Top 10 Biggest Celebrity Crushes From My Childhood: Lea Thompson

3—Lea Thompson (Back to the Future, Space Camp, Some Kind of Wonderful, Jaws 3D): My crush on Lea Thompson began with Back to the Future. I loved that movie. Who didn’t? The movie was pure awesomeness and the girl, Lorraine Baines, was stunningly gorgeous. The first time I watched it, I remember being completely floored by the hotness of the 1955 Lorraine. I was shocked by the fact that the hideous, worn down, 1985 Lorraine could be so gorgeous 30 years earlier. It goes without saying that I watched Back to the Future endlessly. I never watched the Back to the Future sequels as much, however. While the stories in the Back to the Future sequels were great and I wasted many hours in toy stores hunting for the fabled Mattel hoverboard, those films never measured up to the original for one reason: Not enough hot Lea Thompson!

A couple of years after Back to the Future, I saw Space Camp. Unfortunately, I never caught this one in the theater. I had never even heard of the movie when some charitable friends of the family, who were known to copy a tape or two, gave me the videotape thinking I would be all about it. Oh, charitable- friends-who-shall-remain-unnamed-so-the-FBI-doesn’t-bust-down-your-door, how right you were. But for all the wrong reasons. I popped the Space Camp tape into my VCR and minutes later, there was Lorraine once again on my TV, looking all 80’s modern-like and even hotter than in Back to the Future. I could barely contain myself. I didn’t think this level of hotness was attainable and, for a year or two, Lea Thompson was alone atop my personal, Top 10 Hottest Chicks list. For those who don’t remember, Space Camp was a preposterous movie about a group of misfit NASA Space Campers who accidently get launched into space (or was it on purpose? The plot thickens). Even as a kid, I thought the story was ridiculous. The movie sucked ass. But I still loved it because it involved space, NASA, and Lea Thompson. As a 9 year old, that was my recipe for an instant classic.

Want to know why I watched Jaws 3D, Howard the Duck, and Some Kind of Wonderful every time they appeared on cable TV? Lea Thompson. No other reason. Here’s a little trivia for you: did you know that Lea Thompson’s co-star in Some Kind of Wonderful, Eric Stoltz, was also supposed to co-star with her in Back to the Future as Marty McFly? He was replaced a few weeks into shooting with the more animated Michael J. Fox. Useless knowledge. I’m full of it.

Lea Thompson as the hot Lorraine in Back to the Future

Lea Thompson in Space Camp sucking on a Gobstopper maybe and talking to...someone. 

After flying a biplane and spending a couple of days in Space Camp, flying the space shuttle was a piece of cake.

Lea Thompson's signature scene was "parking." Here she is parking in some dude's Jeep.

Lea Thompson talking all smarmy.

I still think the hair is hot 

Got a pair of old-school 3D glasses? I don't and I'm curious what this scene from Jaws 3D looks like.

Howard the Duck. Terrible movie. But it has Lea Thompson.

Where is she now?

In the early 90’s, Lea Thompson was making a career starring in old school remakes such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Little Rascals, and Dennis the Menace. She then starred in the sitcom Caroline in the City until 1999. Since then, Lea Thompson has appeared in a bunch of made-for-TV movies on Hallmark and Lifetime that I have never heard of. This year she starred in some movie called Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer, which I think went straight to video. I saw Lea Thompson live and in person at a recent dork convention in Orlando. I’m not one for autographs, but this one was very tempting. Not tempting enough to brave the hour-long wait, but I did take in a good look as we walked by. Lea Thompson was obviously a bit older than I remember her from Caroline in the City, which was the last time I remember seeing her on TV. She looked remarkably like the much better looking 1985 Lorraine at the end of Back to the Future after Marty McFly fixed everything—only thinner.

Caroline in the City.  

Here's 2008 picture of her at a convention.