The way they were - young photos of Afro-American celebrities - illustration

Ebony, March, 1991

THE WAY THEY WERE

Have you ever wondered what your favorite Black celebrities looked like in their teens? Were they always as beautiful and as handsome? Or were they, like many of us, ordinary and even plain young people who evolved into the striking personalities that they are today?

It's hard to imagine that Whitney Houston, Florence Griffith Joyner and other female stars may have looked like ordinary girls when they were growing up. But today they are among the most beautiful, exciting and entertaining women in America.

And if you look at the teenaged photos of Bo Jackson and Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, you'll see surprising flashbacks from the past. For their photos give no indication that they would become two of the most charismatic role models in America.

To find out how these men and women looked in their youth, we requested old photos from scores of Black stars. Some refused to participate because they didn't want the public to see how they looked before their wealth, fortune and international fame. But a courageous few were proud of their origins and eagerly scrounged up old photos and dropped them in the mail. And here is a look at the way they were.

PHOTO : Singer Whitney Houston, pictured, like other personalities, today and at an early age (16).

PHOTO : Michael Jordan, basketball star, graduated in 1980 at age 18 from E.A. Laney High School in Wilmington, N.C.

PHOTO : Bo didn't know how far Vincent (Bo) Jackson would go when he graduated in 1982 at age 18 from McAdory High School in McCalla, Ala.

PHOTO : Florence Griffith Joyner, shown in her late teens, graduated from Jordan High School in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1978.

PHOTO : Eddie Murphy graduated in 1979 at age 17 from Roosevelt High School in Roosevelt, N.Y.

PHOTO : Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, pictured as a young man, sang with the U.S. Army band at Camp Breckinridge, Ky., during Korean War.

PHOTO : Luther Vandross shown during his childhood years, graduated in 1969 from William H. Taft High School in Bronx, N.Y.

PHOTO : Jackie Joyner-Kersee, graduated from Lincoln Senior High School in East St. Louis, Ill., in 1980 at age 17.

PHOTO : Magic Johnson, graduated in 1977 at age 17 from Everett High School in Lansing, Mich.

PHOTO : Alex Haley at age 19, worked as a messboy for the U.S. Coast Guard in 1940.

PHOTO : Marsha Warfield, talk show host/comedian, graduated in 1971 at age 17 from Calumet High School in Chicago.

PHOTO : Muhammad Ali, born in 1942, is shown here at age 12 at the beginning of his boxing career.

PHOTO : Ronald Brown, now chairman of the Democratic National Committee, pictured at age 21, graduated from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., in 1962.

PHOTO : Andre Dawson, outfielder with the Chicago Cubs, shown as a preschooler, graduated from Southwest Senior High School in Miami, Fla., in 1972.

PHOTO : Ed Bradley, who is featured on 60 Minutes, pictured at age 17, graduated in 1959 from Saint Thomas More in Philadelphia.