I'll Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest

Today, blogging buddies Mary Pax, Nicki Elson, and Suze from Analog Breakfast are hosting the Who Was Your 80’s Crush: I’ll Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest!  Since I love me a good blogfest, I wanted to participate, so I signed right up.  Thing is, I couldn’t really recall anyone I was seriously crushin’ on in the 80’s.

Having just graduated high school in 1982, I was a young woman, and very much in love with one young(er) man.  This man eventually became my husband.  Since he was, and still is, exceptionally hot, I really didn’t care too much about any others.

My husband, Eric, as a young man - YUM!

But there was one young actor who was exactly my age and, dare I say, super cute: former teen idol, Johnny Depp.  Even better than cute, he was a rebel, a rocker with his own band, and the owner of a nightclub where all the hot, young LA movie stars hung out.  Oddly enough, his first major film role was as the boyfriend to Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street.  And, stranger still, he was a close friend of gonzo journalist/writer, Hunter S. Thompson, and eventually portrayed him in not one, but two films.  How funny is that?!     

Early in his career, and, apparently, much to his chagrin, Johnny starred in the Fox police drama, 21 Jump Street.  Now, I never even watched that show, but he did manage to turn my head whenever his name appeared in the news, which, back then, was quite often, as he was linked to some highly visible young hotties, namely Twin Peaks actress Sherilyn Fenn, supermodel Kate Moss, and Gen-X rising star Winona Ryder.  And Johnny had a wild streak that often got him into trouble with the purveyors of many a five-star hotel where he allegedly wreaked havoc and destruction. 

Yes, I love bad boys, and, back then, Johnny Depp was King of the Bad Boys.  He calmed way down after the death of his close friend and rising star, River Phoenix, just outside the front door of his West Hollywood nightclub, The Viper Room.  Johnny turned quite introspective shortly thereafter.  It wasn’t much later when Johnny moved to France to escape the ever-present camera lens of the US paparazzi.  There he met Vanessa Paradis, a beautiful French film actress with whom he has two children.  Unfortunately, this relationship has recently come to an end.

During his career, Johnny Depp made a habit of taking on strange roles, most notably, with his friend and collaborator, oddball director Tim Burton, but Johnny’s career made a mainstream comeback when he took on the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.  Now, all generations of filmgoers know Johnny Depp’s name.  He’s even hotter now than he was as a teen idol in the 80’s 

Interestingly, a new film is ready to be released based on Fox’s original show, 21 Jump Street, though the movie is more of a tongue-in-cheek homage rather than an adaptation of the former weekly series.  But what I found intriguing is this old interview where Johnny Depp was asked if he would ever consider reviving his role 20 to 30 years in the future should anyone ever decide to remake 21 Jump Street into a feature film.

The interviewer says, “Wouldn’t it be cool—remember that old guy Johnny Depp?  He’s still around somewhere.  Let’s see if we can find him and get him to drop a few pounds and he could play the father of the guy he used to play.  Would you do that?” he asks Johnny.  And Johnny replies, “Yeah, I would do it.  I’d come out of the old folks home to do that.  Sure”

Funny, huh?  Johnny is still gorgeous and he’s as hot as ever, even more so.  And I bet it’s that interviewer who is currently fat and living in some retirement complex in Florida. 

‘Cause it sure ain’t Johnny Depp!  Wowza! 

So, who was YOUR 80's crush?  Or, if you were too young or *gasp* not even alive yet, who would you have crushed on back then?  Or who are you crushin' on right now?  If I was a young girl, I would be crushin' on this young man, Thomas McDonell.

Doesn't he look a lot like Johnny Depp?

Oh yeah, one more thing: I won a first round entry in Cupid's Literary Connection Blind Speed Dating Contest.  My entry will go up live starting Monday, February 13th.  Please, please, go comment!  I'd love to hear what you think.  And I'm dying to make to the next round!