Kim Basinger – Then
Before she became one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, Kim Basinger was a very successful cover girl from New York. She eventually quit modeling to be an actress in Los Angeles, landing small guest roles in McMillan & Wife and Charlies Angels. Basinger co-starred in a miniseries with film legend Natalie Wood in From Here to Eternity in 1979 and its spinoff a year later. In 1983, she went to work in Never Say Never Again as a Bond girl.
Kim Basinger – Now
Basinger became a massive star in the 80s after playing Vicki Vale in Tim Burton’s Batman, and Memo Paris in The Natural before that. Basinger finally got her due as an actress in 1997. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the crime film L.A. Confidential. She recently played Elena Lincoln in Fifty Shades Darker, the sequel to the Fifty Shades of Grey. Hip-hop fans might recognize her as Eminem’s mom in 8 Mile.
Michelle Pfeiffer – Then
Michelle Pfeiffer’s breakthrough role came when she starred in the 1982 film, Grease 2. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed bombshell won even more critical acclaim for her role in the mob flick, Scarface, in 1983 and has landed roles in Batman Returns, Dangerous Minds, and What Lies Beneath. Pfeiffer has been honored for her work and was awarded the win for the BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe award for her work in the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Michelle Pfeiffer – Now
Pfeiffer took four years away from acting to focus on her family but returned to work in 2007 for the film adaptation of the musical Hairspray. That same year she appeared alongside Claire Danes and Robert De Niro in the fantasy film, Stardust, where she played the role of the witch Lamia. She has also appeared in the comedy film, New Year’s Eve, and won her first Emmy Award nomination for playing Ruth Madoff in The Wizard of Lies in 2017.
Lynda Carter – Then
Lynda Carter made her name when she prevailed at the Miss World USA pageant in 1972, winning the grand prize for Arizona. She followed up her pageant days by beginning an acting career, for which, she made her professional debut in Nakia in 1974. She may have gotten her start in a police drama, but it was being cast as Diana Prince in 1976 for the televised series, Wonder Woman, that detailed Prince’s superhero adventures that made Carter a bonafide star.
Lynda Carter – Now
Lynda Carter had no intention of disappearing after Wonder Woman ended, and has been working consistently since then. Carter took her talents to Broadway in 2005, when she took a turn in the role of Mama Morton in the long running revival of Chicago, the musical on which the 2003 film was based. The actress and musician went on tour in an act she titled An Evening with Lynda Carter in 2007. Most recently, she’s appeared in the TV show, Supergirl.
Susan Dey – Then
Susan Dey made her television debut in the hit 70s TV show, The Partridge Family, where she played daughter, Laurie Partridge. The show ran between 1970 and 1974, during which time, Dey found herself earning several other roles here and there, though she was kept quite busy with The Patridge Family and its various spin off projects. Between 1986 and 1992, Dey was the star of the TV procedural drama, L.A. Law.
Susan Dey – Now
At 63, Susan Dey has retired from life as an actor after over 30 years in front of the camera. Though she continued to work steadily throughout the 80s and 90s with roles in shows like Love & War, as well as the TV movie Whose Child Is This? The War For Baby Jessica, Dey decided by the early years of the new millennium that she had had enough. Her last TV appearances were in the show Third Watch, which were released in 2004.
Loni Anderson – Then
Loni Anderson may have become a household name when she was cast on the show WKRP, where she spent four years playing the blonde bombshell receptionist, Jennifer Marlowe. Audiences loved to laugh alongside Anderson as she popped up in numerous TV shows and Hollywood films over the years. However, Loni was also well known for her high profile relationships. Anderson was married four times, most notably to fellow star, Burt Reynolds.
Loni Anderson – Now
As she aged, Anderson began to shirk away from the spotlight, but even if her prime acting days were over, Anderson still had plenty of time to try out some new marriages. Anderson tied the knot for the fourth time in 2008, when she wed Bob Flick, who is a musician. Loni brought several children to the new union from her previous marriages. Anderson has only been onscreen twice in the decade or so, once in 2006, and in the 2016 Carol Channing documentary.
Kate Jackson – Then
In order to chase her dreams of acting, Kate Jackson ended up dropping out of the University of Mississippi and joined the American Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1971, she locked down her first role on the TV show Dark Shadows. This was followed by a recurring role for four straight seasons on the show The Rookies. As the 70s went on, Jackson starred in a handful of movies and eventually hit the big time with 1975’s Charlie’s Angels.
Kate Jackson – Now
One interesting detail about Charlie’s Angels was that it was actually Kate Jackson who was involved with the show’s the name. Originally, the show was going to be called The Alleys Cats. However, the producers were not happy with it and told Jackson. As a result, she looked around and saw a poster with three angels on it. As they say, the rest was history. Despite her successful career, Kate Jackson’s romantic life was less so. With three marriages came three divorces.
Valerie Perrine – Then
Born in 1943 to parents Winifred and Kenneth Perrine, Valerie is from Galveston, Texas, and was destined for big things. After working as a showgirl in Las Vegas, Valerie ended up starring in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1972 flick Slaughterhouse-Five and even made an appearance in Playboy magazine. After her role in 1974’s Lenny, Valerie’s career truly took off and it earned her many awards, including an Academy Award nomination as well as the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Valerie Perrine – Now
Although her award-winning role in Lenny was arguably her finest hour, Perrine will probably be best remembered by casual fans for her involvement with the 1978’s Superman, as well as its 1980 sequel. He role was that of Eve Teschmacher, who worked for the main villain, Lex Luther. Since then, Perrine hasn’t been involved in many high-profile projects since the 70s/80s. One exception came in 2002 when she made an appearance in the Mel Gibson-led romantic comedy What Women Want.
Liv Ullmann – Then
Liv Ullmann had quite the international background, having been born to Norwegian parents in Tokyo. Her family then moved to Canada, New York and finally settled back in Norway. This is where she started her career in acting. Eventually, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman took notice of her and worked with her on numerous projects. She starred in over 10 of his movies, including 70s flicks like Autumn Sonata and Cries and Whispers. She ended up winning an Oscar for her role in 1971’s The Emigrants.
Liv Ullmann – Now
Another Academy Award nomination came Liv Ullmann’s way when she starred in 1976’s Face to Face. This was swiftly followed by a role in A Bridge Too Far, which she starred in alongside Laurence Olivier. She was heavily involved in theater in both Scandinavia and the U.S. throughout her career. Then, in 1992, Ullmann became a director for the first time, helming the movie Sofie. In more recent times, she has directed the Colin Farrell-led 2014 adaptation of Miss Julie.
Jane Seymour – Then
One of Jane Seymour’s earliest roles came in 1973 when she starred alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. This would prove to be the perfect springboard for Seymour into a superstar career. Her next big role came in the third part of the Sinbad movies, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. By the end of the 70s, Seymour had nailed down another fairly big role in the hit Sci-Fi movie and TV series Battlestar Galactica.
Jane Seymour – Now
Jane Seymour’s career state relatively consistent over the years. By the time the late-80s came around, she was starring in TV movies and miniseries such as War and Remembrance and Onassis: The Richest Man in the World. Another notable TV role came in 1993 when she starred in show Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. In more recent times, Seymour has made cameos in TV shows such as How I Met Your Mother, Smallville and also had a hilarious role in the comedy Wedding Crashers.
Jodie Foster – Then
Jodie Foster may still seem relatively young today, but this is mainly because she has been in the acting business since she was basically a toddler. Her first TV appearance came at three years old in a TV commercial. Although her brother Buddy was actually auditioning for a role, the casting agents saw something special in Foster. In 1976, when she was just a teenager, Foster ended up in 1976’s classic movie by Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver. 12-year-old Foster starred alongside Robert De Niro in the classic movie.
Jodie Foster – Now
After her incredible performance in Taxi Driver, Foster received an Academy Award nomination. This would result in an illustrious career full of unforgettable roles. Just a few years later, she played the role of Clarice Starling in the critically acclaimed Silence of the Lambs, which earned her another Academy Award. Some of her more recent roles have come in movies such as the Spike Lee-produced Inside Man, which she starred in alongside Clive Owen and Denzel Washington. This was followed by a role in the Matt Damon-led Elysium.
Meryl Streep – Then
After graduating from Yale, Meryl Streep found her first job in theater across from Mandy Patinkin and John Lithgow. After years as a stage actress, she found inspiration to become a film star after seeing Taxi Driver. Robert De Niro would eventually help her get her first major role as De Niro’s girlfriend in The Deer Hunter. She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance and never looked back. She would eventually earn a total of 20 Oscar nominations.
Meryl Streep – Now
Meryl Streep is truly one of a kind. No one comes close to her amount of Oscar nominations, leading Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson by eight. She won her first trophy in 1979 for Kramer vs. Kramer, winning two more for Sophie’s Choice and The Iron Lady. She has had plenty of memorable roles from Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada to Karen Blixen in Out of Africa. Her trophy case is quite packed, and she is not done bringing home hardware.
Pam Grier – Then
When Pam Grier moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles, she seemed a bit far from stardom. She was a receptionist at American International Pictures before director Jack Hill saw her and cast her in The Big Doll House in 1971. She quickly became a favorite in blaxploitation films of the 70s, starring in Foxy Brown(1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), and Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981). She was the first black actress to headline an action film in Coffy.
Pam Grier- Now
As blaxploitation films fell out of favor, Grier began showing up in smaller roles. She made appearances on hit shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and The Cosby Show. In 1997, she landed one of her best and most applauded roles as Jackie Brown in the Quentin Tarantino film of the same name. The film paid tribute to the exact films in which Grier starred in the 70s. In the mid -2000, she starred on The L Word on Showtime, which ended in 2009.
Diane Keaton – Then
When Diane Keaton made her big screen debut, she was already a Tony-nominated actress. She carried that stage success with her into Hollywood. Two years after her first film, Keaton landed one of the biggest roles in film history as Kay Adams in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Two years later, Keaton returned to play Kay in the sequel. The sequel gave her a chance to let the character shine truly. She continued to dominate the box office in Annie Hall in 1977.
Diane Keaton – Now
Keaton was one of the biggest stars of the 70s and had no interest in letting her 70s success slip away. She joined forces with Woody Allen again in 1979’s Manhattan, the last film they would do together until 1993. The start of the 90s coincided with her reprisal as Kay in The Godfather Part III. As one of the funniest women in Hollywood, she starred next to Steve Martin in Father of the Bride and its sequel. Keaton still remains active today.
Carol Kane – Then
Carol Kane was just a midwestern girl from Cleveland, Ohio before she made her first appearance in Carnal Knowledge in 1971. She soon became a well-known actress for her roles in Annie Hall and Hester Street. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Hester Street and parlayed her success on the big screen into a successful TV gig. She joined Taxi in 1981 and took home two Emmy awards for her work on the show.
Carol Kane – Now
Most recently, Carol Kane is best known for her decade worth of performance in Broadway’s Wicked. She played evil headmistress Madame Morrible in various productions between 2005 and 2014. In addition, Kane has popped up as one of the most delightful and hilarious parts of the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt starring Ellie Kemper. She appeared in all 22 episodes of the 90s sitcom Pearl starring Rhea Perlman in addition to her numerous guest appearances on everything from Ugly Betty to Phineas and Ferb.
Olivia Newton-John – Then
No matter how great of a singer Olivia Newton-John is, she will always be known more for her acting. Her role of Sandy in Grease turned her into a megastar, even though she already had a ton of success as a singer. Grease became the biggest hit of 1978. Before the film, Newton-John was named Best British Female Vocalist by Record Mirror magazine for her first solo album, If Not For You. She began to crush the adult contemporary charts from there on out.
Olivia Newton-John – Now
After Grease, Newton-John gave her career a makeover similar to that of her character Sandy. Her albums became a bit edgier and poppy and became massive hits. Her album Physical went double platinum and the title track stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 list for ten weeks. She still tours to this day, mostly in the United States and Australia. In 2012, Newton-John teamed up with John Travolta for a Christmas charity album. In 2015, she charted a single on the Dance Club Songs chart with her daughter.
Faye Dunaway – Then
In the same year that she made her screen debut – 1967 – Faye Dunaway appeared in one of the most notorious roles in cinematic history as Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the infamous outlaw and earned a second Oscar nomination for her role alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. She finally caught a break and won for Network in 1976. Dunaway was one of the biggest stars of the 70s with numerous commercial hits.
Faye Dunaway – Now
After her successful period in the 70s, Dunaway continued acting, mainly in more dramatic and mature character roles. She received heaps of praise for Barfly opposite Mickey Rourke in 1987. In the 2000s, Dunaway took on fewer roles, notably appearing in The Rules of Attraction, and took a major break from the big screen between 2009 and 2014. She felt her career was over in 2013, but appeared in her first feature in eight years in 2017’s The Bye Bye Man.
