The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' cover: A complete guide to who's who
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Ever wonder who all those faces are on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? Well, wonder no more. We've got the complete list:
TOP ROW
Sri Yukteswar Giri Hindu guru and author of “The Holy Science,” 1894
Aleister Crowley Occultist and an alarming inclusion for some Christian Beatles fans, but this was a year after Lennon’s “bigger than Jesus” comment, so it didn’t cause too much of a stir
Mae West Bawdy, famous comedic film actress of the 1920s and 1930s
Lenny Bruce Innovative controversial comedian, arrested for obscenities in his stand-up act, and dead from a drug overdose just a year before “Pepper”
Karlheinz Stockhausen German composer of electronic music, active and alive in 1967
W. C. Fields American comedian and film actor of the 1920s
Carl Gustav Jung Psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology who died in 1961, just missing The Beatles
Edgar Allan Poe 19th century poet, soon to be name-checked by Lennon in “I Am the Walrus”
Fred Astaire Legendary American film actor and dancer, age 67 at time of “Pepper” release
Richard Merkin American painter of vibrant and colorful pop culture images, still in his twenties in 1967
“The Varga Girl” Not an actual person, but the iconic artistic creation of Alberto Vargas, whose work was most prominent during World War II in the form of pin-up girls. Later in life, he would illustrate the cover of The Cars’ “Candy-O” album.
Huntz Hall This former Bowery Boy did make it onto the “Sgt. Pepper” cover
Simon Rodia Designer and builder of the Watts Towers in Los Angeles; died at 86, a year prior to “Sgt. Pepper”
Bob Dylan
Songwriting contemporary of The Beatles, major influence on Lennon, introducer of marijuana to all four Beatles. You know, Bob Dylan.
SECOND ROW
Aubrey Beardsley 19th century Art Nouveau line drawing artist
Sir Robert Peel 19th century British prime minister
Aldous Huxley Writer, author of “Brave New World,” died on the day of President Kennedy’s assassination
Dylan Thomas Welsh poet, “do not go gentle into that good night”
Terry Southern Screenplay writer of “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Ringo Starr would later star in a film based on his novel, “The Magic Christian,” and in the 1980s, Southern would write for “Saturday Night Live.”
Dion DiMucci Singer-songwriter and frontman for Dion and the Belmonts, who influenced the young Beatles
Tony Curtis American film actor, leading co-star of “Some Like It Hot”
Wallace Berman Pioneering assemblage artist whose photograph that appears on the “Pepper” cover was taken by American film actor Dean Stockwell. Berman had once told his mother that he would die on his 50th birthday, which is exactly what happened: killed by a drunk driver in 1976.
Tommy Handley British comedian, star of BBC Radio’s “It’s That Man Again”
Marilyn Monroe Iconic film actress and sex symbol
William S. Burroughs Beat Generation writer who would cross paths with McCartney in London’s art scene. While writing “Eleanor Rigby,” McCartney would run an early version by Burroughs.
Sri Mahavatar Babaji Historic Hindu guru and saint
Stan Laurel Comedic actor and star of Laurel and Hardy
Richard Lindner German/American painter and illustrator
Oliver Hardy Comedic actor and star of Laurel and Hardy
Karl Marx 19th century political philosopher, author of “The Communist Manifesto”
H. G. Wells Nobel Prize-winning author of “War of the Worlds”
Sri Paramahansa Yogananda Hindu guru from the first half of the 20th century
James Joyce Irish poet and novelist, author of “Ulysses” in 1922
A hairdresser’s wax dummy
THIRD ROW
Stuart Sutcliffe
Artist and former Beatle who died of a brain hemorrhage at age 21. Sutcliffe was Lennon’s best friend, and Ono later said that Lennon still spoke of him frequently throughout his life
Another hairdresser’s wax dummy
Max Miller British stand-up comedian, twice banned by the BBC for risqué humor
A “Petty Girl” Like “The Varga Girl,” not an actual person, but a creation of artist George Petty, also a pin-up girl artist whose work often appeared in Esquire magazine
Marlon Brando Legendary film actor. He played a rebellious biker in the 1953 film “The Wild Ones.” The rival biker gang in the movie was called The Beetles.
Tom Mix Silent Western film actor
Oscar Wilde Irish playwright, novelist and poet
Tyrone Power Famous film actor who once starred as Zorro. Much of Power’s face is
obscured by Lennon on the cover.
Larry Bell American artist and sculptor
David Livingstone 19th century missionary and explorer. “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
Johnny Weissmuller Olympic swimmer and star of Tarzan movies
Stephen Crane Author of “The Red Badge of Courage,” barely visible on the cover
Issy Bonn British music hall comedian
George Bernard Shaw Nobel Prizewinning Irish playwright
H. C. Westermann Contemporary American sculptor
Albert Stubbins English footballer, winning the league championship for Liverpool in 1947
Sri Lahiri Mahasaya Indian guru of the 19th century
Lewis Carroll English novelist, author of “Through the Looking Glass,” which inspired “I Am the Walrus”
T. E. Lawrence British archaeologist, military officer, diplomat and writer. Also known as Lawrence of Arabia.
FRONT ROW
Sonny Liston Wax model of one-time world heavyweight boxing champion
Another “Petty Girl”
George Harrison Wax model of George, circa 1964
John Lennon Wax model of John, circa 1964
Shirley Temple Famous child actress and later U.S. ambassador to Czechoslovakia (barely visible on the cover)
Ringo Starr Wax model of Ringo, circa 1964
Paul McCartney Wax model of Paul, circa 1964
Albert Einstein Physicist responsible for the general theory of relativity. Mostly obscured on the cover.
John Lennon The actual John holding a French horn
Ringo Starr The actual Ringo holding a trumpet
Paul McCartney The actual Paul holding a cor anglais
George Harrison The actual George holding a piccolo
Bette Davis Famously feisty American film actress. “What a dump.” Mostly obscured on the cover.
Bobby Breen Child singing star of the 1930s, who would live until 2016
Marlene Dietrich German/American actress and singer. In their days in Hamburg, Germany, the young Beatles performed a version of one of Dietrich’s most famous songs, “Falling in Love Again.”
Shirley Temple
Second appearance on the cover by the child actress, far more visible this time
An American legionnaire
Diana Dors
Wax model of actress and sex symbol, considered the English equivalent of Marilyn Monroe
Shirley Temple
That’s right. Temple makes three appearances, this time in the form of a cloth doll created by Jann Haworth, who put the doll in a sweater that says, “Welcome The Rolling Stones.”