With Ang Lee and Demetri Martin “Taking Woodstock” this weekend, we're looking back at the grooviest guys and gals we've met at the big screen love-in — starring Jeff Bridges, Peter Fonda, Goldie Hawn, and Dennis Hopper.
Peter Sellers
‘I Love You, Alice B. Toklas’ (1968)
After The Graduate but before Easy Rider, this comedy satirized hippie culture by feeding 35 year-old Harold Fine (Sellers) hash brownies that force him to reconsider his squarish lifestyle and help him grow long hair seemingly overnight.
Peter Fonda
‘Easy Rider’ (1969)
His traveling partner Billy (Dennis Hopper) looks more like the conventional hippie, but Wyatt, a.k.a. Captain America, is this trip's ambassador to the counterculture. Looking for freedom on the open roads between L.A and New Orleans, leather-clad Wyatt speaks in hippie-slang and teaches Jack Nicholson to toke-up.
Goldie Hawn
‘Butterflies Are Free’ (1972)
Hawn was the giggle of a generation from her work on Laugh-In, so she was perfect as the wonderfully eccentric babe who falls for her blind next-door neighbor (Edward Albert). She's perky (''Funerals don't have to be morbid'') and fun, and — not insignificantly — mostly half-naked.
Ted Neeley
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ (1973)
It's not exactly The Da Vinci Code, but the rock opera portrayed a Jesus that hadn't been taught in Sunday school: In the words of the wicked Caiaphas, ''Jesus is cool.'' Calm amidst a sea of rhythmic dancing, Neeley's J.C. was a rebel who threatened the establishment.
Shelly Duvall
‘Nashville’ (1975)
Duvall's rail-thin hippie wears hot pants and a flowing wig, and goes by names like Dakota and LA Joan. She's supposed to be visiting her sick aunt in the hospital, but gets distracted by any longhaired man with a guitar.
Treat Williams
‘Hair’ (1979)
As Berger, the freewheeling leader of a New York tribe of hippies who sing and dance its worries away, Williams was a scruffy pied piper for the Age of Aquarius. He lets the sun shine in on the 1960s' true spirit when he sheds his locks and saves his friend from Vietnam.
Amy Madigan
‘Field of Dreams’ (1989)
Her husband hears voices in their cornfield, so Annie initially appears to be the responsible one. But when the local school board considers banning books by her favorite '60s author, she unloads on her narrow-minded opponent, calling her a ''book burner'' and a ''Nazi cow.''
Dennis Hopper
‘Flashback’ (1990)
Hopper-as-hippie was common casting, but his funniest far-out role was radical Huey Walker, a '60s fugitive wanted for comically tampering with Spiro Agnew's campaign train. He torments a straitlaced FBI agent (Kiefer Sutherland), and ends up on a commune, wondering if he's ''gone to hippie heaven or hippie hell.''
Rory Cochrane
‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)
There's a fine line between hippie and mere stoner, but perpetually-glazed Slater makes the cut for his dippy theories about George Washington's alien cult and cannabis' role in the founding of the country: ''Did you ever look at a dollar bill, man? There's some spooky s--- going on there. And it's green, too.''
Robin Wright Penn
‘Forrest Gump’ (1994)
The quintessential flower child, Forrest's beloved Jenny played folk music (nude), hitchhiked with hippie strangers, marched on Washington, and dated leftist revolutionaries. Her groove eventually took her to some dark places where even Forrest's love couldn't reverse the consequences.
Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda
‘Flirting with Disaster’ (1996)
Richard and Mary Schlichting seem like fine upstanding citizens. They're creative types, making a fine living making crafts and sculpture. And LSD. In fact, when Mel (Ben Stiller) asks his long-lost biological parents why they gave him up for adoption, he's perturbed by the straight dope: They had to give him up because they were in jail for dealing drugs.
Jeff Bridges
‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
The Dude (or Duder, His Dudeness, or El Duderino) never really made it out of the 1960s. When a nihilist pees on his rug, he takes it up with the wealthy man who he feels is semi-responsible. ''Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski!'' shouts the unsympathetic coot. ''Condolences! The bums lost!''
Kate Winslet
‘Hideous Kinky’ (1998)
After falling out with her London husband, optimistic Julia drags her two young daughters to 1972 Morocco in a quest for enlightenment that includes dancing, drugs, and lots of sex. Though her intentions are pure, her plans are half-baked and her naivety places her children in harm's way.
Viggo Mortensen
‘A Walk on the Moon’ (1999)
Significantly cleaner and more handsome than your typical 1969 hippie, the travelling Blouse Man who tempted square-pants Diane Lane with bacchanal pleasures is how — in their fondest flashbacks — most female Baby Boomer's remember their Woodstock hookups.
Michael Caine
‘Children of Men’ (2006)
Yes, there are hippies in the future. At least in Alfonso Cuarón's dystopian version of 2027, where mankind has become sterile. Jasper lives in a countryside retreat, caring for his sick wife and harvesting marijuana. He mistrusts the government, listens to classic rock, and still gets a giggle out of playing ''pull my finger.''