My name is Bond…James Bond. For movies in the sixties this says it all. Agent 007 starring Sean Connery was very popular, and Connery made five Bond movies in the sixties. The movies were based on books by Ian Fleming. Paul Newman was another one the hottest actors in the 60’s—think Taylor Lautner .

Hollywood was competing against television for an audience. To compete, film makers gave audiences what TV could not…more sex, more blood, stronger language, and more mature themes. By 1968 the film industry was pressured to institute a ratings system of G’s, R’s, and X’s for all movies produced. Television in the 60’s had some classic shows and characters: The Addams Family, Batman, Agent Maxwell Smart in Get Smart, the Mod Squad, The Beverly Hillbillies, Barney Fife and the Andy Griffith Show, Fred Flintstone, Bonanza, Commander James T. Kirk and Star Trek, and Perry Mason. Candid Camera was years ahead of Punk’d , and Eva Gabor in the tv sitcom Green Acres was years ahead of the family in A Simple Life. Anyone who was anyone performed at one time or another on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Before going to bed, instead of Jay Leno or David Letterman, you would tune in to the Johnny Carson show where the announcer would introduce the show by saying, “Heeeeere’s Johnny!”

West Side Story was a play, then was made into a movie in 1961. It depicted gang rivalry between two New York gangs.

Chubby Checker and the twist epitomized the 1960 dance era. On TV, American Bandstand played the latest music, and showed the latest dance moves. For serious dance enthusiasts, there was Martha Graham and Rudolf Nureyev (After reading the intro, click on 1961 Escape to the West).

The Sixties rocked with music: folk music; The Beach Boys/beach music;

Motown, Beatles and the British invasion, as well as country (Hank Williams, Jr.)

The July 7, 1967 issue of Time magazine was entitled: “Hippies: Philosophy of a Subculture.” The issue described love-ins, communes, and flower children. There were beards, beads and bangles, and Peace was their pervading theme. The Woodstock Music Festival of 1969 has become an icon of the 1960s hippie counterculture.

Before Tyra Banks, there was Leslie Hornby. In the 60’s she was called Twiggy. Fashions included mini skirts, Mod designs, madras, bell bottoms, and tie-dyed shirts. Designers Yves St. Laurent and Hubert Givenchy arrived on the scene and their designs were embraced by all who were fashion conscious.

In 1962 Andy Warhol was the father of Pop Art. When he showed his painting of Campbell soup cans, he was both criticized and praised for his new style of “art.” Peter Max was another icon in the art world during the sixties.

More traditional American artists Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper came to the forefront of the art scene in the sixties. In 1963 President John F. Kennedy named Wyeth as the first artist to receive the Presidential Freedom Award.

Chinese born architect I.M. Pei’s work was in great demand in the 1960’s. He is known for innovation in his building design.

The Sixties saw many new products such as Astroturf, IBM selectric typewriter, push button phone, compact disk, and hand held electronic calculator and the first Internet.

The Sixties became a decade of struggle against segregation and discrimination. Included in this decade were Freedom Rides which began May 4, 1961, The March on Washington, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Dr. Martin Luther King, who had a dream of equality for all people, was assassinated in Memphis.

John F. Kennedy brought new life to the White House with his inauguration in 1960. He had to deal with the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, and then was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. His Vice-President, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency.

Known as muscle cars, the Ford Mustang, Pontiac GTO, Camaro and Corvette were among the cars designed for speed and style.

Ralph Nader began a crusade against the Corvair, which he wrote a book about called Unsafe at any Speed.