Yesterday Today

James Dean Photographed by Wilson Millar For His First Film ‘Hill Number One’ (1951)

Before he conquered Hollywood, James Dean toiled in New York television. Hill Number One was an hour-long Easter special sponsored by the Family Rosary Crusade – the story of Jesus after the crucifixion, when he was buried in the tomb and then was risen.

It’s talky, stiffly staged, and very earnest. Dean has a small role, about four lines of dialogue, and he’s wildly miscast as the serene and pious John the Baptist.

These photos derive from a private sitting in the spring of 1951, when James Dean was making his first film Hill Number One in an installment of Family Theater. Dean was taken by Hollywood-based photographer Wilson Millar, when he was a struggling actor-student at UCLA.

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor with a career that lasted five years. He is regarded as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955) and surly ranch hand Jett Rink in Giant (1956).

Dean died died in a car crash on September 30, 1955 and became the first actor to receive a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his role in East of Eden. He received a second nomination for his role in Giant the following year, making him the only actor to have had two posthumous acting nominations. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him the 18th best male movie star of Golden Age Hollywood in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars list.

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Pictures of Fascinating Jacuzzi Hot Tubs From the 1970s and 1980s

If you weren’t burning up the disco dance floor during the 1970s, chances are you could be found steaming things up in a Jacuzzi. These hot tubs were a relaxing and soothing place that became a must-have for anyone looking to enhance their swanky, sexy living space. Jacuzzis seemed to fit right in with the hipness of shag rugs, and the laid-back appeal of wood paneling. Owning a Jacuzzi meant that you would never again have to settle for an ordinary, run-of-the-mill bath. Instead, take the plunge into a Jacuzzi, and you could take bathing to a whole new level.

The modern-day hot tub, also known as the Jacuzzi, was designed, invented, and engineered by the seven Jacuzzi brothers, all of whom emigrated from Italy to come to California in the early 1900s. The family’s ingenuity and work ethic led them to design advancements in aviation, as well as water pumps for use in farming and agriculture, particularly orange groves. Eventually, the Jacuzzi brothers invented the world’s first submersible pump. This made it possible to draw water directly from the ground into pipes that then disbursed the water where it was needed.

In 1956, the brothers took their first crack at developing a hot tub, named the J-300, in response to a family member’s struggle with rheumatoid arthritis. They engineered a piping system to transfer hot water from a furnace to another container of water, and designed a hydrotherapy pump as well. In 1968, Jacuzzi created the world’s first integrated jet whirlpool bath. And by 1970, Jacuzzi invented larger indoor tubs to accommodate groups of people or whole families, but design changes eventually allowed for outdoor use as well.

The 1970s saw the arrival of multiperson hot tubs. Around this time, hot tubs became widely referred to as Jacuzzis, owing to the fact that the Jacuzzi family had revolutionized the concept. The Jacuzzi became a social gathering spot for family and friends, neighbors and partygoers, and swinging singles and cozy couples alike.

35 Beautiful Photos of Julie Christie in the 1960s

Born 1940 in Chabua, Assam, British India, British actress Julie Christie made her professional stage debut in 1957, and her first screen roles were on British television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has appeared in six films ranked in the British Film Institute’s BFI Top 100 British films of the 20th century, and in 1997, she received the BAFTA Fellowship.

Christie’s breakthrough film role was in Billy Liar (1963). She came to international attention for her performances in Darling (1965), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and Doctor Zhivago (also 1965), the eighth highest-grossing film of all time after adjustment for inflation.

In the following years, Christie starred in Fahrenheit 451 (1966), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Petulia (1968), The Go-Between (1971), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), for which she received her second Oscar nomination, Don’t Look Now (1973), Shampoo (1975), and Heaven Can Wait (1978).

From the early 1980s, Christie’s appearances in mainstream films decreased. She has continued to receive significant critical recognition for her work, including Oscar nominations for the independent films Afterglow (1997) and Away from Her (2007).

Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of young Julie Christie in the 1960s.

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Fritz Dietl the Stilt-Man

Born on July 11, 1911 in Vienna, Austria, Fritz Dietl was educated in the Vienna schools and held a Master’s Degree in Engineering. An internationally known and respected figure skater, professional skating instructor and judge, Dietl began ice skating at age 12 on the Old Danube River in his hometown of Vienna. Though he trained to become a professional tennis player, he chose a career in skating, spending winter months as a skating instructor in Austria and later in Switzerland and England.

In the 1930s, Dietl had his own European ice skating show where he was featured as a stilt skater. He was also an original member of the Ice Capades. He came to the United States in 1940 and began skating with the Olympic champion, Sonja Henie. Together they toured the nation.

Walking on stilts is already impressive enough, but this man pushed it one step further and skated on stilts! Fritz Dietl, who was better known as the Stilt-man, was photographed practicing his skills with four-year-old Pat Kemp at the Empire Pool in Wembley.

In 1958, he opened the Fritz Dietl Ice Skating Rink, which is still in operation today in Westwood, NJ. Dietl coached Scott Allen, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1964 at the age of 14.

He was a charter member of the Ice Skating Institute of America and was named to the association’s Hall of Fame. He also was a founding member of the International Professional Skating Union and a board member of the Professional Skaters Association who recognized him with the Honorary Member and Lifetime Achievement Award. The PSA Fritz Dietl Ice Arena Award of Excellence was also named after him.

France in the 1940s Through a German Soldier’s Lens

In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany. France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone in the southeast and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern French metropolitan territory (two-fifths of pre-war metropolitan France) and the French empire, which included the two protectorates of French Tunisia and French Morocco, and French Algeria; the Vichy government, a newly established authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, ruled the unoccupied territory. Free France, the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle, was set up in London.

From 1942 to 1944, about 160,000 French citizens, including around 75,000 Jews, were deported to death camps and concentration camps in Germany and occupied Poland. In September 1943, Corsica was the first French metropolitan territory to liberate itself from the Axis. On 6 June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy and in August they invaded Provence.

Over the following year the Allies and the French Resistance emerged victorious over the Axis powers and French sovereignty was restored with the establishment of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). This interim government, established by de Gaulle, aimed to continue to wage war against Germany and to purge collaborators from office. It also made several important reforms (suffrage extended to women, creation of a social security system).

These vintage photos were taken by a German soldier showing street scenes in France during the 1940s.

Cabourg, France in the 1940s

Cathédrale Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Cathédrale Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Cathédrale Saint-Cyr et Sainte-Julitte de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Chapelle des Carmélites de Dijon, France, circa 1940s

Chapelle Sainte-Marie, Nevers, France in the 1940s

Cour de Bar, Dijon, France, circa 1940s

Dijon, France, circa 1940s

Église Notre-Dame de Dijon, France, winter 1940s

Évreux, France in the 1940s

Hôtel de Ville, Paris, circa 1940s

La chapelle Sainte-Marie, Nevers, France in the 1940s

Le quai de Mantoue in Nevers, France in the 1940s

Maison Maillard, Dijon, France, circa 1940s

Palace of Versailles, Paris, circa 1940s

Palais des ducs de Bourgogne (Dukes of Burgundy’s Palace), Dijon, Côte-d’Or departement, Burgundy, France, circa 1940s

Palais ducal de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Pont ferroviaire de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Pont ferroviaire de Nevers, France in the 1940s

Rue de calvaire, Nevers, France in the 1940s

Rue du Palais Dijon, France in the 1940s