Obvious History
In collaboration with @velvetcoke, Obvious History is a weekly series which unearths forgotten moments in pop culture’s past, where the famous and the fascinating collided.
Obvious History: How Arnold Schwarzenegger made a million dollars laying bricks
by Trey Taylor
The Terminator actor and former Governor of California was a self-made millionaire long before breaking the box office.
Obvious History: Shelley Duvall was propositioned at 17 to be in a porno
by Trey Taylor
The wide-eyed Texas actor used to throw parties at her boyfriend’s parents’ house to sell his art—instead, she sold her innate acting ability.
Obvious History: Nicolas Cage almost sent Charlie Sheen to jail
by Trey Taylor
During a short flight from L.A. to San Francisco, Cage thought he’d play a funny prank and take over the airplane’s PA system.
Obvious History: Rock’n’roll’s baby groupies Lori Lightning and Sable Starr
by Trey Taylor
Rock’s underage hangers-on would skip school to hang out, and sleep with, the genre’s major players.
Obvious History: Spike Jonze wooed Sofia Coppola with a fat suit
by Trey Taylor
The famous couple knew each other for nearly a decade before getting hitched.
Obvious History: The rollercoaster story of securing one of Kurt Cobain’s last ever interviews
by Trey Taylor
The gonzo Canadian journalist Nardwuar staked out Nirvana’s concert venue for two days and it finally paid off.
Obvious History: Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson staged a break-in in their apartment
by Trey Taylor
While living together, the director and actor collaborated on a scheme to take down their landlord, which became the inspiration for Anderson’s first film Bottle Rocket.
Obvious History: How Gwen Stefani became No Doubt’s frontwoman
by Trey Taylor
It was the tragic suicide of John Spence, the former band member often erased from No Doubt’s history, which left a void for a lead singer.
Obvious History: Kate Moss and Marky Mark couldn’t stand each other
by Trey Taylor
The iconic 1992 Calvin Klein campaign in which the supermodel gets intimate with Marky Mark led to Moss’s mental breakdown.
Obvious History: Brittany Murphy was offered a job as a pole dancer
by Trey Taylor
For Jonas Åkerlund’s drug epic Spun, the actor threw herself into the role, and onto the pole, coming out ahead with a kooky job offer.
Obvious History: Rose McGowan’s childhood in a polygamous cult
by Trey Taylor
The actress and activist was reared under the watchful eye of a polygamous sect for the first nine years of her life.
Obvious History: Did Debbie Harry have a near-fatal brush with Ted Bundy?
by Trey Taylor
The Blondie frontwoman once narrowly escaped abduction from who she thought was the infamous serial killer.
Obvious History: Mick Jagger bought a mansion while high on LSD
by Trey Taylor
The Rolling Stones singer bought a crumbling pile in 1970 while on a drug trip with then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull.
Obvious History: The time Grace Jones was Andy Warhol’s wedding date
by Trey Taylor
Jones and Warhol arrived late to the ceremony after a quick wardrobe change in the ladies’ airport bathroom.
Obvious History: Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley’s shower competition
by Trey Taylor
As roomies in 1988, the two struggling actors had a contest about who could go longer without washing.
Obvious History: Liev Schreiber’s “hippie bohemian freak” mother
by Trey Taylor
She gave him a motorcycle for his 16th birthday to “promote fearlessness.”
Obvious History: Angelina Jolie once bought his ’n’ hers burial plots for Billy Bob
by Trey Taylor
The actress was married to Thornton for two years, and surprised him on their first anniversary with side-by-side graves.
Obvious History: Freddie Mercury’s Saturday Night in Sodom
by Trey Taylor
The Queen frontman took over The Fairmont Hotel in the Big Easy and racked up a massive $200,000 bill.
