Then & Now: 25 Hollywood Actresses From The 1960’s

Those of us that are big time movie buffs have had the privilege of watching certain people grow up, or grow old, on the big screen in numerous films over the years. Looking back at some of the leading ladies of Hollywood during the 1960’s, you can immediately recognize that some, if not most, of these talented and lovely ladies are still going strong in their careers, even as we speak, playing in a variety of different roles.

Here’s is what 25 of the most talented and lovely actresses in Hollywood history looked like both then, and now!

 

Sophia Loren – Then

This drop-dead gorgeous woman really shouldn’t need any sort of introduction. But just in case you have lived under a rock for the last 40 years, it’s the one and only Sophia Loren. Born in Italy, she was able to make a name for herself there, as well as around the world.

Sophia Loren – Now

Sophia continued to work well into her later years starring in hit films such as Grumpier Old Men with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. Her natural beauty is something that made her nearly irresistible both an actress and a sex symbol.

Jacqueline Bisset – Then

Another one of my personal favorites is this beautiful woman known as Jacquline Bisset. She starred in hit films from the ’60s such as Bullit and The Sweet Ride, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

Jacqueline Bisset – Now

Her career has shown no signs of slowing down even though she’s up into her 70’s. She has been seen recently on British Television shows such as Dancing on the Edge and on the big screen with Drew Barrymore in Miss You Already.

Angela Lansbury – Then

Long before “Murder She Wrote” Ms. Angela Lansbury was considered one of the great beauties of Hollywood during the early ’60s. She starred in the Manchurian Candidate in 1963 that launched her into superstardom and continued on that path up until present day.

Angela Lansbury – Now

One of Ms. Landbury’s most popular roles in the later part of her career was the detective series, Murder She Wrote. She landed the role as Jessica Fletcher in 1983 and continued through 1996. Since then she has become heavily involved in Broadway Theater.

Nichelle Nichols – Then

Star Trek fans will immediately recognize Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura, the communications expert on the USS Enterprise. Nichols actually started as a singer and voice artist before landing her breakout role in Star Trek that would last from 1966-1969 and then on into multiple full-length movies.

Nichelle Nichols – Now

Nichols also becomes involved in a special program at NASA that helped recruit minority female personnel for the space agency. She also landed numerous television roles including a recent part on the Soap Opera, The Young and the Restless.

Julie Christie – Then

Julie Christie is an English Actress that started her film career in 1963 when she landed a starring role in Billy Liar. But her big breakout role was in 1965 when she starred in Darling, and then later in Doctor Zhivago.

Julie Christie – Now

Since then, she has been in countless movies and received just as many awards. One of the most recent was The Company You Keep where she co-starred with Sam Elliot and Robert Redford. Her natural beauty will go down in history as one of the greats.

Vera Miles – Then

Vera Miles is the beautiful actress that starred in many Alfred Hitchcock films over the years. Her role in the 1960 release of Psycho as Lila Crane was one of the most well-known roles she would play in her career.

Vera Miles – Now

Vera retired from her Hollywood career in 1995, but before doing so she made appearances on hit TV shows such as Murder She Wrote. Since then she has tried very hard to stay out of the public eye and does everything she can to avoid interviews and public appearances.

Anouk Aimee – Then

Starting at the young age of 14, Anouk Aimee is a French actress that made her debut in 1946 in La Maison sous la mer where she played the role of “Anouk” and she liked the name so much she actually kept it for the rest of her career.

Anouk Aimee – Now

Aimee went on to star in over 70 different films over the course of her career. She continues to work as a French actress and was recently seen in the comedy film Mince alors! Her striking beauty earned her a spot on the top 100 sexiest stars of film history according to Empire Magazine.

Julie Andrews – Then

Ms. Julie Andrews was one of the most popular theater actresses of the 1950’s. She started working as an actress at the young age of 10 when she appeared on the West End in 1948. Just six years later she made her Broadway debut in The Boy Freind.

Julie Andrews – Now

However, most people will immediately recognize her from one of her most iconic roles where she played the perfect magical nanny, otherwise known as Mary Poppins in 1964. Then the following year she had another smash hit with The Sound of Music. She is still going strong over seven decades later and recently released a new preschool TV series called Julie’s Greenroom.

Jeanne Moreau – Then

Ms. Jeanne Moreau is a French actress that made her debut in 1947 working on stage and then in small film roles by 1949. She hit her stride in the late 50’s and was one of the leading ladies through the 1960’s.

Jeanne Moreau – Now

Moreau was known not only for her work in front of the camera, but behind the scenes as well. She also was a screenwriter, director, as well as singer, had a very successful career that earned many different awards, including best foreign actress.

Shirley Knight – Then

Shirley Knight started her career in the late ’50s as a Television actress on the hit western on NBC, Buckskin. She also landed roles in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth in the early 60’s that earned her nominations for the Academy Award

Shirley Knight – Now

She also was a highly accomplished stage actress with roles on Broadway that earned her a Tony. Over her long career, Knight has starred in more than fifty feature films as well as countless TV appearances. In 1995 she won an Emmy for her guest spot on NYPD Blue.

Claudia Cardinale -Then

This lovely actress, Claudia Cardinale, ranks up there as one of the most talented females to come out of Italy. She actually won a contest for the “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia” where the prize was a trip to Italy where she landed her film contracts.

Claudia Cardinale – Now

Over her long career, Cardinale was incredibly diverse in her choice of movie roles starring in British, French, Italian and English speaking films. She also ventured into stage work but it was her film career that was her main claim to fame. She claims to have starred in over 142 films.

Monica Vitti – Then

You may not have heard of Ms. Monica Vitti because being Italian born she mainly starred in Italian films. Her debut film was Ridere Ridere Ridere in 1954 but it was when she linked up with Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian film director, that she became internationally known.

Monica Vitti – Now

Vitti would continue working on into the ’80s where she went back to working on stage as both an actress and a teacher before retiring in 1989. But with her legendary beauty, she will fo down in history as one of the great beauties of the 1960’s.

Diana Rigg – Then

Diana Rigg made her debut in 1957 as a theater actress, but it was when she played the Bond girl in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” in 1969 that really put her name on the map. She also had many other roles on TV and Broadway shows.

Diana Rigg – Now

Rigg’s career is still going strong and is almost as recognized today as she was in the early parts of her career. Most people nowadays will recognize Ms. Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell, “The Queen of Thorns” from the smash hit Game of Thrones.

Sarah Miles – Then

This British-born actress is Sarah Miles who was one of the hottest actresses available during the ’60s-’80s. She starred in hit films such as “The Servant” and “Blowup” that were extremely popular in the late ’60s.

Sarah Miles – Now

Miles continues working as both a film actress as well as making theatrical appearances up until the early ’90s when she started to take more time for her personal life. Her last movie was The Accidental Detective which was released in 2003 but has since retired.

Meredith MacRae – Then

Known mainly for her roles on hit shows like “Petticoat Junction” and “My Three Sons“, Meredith MacRae was the perfect example of the girl next door. Her natural beauty was something most girls dream of, and what most guys dream about.

Meredith MacRae – Now

MacRae was also commonly seen on game shows, with appearances on shows including The Family Feud, Hollywood Squares, and Card Sharks, to name a few. When she wasn’t working to further her career, she was working to help charitable causes such as The American Cancer Society and Children’s Burn Foundation. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2000 due to complications with brain cancer.

Maggie Smith – Then

Maggie Smith has starred in over 50 films in her long career dating back to the early ’50s and is considered to be one of Great Britain’s most recognizable actresses.

Maggie Smith – Now

For the Harry Potter fans of the world, you will immediately recognize this as Professor McGonagall, who was played by Smith from 2001-2011. She has continued working and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Shirley MacLaine – Then

This six-time Academy Award nominee is none other than the great Shirley MacLaine who has starred in some of Hollywoods most popular films. She made her film debut in The Trouble with Harry, the Alfred Hitchcock film that was released in 1955, for which she won a Golden Globe.

Shirley MacLaine – Now

MacLaine would win numerous awards over the course of her career including a lifetime achievement award in 2012 for her outstanding work over the last five decades. She has a role in the film Wild Oats that was released just a few short months prior to this writing.

Stephane Audran – Then

This lovely lady is the French-born actress, Stephane Audran, who was a particularly famous actress who made her debut in 1957 in the French film Le Jeu de la nuit. Her first major role came just two years later in the film Les Cousins.

Stephane Audran – Now

Audran’s career was mainly based out of France but was occasionally seen in films from other markets such as the Dutch film “Babette’s Feast” and WWII film “The Big Red One” that also co-starred Mark Hamil, otherwise known as Luke Skywalker.

Ann Margret – Then

Ann-Magret is one of those actresses that just doesn’t seem to age, or better yet seems to get better with age. She was also quite the singer; some even considered her to be the female version of Elvis Presley. But it was after a screen test at 20th Century Fox that landed her a seven- year movie deal.

Ann Margret – Now

Ann-Margret has starred in numerous iconic films over five decades she has been in show business such as Viva Las Vegas,Bye Bye Birdie, and of course the Grumpy Old Men films. She continues to work and seem to look as good as she ever did.

Donna Douglas – Then

Anyone that’s ever seen the show Beverly Hillbillies will immediately recognize this lovely lady as the one and only Elly May Clampett. Her real name, of course, was Donna Douglas, a small town girl from Louisiana that had gotten her big break from her modeling career.

Donna Douglas – Now

Douglas had roles in numerous other movies and TV series, but Beverly Hillbillies was far and away her most prominent. Donna Douglas sadly passed away last January due to pancreatic cancer, but her blonde hair, pigtails, and gorgeous smile that won the hearts of every man in America will forever be remembered.

Catherine Deneuve – Then

Catherine Deneuve has made quite a name for herself over the years as both an actress as well modeling and even as a producer. She was born in France and that’s where the majority of her film career took place.

Catherine Deneuve – Now

Although she did have English movies as well, later in her career she starred in The Musketeer which was released in 2001. She mainly has switched to the work behind the camera as of late, but she still is said to produce a couple movies per year.

Katharine Ross – Then

This stunning actress is the one and only Katharine Ross that starred in two of the most popular films of the ’60s, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as well as in The Graduate. That immediately cemented her on the list of most beautiful actresses of the ’60s.

Katharine Ross – Now

Ross later went on to marry Sam Elliot in 1984 and has been with him ever since. Her film career started to slow down after she appeared in the 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Vanessa Redgrave – Then

Vanessa Redgrave has been considered to be one of the greatest living actresses of our time according to Tennesse Williams and Arthur Miller. She made her debut as a stage actress in the late ’50s then switching to the big screen.

Vanessa Redgrave – Now

Over her long career, Redgrave starred in more than 80 films and has even been inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. One of her most recent films was The Butler which was critically acclaimed in almost every category.

Shirley Jones – Then

Shirley Jones started her career as a stage actress after her parents allowed her to move to New York City with $100 in her pocket. They apparently gave her one year to make it before they would make her come back home. Well it’s safe to say that she made it.

Shirley Jones – Now

Most of you will recognize Shirley Jones from her role as the mom on the hit TV show, The Partridge Family. But she also had quite the film career, she even starred in Grandma’s Boy as a nymphomaniac senior citizen so we know she had a sense of humor as well.

Raquel Welch – Then

Now, I must admit I could be slightly biased on this one, because this might be my personal favorite on this list. I give you the absolutely stunning Raquel Welch. I know I’m not the only one either. This Chicago, Illinois born Italian bombshell landed the role in One Million Years B.C. in 1966 that cemented her name in history as one of the Sexiest Stars of Film History according to Empire magazine.

Raquel Welch – Now

Ms. Welch shows no signs of slowing down at this point, nor any signs of aging as a matter of fact. She has been featured on hit TV shows like Seinfeld and even had a role in the recent film House of Versace. One thing is for sure, pretty much anything that she does is usually loved by all.