'70s Heartthrobs Who Are Barely Recognizable Today

In the 1970s, the Bee Gees were "Stayin' Alive," Joanie loved Chachi, everyone wanted their hair feathered like Farrah, and David Cassidy smiled down from almost every teenager's wall. Cassidy was just one of a slew of celebrities who got pulses racing. "Tiger Beat" was filled with page after page of '70s heartthrobs, many of whom are barely recognizable today. Sure, time has played a role in the transformations of these former hunks, but for some, the changes had to do with trying to beat Mother Nature at her own game.

Times have changed since the days of disco. That's not necessarily a bad thing because, let's face it, there are some vintage 1970s celeb styles that would look seriously bizarre today. But we're talking about more than just retiring their bell-bottoms and puka beads when it comes to these former heartthrobs. We're talking about total reinventions that, in some cases, go beyond just the physical. Some have remained relevant in the entertainment industry, some have pivoted to other careers, and some have completely retreated from the public eye. There are a few who have continued to enjoy success, while others have fallen prey to the perils of fame and excess to wind up a shadow of their former selves. Though they may look a bit different today, these celebs all have one thing in common: they were part of an era, and their names can still make a nostalgic heart race.

A "nepo baby" long before the concept had a name, Shaun Cassidy made fans swoon with his big hazel eyes and "aw, shucks" smile. The son of the late Tony Award-winning actor Jack Cassidy and Oscar-winning actor Shirley Jones, Cassidy was born with a double dose of talent. He followed in the footsteps of his late older half-brother and fellow heartthrob, David Cassidy, of "The Partridge Family" fame, and made a name for himself as both a pop star and an actor starring in "The Hardy Boys." But unlike his older brother, who seemed to live for the limelight, Cassidy wasn't comfortable in its glare. "I've never enjoyed being a public figure, the "Hey Deanie" singer told People in 2025. "I don't like all the attention. I'm basically an introvert. I don't really like being famous."

Cassidy, a father of seven, eventually stepped out from in front of the camera to find success behind the scenes, writing and producing hit shows like "American Gothic," "Cold Case," and "Blue Bloods," among others. Happily married to his third wife, Tracey Lynne Turner, he also enjoys a close relationship with his niece, David Cassidy's daughter, Katie Cassidy. The stunning transformation of the "Arrow" star into an A-list celebrity is proof that she may have inherited a good dose of the family genetics. When he's not writing hit shows, Cassidy can be found back on stage performing some of his classic hits to audiences who still believe in his magic.

The Bee Gees were one of the biggest groups of the 1970s, and arguably walked so that the likes of Hanson and the Jonas Brothers could run. Their amazing harmonies and falsettos made them stars, but it was Barry Gibb's mane of hair and soulful brown eyes that stole the show, only fueling the drama and dissension in the ranks. It was particularly challenging for his brother, Robin Gibb, who left the group briefly. "I remember lots of intense arguments, not speaking to each other for weeks and then coming back together again," Gibb told The Telegraph.

With the death of disco came a backlash for the Bee Gees, who were ridiculed for their look and sound. "There was a time when it wasn't cool to even be seen with The Bee Gees," the singer admitted. Rather than try to rebrand, they wrote hit songs for other artists — including hits like "Islands in the Stream," a duet made famous by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. "When we did 'Islands In The Stream,' it was our way of getting other people to hear our songs," Gibb told Classic Pop, and added that if they sang it themselves, the radio stations wouldn't have played it.

Today, Barry Gibb is the last Bee Gee brother standing, and he rocks long, gray hair, plus a matching beard. He continued to make music with other Gibb boys with his second solo album. "It took me a year to do and I co-wrote it all with my sons, Steven and Ashley," he told Classic Pop. "So the same circumstances seemed to prevail. It wasn't about brothers but about sons this time."

The stunning transformation of John Travolta from a '70s heartthrob known for his dance moves to a Hollywood A-lister known for his action movies has been quite a journey. Like any journey, it was filled with ups and downs. The highs included twirling the late Princess Diana around a dance floor and receiving two Oscar nominations. However, the tragic details about John Travolta's life include the death of his first real love, actor Diana Hyland, the death of Jett, the oldest of three children he shared with his beloved wife Kelly Preston, and finally, the tragic death of Kelly Preston herself. That's a lot for anyone to handle, and the "Grease" star told Esquire Mexico that he has learned a lot about grief and grieving. "Grief is personal and finding your own path is what could lead to healing," he described. "It's different than someone else's journey." 

Travolta has continued to act since his wife's death, and fans couldn't help but notice a radical transformation in his appearance over the years. Gone is the thick, dark hair of his youth, with Travolta instead debuting a shaved head in 2019, paired with a beard. The "Pulp Fiction" star has credited Pitbull for encouraging him to embrace his baldness. "A good friend, Armando Perez, Pitbull, he lives his life like this," Travolta told Extra. "He would send pictures of me, I have all my hair, and he'd superimpose no hair and say, 'I prefer this.' ... I thought, 'Maybe it's time to actually do it.'"

As one member of the rowdy Duke family on the hit show "The Dukes of Hazzard," John Schneider made more than the General Lee's engine rev. Fans everywhere were starstruck by the handsome, blue-eyed blonde who, when he wasn't raising hell in Hazzard County, was topping the country charts with hits like "Country Girls" and "You're the Last Thing I Needed Tonight."

Schneider's career took a turn shortly after "The Dukes of Hazzard" was cancelled, and so did his first marriage to news anchor Tawny Godin. In 1998, Schneider moved in with good friends Johnny and June Cash, and, inspired by the famous couple, became a born-again Christian. In the same decade, he took a recurring role on "Touched By An Angel," became involved in charity work, and founded FaithWorks Productions to produce more family-friendly content.

His career picked back up with steady work on shows like "Smallville" and "Nip/Tuck," and he gave marriage another shot with Elvira 'Elly' Castle. The couple were together for 21 years and welcomed a daughter before Castle filed for divorce. This separation turned nasty, landing the star in jail for missed alimony payments. Schneider moved on with a role on Tyler Perry's "The Haves and the Have Nots" and with a new wife, Alicia Allain. The two worked on several indie projects before she sadly died of breast cancer. "As bad as I hurt, I wouldn't trade a minute of it," Schnieder told People. "Heaven is real, and I'll get there one day, and she'll greet me." Nowadays, you can find Schneider — whose most recent television appearance was on "The Masked Singer" — with gray hair instead of blonde and an occasional matching beard.

With his shaggy blonde hair and surfer boy looks, pop star Leif Garrett was one of the biggest heartthrobs of the '70s. Many fans remember him for his hit song, "I Was Made for Dancin'," but true devotees know that his career started on screen. From the tender age of 5, Garrett was landing small parts on both the small and large screens. His big break came when he landed a lead role on the short-lived CBS series "Three for the Road." The show might not have taken off, but Garrett did. Fan mail poured in, and the Hollywood powers that be saw an opportunity. "Nobody ever came up to me and said, 'Hey kid, can you sing?' " he once told The Washington Post. "It was just, 'Hey kid, do you wanna make a record?' 

However, Garrett's stint as a teen idol was cut short when, while driving under the influence, he had a horrible accident that left his best friend, Roland Winkler, paralyzed from the waist down. What followed was a downhill spiral of drugs and alcohol.  Garrett's life story famously played out on VH1's "Behind the Music," where he made peace with the late Winkler, whom he hadn't seen in years. Garrett is reportedly sober these days, but his career never quite recovered. One of his latest reported appearances was at the bar of Hotel Ziggy in West Hollywood in 2022, his trademark blonde hair replaced by long gray braids as he sang The Rolling Stones' classic "Honky Tonk Woman."

If you are an '80s baby, you probably remember Rick Springfield as the singer of the popular 1981 chart topper, "Jessie's Girl."  What you may not know is that for years before he crooned about pining for his best friend's girl, Springfield was already a huge pop star in his native Australia. His popularity in Oz during the 1970s earned the handsome hunk a U.S. record deal, but his success down under didn't immediately translate to American audiences. "They started putting me in all these teen magazines and that was just, I had no idea what a teen magazine was," Springfield recalled during an appearance on The Eddie Trunk Podcast. "So I'm going, this is not right. I came over [to America] to be a musician, and they're trying to sell me with all these Williams Brothers and all these teen idols from the '70s."

Springfield pivoted into acting, making appearances on several popular shows before landing the role of Noah Drake on "General Hospital." The part made him a star, but nearly killed his singing career. "I was always very, very severely battered by critics because, according to most critics, I came out of a soap opera, which is not true because I was playing guitar since I was 14 years old," the singer explained on the podcast. Springfield continued to juggle acting and singing and has enjoyed years of success in each. Unsurprisingly, a lot has changed about Springfield over the years, including his once-dark hair. However, he continues to tour, and while he may no longer be a teen idol, he's one former heartthrob who can still hold his own.

If the steely blue eyes of Dr. Mauer on "Severance" look familiar, that's because they belong to '70s teen dream Robby Benson. Back in his heyday, Benson became a bona fide heartthrob after landing the role of Nick Peterson in the hit movie "Ice Castles," but what some fans didn't realize is that Benson was more than just a pretty face.

By the time he skated into the hearts of fans, he already had a few roles under his belt, and he sold four scripts to movie powerhouse Warner Bros. before the age of 18. With so many accomplishments, the one that stood out the most for the hunky star had nothing to do with acting. "That was a wonderful period of my life," Benson told People. "I loved my fans. But what I remember most about my 20s was meeting Karla and falling in love and having our first baby."

The Karla in question is Karla DeVito, Benson's wife of more than four decades, with whom he shares two children. The pair met while starring on Broadway, and for Benson, it was love at first sight. "I fell in love with her immediately and begged her to marry me for a year," he confessed. Today, Benson is gray-haired and most often bearded. While he is happy to still be a working actor, the role he relishes most isn't Dr. Maur, but rather being a grandpa. "Being a grandparent is the greatest feeling you could ever wish to experience," he told Closer Weekly. He added, "It makes me reevaluate my hours and priorities."

Willie Aames was a child actor who went on to become a teen idol after landing the role of Tommy Bradford on the popular '70s show "Eight Is Enough." Aames, who was raking in more than $1 million per year in his heyday, continued to work steadily throughout the '80s, starring in movies and the hit sitcom "Charles in Charge." It looked like the golden-haired boy could do no wrong — until he lost it all thanks to drugs and alcohol. "I found myself virtually homeless," he told "Entertainment Tonight" (via Paramount). "I stayed with friends when I could, slept in parking garages, or slept in the park. It was shameful." 

With no money and no job, the future looked bleak for Aames. "I had a choice. I could either start over at 47, or choose to be a victim," he recalled in an interview with "Studio 10."  Determined not to be defined by what he deemed "really stupid decisions," Aames picked himself up and set sail on a new career path — that of a cruise director for Regent Seven Seas Cruises. "I had to learn who I was again," the "Zapped" star told People. "I had to get over all of the past mistakes." Aames may not rock the same golden curls today, but he has eventually found his way back to acting via Hallmark movies, and he's grateful for his transformation. "There are dozens of me, dozens of actors that went through Hollywood and did the sex, drugs and rock n' roll thing," Aames told The Showbuzz (via CBS News). "I was fortunate that I came out alive." 

Before he was "Charles in Charge," Scott Baio was Chachi Arcola, Fonzie's wise-cracking cousin on 'Happy Days." The role catapulted Baio to heartthrob status and launched a successful spinoff, "Joanie Loves Chachi." "Girls were just crazy for him," co-star Erin Moran, who played Baio's love interest both on and off-screen,  once told People. However, tragic details about "Baywatch" star Nicole Eggert's relationship with Scott Baio surfaced years after the two co-starred on the hit sitcom. Eggert claimed that Baio had sexually abused her from the time she was 14, and later became verbally and physically abusive. The experience took a toll on the young Eggert. "In those days, I had moments of being so hurt and so upset, and even thoughts of ending my life," she told Entertainment Tonight. 

Baio denied Eggert's allegations and claimed that, although the couple did have sex, she was over 18 and it was consensual. He looks markedly different today than he did during his "Happy Days" fame, and while he continued to work in Hollywood for many years, the city eventually lost its charm. Baio and his wife, Renée, instead moved to Florida. "After 45 years, I'm making my way to finally 'exit stage right' from California," the star posted on X in 2023. He cited the Golden State's homelessness problem as one of the many reasons for the relocation. "I've been in California a very, very long time, and it's so sad to me," he told Fox News. "I've got family, and I've got friends there, and I didn't want to leave, but I've been pretty much forced out."

He called it "Puppy Love," but millions of fans had a serious crush on the handsome Donny Osmond. One of nine children, Osmond started performing with his older brothers when he was just 5 years old, but it wasn't until he went out on his own as a teen that he really loved the business. "At around 12 or 13 years old, when I had my first hit record, I thought, 'Okay, this is good. I like this business. This is what I want to be when I grow up,'" Osmond told Ability Magazine. Osmond eventually left his brothers and partnered with his sister, Marie, to host the wildly successful variety show "Donny & Marie." With his trademark purple socks, soulful voice, and big brown eyes, he immediately became a heartthrob. 

Osmond went on to perform on Broadway and make appearances on shows like "Dancing with the Stars."  He reunited with Marie for what was supposed to be a short Las Vegas residency, but it ended up running for more than a decade. When the duo pulled the plug on their Sin City shows, some speculated the Osmond family wasn't as close as it used to be. Osmond, who has five sons of his own, put the rumors to rest. "There's so many projects we want to do individually," he told Entertainment Tonight. "She's got her career, I've got my career... We had no idea it would be 11 years." Osmond later returned to Vegas to headline his own successful show where he performed with — wait for it — an AI version of his teenage self, meaning fans can witness Osmond's transformation over the years with their own eyes.