Happy Throwback Thursday! Today’s throwback year is 1974, the year People magazine was first published! The very first issue featured Mia Farrow on the cover, as she was starring in The Great Gatsby at the time. People‘s founding editor, Richard Stolley, had been the assistant managing editor at LIFE magazine and gained fame for acquiring the Zapruder film of J.F.K.’s assassination.
People is known for its annual “Sexiest Man Alive” issue. It all started during a discussion of a planned story about Mel Gibson when someone commented “Oh my gosh, he is the sexiest man alive!” and someone else replied “You should use that for a cover line”. The very first Sexiest Man Alive in 1985 was – you guessed it – Mel Gibson! Multiple winners include George Clooney, Richard Gere, Brad Pitt, and Johnny Depp. John F. Kennedy Jr. and David Beckham are the only 2 non-entertainers to have been chosen.
The magazine also puts out an annual list of the “100 Most Beautiful People”. Julia Roberts has topped the list 5 times, while Michelle Pfieffer, Jennifer Aniston, and Kate Hudson have all appeared twice.
Over the years, People has gained respect for its refusal to publish unfounded rumors (who knew?). However, they’ve been criticized for paying exorbitant prices for exclusive celebrity photos, which can increase bidding wars between competing publications. The magazine reportedly paid $15 million for baby photos of Knox Leon and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt in August 2008.
People had the largest audience of any U.S. publication for nearly 10 years until it was surpassed by AARP in 2018. Today, it reaches 96 million consumers, including 2 in 5 adults. Learn more here.