11 of the Most Famous People of 1985

Fame was a lot harder to come by in the 1980s. There was no reality television to make stars out of bickering Beverly Hills housewives, no social media to elevate personalities, and no streaming services to turn actors into household names. Fame meant being popular in movies, on television, in music, in sports, in politics—and occasionally, even for murder.

With 1985 now 40 years gone, Mental Floss is taking a look at the people who were making headlines and emerging as cultural standouts that year. That doesn’t necessarily mean anyone who was already well-known around the world: Boxing great Muhammad Ali was and would remain among the most recognizable humans who ever lived but had long retired; Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson were stratospherically famous but had been for some time. Instead, these are figures who spent the year standing out in a cluttered decade of excess. Take a look at 11 of the most well-known names that thrived in ’85.

1. Michael Jordan
2. Michael J. Fox
3. Phil Collins
4. Uli Derickson
5. Pete Rose
6. Madonna and Sean Penn
7. Mikhail Gorbachev
8. Claus von Bülow
9. Geraldine Ferraro
10. Rock Hudson

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan’s rookie season in the NBA was in 1984–’85, a time when most players are still finding their footing and struggling with living up to hype. But Jordan, who had made an impression in the 1984 Summer Olympics, hit the Chicago Bulls court with a fervent following, an otherworldly skillset, and the backing of Madison Avenue, which plastered his face on everything from McDonald’s commercials to Nikes. Jordan’s ascension was so strong that fans of home teams where the Bulls were visiting booed each Bull as they were called to the court—until Jordan appeared, when they gave him a standing ovation. Air Jordan was born.

Michael J. Fox

In 1982, Michael J. Fox was best known as the breakout star of NBC’s Family Ties as stuffy Republican Alex P. Keaton, a gig that garnered fame if not mega-stardom. Years later, he auditioned for a new Universal sci-fi comedy, Back to the Future, but when his Ties schedule limited his availability, studio executives opted for actor Eric Stoltz instead.

Just weeks into filming, director Robert Zemeckis and producer Steven Spielberg realized Stoltz wasn’t right for role; Zemeckis pleaded with Family Ties creator Gary David Goldberg to permit Fox to step in. For months, Fox shot Family Ties during the day and Future at night, functioning on little sleep. The end result was the highest-grossing film of 1985. After two months at the top of the box office, Future was nearly dethroned by the goofy comedy Teen Wolf—starring Michael J. Fox. And when Family Ties returned for its fourth season in October, the premiere ranked second overall in the ratings and was seen in over 25 million homes, second only to The Cosby Show.

Phil Collins

There was no shortage of music icons in 1985, with performers like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and scores of others solidifying their reputations as popular artists. But former Genesis frontman Phil Collins had as much to brag about as any of them, if not more. His third solo album, No Jacket Required, was a juggernaut, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard sales charts in a mere four weeks. (Jackson’s Thriller took longer.) He had four hit singles off the album, including “One More Night”—which toppled the charity anthem “We Are the World” from the top spot on the charts—"Sussudio,” “Don’t Lose My Number,” and “Take Me Home.” An older hit, “In the Air Tonight,” was even resurrected courtesy of the hit cop drama Miami Vice. Collins’s only stumble that year was missing out on a Best Original Song Oscar for “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)”—but the song still won a Grammy.

Uli Derickson

Flight attendant Derickson drew worldwide acclaim for her stunning display of heroism while on board TWA Flight 847, a plane en route to Rome hijacked by two Lebanese terrorists in June. In the face of their threats—and automatic weapons—Derickson was able to placate the gunmen by speaking to one of them reassuringly in German. At a stop in Algiers, she managed to convince them to release some of the older passengers as well as children. She also avoided a near-tragedy when, after Algiers ground attendants refused to refuel the plane without being paid, she was able to produce a Shell credit card for the bill. Derickson continued to be a voice of reason throughout the ordeal, with only one casualty reported. (Though Derickson was released after 36 hours, the situation wound up dragging on for weeks.) After a month to recuperate, she was welcomed in the States as a hero. “I am not really yet back to reality as such,” she said. “To me the hijacking is reality. Being free is still the dream.”

Pete Rose

In 1985, Rose was not yet a disgraced baseball player—he was the star who finally broke Ty Cobb’s record of 4191 hits, connecting with the historic single during a home game for his Cincinnati Reds on September 11. It was a milestone that the sports press had been following all season. (Though Rose may have actually broken it three days earlier in Chicago with hit 4190: It's widely believed Cobb had two extra hits added to his total in error, making the record to beat 4189.) The feat also gave The Dayton Daily News one of its better sports headlines: “Pete Gets Ty-Breaker.”

Madonna and Sean Penn

Yes, Madonna was well-established as a pop star by 1985, and Sean Penn was already part of the decade’s Young Hollywood movement, with standout performances in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bad Boys, and Taps. But their coupling and eventual marriage seemed to elevate both of their respective statures considerably. Part of it was Penn’s notorious ire at press curiosity over their pairing. In July, he was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery for allegedly attacking two photographers with a rock, one of several such violent encounters with the media. That didn’t dissuade paparazzi from invading their private wedding, held in Malibu the following month. The event, planned under a veil of secrecy, became an all-consuming media obsession, with press helicopters circling overhead. (Penn’s wrote an obscene message to them in the sand.) Guest Andy Warhol compared the scene to Apocalypse Now but seemed giddy about the chaos. “It was,” he wrote, “just the most exciting weekend of my life.” For Warhol, maybe, but not for the newlyweds: The two divorced in 1989.

Mikhail Gorbachev

The world’s superpowers underwent a seismic shift in March 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev became the new general secretary of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev immediately signaled a new Russia under his influence, including an easing of Cold War tensions with the United States. (He and Ronald Reagan signed a limited nuclear disarmament treaty in 1987.) While Gorbachev had the staid look of a politician, he did sport one distinctive feature—a sizable birthmark on his forehead that made him instantly recognizable. The curiosity over Gorbachev was evident: His name appeared more than 157,000 times in English-language newspapers that year.

Claus von Bülow

A decade prior to O.J. Simpson, the media’s alleged murderer of the moment was Claus von Bülow. The Danish-born financier stood accused of attempting to kill his wealthy wife, Martha, via a surplus of insulin injections that left her comatose. The legal fallout led to a wave of news coverage, with the requisite lurid detail: von Bülow was said to be courting a mistress when Martha was struck down. After being convicted in 1982, he was re-tried in 1985 and acquitted of the crime. A settlement was eventually reached with Martha’s children after they filed a civil lawsuit. As part of the agreement, von Bülow dropped any claims to Martha’s will and divorced her, thereby ceding legal control of her ongoing medical care. (Martha remained in a vegetative state until her death in 2008.)

Geraldine Ferraro

Relatively few people outside of her Queens congressional district had heard of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. But she was about to make history as the first woman to be selected as a vice-presidential candidate, running alongside Walter Mondale against the incumbent Ronald Reagan and George Bush. The popular Reagan won a second term handily, but the campaign teed up Ferraro to capitalize on the momentum in 1985. She took an offer to endorse Diet Pepsi for a reported $500,000 and to publish her memoirs for $1 million.

Rock Hudson

In a way, Rock Hudson had experienced two vastly different kinds of fame. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a conventional Hollywood leading man, a burly and dark-haired screen idol courting Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959) and facing off against James Dean in Giant (1956). But with his death at age 59 in October 1985, Hudson’s celebrity changed: He had succumbed to AIDS, and had been the first well-known public figure to divulge a battle with the much-feared and poorly-understood condition. Hudson’s profile is often credited with helping to raise awareness of the disease. Not long after his passing, Congress allocated $221 million in funding; donations to various AIDS charities poured in.

Weeks before his death, Hudson sent a telegram that was read at a Hollywood fundraiser. “I am not happy that I am sick; I am not happy that I have AIDS,” he wrote. “But if that is helping others, I can, at least, know that my own misfortune has had some positive worth.”

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