From Fame to Mystery: What Happened to the 25 Biggest Stars of the 70s?

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British comic actor and writer John Cleese reached worldwide fame as part of BBC surrealist comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which ran from 1969 to 1974. Roles in all the subsequent Monty Python movies followed, but Cleese further cemented his comic legend status with the classic hotel sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975–79). He earned an Oscar nomination in 1989 for his screenplay for classic comedy A Fish Called Wanda, and—now in his mid-80s—has continued to write and perform comedy ever since.

SUSAN DEY

Cassidy’s longtime co-star in The Partridge Family, Susan Dey likewise swept to fame on the show, and quickly became a household name across the United States. A long-running stint in LA Law followed in the 80s and 90s, but Dey has since retired from acting and serves instead on the board of several charitable and nonprofit organizations in New York.

CLINT EASTWOOD

Another of the decade’s biggest stars, Clint Eastwood made his acting debut in 1954 and carved out a memorable career as a star of spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s, before adding a host of new genres and roles to his list of credits in the 1970s and beyond. He made his directorial debut in the noirish thriller Play Misty for Me in 1971, and has continued to work both in front and behind the camera ever since. Now an 11-time Oscar nominee, Eastwood has won four Academy Awards to date—both Best Picture and Best Director for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. He confirmed his retirement from filmmaking in 2026, at the age of 96, after more than 70 years in the business.

FARRAH FAWCETT

Actress and model Farrah Fawcett became one of the biggest stars of the 1970s thanks to her roles in TV’s Six Million Dollar Man, from 1974–78, and Charlie’s Angels, which ran from 1976 to 1981. Fawcett turned to more series drama in the 80s and 90s, picking up Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for well-received miniseries including The Burning Bed and Small Sacrifices. She caused controversy in 1995 by posing for Playboy magazine at the age of 50, and returned to the small screen with TV roles in the likes of Ally McBeal and Spin City in the 2000s. Tragically, her career was cut short by a diagnosis of cancer in 2006, and Fawcett died three years later at the age of 62.

MELISSA GILBERT

Melissa Gilbert starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder in the long-running NBC series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1983, becoming one of the most recognizable faces on American TV. When the series ended, Gilbert continued to act on film and television, most recently appearing in the Hallmark Western series When Calls the Heart in 2026.

PAUL MICHAEL GLASER

Paul Michael Glaser made his acting debut in 1970, but became a breakout star thanks to his role as Sergeant David Starksy in TV’s Starsky & Hutch. The series ran for over 90 episodes from 1975–79, after which Glaser carved out a broader career both on stage and screen, and in front of and behind the camera, and as an artist. Now in his 80s, he continues to act, most recently appearing in the likes of Grace and Frankie and Ray Donovan in the 2010s, and made his first US exhibit of his paintings and photography in 2018.

LARRY HAGMAN

Already well known on television for his role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie in the 1960s, Larry Hagman became better known worldwide in the late 1970s when he was cast as hard-nosed oil baron JR Ewing in Dallas in 1978. The series ran until 1991, by which time it and its characters had become an unstoppable global phenomenon. Sadly, ill health plagued Hagman’s later years, and he had to undergo a life-saving liver transplant just four years after Dallas ended, in 1995. He returned briefly to the series’ reboot on TNT in 2012, but died in the same year at the age of 81.

DUSTIN HOFFMAN

Already one of Hollywood’s biggest stars by the turn of the decade, Dustin Hoffman continued his run of A-list successes in the 1970s, picking up his second and third Oscar nominations for Midnight Cowboy and Lenny (and finally winning for Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980). He won again in 1989 for Rain Man, was nominated for a Tony Award for The Merchant of Venice in 1990, made his directorial debut with Quarter in 2012, and has continued to amass an extraordinary string of stage and screen credits ever since. He will next star in Peter Greenaway’s drama Tower Stories in 2027—the same year he will celebrate his 90th birthday.

LEE MAJORS

Already a household name thanks to the success of 1960s Western series The Big Valley, Lee Majors achieved a new level of fame when he was cast in the title role of sci-fi action series The Six Million Dollar Man in 1973. The series ran for four years, and spawned a string of spin-off television movies in the 1980s and 1990s. Now in his 80s, Major has continued to appear in film and television—and even found time to provide a voice for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.