to transition to Hollywood in 1931. She appeared in German-language foreign versions produced by MGM and Warner Bros. (such as Menschen hinter Gittern) as well as small roles in films like Honor of the Family (1931). However, her subtle style did not align with Hollywood studio demands at the time, leading her to move to France.

Parlo achieved her greatest artistic success working in French cinema during the mid-to-late 1930s. Directed by Julien Duvivier, Au bonheur des dames (1930) showcased her early capability in dramatic, emotionally grounded roles. In L'Atalante (1934), Parlo starred as Juliette, a young rural bride navigating love, marriage, and longing aboard a river barge alongside Jean Dasté and Michel Simon. Her performance became an enduring symbol of poetic realism. She played Elsa, in La Grande Illusion (1937), a compassionate German farm widow who provides shelter and comfort to escaped French POWs. Her role anchored the film’s message of shared humanity across national boundaries.

Near the end of the decade, Parlo appeared in films like Mademoiselle Docteur (1937) and Ultimatum (1938). At the outbreak of World War II, as a German national living in France, she was detained as an alien and deported back to Germany, which largely halted her film career until after the war.

Her screen presence in the 1930s left a lasting cultural impression, inspiring everything from fashion imagery to artistic tributes, including entertainer Dita Von Teese (who adopted her stage name from Parlo) and Madonna (who referenced her L'Atalante character in her 1992 Sex book and Erotica project).

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Rare Vintage Covers of Unknown Magazine (1939–1943)

These rare vintage covers of Unknown magazine (later known as Unknown Worlds) showcase the distinctive visual style of one of the most important fantasy pulps of the early 1940s. Edited by John W. Campbell and published by Street & Smith from 1939 to 1943, the magazine featured imaginative and atmospheric cover art during its early issues, before switching to a more restrained design.

The painted covers, created by artists such as H.W. Scott and Edd Cartier, captured a blend of fantasy, the uncanny, and everyday settings that defined the magazine’s unique approach. These covers remain a striking record of a short-lived but highly influential publication in the history of fantasy fiction.

Unknown magazine cover, April 1939

Unknown magazine cover, August 1939

Unknown magazine cover, December 1939

Unknown magazine cover, July 1939

Unknown magazine cover, June 1939

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Never Before Seen Photos of Dolly Parton and Dom DeLuise on the Set of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” in 1981

David DeLuise recently opened the family archives to share rare, never-before-seen photos of country legend Dolly Parton alongside his late father, comedy icon Dom DeLuise. The nostalgic snapshots, which David posted to his Instagram account, were captured back in 1981 on the set of the musical comedy film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The movie eventually hit theaters in 1982.

In the film, Parton starred as the outspoken brothel madam Miss Mona, while DeLuise played the colorful, moralizing TV personality Melvin P. Thorpe. The set hosted an incredibly close-knit cast. According to family lore and crew stories, Dolly Parton and Dom DeLuise bonded so deeply during production that they once went trick-or-treating together completely in disguise around the Pacific Palisades on Halloween, and went entirely unrecognized by neighbors.

The newly shared photos offer fans a heartwarming, candid look at the joyful chemistry and genuine off-screen friendship between two of Hollywood and Nashville’s most beloved entertainers.

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