VH1’s I Love the ‘80s: Real-life people of 1983

by renebird | created - 06 Mar 2023 | updated - 4 months ago | Public

To honor the Now Yearbook: 1983 release in the UK on 25 June 2021, VH1 has compiled you the real life people of 1983 who are presented in every segment of their version of BBC's I Love the '80s series. I'm not including fictional characters.

Resulting segment list • Makeout Songs of 1983: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, "True" by the Spandau Ballet, and "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye • Babes of 1983: Maud Adams, Vanity, Joan Collins, Christie Brinkley, and Rebecca de Mornay • Hunks of 1983: Lee Horsley, Rob Lowe, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Boxleitner, and Chewbacca • PSAs of 1983: Smokey Bear - Mask of Joanna Cassidy and "We're not candy!" (about kids finding pills out of the bottle and accidentally eating them) by the Poison Control Center • Then and Now 1983: Talent shows (Then: "Star Search" / Now: "American Idol"), cell phones (Then: $3,000 / Now: Given away), and home video camera (Then: 6.5 lbs. (Sony Betamovie) / Now: 12 oz. (Sony MicroMV Handycam)) • Mr. and Ms. 1983: Tom Cruise and Ms. Pac-Man • Born in 1983: Michelle Branch, Bon Jovi, Nintendo, Taylor Hanson, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers • Break Up Songs of 1983: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey, "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes • Hip Hop Jam of 1983: "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" by Melle Mel • Nerds of 1983: Wonka Nerds, LeVar Burton, and Simon Seville • What the F**k!!! Moment of 1983: The Beach Boys were banned from playing the July 4 celebration because Secretary of the Interior James Watt said he didn't want the wrong element showing up. • Movies That Should've Been Made in 3D: "Scarface", "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life", and "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi" • Teen Idols of 1983: Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, and Emilio Estevez • Best On Screen Hookup of 1983: Tom Cruise and Rebecca de Mornay in "Risky Business" • Biggest Boobs of 1983: Kiss • Hot Moms of 1983: Beverly D'Angelo, Susan Clark, and Jacqueline Bisset • Pop Culture Term of 1983: hoser (adjective) • Guilty or Not Guilty 1983: Cabbage Patch Kids for inciting a riot (guilty) • Year in Review 1983: "Jaws 3D", the Quiet Riot, "Reading Rainbow", "Truly Tasteless Jokes", the Jheri curl, "Mr. Mom", "Terms of Endearment", ZZ Top, "Star Search", "Press Your Luck", Monchhichis, Jesse Jackson runs for President, and "D.C. Cab"

Now Yearbook: 1983 1.2. Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1) ★ 1.3. Duran Duran - Is There Something I Should Know? (4) 1.5. Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (5) 1.6. Spandau Ballet - True (4) 1.8. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton - Islands in the Stream (1) ★ 1.9. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart (1) ★ 1.10. Elton John - I'm Still Standing (12) 1.11. Billy Joel - Uptown Girl (3) 1.12. Electric Light Orchestra - Rock 'n' Roll Is King (19) 1.16. Men at Work - Down Under (1) ★ 2.1. Irene Cara - Flashdance... What a Feeling (1) ★ 2.2. Lionel Richie - All Night Long (All Night) (1) ★ 2.14. Shalamar - Dead Giveaway (22) 2.20. Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack - Tonight, I Celebrate My Love (16) 3.3. The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination (8) 3.14. Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance (3) 4.1. The Police - Every Breath You Take (1) ★ 4.2. Toto - Africa (1) ★ 4.3. Robert Plant - Big Log (20) 4.8. Duran Duran - Union of the Snake (3)

Now Yearbook: 1983 Extra 1.2. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson - Say Say Say (1) ★ 1.8. Culture Club - Church of the Poison Mind (10) 1.11. Billy Joel - Tell Her About It (1) ★ 1.12. The Kinks - Come Dancing (6) 1.16. Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Everyday I Write the Book (36) 1.17. Patti Austin and James Ingram - Baby, Come to Me (1) ★ 1.18. Hall & Oates - Family Man (6) 2.17. Michael Sembello - Maniac (1) ★

Now Yearbook: 1980–1984 — The Final Chapter 1.2. Eurythmics - Love Is a Stranger (23) 1.16. Elton John - Kiss the Bride (25) 3.4. Rick Springfield - Human Touch (18) 3.7. Hall & Oates - Say It Isn't So (2) 3.9. The Fixx: One Thing Leads to Another (4) 3.13. JoBoxers - Just Got Lucky (36)

1. Maud Adams

Actress | Octopussy

Stunning Swedish born ex-model who broke into film in 1970, and quickly appeared in several high profile films including playing the ex-wife of James Caan in the futuristic Rollerball (1975) and the ill-fated lover of super-assassin Francisco Scaramanga played by Christopher Lee in The Man with the...

Status: 007 Babe

2. Vanity

Actress | Action Jackson

Vanity was a glamorous Canadian model and lead singer of the all-girl group "Vanity 6." She specialized in playing sultry female characters often in trouble with the law.

Vanity was born Denise Katherine Matthews in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Helga Senyk and James Levia Matthews...

Status: Prince Babe

3. Joan Collins

Actress | Dynasty

Joan Collins is an English actress from Paddington, London. She is most famous for playing the role of vengeful schemer Alexis Carrington Colby in the soap opera "Dynasty" (1981-1989). In 1997, She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In 2015, She...

Status: Backstabbing Babe

4. Christie Brinkley

Actress | National Lampoon's Vacation

Christie Brinkley was born on February 2, 1954 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an actress, known for Vacation (1983), Jack and Jill (2011) and Vegas Vacation (1997). She was previously married to Peter Cook, Richard Taubman, Billy Joel and Jean-François Allaux.

Status: "Billy Got Lucky" Babe

5. Rebecca De Mornay

Actress | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Rebecca De Mornay was born 1959 as Rebecca Jane Pearch, in Santa Rosa, CA, to Wally George and Julie Eager. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother moved to Pasadena and married Richard De Mornay, who adopted her. After her stepfather's untimely death in 1962, Rebecca's mother moved...

Status: Train Sex Babe

6. Lee Horsley

Actor | The Sword and the Sorcerer

Lee Horsley was born on May 15, 1955 in Muleshoe, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982), The Hateful Eight (2015) and Paradise (1988). He has been married to Stephanie Downer since December 25, 1980. They have two children.

Status: Matt Houston Hunk

7. Rob Lowe

Actor | St. Elmo's Fire

Rob Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, to Barbara Lynn (Hepler), a schoolteacher, and Charles Davis Lowe, a lawyer. His brother is actor Chad Lowe. He has German, as well as English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. Lowe's family moved to Dayton, Ohio, when he was a child. Rob broke ...

Status: "Slept with My Mother" Hunk

8. Marvin Gaye

Soundtrack | High Fidelity

Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. (known professionally as Marvin Gaye; April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames ...

Status: "Sexual Healing" Hunk

9. Bruce Boxleitner

Actor | Babylon 5

As one of Hollywood's leading men, Bruce Boxleitner has starred in a major motion picture franchise, numerous feature films, and several popular television series, produced a major network film and TV series, performed on Broadway, and authored two science fiction novels.

Boxleitner received his ...

Status: Scarecrow and Mrs. King Hunk

10. Tom Cruise

Actor | Top Gun

In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. ...

Status (2002): Mr. 1983 Status (3D): Teen Idol

11. Michelle Branch

Soundtrack | The Hot Chick

Michelle Branch was born on July 2, 1983 in Sedona, Arizona as Michelle Jaquet DeSevren Branch. She was born 7 weeks early, weighing only 3 lbs. 11 oz. When she was 3, she recorded herself singing Beatles covers on her parents karaoke machine & sent them off to her grandmother. She took up singing ...

12. Bon Jovi

Soundtrack | Spaceballs

Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John Such quit the band in 1994, and longtime guitarist and co-songwriter ...

13. Taylor Hanson

Soundtrack | Trust

Blond hair, blue eyes, wears a necklace with The Star of David, a Cross, & a Soccer Ball. Instruments: Keyboard, piano and tambourine. Lived in Trinidad, Ecuador and Venezuela before moving with his family to Tulsa, OK. Albums include: Boomerang (independent release, 1995), MMMBop (independent ...

14. Red Hot Chili Peppers

Soundtrack | Twister

Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk rock and psychedelic rock. Currently, the band consists of founding members vocalist ...

15. LeVar Burton

Actor | Star Trek: Generations

LeVar Burton was born on February 16, 1957 in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). He has been married to Stephanie Cozart Burton since October 3, 1992. ...

Status: Nerd

16. Patrick Swayze

Actor | Dirty Dancing

Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18, 1952 in Houston, Texas, to Patsy Swayze (née Yvonne Helen Karnes), a choreographer, and Jesse Wayne Swayze, a chemical plant engineer draftsman. His mother owned a dance school in Houston, where Patrick was also a student. His father passed away in 1982. ...

Status: Teen Idol

17. Matt Dillon

Actor | Crash

Matt Dillon's successful film career has spanned over three decades and has showcased his wide range of dramatic and comedic talents. Dillon displayed his versatility with an arresting performance co-starring as a racist cop in the critically acclaimed Paul Haggis film Crash. This role earned him ...

Status: Teen Idol

18. C. Thomas Howell

Actor | The Outsiders

After an eye-catching performance in the teen coming-of-age epic The Outsiders (1983), ex-child rodeo star C. Thomas Howell was a promising young actor in the mid-1980s.

Christopher Thomas Howell was born in Los Angeles to Candice (Webb) and Chris Howell (a professional bull rider turned stuntman). ...

Status: Teen Idol

19. Ralph Macchio

Actor | The Karate Kid Part III

Ralph George Macchio was born on November 4, 1961 in Huntington, Long Island, New York. He started out in various TV commercials in the late 1970s before appearing in the puerile comedy movie Up the Academy (1980), then a regular role in 1980 on the television series Eight Is Enough (1977) followed...

Status: Teen Idol

20. Emilio Estevez

Actor | The Way

Emilio Estevez was born on May 12, 1962, in New York City. He is the eldest son of actor Martin Sheen, who at the time was just breaking into the business. His mother, Janet Sheen (née Templeton), was a former New York art student who had met Emilio's father right after he had moved to Manhattan. ...

Status: Teen Idol

21. KISS

Soundtrack | The Nice Guys

KISS is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with their elaborate live performances, which featured ...

Status: Biggest Boobs

22. Beverly D'Angelo

Actress | National Lampoon's Vacation

Intriguing, inspiring, and never less than interesting -- key adjectives in describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has well passed the four-decade mark. Perhaps deserving better movies than she generally found herself in, she nevertheless was always an object of fascination and the one to...

Status: Hot Mom

23. Susan Clark

Actress | Coogan's Bluff

Award-winning Canadian actress Susan Clark, born on March 8, 1943, took up acting at an early age (12) in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. Her family moved to Toronto around that period of time and she joined the Toronto Children's Players Theatre. Her first professional curtain call took place on ...

Status: Hot Mom

24. Jacqueline Bisset

Actress | Bullitt

Jacqueline Bisset has been an international film star since the late '60s. She received her first roles mainly because of her stunning beauty, but over time she has become a fine actress respected by fans and critics alike. Bisset has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, George ...

Status: Hot Mom



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