Thursday, February 18, 2010

Where Were They Then

I thought it would be fun to see what some of the biggest stars of today were doing in 1978, the heart of the Disco Years. Interesting how several of them were right on the cusp of success...
Meryl Streep was already well on her way to a successful career in 1978, with the release of 'The Deer Hunter', for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. She was also in 'Holocaust'...remember that mini-series? She married sculptor Don Gummer in September of that year.
Mel Gibson hadn't yet made it big in 1978. He'd done some TV and extra work . . . but was only a year away from 'Mad Max'. Still living in Australia, he did a good bit of theatre work for the South Australian Theatre Company, including ‘Oedipus’ and ‘Henry IV’. Pretty high-brow for the future ‘Lethal Weapon’ star, huh?
Robert De Niro was already a big star in 1978, most well known for the phenomenon 'The Godfather', which was released a few years earlier. He'd even participated in a version of 'The Godfather' developed for television the prior year (which I'd never heard of) before scoring another hit in 1978 with 'The Deer Hunter'...co-starring Ms. Streep, of course. Unfortunately, in his private life, he divorced singer-actress Diahnne Abbott that year.
Anthony Hopkins was already a busy actor, working a good deal in TV movies before moving on to theatrical movie roles. He'd had some successes in 1977, including 'Audrey Rose' which I highly recommend. In 1978 he starred in 'International Velvet' and 'Magic'. 'Magic' is totally creepy...he received a BAFTA and Golden Globe nomination for his work in that.

Sigourney Weaver was on the verge of her breakout role as Ripley in 'Alien'...one of the scariest movies ever! She was still toiling away, though she did land a small part in ‘Annie Hall’... her only credit in 1978 was 'Madman'.

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