Susan Wood/Getty Images

Photographer Susan Wood captured some lovely moments of public figures who weren’t quite at the peak of their fame… yet.  A younger Martha Stewart kindling her domestic empire, Yoko Ono and John Lennon at home, Anderson Cooper as an aristocratic child. Some of my favorite Susan Wood photos in the Getty collection show David Letterman at home, in Westchester New York.  These are intimate and playful photos that belie the unruffled character we see late nights on television.

Somehow, after news of his office affairs was aired, every vaguely flirtatious gesture is loaded with sexuality that went unappreciated before. Letterman has always had a buttoned-up sex appeal and  Drew Barrymore played on his bashful rigidness in 1995 when she flashed him on set. The scandal has potentially made Letterman more human, sexier and blessed with higher ratings.  It has also potentially alienated a portion of viewers who will find his behavior inappropriate?  Which camp are you in?

Susan Wood/Getty Images

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Julian Wasser//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

David Carradine, the actor best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970’s television series, Kung Fu was found dead by his own hand (misadventure) on June 4th in Bangkok, Thailand where he was filming a movie.   While his face is synonymous with that of the placid Kung Fu master, he acted in over 100 films including those by directors Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby.  He was a member of the Carradine acting dynasty including his father John, half- brothers Bruce, Keith and Robert and nieces Martha Plimpton and Ever Carradine.  He leaves behind wife, Annie and two daughters Calista Miranda and Kansas.  Our thoughts go out to his loved ones.  Let’s take a look at David Carradine through the years here and here.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for IMG

Fur flies on the runway at the Dennis Basso Fall 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in the Promenade at Bryant Park on February 17, 2009 in New York City. Fur is a polarizing topic, so the front row wasn’t exactly brimming with celebrities, but Star Jones braved the possibility of PETA protesters outside Bryant Park wearing a blond coat.  The key people were there, such as Anna Wintour and fashion editor Adrien Field (below), both clad in the controversial material.  Basso’s collection managed to make pelts look weightless by pairing fur with transparent fabrics.  Bucket hats, belts and vests created modern silhouettes.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for IMG – Kristian Dowling/Getty Images for IMG

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Derek Warburton timed his appearance at Fashion Week perfectly with The PITA Peltdown At NY Fashion Week Presented by DerekLovesShopping at Bryant Park.  Warburton handed out I heart PITA t-shirts and pita bread from a converted hot dog cart to curious onlookers.   Where do you stand on the wearing of fur?  Maverick or murder?

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Dave M. Benett/Getty Images – Rose Hartman/WireImage/Getty Images

Kristen McMenemy attended the pre-launch party at the Double Club in Angel, created by Fondazione Prada, in London on November 21st in all of her grey glory.  The former 80’s/90’s supermodel was known for her androgynous aesthetic and unconventional beauty.  Juergen Teller photographed her under unflattering conditions in 1996 wearing only the name Versace scrawled across her chest in lipstick for a project commenting on the oppressive standards upheld by the fashion industry.  Today she embraces what many consider to be a stigma; grey hair and wears it long and natural.  Other famous women who have opted to embrace stigma are Emmylou Harris, Jamie Lee Curtis and Helen Mirren.  Where do you stand?  To dye or not to dye?

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

top: ABC/PARAMOUNT / THE KOBAL COLLECTION - Ron Galella/WireImages/Getty Images

bottom: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images

Maureen McCormick, known to most of us as the the oldest Brady sister, has written a tell-all memoir Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice detailing the vast discrepencies between her idealized TV character and her own troubled girlhood.  Now that her daughter Natalie is 19, The former Brady star may have found an appropriate time to air her darker secrets such as her post Brady participation in the cocaine fueled LA party scene where she trading sex for drugs and romped at the Playboy Mansion.  An object of boyhood crushes, Maureen dated TV brother Barry Williams, Michael Jackson and Steve Martin (she is pictured above right at a Steve Martin performance in 1977).  The book reveals how her drug use negatively affected her acting career and describes her battle against an eating disorder, depression and anxiety, all of which have since been conquered.  Always a glutton for celebrity bios, I would love to read Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice. How about you? It hits bookstores today.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Theo Wargo/WireImage for Diesel/Getty Images

Sri Lankan songstress M.I.A was rumoured to have cancelled her summer tour due to pregnancy, and while performing on stage during the Diesel xXx Rock & Roll Circus at Pier 3 on October 11, 2008 in Brooklyn, New York the stories were more or less confirmed.  Look at that tummy!  31 year old Maya Arulpragasam is engaged to Warner Music Group heir and guitarist for “The Exit”, Benjamin Brewer.  Let’s give the cute couple a high five!

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Dept. via Getty Images – Handout /Getty Images

In this handout image provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Dept., actress Heather Locklear poses for a mugshot September 28, 2008 in Santa Barbara, California. Locklear was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a controlled substance in the Santa Barbara area, authorities said Sunday.  While people love to rip on how bad celebrities look when they have fallen from grace into say a holding cell at the County Sheriff’s office, I think Heather looks great.  Scared, but very well preserved.  Without makeup she has remained virtually unchanged since 1996 when she starred in Shattered Mind (right).  Locklear is an effervescent, quintessential California girl who has managed to stay afloat as a sex symbol and legitimately engaging actress in an industry that doesn’t easily forgive aging.  She has dated an interesting mix of men throughout her career and she probably has many stories to tell, and perhaps this is the time to do it.  See Heather from starlet to star here.

Digg This!   Tweet This!   Share on Facebook   Stumble It!