Nude Scenes from
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

Popular culture of 1979 was post-hippie, but not quite yuppie; post-disco, but not quite New Wave; and post-Star-Wars, but not quite completely infantilized by Steven Spielberg.

At local theaters (which were not quite all multiplexes—yet), Hollywood continued to present movies for adults: mature stories for grown-up people featuring adult themes, adult story lines, and that most quintessentially adult artistic flourish—nudity.

With home video still a few years in the future, grindhouses and drive-ins surged toward a crescendo, showcasing an explosion of exploitation that was also patently adult but not, to be sure, mature.

Let’s look now at some of our favorite nude scenes from 1979—eleven, in total, in honor of the rating Dudley Moore actually awards to Bo Derek in the movie 10.

A weekly look back at celebrity nudity happenings of note from the earliest days of famous females to today’s hottest starlets.

Learn all about skincredible events that happened during the week of October 24 through November 1, including: Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith exits the field, Kim Kardashian butts into Playboy, Susan Dey lets her Partridge pair free in Looker, naked Heather Graham skates throughout Boogie Nights, and Larry Flynt hustles for the first time.

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October 25, 2002
Cheerleader-movie icon Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith dies.

After a string of remarkable exploitation films such as The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974), The Pom Pom Girls (1976), Massacre at Central High (1976), and The Incredible Melting Man (1977), Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith ruled as the most singularly beguiling starlet of the drive-in era.

Then, when Cheryl vanished in 1982, she became one of cinema’s most enigmatic figures, prompting fans to wonder for decades what became of their beloved Rainbeaux.

Tragically, news of Ms. Smith succumbing to liver disease hit just as Synapse Films began work on a special-edition DVD of one of her most sought-after titles, Lemora (1973).

Thanks to her legion of devotees, though, the legacy of Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith lives on. Rah-rah-raw, forevermore.

Read about the rest of this week's historical events after the cut.

Founder of the Hustler empire and subject (along with Francisco Goya, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Andy Kaufman) of a biopic directed by Oscar-winning director Milos Foreman, Larry Flynt was born 66 years ago today in impoverished Magoffin County in Kentucky.

Larry Flynt’s life and career are the stuff of legend, most of it recounted in the movie, which stars Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love.

Read about it after the jump.

Hustler, the glossy brainchild of Kentucky-born strip-club owner Larry Flynt, exploded from fledgling nudie magazine to world-class incendiary erotic powerhouse by publishing paparazzi photos of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis nude – on this date in 1975.

Whereas Hugh Hefner ushered in the sexual revolution in 1953 by showcasing Marilyn Monroe on the cover of the first Playboy, Flynt blasted past whatever boundaries were left in the wild-and-wooly ’70s.

Naked movies stars were one (great) thing, but the widow of a martyred president who was revered as a saint was a whole new ball-draining game.

Hustler #5 also proved to be a colossal drain on America’s wallets, as copies of the “Jackie O Nude” edition sold out rapidly and repeatedly.

All that cash turned Larry Flynt’s outrageous literary gland-mark into a profitable operation, and the rest is history – history that’s nakedly detailed in The People Vs. Larry Flynt, which you can get the full skinny on at Mr. Skin Premium.

Crispin Hellion Glover is an actor, author, filmmaker, performance artist, and one of contemporary culture's most intriguing, and endearing, oddballs. Best known to mainstream audiences as the nerdy father in the original Back to the Future (1985), Glover has since blazed a unique trail through the entertainment industry in which he acts in everything from Hollywood blockbusters to micro-budget curiosities.