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

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Actor Richard Thomas still perhaps remains best known for his role as “John-Boy” Walton on TV’s long-running historical drama The Waltons, which ran from 1972 to 1977. After the series ended, Thomas managed to successfully carve out a storied career on both stage and screen, with roles in the original miniseries of Stephen King’s It in the 1990s, FX’s The Americans in the 2010s, and Netflix’s Ozark in the 2020s. He earned rave reviews for his performance as Atticus Finch in a national tour of To Kill A Mockingbird, and, at the age of 75, picked up a Tony nomination for The Balusters in 2026. 

JOHN TRAVOLTA 

After a handful of minor television roles in the early 1970s, John Travolta became one of the decade’s biggest stars, thanks to an extraordinary trio of consecutive credits—Carrie, Saturday Night Fever and Grease—in 1976, 1977, 1978. He remained one of Hollywood’s biggest stars throughout the 80s and 90s, with roles in the likes of Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Face/Off and Primary Colors, and has continued to work prolifically ever since. More recently, however, aside from a notable cross-dressing role in the big-screen adaptation of Hairspray in 2007, Travolta’s movies have included a string of direct-to-video releases and he has kept something of a low profile in Hollywood in the 2020s. 

LINDSAY WAGNER 

Having modelled and acted in film and television since the late 1960s, Lindsay Wagner became a major star of the 1970s when she was cast as The Bionic Woman, in TV’s spinoff from Lee Majors’ The Six Million Dollar Man in 1976. The show, which featured several crossovers with Majors’, earned Wagner an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. Wagner has continued to act since, racking up a long list of credits in television movies, alongside guest appearances in the likes of Warehouse 13 and Grey’s Anatomy. 

HENRY WINKLER 

Thanks to his lead role as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli in the 70s sitcom Happy Days, actor Henry Winkler became one of the decade’s biggest TV stars (as well as an eternal fashion icon and epitome of cool). The role proved so popular, however, that Winkler was largely typecast after the show came to an end after 10 years in 1984. But in the 2000s, he began a long-overdue resurgence as a character actor and comic, thanks to roles in the likes of Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and HBO’s Barry. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2025—the same year he celebrated his 80th birthday.

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