If you were a teen at any point in the pre-internet 80s then I’m sure you can appreciate the process of going into a video store, renting both the VCR and VHS tapes, hoping Mom or Dad didn’t find the movie cover to provocative, and then setting it all up and falling in love with Phoebe Cates. Am I wrong? Thought not.
I’ve come across this fine list and I wish to share the important research done by Larson Hill over at The Deadbolt. Here is how the list starts and ends, to peruse all twenty legs read the entire Deadbolt article.
1)
Phoebe Cates
I have to admit that Phoebe Cates’ role in the now classic cult hit Fast Times at Ridgemont High caught my eye like every other guy’s in the ‘80s, but it was Private School that I was trying to sneak into the theater to see. I can’t remember how I eventually did it, but that was the Phoebe Cates movie I wanted to see most in the early ‘80s. Cates wasn’t the biggest actress or the most popular of the ‘80s, but she carved out her own unique space in the decade. Although Cates landed a role in the Steven Spielberg produced hit Gremlins and later a part in Bright Lights, Big City, which gave a new air of credibility as an actress, it was her persona as the hot teen girl guys wanted to see most in movies that furthered her career throughout the decade. It’s hard not to think of Cates and movies like Fast Times, Private School, Date with an Angel and Shag without thinking of fun, campy comedy and young sexual tension. In a lot of ways, Cates is the Debbie Rochon of campy teen comedies… and that’s pretty damn hot.
10)
Heather Locklear
One of the most epic battles of the ‘80s was the clash of the TV blondes and the competitive war between Heather Locklear and Heather Thomas. Almost at the same time, Heather Locklear co-starred in T.J Hooker with William Shatner while Thomas co-starred opposite former Six Million Dollar man Lee Majors in The Fall Guy. Guys either liked Locklear or Thomas, but rarely both. Obviously Locklear won the battle, having gone on to even bigger heights after landing a recurring role on one of most popular shows of the ‘80s in Dynasty while still working on T.J. Hooker. Locklear tried to make the leap into film with a role in the movie version of Stephen King’s Firestarter, but she mainly earned her fame as a TV actress. Although Dynasty proved that Locklear could hold her own alongside seasoned TV greats John Forsyth, Joan Collins, and Linda Evans, she still projected a “sweet girl” image to her fans. What we didn’t know about Locklear back in the ‘80s is that she had a wild side and penchant for bad boy rockers, which shocked everyone at the time. In case you didn’t know, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was married to Heather Locklear for seven years before tying the knot with Pam Anderson. After moving on to become an even bigger primetime soap star in the ‘90s on Melrose Place, Locklear has long been considered the go-to girl of TV.
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