Anne Rice’s novels have inspired a surprisingly varied screen history, including gothic vampire blockbusters, historical drama, racy comedy, biblical filmmaking, and a growing television universe. Her most famous creations are Louis and Lestat from The Vampire Chronicles, but Hollywood has also adapted books such as The Feast of All Saints, Exit to Eden, and Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt.

Most of us think of 50s sitcoms as hopelessly old-fashioned—but some were surprisingly ahead of their time.

James Caan conquered Hollywood as Sonny Corleone, but his mob ties, wild romances, nose-candy battle, and scandals rivaled the movies.

Veronica Lake ruled 1940s Hollywood, but scandal, grief, addiction, and a daring solo flight brought her glittering reign to an end.

From the very beginning, Hervé Villechaize got a taste of how unfair the world could be, whether the lesson came from mistreatment at school or the chronic aches and discomfort that accompanied his health condition. However, through all the hardships he endured, he could always find solace in his art, and he never stopped chasing his passion as an actor—until it all became too much to bear.

Long before streaming made it possible to watch an entire season in a weekend, Americans spent years checking in with the same television families one episode at a time. The sitcom mothers of the 1970s and 1980s ranged from traditional homemakers to lawyers, reporters, waitresses, musicians, divorcees, widows, and women who gleefully rejected practically every rule of respectable motherhood. Some offered comfort, some delivered tough love, and a few probably taught viewers exactly what not to do. Together, these memorable characters helped redefine what a TV mom could look like.