From Ward Cleaver to Gomez Addams, these unforgettable sitcom dads from the 1960s shaped television history and forever changed how America viewed family life.

Kristin Nelson had a picture-perfect California upbringing that went into overdrive when, as a teen, she merged with America's favorite family. From the outside, her marriage to TV star and heartthrob pop star Ricky Nelson seemed like everything that was good in America. But the truth was something very different. Following her perfect wedding, she would encounter addiction, tragedy, and a desperate struggle to keep her children. At the end of her life, it seemed that no one even cared.

Gene Wilder once said, “I’d be insane to lose my insanity”. And he was right. Best known for his role as Willy Wonka in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Wilder left audiences in stitches. But lurking behind his crazy hair and impish grin was a life that brought more tears than laughs.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame once praised Neil Young for knowing that “self-renewal is the only way to avoid burning out”. Translation: For six decades, Young has burned everything to the ground just to see what the ashes look like. Fans may see a gentle hippie, but his inner circle saw a relentless force who left a trail of broken hearts, scorched-earth feuds, lawsuits, and cult encounters in his wake.

One director called Jean Peters one of the greatest film sirens of all time, but she just wanted to play gritty roles. While her best bud Marilyn Monroe took all the glamorous parts, Peters was in her own world playing unconventional roles like pirates and a woman who lived in a swamp. When she met and married billionaire Howard Hughes, she put Hollywood behind her and became wrapped up in his bizarre and isolated world. Only a ferocious woman like Peters could find the strength to claw her way out.

Ken Berry quietly built one of the most dependable careers in Hollywood—by becoming the kind of performer producers could always count on.