24 Iconic Photos of a Young Demi Moore That Prove Her Enduring Appeal

When a young Demi Moore hit the Hollywood scene in the 1980s, she wasn’t exactly an unknown. In 1981, at just 19 years old, she was well on her way to becoming a star of the small screen thanks to her role as investigative reporter Jackie Templeton on General Hospital.

Still, it wasn’t until Moore’s appearance in the 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire—starring alongside fellow Brat Pack-ers Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, and Rob Lowe—that she reached It-girl status. Though the film was almost universally panned by critics, no one could deny Moore’s innate appeal; even The Hollywood Reporter called her performance “spirited and on-the-mark.” Naturally, St. Elmo’s Fire became a runaway box office hit, and—later—a cult classic.

Of course, “spirited” and “on-the-mark” could well describe Moore’s personal charisma, too. In the years that followed her silver-screen debut, the raven-haired beauty turned heads nearly everywhere she went, often debuting a jaw-dropping new hairstyle or effortlessly of-the-moment look along the way. There were oversized moto jackets and structured power suits; sleek cowboy boots and billowing high-waisted pants; and—timed to the release of the megahit Ghost in 1990—figure-hugging gowns in shimmering shades of pearl to match her (briefly) golden hair. And who could forget her iconic Annie Leibowitz Vanity Fair cover in 1991, which featured the seven-months-pregnant, 28-year-old star fully nude? “I always felt that if I ever was involved in what you would consider Hollywood, that I would be visiting. You know?” she told the magazine then.

Visiting she was not. By the mid-’90s, Moore had officially completed her transformation from cool ingenue to undeniable A-lister with the back-to-back hits Indecent Proposal, A Few Good Men, and Disclosure. In 1995, she became the highest-paid actress in Hollywood—and also one of the most photographed. Thanks to show-stopping red carpet appearances and edgy off-duty looks—which were often coordinated with those of her then-husband, Bruce Willis, whom she married in 1987—the actress never failed to top best dressed lists. When she shaved her head for the 1997 film G.I. Jane, the buzz around her only grew: from tabloids to TV, it was practically the only thing anyone could talk about. “It was actually a very liberating experience,” she explained to Jay Leno in an appearance on The Tonight Show that year. “You don’t realize how much you hide behind your hair.”

With her innate depth and quiet confidence, Moore remains, to this day, one of America’s most captivating performers—as proved by her recent return to film in this year’s The Substance. Here, a look at some of a young Demi Moore’s most memorable moments in the ’80s and ’90s—from her early soap-star days to her red carpet appearance for the premiere of Striptease and everything in between.