World War II’s Forgotten Front: LIFE in the Aleutians

Maybe it’s because the casualties, in relative terms, were light compared to those suffered in other theaters of conflict during World War II. Or perhaps the isolated front was destined to a gradual, ever-deepening obscurity because no storied battles with stirring names (Iwo Jima, Bastogne, Normandy, Saipan) were fought there. 

But in the early 1940s the Aleutian Campaign was news throughout the U.S..Some of the islands in the North Pacific, in what was then the American territory of Alaska, had been invaded and occupied by Japanese troops. Was it a diversion ahead of another, critical attack elsewhere? Was it the vanguard of a far larger assault on America’s enormous, and perhaps fatally vulnerable, west coast?

Here, decades after Japanese forces seized control of Attu and Kiska islands early in the war, LIFE.com presents a gallery of photos by Dmitri Kessel chronicling the day-to-day existence of Allied troops serving in the dramatic and forbidding landscape of the Aleutians.

Ultimately, long before the war was over, the Japanese were routed from the islands they did occupy. But Allied casualties (U.S. and Canadian) during the year-long campaign to push them off of American territory were in the thousands, with a grim percentage killed or severely wounded by the same hazards that troops have always faced when fighting in a wilderness thousands of miles from home: friendly fire; exposure; minor wounds that turn mortal when transportation proves impossible.

And then there was the fatigue; the lethargy-inducing sameness of the place. The old characterization of warfare as long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of terror applied to the Aleutian campaign. Even the most adamant and dedicated nature lover could hardly remain enthralled, month after month after month, by the surroundings—endless snow-capped mountains, mud-filled tundra and water, water everywhere. As LIFE pointed out to its readers in the midst of the war, the weather and the landscape were relentless, monotonous enemies all their own:

The Aleutian Islands are a chain of high mountains rising our of the North Pacific between Alaska and Siberia. There, among fog and sudden storms, the world is still in the making. Volcanoes blow rings of steam. Islets pop out of the water and then mysteriously vanish again. Earthquakes make and unmake harbors, cliffs, beaches and caves.

The shortest route between the U.S. and Japan lies through Alaska and out the Aleutians. From Attu to Tokyo is only1,750 miles. . . . Whoever controls the Aleutians has a flanking position on the whole ocean. [In June 1942 Japan] seized Attu and Kiska and remained a constant threat to Alaska, Canada and the U.S. until August 1943 when they were finally driven off. To defend the Aleutians against another attack, thousands of Americans are still stationed there.

Of all the U.S. outposts the Aleutians are probably the wildest and most inhospitable. There are almost no trees on the islands. There are few animals. The temperature seldom drops below freezing in winter or goes above 60 degrees in summer. There are as many as 250 rainy days a year and as few as eight clear days.

Kessel’s pictures, meanwhile, suggest that despite the spartan lodgings, the often impassable terrain, the questionable food, the tricky climate, the grueling work and the ceaselessly challenging environment, thousands of troops, nurses and even some civilians stuck with it throughout the war years, and they made do.

In often primitive conditions, in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth, they did what was asked of them. They are not forgotten.

Aleutian Islands, World War II, 1943

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The rocky peaks of Attu Island, Alaska, 1943.

The rocky peaks of Attu Island, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Aleutian Islands, World War II, 1943

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A P-38 Lightning above the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1943.

A P-38 Lightning above the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, WWII, 1943.

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, WWII, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

American troops, Aleutian Islands, WWII, 1943.

American troops, Aleutian Islands, World War II, 1943

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Tents housing Seabees (members of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalion), Adak Island during World War II, 1943. Among the first to land on Adak, Attu, Kiska and Amchitka, the Seabees -- carpenters, mechanics, electricians, welders boilerman, and plumbers -- built airfields, roads, barracks and wharves.

Tents housed Seabees (members of the U.S. Navy’s Construction Battalion), Adak Island during World War II, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, WWII, 1943.

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, WWII, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

On the island of Kiska, men build fires near wrecked equipment and cook their meals, Alaska, 1943.

On the island of Kiska, men built fires near wrecked equipment and cooked their meals, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The remains of a Japanese soldier, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

The remains of a Japanese soldier, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Attu Island, Aleutian Campaign, World War II, 1943.

Attu Island, Aleutian campaign, World War II, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Attu Island, Aleutian Campaign, World War II, 1943.

Attu Island, Aleutian campaign, World War II, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Kiska Island, Aleutian Campaign, World War II, 1943.

Kiska Island, Aleutian campaign, World War II, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

An American soldier leans against a wall in the captured Japanese headquarters on Kiska Island, beside graffiti caricatures of FDR and Churchill (left), 1943.

An American soldier leaned against a wall in the captured Japanese headquarters on Kiska Island, beside graffiti caricatures of FDR and Churchill (left), 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Barracks, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Barracks, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Unidentified military personnel, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Unidentified military personnel, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mail transports, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Mail transports, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

In barracks, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

In barracks, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Laundry, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Laundry, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Bathing in halved oil drums, Amchitka Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Soldiers in their remote World War outpost of Amchitka Island, Alaska, bathed in halved oil drums, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

R&R, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

R&R, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Makeshift soda fountain, Adak Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Makeshift soda fountain, Adak Island, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Playing chess, Adak Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Playing chess, Adak Island, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Pin-up photos adorn the walls of a bomber-crew shack on Adak Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Pin-up photos adorned the walls of a bomber-crew shack where soldiers played cards on Adak Island, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel / The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation

An American nurse, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

An American nurse, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Nurses' quarters, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Nurses’ quarters, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Nurses fishing, Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Nurses fishing, Dutch Harbor, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Gardening with a teaspoon, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

A soldier tended his garden with a teaspoon, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Attu Island, American infantry camp, 1943. A hand-written note on the back of this print reads: "Because mess hall is too small, some men must eat outside."

Because the mess hall on Attu Island was too small, some men ate outside.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

A Seabee (of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalion) strings wire for communications on the island of Adak, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

A Seabee (of the U.S. Navy’s Construction Battalion) strung wire for communications on the island of Adak, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Troops are carted by tractor to the movies from an isolated camp in Massacre Vally, Attu Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Troops were carted by tractor to the movies from an isolated camp in Massacre Vally, Attu Island, Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Seabee carpenters (of the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalion), Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Seabee carpenters (of the U.S. Navy’s Construction Battalion), Aleutian campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

"A fake tree built by the Army Engineers, Camouflage Division, on Attu Island." Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

A fake tree built by the Army Engineers, Camouflage Division, on Attu Island.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

American troops study stone and bone implements and other objects recovered from an earlier settlement, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

American troops studied stone and bone implements and other objects recovered from an earlier settlement.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The "Press Club" on Adak Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

The “Press Club” on Adak Island.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Inside the "Press Club" on Adak Island, Aleutian Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

Inside the “Press Club” on Adak Island.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Street sign in the town of Unalaska during World War II, Aleutian Islands Campaign, Alaska, 1943.

A street sign in the town of Unalaska during World War II.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

LIFE With Famous Moms

Madre. Maman. Mãe. Oma. Inay. Mutter. Mum. Mor. Mama. However you say it, the word mother conjures up the deepest of emotions.

Here, LIFE.com offers a selection of portraits of famous moms (Jackie Kennedy, Shirley MacLaine) with their kids, and also famous kids (Liz Taylor, Sophia Loren) with their moms and, in a few instances, famous kids with their famous moms (it’s amazing how recognizable baby Liza Minelli is in the hands of her mother, Judy Garland). Owing to the public nature of their lives, some of these relations are famously complicated (see Joan Crawford, the subject of the withering memoir and movie Mommie Dearest). Even those examples underline the uniquely powerful bond between children and their mothers.

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Jackie Kennedy reads to her daughter, Caroline, in Hyannis Port, Mass., in 1960.

Jackie Kennedy read to her daughter, Caroline, in Hyannis Port, Mass., in 1960.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Judy Garland holds her daughter, Liza, at home in Hollywood in 1946.

Judy Garland holds her daughter, Liza Minelli, at home in Hollywood in 1946.

Martha Holmes The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra with her daughter, Elizabeth Frances, in Rome in 1962.

Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra with her daughter, Elizabeth Frances, in Rome in 1962.

Paul Schutzer The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Elizabeth Taylor and her mother, Sara, in 1948.

Elizabeth Taylor and her mother, Sara, in 1948.

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Shirley MacLaine and her daughter, Sachi Parker, in 1959.

Shirley MacLaine and her daughter, Sachi Parker, in 1959.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The great American contralto Marian Anderson kisses her mother after a concert in Philadelphia in 1937.

The great American contralto Marian Anderson kisses her mother after a concert in Philadelphia in 1937.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee holds her 4-year-old son, Erik Lee Kirkland, during a stopover in her traveling carnival show, Memphis, Tenn., 1949.

Burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee holds her 4-year-old son, Erik Lee Kirkland, during a stopover in her traveling carnival show, Memphis, Tenn., 1949.

George Skadding The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Shirley Temple with her daughter, Lori, in Atherton, California, in 1957.

Shirley Temple with her daughter, Lori, in Atherton, California, in 1957.

Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ingrid Bergman and her daughter, Pia Lindstrom, in 1959.

Ingrid Bergman and her daughter, Pia Lindstrom, in 1959.

Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Sophia Loren with her son, Carlo Ponti, Jr., in 1969.

Sophia Loren with her son, Carlo Ponti, Jr., in 1969.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Sophia Loren (right) poses with her mother (center) and her sister, Maria, in 1957.

Sophia Loren (right) poses with her mother (center) and her sister, Maria, in 1957.

Loomis Dean The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her daughter, Francesca, at home in Bel Air, 1951.

Zsa Zsa Gabor and her daughter, Francesca, at home in Bel Air, 1951.

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Actress Joan Crawford and her two adopted children on the beach, Monterey, California, 1945.

Joan Crawford and two of her children, Christina and Christopher, on the beach, Monterey, California, 1945.

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy with her children, 1961.

Ethel Kennedy with her children, 1961.

Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jane Fonda and her daughter, Vanessa, in California, 1971.

Jane Fonda and her daughter, Vanessa, in California, 1971.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Nancy Reagan with Ron Reagan in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in 1965.

Nancy Reagan with Ron Reagan in Pacific Palisades, Calif., in 1965.

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Natalie Wood and her mother at home, 1945.

Natalie Wood and her mother at home, 1945.

Martha Holmes The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peggy Lee gets a goodnight kiss from her 4-year-old daughter Nicki, 1948.

Peggy Lee gets a goodnight kiss from her 4-year-old daughter Nicki, 1948.

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mia Farrow reads to her children on Martha's Vineyard in 1974.

Mia Farrow reads to her children on Martha’s Vineyard in 1974.

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill at Leisure: Portraits of the Private Man

On May 10, 1940, as Hitler’s Germany was invading Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, the British Conservative leader Winston Churchill took the reins of a coalition government after his predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, stepped aside.

Churchill would, of course, ultimately help lead England and the Allies to a brutally fought, costly victory over the Axis Powers in World War II. But in the early years of the conflict, England stood alone against the Reich after Nazi forces swarmed across border after border in Europe. Churchill’s defiance in the face of what seemed, at the time, an invincible Wehrmacht juggernaut earned the aristocratic, independent-minded PM his enduring reputation as one of the greatest war-time leaders in history.

Here, LIFE.com presents a selection of photos that portray Churchill the private man: painter, animal lover, country gentleman. The Churchill of these pictures is no less impressive, no less formidable than the man who so tenaciously defied Hitler during England’s darkest days. But there’s also a tenderness that adds to the great man’s singular, somewhat ornery charm.

As a reminder of Churchill at his greatest—at his most Churchillian—here are some deathless words from one of his most celebrated addresses, delivered early in the war, on June 4, 1940, and known ever since as the “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech. If more stirring words were uttered by any leader, Allied or Axis, during the Second World War, they’ve been lost to history. In phrases that range, brilliantly, from soaring to bracingly blunt and back again, Churchill lionized, galvanized and challenged the citizens of his “Island home” like no Briton before him or since.

“I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation.
“The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk.

Winston Churchill stands in his studio at [his home] Chartwell, Kent, dressed in his RAF-blue siren suit, and peers over his spectacles at the camera while retouching one of his old landscapes.

Winston Churchill stood in his studio at home, dressed in his RAF-blue siren suit while retouching one of his old landscapes.

Hans Wild The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill smoking at cigar at his Chartwell home in 1947

Winston Churchill and cigar at his Chartwell home in 1947

Hans Wild The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill at his desk working on his memoirs, March 1947

Winston Churchill at his desk working on his memoirs, March 1947.

Nat Farbman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill painting in 1949

Winston Churchill here obeyed his own injunction to amateur painters: ‘Audacity is the only ticket.’ His painting costume included a smock to protect his clothes and a 10 gallon Stetson, which he’d gotten years ago in California, to shield his head from the sun.

Frank Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill at his easel painting and smoking a cigar near Aix-en-Provence, France.

Winston Churchill painted and smoked a cigar near Aix-en-Provence, France.

Frank Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill and his dog, Rufus, at Chartwell in 1947.

Winston Churchill and his dog, Rufus, at Chartwell in 1947.

Hans Wild The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill and a four-month-old thoroughbred filly (unnamed, but called "Darling" by Churchill), Chartwell, Kent, 1950.

Winston Churchill and a four-month-old thoroughbred filly (unnamed, but called “Darling” by Churchill), Chartwell, Kent, 1950.

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill and his dog, Rufus, at Chartwell in 1950.

Winston Churchill and his dog, Rufus, at Chartwell in 1950.

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill and black swans a gift from the people of West Australia at Chartwell in 1950.

Winston Churchill and black swans—a gift from the people of West Australia—at Chartwell in 1950.

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Winston Churchill seated in his study at Chartwell, Kent, in 1950.

Winston Churchill in his study at Chartwell, Kent, in 1950.

William Sumits The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

LIFE With Streisand: Early Photos of an Insecure Star

Barbra Streisand has been such a force on the entertainment scene for so long (her 1963 debut album, recorded when she was just 20, won an Album of the Year Grammy) that a glimpse back at her first years in show business offers fascinating insights into her evolution as a performer, and a person. Here, LIFE.com offers a window into the intense, emotionally fraught world Streisand inhabited—and, in a sense, created for herself with her own outsized insecurities and perfectionism early in her career.

In 1966, for example, LIFE published a cover story on the then-23 year old Brooklyn native that portrayed the young star as a “fear-ridden girl” terrified that her early success “could suddenly all fall apart.” Of course, creative people who have enjoyed (or endured) fame right out of the gate almost invariably, at one point or another, suffer lacerating self-doubts; Streisand, however, appears to have examined her own talents and achievements with the same tenacity that she brought to, say, mastering the nuances of a new tune or the timing of a comedic line.

“Why Barbara Streisand has to know what people think of her every time she performs is an astounding, and wrenching, phenomenon,” wrote LIFE’s Diana Lurie in the March 18, 1966, issue of LIFE. “At 23, she is an undisputed queen of musical comedy, television and records. Every one of the seven records she has made sold a million copies. She gets $50,000 per concert appearance. For nearly two years she pulled in standing room-only audiences for an otherwise undistinguished musical, Funny Girl. . . . Everybody knows Streisand is on top. So does she. And the more she is hailed, the more scared and unsure she feels. ‘I win awards and everything but one of these days something is going to bomb. It’s a scary thing.'”

Even more surprising in the LIFE cover story is the assertion that, while “her audiences adore Barbra,” she “looks on them as her adversaries.” During taping of a TV special, hyper-critically watching her own performance played back on monitors, she told her agent: “I know this is a better show than the first. But they are waiting for it to bomb. They always are. People say, ‘Go and see this terrific girl.’ But most of them come thinking, ‘Nah, she can’t be that great.’ It makes me feel they’re the monster and I’m their victim.”

Despite or perhaps because of this deeply ambivalent attitude toward her audience and her triumphs, Streisand also displayed a cool, collected and (for a 23-year-old) remarkably astute understanding of her own stardom.

“My success? The only way I can account for it is that whatever abilities other performers have, I must have it plus. Onstage I am a cross between a washwoman and a princess. I am a bit coarse, a bit low, a bit vulgar and a bit ignorant. But I am also part princess sophisticated, elegant and controlled. I can appeal to everybody.”

Then, she adds: “When I am not performing, however, I don’t think I have that definite a personality. I think maybe I have nothing.”

Maybe I have nothing. All these years later, after the Emmys (five), Oscars (two), Grammys (eight) and a special Tony Award; after selling millions upon millions of records, filling concert halls and arenas and enjoying the devotion of countless fans the world over after all that, one can only hope Streisand has come to embrace the notion that, just maybe, she does have something after all.

Barbra Streisand in 1966

Barbra Streisand in 1966.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in 1966

Original caption: “In [a] TV recording studio session, Barbra, listening to a song being played back, vacillates wildly between doubt, delight and despair.”

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in a recording studio in 1966, listening to herself sing.

Barbra Streisand in a recording studio in 1966, listening to herself sing.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in a recording studio in 1966, listening to herself sing.

Barbra Streisand in a recording studio in 1966, listening to herself sing.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand at a 1966 recording session

Barbra Streisand at a 1966 recording session.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in 1966

Original caption: ” In TV control booth Barbra watches tensely as a song in her new show [a special on CBS] is played back.”

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Watching herself on a monitor during rehearsals for a 1966 TV special, Barbra Streisand "is so distressed by her singing and appearance that she hides her eyes."

Watching herself on a monitor during rehearsals for a 1966 TV special, Barbra Streisand “is so distressed by her singing and appearance that she hides her eyes.”

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in 1966

Original caption: “In Paris to be photographed by Vogue, in a jaguar suit she designed herself, Barbra Streisand watches Chanel spring collection opening in stony silence. At far right are [actress and model] Elsa Martinelli and Marlene Dietrich.”

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in France, 1966.

Barbra Streisand in France, 1966.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Barbra Streisand in 1966

Original caption: “Warding off 6 a.m. chill with her silver fox coat, Barbra listens to the umpteenth playback of her recordings for an album of French songs. She sang in French, polishing every word more than ever.”

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

LIFE Magazine March 18, 1966 cover with Barbara Streisand.

LIFE Magazine March 18, 1966 cover with Barbara Streisand.

Bill Eppridge LIFE Magazine

Jack Nicholson: Rare, Early Photos of an Actor on the Rise

Time was that John Joseph Nicholson was merely another Hollywood up and comer. More promising and talented than many, perhaps. Certainly more riveting, as both an artist and as an individual, than most. But still, in the late 1960s, Jack Nicholson was just Jack Nicholson: a guy with some interesting, supporting roles under his belt. The superstar, five-decade career (replete with 12 career Oscar nominations)—had just barely begun.

In September 1969, not long after Nicholson charmed moviegoers and critics with his deceptively easygoing performance as a sweet-natured, booze-sodden, small-town lawyer in Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider, LIFE sent Arthur Schatz to photograph the 32-year-old actor at his new home on Mulholland Drive, overlooking Franklin Canyon in Los Angeles. Here, LIFE.com offers a series of Schatz’s photographs from that shoot that were never published in LIFE.

Typed notes by writer Judy Fayard that accompanied Schatz’s film to the LIFE offices New York, suggest small insights into the man. For example, Fayard recalls that at one point during the shoot, Nicholson—who in 1969 drove a yellow convertible VW bug—stated that “anyone out here who doesn’t drive a Volks is either ostentatious or stupid.”

Ultimately, perhaps the most fascinating aspect of these pictures, more than a half century later, is how recognizably Jack he is in them. The energy, the charisma, the intelligence, the well-known (and so-often lovingly parodied) grin: these are all  familiar traits of a singular figure, now in his 80s, who has given viewers so many unforgettable roles.

Jack Nicholson at home in Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson at home in Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson at home in Los Angeles, 1969

Jack Nicholson at home in Los Angeles, 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson plays with his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson played with his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson and his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson and his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson chat on the deck of Nicholson's home, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rafelson chatted on the deck of Nicholson’s home, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson looks at film negatives at his home, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson looked at film negatives at his home, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson clowns around at his home with a picture of his friend, the film director Bob Rafelson, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson clowned around at his home with a picture of his friend, the film director Bob Rafelson, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson and his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Jack Nicholson and his daughter, Jennifer, on the deck of his home overlooking Franklin Canyon, Los Angeles, 1969.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, taking his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk, prior to starring as a classical pianist-turned-roughneck in the 1970 classic, Five Easy Pieces.

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, took his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk, before starring as a classical pianist-turned-roughneck in the 1970 classic, Five Easy Pieces.

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, taking his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, during his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, taking his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk

Jack Nicholson at home in 1969, during his first piano lesson with teacher Josef Pacholczyk

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson driving his Volkswagen convertible in 1969

Jack Nicholson driving his Volkswagen convertible in 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson driving his Volkswagen convertible in 1969

Jack Nicholson in his Volkswagen convertible, 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson drives his Volkswagen Convertible in 1969

Jack Nicholson in his Volkswagen Convertible, 969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Last Days of High School: Mansfield, Ohio, 1941

Ask ten people what their high school years were like, and you’ll probably get one of two answers: Best years of my life,  or, Worst years of my life. But even those who hated high school probably recall their graduation and the days around it as significant.

In 1941, LIFE magazine paid tribute to the rite of spring in a series of photographs that the great Alfred Eisenstaedt made that year at and around graduation in the town of Mansfield, in north-central Ohio. More than seven decades later, Eisenstaedt’s warm, empathetic pictures convey the strangely mixed emotions that will be familiar to anyone who’s ever donned a cap and gown and walked across a stage to shake hands and receive a diploma: anxiety, pride, relief, excitement and, for most of us, not a little melancholy. This is, after all, the real and true end of something, even as it’s the beginning of something wholly new.

As LIFE put it in the magazine’s June 30, 1941, issue—less than six months, it’s worth noting, before Pearl Harbor and America’s sudden entry into World War II:

In the momentary dignity of caps and gowns, the 17-and-18-year-olds are going through one of the most exciting periods of their lives. This June, Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduated 283 of the year’s total of some 1,300,000 U.S. high-school graduates.

Mansfield graduates began their sad leave-taking on Class Day, listening to their class song, class poem, and class “will.” Their officers sat stiffly before a backdrop representing the graduation theme: the “Friendship,” an imaginary superliner in which graduates were supposed top take off into the future. Later in the week came a baccalaureate service, a class picnic, a formal dinner and dance, finally the climactic event of the commencement. In the outdoor stadium proud parents looked on nostalgically while the new graduates switched their tassels of their mortarboards from left to right, sign for over half the class that their formal education was finished.

To Mansfield this was only another commencement, in spite of the lengthening shadow of war. Though a girl’s class poem had sympathized with “our ill-starred cousins” in England and given thanks for “our native land,” a poll showed that only 9.2 percent of the class believed that the U.S. should fight in the war. If on its outcome depended the survival of their system of free public education in the pleasant security of central Ohio, Mansfield’s seniors were only aware that, in their own slang, graduation had been “superslubgupious,” or in other words, wonderful.

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The last class in Economics was held outdoors on this long flight of stone steps in Middle Park.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Patricia Ann Bancroft practiced a Class Day poem in a three-room apartment where she lived with brother and widowed mother, a schoolteacher. The following year the Bancrofts planned to double up with relatives to save money so that Pat could go to college.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Pat’s graduation presents were a suitcase, slippers, stockings, pin and a $25 check from a relative. Pat planned to use the money to buy a typewriter.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Pat was tapped for the National Honor Society award for scholarship and leadership.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

At Class Day.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

At the baccalaureate service in a Lutheran church, seniors were exhorted to “render service to society.”

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

At the top left is the school valedictorian, Julia Loraine Fishback, who earned a scholarship to Swarthmore, where she planned to study occupational therapy. Top right: Lillian Art, voted ‘Prettiest Girl in the Class’; her widowed mother worked for Mansfield’s largest industry, Westinghouse Electric, and she planned to become a secretary. The students in the lower left and right photos were unidentified.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jim Gorman’s graduation present was this second-hand Ford, piled high with friends in front of high school. Jim’s father was a well-to-do manufacturer, and Jim was planning to attend Lehigh University.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

This hayride and class picnic took place at novelist Louis Bromfield’s farm three days before commencement. The seniors contributed 25 cents each toward the cost of food. Later in the evening, Bromfield threw them a barn dance.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

High school seniors nearing graduation, Mansfield, Ohio, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/ Life Pictures/Shutterstock

At the class dinner and dance the next night, the kids dressed up in their formalwear. Reportedly, no one spiked the punch.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Mansfield, Ohio, Senior High School graduation, 1941.

Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

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