Remembering the Last Century - the 1900s

The 20th Century was the period when celebrity culture exploded, especially from the 1940s on. There were people who enjoyed celebrity status before then, Queen Victoria, Abe Lincoln, Jenny Lind and some vaudeville stars, but they were the exception. The more mass media there is, the more celebrities we  acquire. There are many reasons for the advent of the celebrity century and sociologists have studied the subject in depth.

The 1920s and 1930s were the decades of the silent film with stars like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. There was glamour too, with Fay Wray (think King Kong) and Lillian Gish. Hollywood’s biggest contribution to the celebrity century was movie icon Valentino. He was charismatic and handsome, and mobbed wherever he went. Women wept uncontrollably when he died. He was probably the first 'real' celebrity as we think of them today.

Valentino

Movies also dominated in the 1940s, with male stars such as John Wayne, Clarke Gable and John Garfield. The ladies were represented by Greta Garbo, Rita Hayworth and Lana Turner. Sometimes the pressure of the celebrity century and the fame it brought was too much. Garbo famously withdrew from the limelight, saying that she wanted to be left alone.

Garbo - "I want to be alone!"

Movie stars were the royalty of America and people couldn’t get enough of them. Scandal was rare then, as they were under the protection of the studios, but if it did break loose then they were finished. It was different then, you’d never see Bette Davis with no make up and her hair undone. They were on duty all the time and they always looked gorgeous. The most exciting celebrity century sensations were the celebrity couples, like Gable and Jean Harlow. All the world loves a lover.

Harlow

By the late 1950s, the anti hero was in vogue and the celebrity culture was changing. James Dean and Marlon Brando had a bad boy image, which the ladies loved. That led on to the counter culture of the 1960s and movies began to reflect the alternative lifestyles of the young. Rock music was throwing up the biggest icons yet of the celebrity century. The likes of Jim Morrison, Mick Jagger and the Beatles were treated like royalty. 

Jagger

Since we are not very deep into the 21st Century, many of the stars of the 1990s are still with us.  They form a bridge between the 1900s and the 2000s.  It's nice to have some of the Beatles and Rolling Stones with us, as well as the great American crooner, Tony Bennett.  These celebrities help us to keep one foot back in the day, as we move along to the future.  

Tony Bennett - 1950s

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