From Troglodyte to TV Star: Cave Dwellers in Pop Culture
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The 2009 comedy Year One portrayed Michael Cera and Jack Black as two prehistoric outcasts in search of a home and a purpose after being banished from their tribe. After much distress and humiliation, the two eventually become hunter-gatherer heroes.
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Geico Insurance is famous for many of its comical commercials, but the company is probably best known for the caveman ads. The commercials portrayed 21st-century cavemen who were angry about being judged by modern society as prehistoric.
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Cavepeople are among us today! These giant fur boots, worn by Jersey Shore's Snooki, put a prehistoric twist on a modern trend. In fact, fur boots, from Uggs to off-brands, seem to reemerge each winter in recent years when the weather turns chilly.
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When a Stone Age king declares that all eligible males must marry immediately, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy compete for the same woman in the 1928 movie Flying Elephants. Here, caveman Hardy plays hard to get with cave beauty Dorothy Coburn.
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Some fashionistas go beyond the boots to rock full cavewoman garb! This model walks the runway at the Jeremy Scott fashion show on Sept. 22, 2009, in London, England. You be the judge -- everyday fashion or Pebbles Flintstone Halloween costume?
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For the ever-so-slightly more subtle cavewoman style, a bone accent may do the trick. These Stone Age-inspired heels also rocked the runway during the fall 2009 Jeremy Scott fashion show in London, England.
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Bringing the caveperson trend across the pond to the U.S., Kelly Osbourne poses backstage with designer Jeremy Scott at his fashion show at Milk Studios in New York City on Feb. 17, 2010. Would you rock this style on the streets or save it for the world of the fashion-forward?
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In this Stone Age classic, One Million B.C., Carole Landis and Victor Mature team up as cavepeople from rival tribes trying to make their way in the dangerous prehistoric world. Cavewoman Loana works hard to teach Tumak and his primitive tribe about manners and peace.
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In a more modern caveman film, 2001's The Caveman's Valentine, Samuel L. Jackson plays Romulus, a mentally ill New York City troglodyte on the search for a killer after he finds the frozen body of a teenage boy outside his cave.
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Famous voiceover expert Mel Blanc brought the character of Captain Caveman to life in the '70s cartoon series Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. The furry caveman worked with three young girls to solve mysteries -- and, of course, to end up a prehistoric hero at the end of each episode.
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Want to live like a caveman? Sure, you can don the furry dress and bone-detailed shoes, and look for a nice, cozy cave to inhabit, but eating a prehistoric diet is also important. Think raw -- freshly hunted meat and newly gathered vegetables. Feel free to skip the garnish.
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Hollywood cavewomen know what real style is! Here, Kate Pierson of the B-52s strikes a pose with Rosie O'Donnell during filming of the 1994 comedy The Flintstones at Universal Studios in California. The movie was packed with stars in caveman garb, including John Goodman, Elizabeth Perkins, Rick Moranis, Halle Berry and Elizabeth Taylor.
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You can't talk about prehistoric fashion without style icon Cher getting in on the act! In the 1967 film Good Times, pop duo Sonny and Cher depicted a variety of characters in a series of spoofs and parodies. Here, the two sit astride an elephant in slightly skimpy caveman and cavewoman garb.
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Prehistoric love triangle? Buster Keaton visits three different time periods in the 1923 silent film Three Ages. In each era, including the Stone Age, he must compete with characters played by Wallace Beery to win the love of a beautiful maiden -- in this case, a cavewoman.
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Cavewoman aren't always just cast as helpless maidens. Jamaican-born actress Martine Beswick played cave dweller Nupondi in the 1966 movie One Million Years B.C., which also featured Raquel Welch as a cavewoman trying to teach civility to a savage tribe.
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Would you take legal advice from a caveman? Maybe -- if he attended law school. Phil Hartman played the unfrozen caveman lawyer Cirroc on numerous episodes of Saturday Night Live in the '90s. Trading his animal skins for a suit, Cirroc offered advice as a defense and personal injury lawyer, and later, he even ran for president.
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Comedian Buddy Hackett and actress Gretchen Wyler portray what a caveman and his gal might wear when they went to the more primitive version of the theater. They're among several stars who displayed "formal wear through the ages" for an ANTA fashion show.
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From rock star to rock dweller! Former Beatle Ringo Starr played Atouk in 1991's Caveman. Costar John Matuszak, football player turned actor, plays fellow caveman Tonda. The film portrays a Stone Age love affair as Atouk lusts after Tonda's mate and is banished from the tribe. Dennis Quaid also starred in the movie.
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Perhaps the most well-known Neanderthal novel, Jean M. Auel's 1980 book The Clan of the Cave Bear follows orphaned cavegirl Ayla as she tries to assimilate into a clan with vastly different customs and traditions from her own. The book was made into a film in 1986.
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The more recent prehistoric portrayal 10,000 B.C. featured Steven Strait and Camilla Belle, shown here at the movie's premiere in Hollywood in 2008. When Belle's character, Evolet, is kidnapped by mysterious warlords, mammoth hunter D'Leh sets out to rescue her -- of course, he must fend off saber-toothed cats and vicious birds along the way.
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The Land of the Lost has taken on many forms over the years, from multiple TV series to the 2009 Will Ferrell comedy. Ferrell plays a paleontologist sucked into the prehistoric world with two other humans. The trio befriends cave-dweller Chaka, who helps them survive against dinosaurs, birds and a variety of other Stone Age dangers.
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Remember that caveman from the Geico commercials that you saw earlier? The concept was so popular that the cavemen inspired the short-lived 2007 ABC series Cavemen, which followed the Neanderthals' lives in modern America. Here, the cavemen rock out at the ABC All Star Party in California on July 26, 2007.
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Caveman culture is here to stay! In 2013, The Flintstones will hit the airwaves once again. Tune in to Fox as Seth MacFarlane, shown here and known for creating the hit cartoon series Family Guy, gives new life to Fred, Barney and the rest of the prehistoric gang.
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How about a caveman makeover? A young Brendan Fraser took on a prehistoric persona with his character Link in 1992's Encino Man. Link is discovered frozen by two teen outcasts, played by Pauly Shore and Sean Astin, who quickly set to work trying to introduce him to 20th-century life.
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This Norm Bendell illustration is just one of many caveman cartoons that readers have enjoyed over the years. A few famous prehistoric comic strips include B.C., Alley Oop and, sometimes, The Far Side. Cavemen even made it into the world of DC comic books with the character of Anthro.
Want to put your newfound neanderthal knowledge to the test? Take our living like a caveman quiz!
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