VH1’s I Love the ‘80s: Real-life people of 1981
by renebird | created - 06 Mar 2023 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicTo honor the Now Yearbook: 1981 release in the UK on 20 May 2022, VH1 has compiled you the real life people of 1981 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 1981: "Keep on Loving You" by the REO Speedwagon, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" by Foreigner, and "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
• Babes of 1981: Olivia Newton-John, Donna Dixon, Valerie Bertinelli, Kathleen Turner, and Sandra Day O'Connor
• Hunks of 1981: Patrick Duffy, Burt Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Mick Jagger, and Richard Simmons
• PSAs of 1981: Girl Scouts in gymnastics and "Think Before You Drink" (antidrinking ad starring Brooke Shields)
• Then and Now 1981: Tom Cruise (Then: "Endless Love" / Now: Endless cash), movie tickets (Then: $3 / Now: $10), and suntan lotion (Then: Oil / Now: SPF 70)
• Mr. and Ms. 1981: Tom Selleck and Sheena Easton
• Born in 1981: Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, the laptop (originally invented in 1980), Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, the thong, Serena Williams, and Metallica
• Break Up Songs: "Since You're Gone" by The Cars, "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League, and "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" by The Greg Kihn Band
• Hip Hop Jam of 1981: "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow
• Nerds of 1981: King Charles, Ric Ocasek, and Bill Gates
• What the F**k!!! Moment of 1981: The USDA, as part of a plan to cut school lunch programs, attempted to classify ketchup as a school lunch vegetable.
• Movies That Should've Been Made in 3D: "Clash of the Titans", "Arthur", and "My Dinner with Andre"
• Teen Idols of 1981: Timothy Hutton, Todd Bridges, and Rick Springfield
• Best On Screen Hookup of 1981: Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog in "The Great Muppet Caper"
• Biggest Boob of 1981: Miss New York Deborah Fountain
• Hot Moms of 1981: Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, and Barbara Eden
• Pop Culture Term of 1981: dude (noun)
• Guilty or Not Guilty 1981: Richard Simmons for bad faditude (guilty)
• Year in Review 1981: Penny Racers, "Escape from New York", "Chariots of Fire", "Body Heat", "You Can't Do That on Television", Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, country pop, Erasermate, the first portable microcomputer; "History of the World, Part I"; "An American Werewolf in London", "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy, "Gimme a Break!", and the Mediterranean fruit fly infestation
Now Yearbook: 1981
1.2. The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (3)
1.13. Blondie - Rapture (1) ★
1.15. Olivia Newton-John - Physical (1) ★
1.16. Stars on 45 - Stars on 45 (1) ★
1.19. Smokey Robinson - Being with You (2)
2.4. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes (1) ★
2.5. REO Speedwagon - Keep on Loving You (1) ★
2.6. Electric Light Orchestra - Hold On Tight (10)
2.7. The Who - You Better You Bet (18)
2.13. Yarbrough and Peoples - Don't Stop the Music (19)
2.18. Earth, Wind, & Fire - Let's Groove (3)
2.19. The Whispers: It's a Love Thing (28)
2.20. Four Tops - When She Was My Girl (11)
2.21. Champaign - How 'Bout Us (12)
3.1. John Lennon - Woman (2)
3.3. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie - Endless Love (1) ★
3.5. Sheena Easton - For Your Eyes Only (4)
Now Yearbook: 1981 Extra
1.1. John Lennon - Watching the Wheels (10)
1.19. The Pointer Sisters - Slow Hand (2)
1.21. Grover Washington Jr. - Just the Two of Us (2)
1.22. Diana Ross - It's My Turn (9)
2.8. Electric Light Orchestra - Twilight (38)
2.9. Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams (5)
2.10. Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl (1) ★
2.11. REO Speedwagon - Take It on the Run (5)
2.12. Juice Newton - Angel of the Morning (4)
Now Yearbook: 1980–1984 — The Final Chapter
1.18. Neil Diamond - Love on the Rocks (2)
Now Yearbook: 1980–1984 — The Final Chapter Extra
1.16. Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (9)
1. Olivia Newton-John
Soundtrack | Grease
Olivia Newton-John was an English singer and actress who was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. In 1954, her family relocated to Australia when her father was offered a job as the dean of a Presbyterian college in Melbourne. After winning a singing talent contest...
Status: Down Under Babe
2. Donna Dixon
Actress | Spies Like Us
Donna was raised in Lorton, Virginia, where her father owned the local nightclub, "Hillbilly Heaven". She was working as a model and attending college when she landed her first regular role on TV's Bosom Buddies (1980). While filming Doctor Detroit (1983), she met and married co-star Dan Aykroyd. ...
Status: Bosom Buddies Babe
3. Valerie Bertinelli
Actress | One Day at a Time
Valerie Bertinelli was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Nancy (Carvin) and Andrew Francis Bertinelli, Jr., a General Motors executive, and raised with her one older and two younger brothers. In her early teens, her father was transferred to a GM assembly plant in the Detroit, Michigan area and her ...
Status: Cute as a Button Babe
4. Kathleen Turner
Actress | Romancing the Stone
Kathleen Turner was born June 19, 1954 in Springfield, Missouri, to Patsy (Magee) and Allen Richard Turner, a U.S. Foreign Service officer. She graduated from American School in London in 1972. After the death of her father, the Turner family moved back to the United States where Kathleen later ...
Status: Body Heat Babe
5. Sandra Day O'Connor
Actress | Wallace Stegner
A mild-mannered jurist who thinks carefully before she speaks or makes decisions, Sandra Day O'Connor does not project the figure of a trailblazer. But she became exactly that. She was the daughter of cattle ranchers Henry Day and Ada Wilkey. She was a true child of the frontier, learning how to ...
Status: Gavel Banging Babe
6. Patrick Duffy
Actor | Dallas
Youngest of 2 children, and only son born to Terrence and Marie Duffy. Patrick was born in Montana, where his parents owned local taverns, and raised in Everett, Washington, since age 12. He wanted to become a professional athlete, and became a certified scuba diver while in his teens. However, his...
Status: South Fork Hunk
7. Burt Reynolds
Actor | Boogie Nights
Enduring, strong-featured, and genial star of US cinema, Burt Reynolds started off in T.V. westerns in the 1960s and then carved his name into 1970s/1980s popular culture, as a sex symbol (posing nearly naked for "Cosmopolitan" magazine), and on-screen as both a rugged action figure and then as a ...
Status: Hunk Hall of Fame Hunk
8. Harrison Ford
Actor | Raiders of the Lost Ark
Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father was of Irish and German ancestry, while his maternal grandparents were Jewish emigrants from Minsk, ...
Status: Whip Wielding Hunk
9. Mick Jagger
Soundtrack | Alfie
Michael Philip Jagger was born in Dartford, Kent on 26th July 1943. When he was 4 he met Keith Richards until they went into secondary schools and lost touch. But one day in 1960 they accidentally met on the Dartford train line and both realized that they had an interest in rock n roll combined ...
Status: "Start Me Up" Hunk
10. Richard Simmons
Richard Simmons was born on July 12, 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for What Women Want (2000), CHiPs (1977) and The Larry Sanders Show (1992).
Status (2002): "Live It" Hunk Status (3D): Guilty
11. Tom Selleck
Actor | Blue Bloods
Thomas William Selleck is an American actor and film producer, best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator "Thomas Magnum" on the 1980s television series, Magnum, P.I. (1980).
Selleck was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Martha (Jagger), a homemaker, and Robert Dean Selleck, a...
Status: Mr. 1981
12. Sheena Easton
Soundtrack | For Your Eyes Only
Sheena Easton started off as a worldwide sensation in the music industry. Since then she has expanded to movies (All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996), Indecent Proposal (1993)), Broadway ("Man of La Mancha") and TV (Body Bag (1997), Highlander (1992), Gargoyles (1994), Jack's Place (1992), The Adventures...
Status: Ms. 1981
13. Alicia Keys
Soundtrack | The Secret Life of Bees
Alicia Keys was born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, to Terria Joseph (née Teresa M. Augello), a paralegal who was also an occasional actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant. Her father is African-American and her mother, who is Caucasian, is of Italian and English/Irish/Scottish ancestry. Alicia...
14. Beyoncé
Soundtrack | Dreamgirls
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas. Her mom, Tina Knowles designs their glittering costumes & her dad, Mathew Knowles manages Destiny's Child. Solange, her sister (they're 4 years apart) has released her debut album. She dances with her big sister during DC-3 ...
15. Justin Timberlake
Soundtrack | Trolls
Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Lynn (Bomar) and Randall Timberlake, whose own father was a Baptist minister. At the age of 11, he appeared on the show Star Search (1983), and even though he didn't win, it didn't dampen his ambitions. He also ...
16. Britney Spears
Soundtrack | Crossroads
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi & raised in Kentwood, Louisiana. As a child, Britney attended dance classes, and she was great at gymnastics, winning many competitions and the like. But, most of all, Britney loved to sing. At age 8, Britney tried out for The ...
17. Serena Williams
Actress | Pixels
Serena Williams is one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. She earned her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open in 1999, and won a string of five Grand Slam singles title wins: the 2002 French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open titles and the 2003 Australian Open and her second...
18. Metallica
Soundtrack | Mission: Impossible II
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California by drummer Lars Ulrich and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield, and has been based in San Francisco, California for most of its career. The group's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship ...
19. King Charles III
Actor | Coronation Street
King Charles III was born November 14, 1948. His first military services appointment was in 1969. His favorite food is scrambled eggs and he likes to drink whisky. He enjoys going to Scotland, UK; Klosters, Switzerland; and the Eleuthra in the Caribbean. He enjoys hunting, shooting, fishing, polo, ...
Status: Nerd
20. Ric Ocasek
Soundtrack | Super 8
Ric Ocasek was born on March 23, 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Super 8 (2011), The Saint (1997) and Transformers (2007). He was married to Paulina Porizkova, Suzanne LaPointe and Constance Campbell. He died on September 15, 2019 in Manhattan, New York ...
Status: Nerd
21. Bill Gates
Actor | Frasier
Born William Henry III is an American entrepreneur, business mogul, investor, philanthropist, and widely known as one of the most richest and influential people in the world. William Henry III was born to attorney, William Henry II and teacher, Mary Maxwell Gates in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Bill ...
Status: Nerd
22. Timothy Hutton
Actor | Ordinary People
Timothy Hutton was born in Malibu, California, one of three children born to Maryline (Poole), a teacher, and actor Jim Hutton (Dana James Hutton). He burst onto the acting scene in the late 1970s. After only a few significant roles in TV movies, he bagged the part of Conrad in the Robert Redford-...
Status: Teen Idol
23. Todd Bridges
Actor | Diff'rent Strokes
Actor Todd Bridges has seen and done it all. Todd has lived and worked amongst some of the most famous and influential individuals in the world. For over twenty-five years, he has victoriously survived a rapidly changing business. He experienced his second rise to fame, as "Juice" on The Young and ...
Status: Teen Idol
24. Rick Springfield
Actor | Mission: Magic!
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe in Guildford, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, a Lt. Colonel in the Australian Army. His maternal grandparents were English, and his father was of English and some Scottish descent. ...
Status: Teen Idol
25. Jane Fonda
Actress | Klute
Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario-born New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was ...
Status: Hot Mom
26. Faye Dunaway
Actress | Bonnie and Clyde
An icy, elegant blonde with a knack for playing complex and strong-willed female leads, enormously popular actress Faye Dunaway starred in several films which defined what many would come to call Hollywood's "second Golden Age." During her tenure at the top of the box office, she was a more than ...
Status: Hot Mom
27. Barbara Eden
Actress | I Dream of Jeannie
Barbara Eden, born Barbara Jean Morehead in Tucson, Arizona, became one of America's most endearing and enduring actresses. A graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, California, Eden would go on to study at San Francisco's City College as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of ...
Status: Hot Mom
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