After working on Mamie Van Doren's campy Voyage to the Planet of the Prehistoric Women and directing the Boris Karloff cult classic Targets, filmmaker Peter Bogdonavich announced himself as a world-class talent to be reckoned with upon the release of The Last Picture Show.
The luminous leading lady of this Texas-set, black-and-white period piece also took the world by storm nude. Her name was Cybill Shepherd.
The Last Picture Show opened in theaters on this date in 1971.
Based on a novel by Larry McMurtry, Picture Show weaves together mid-20th-century lives in a small town where the one movie theater is about to go out of business. Its most nakedly compelling moments hinge on a teenage skinny-dipping party during which young Cybill Shepherd peels on-camera before taking a plunge.
Here’s a tit-bit of trivia: Cybill Shepherd had the option to back out of going nude. She conceded after consulting three female costars -- Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, and Eileen Brennan. They gave her the thumb’s up to take her clothes off, and the rest of us are forever indebted.
The Last Picture Show Released -- October 22, 1971
Tagged in: Peter Bogdanovich, Cybill Shepherd, The Last Picture Show, cult, 1970s, Academy Awards, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Chloris Leachman, Mamie Van Doren, black-and-white