‘American Graffiti’ actress’ new book offers a peek at ’70s Hollywood’
The medium has changed, but the ritual is still the same. Put heads together, smile and wait for the snap of the camera.
Then comes the gratification of seeing the photo immediately after it is taken.
Today, we take them on phones and call them headshots or selfies. Back then, shutterbugs had only film and called the shots tight heads.
“Tight Heads” is the title of actress Candy Clark’s new book. It’s a nod to the term used by fashion photographers during her modeling days and the act of putting heads together to watch a Polaroid photo develop.
“Tight Heads” is a ‘70s Hollywood yearbook, filled with up-and-coming stars as seen through the Polaroid lens of a budding actress who rose to fame after being cast in “American Graffiti.”
“I never even dreamed that these Polaroids would have any value, you know, and I rarely looked at them,” Clark said in an interview with The Modesto Bee. “I never kept a diary or anything like that. So it would just be a memory, and some of the memories are sad. Where people wound up, you know, we all kind of started out together and had dreams.”
Publisher Sam Sweet of All Night Books said of Clark, “Because she ended up in Hollywood completely by accident, without any expectation or ambition, it gave her a completely unique perspective on the movie community. She wasn’t wrapped up in the culture of fame, so she could see major players as interesting everyday characters — almost like Hollywood was a small town and the movies just happened to be the local business. That disarming clarity is incredibly rare. Her photos have that quality.”
Sweet was introduced to Clark by a mutual friend. He was working on an interview project documenting personal memories of writers, actors and other creatives about Los Angeles and thought Clark could offer a unique perspective.
In her interview, he asked, “Can you describe for me an LA memento? A keepsake of the city in the form of an image or an object.” Clark responded with 18 Polaroids, described by Sweet as “beautiful and disarming close-up portraits of the major male figures of 1970s Hollywood.”
Sweet asked Clark if she had others. She said she had many more tucked away in a rarely opened cabinet. The idea of a book was born. “You think anybody would be interested?” she asked.
The book chronicles Clark’s time in Hollywood through a series of glossy Polaroids with descriptions of each photo from Clark’s recollection. Robin Williams (both were in the premiere episode of Shelley Duvall’s “Faerie Tale Theatre”), David Bowie (her co-star in “The Man Who Fell to Earth”), Carrie Fisher and Jeff Bridges, whom she dated for a few years, are just some of the friends she photographed, many before they reached superstardom.
The never-before-published photos also feature Modesto native George Lucas, who directed Clark in “American Graffiti,” his coming-of-age tale set in his hometown in 1962. She has fond memories of that set. It was only her second film, but her portrayal of teenage party girl Debbie Dunham earned her an Academy Award nomination.
The film was a hit and Clark was suddenly “it.” With fame came parties, and Clark recalls a different Hollywood era when people were less concerned with image and privacy. “It was a real floating party atmosphere, there were no guest lists. You just show up, knock on the door and go in,” she said. “A lot of times the door would just be open.”
Always interested in photography, Clark began to shoot her moments. She describes being inspired by Andy Warhol, who was known to carry around a camera, and her mother, who would always photograph their special moments even when money was tight.
Clark began by using a traditional camera, but when she got a Polaroid, she realized the photo was an experience in itself. “It was like a social thing, where people would put their heads together, for the photo and to watch it develop,” she said. “If I took a picture of a person, I’d take two, and they’d get a copy, and I’d get a copy.”
Though the film was expensive and limited to 10 photos per cartridge, Clark preferred Polaroids for their unique aesthetic. “With a Polaroid, it doesn’t show all your flaws. It’s a softer look,” she said. “The colors are a nice pastel, and kind of have a creamy texture to them.”
Clark and Sweet chose 78 images to feature in “Tight Heads,” but Clark said she has many more and is open to releasing another book.
“She has a pretty amazing archive of photos documenting the making of ‘American Graffiti,’” Sweet said. Clark, who was among the first “Legends of the Cruise” inductees to the Modesto Historic Graffiti Cruise Route Walk of Fame, described long hours on set where there was little to do but socialize, drink and take photos.
“There were actually two different groups, the more bad-boy group and then there was the more conservative group, which was me, Cindy (Williams), Ron Howard, Charlie (Martin Smith), and Richard (Dreyfuss),” she said. “But Paul Le Mat, Bo Hopkins and Harrison (Ford) and maybe Manual Padilla Jr. were all kind of hard drinking and hard smoking.”
The book was released in April, both Clark and Sweet have been overwhelmed by the response.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive, both among people who know Candy and people discovering this history for the first time. The book took over two years to make because it was incredibly important to me that ‘Tight Heads’ feel different, both as an object and as a story. It had to have a soul and a meaning beyond the novelty of Hollywood. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see how the book affects people, especially when readers hold it in their hands as a physical object. It’s one of a kind,” Sweet said.
“Tight Heads” is available to purchase at select bookstores and directly from the publisher, All Night Books at www.allnight-menu.com/shop/tight-heads.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
