Thanksgiving in America and Canada has long revolved around one centerpiece: the turkey. Whether roasted golden brown and served alongside pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes, or kept alive for a holiday photo shoot, the bird has been a symbol of the season for centuries. The exact origin of the Thanksgiving turkey is still debated among historians. Some trace it back to the very first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621. Others link the tradition to the Queen of England. What’s not up for debate is the scale of the tradition today — according to the National Turkey Federation, about 51.6 million turkeys were eaten on Thanksgiving Day in 2018 in the United States alone.
Hollywood’s golden age had its own way of marking the holiday. Studios regularly arranged festive photo shoots, putting their biggest stars in front of cameras with turkeys — live ones, roasted ones, and everything in between. These promotional images were sent to newspapers and magazines across the country, keeping celebrities in the public eye even during the holidays. The results range from charming to laugh-out-loud funny. Here’s a look at more than 50 classic actresses, actors, and personalities celebrating Thanksgiving across the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
Silent film star Dorothy Sebastian was among the earliest celebrities photographed in a Thanksgiving-themed shoot. The 1920s were a boom era for Hollywood, and studios were eager to connect their stars with wholesome American traditions like Thanksgiving.
By the late 1920s, these holiday photo sessions had become a well-established part of the studio publicity machine. Fay Webb’s 1927 shoot is a perfect example of the era’s style — polished, cheerful, and unmistakably festive.
The 1930s brought a new wave of Hollywood talent, and nearly all of them took their turn with a turkey. Bette Davis, already a formidable screen presence, and Barbara Kent both participated in the seasonal tradition.
Joan Blondell and Joan Crawford — two of the decade’s most recognized faces — each posed for their own Thanksgiving portraits. Crawford in particular was known for her highly managed public image, making these casual holiday shots a rare, lighter side of her persona.
Kate Smith, best remembered for her powerful rendition of “God Bless America,” joined actresses Leila Hyams, Mary Doran, and Raquel Torres in the roster of 1930s stars who embraced the Thanksgiving camera moment.
1935 gave us three memorable holiday portraits. Margaret Lindsay, Marsha Hunt, and comedian Patsy Kelly each posed for shots that capture the charm and playfulness studios aimed for in their seasonal press materials.
The 1940s were a particularly rich decade for these holiday photos. World War II meant that celebrity images carried extra weight — they boosted morale on the home front and reminded soldiers overseas of the traditions waiting for them back home. Angela Green and Ann Blyth were among the many actresses who lent their image to that effort.
Ann Sheridan, Barbara Bates, Dusty Anderson, and Joan Leslie all appeared in Thanksgiving shoots during the 1940s. Sheridan, nicknamed “The Oomph Girl” by Warner Bros., brought her signature energy even to a holiday turkey photo.
Few 1940s pairings are as iconic as Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien — the two starred together in the beloved 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Seeing both of them photographed separately for Thanksgiving gives a rare, personal glimpse of two of the era’s most beloved performers outside the studio soundstage.
Shirley Temple, one of the most famous child stars in film history, appeared in multiple Thanksgiving photos over the years. Vera-Ellen, Virginia Welles, and Peggy Diggins round out the 1940s lineup, each offering their own take on the festive tradition.
Donna Reed’s 1941 photo came just before her career would be transformed by her Oscar-winning role in “From Here to Eternity.” Marie McDonald’s 1942 shoot placed her squarely in the wartime tradition of keeping spirits high through celebrity imagery.
Esther Williams, famous for her synchronized swimming films at MGM, swapped the pool for a Thanksgiving setting in 1945. Gale Robbins in 1944, and Jeanne Crain and Joan Fulton in 1946, continued the tradition into the post-war years.
Olga San Juan and Rita Corday both posed for Thanksgiving portraits in 1947, as Hollywood settled back into peacetime routines and the publicity machine ran at full speed once again.
The 1950s ushered in a new generation of Hollywood stars, and they kept the Thanksgiving photo tradition alive. Debbie Reynolds, fresh from her breakout role in “Singin’ in the Rain,” joined Adele August and Connie Towers in holiday-themed shoots full of the decade’s signature brightness.
Doris Day, one of the biggest box office draws of the 1950s, brought her trademark warmth to the Thanksgiving frame. Gloria DeHaven and Lucy Marlowe added to the decade’s collection of festive celebrity portraits.
Marilyn Monroe’s Thanksgiving photo is among the most striking in the entire collection. By the 1950s she was one of the most photographed women in the world, and even a holiday turkey shoot carried a certain Monroe magnetism. Mitzi Gaynor and Suzi Crandall round out the early-decade portraits.
Leila Hyams appears more than once in this collection — a testament to how frequently studios recycled their favorite stars for seasonal promotions. Virginia Gibson’s 1952 portrait and the photo of Jane and Katherine Lee add further variety to the archive.
Not all of these Thanksgiving images feature solo glamour shots. The photo of comedian Jack Oakie alongside his mother, Evelyn, stands out as one of the most personal in the set — a genuine family moment wrapped in holiday spirit.
Shirley Temple appears three times across this collection, making her one of the most photographed stars in this particular holiday tradition. Anna Q. Nilsson, a Swedish-born silent film actress, also features — a reminder that Thanksgiving photo shoots spanned multiple eras of Hollywood history.
Mary Philbin, best known for her role opposite Lon Chaney in the 1925 silent film “The Phantom of the Opera,” brings one of the earliest Hollywood careers represented in this collection. Lois Lindsay, Vera-Ellen, Suzi Crandall, and Virginia Gibson each appear again, showing just how beloved the tradition was across multiple years.
Adele Jergens, known for her roles in Columbia Pictures films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, joins returning faces like Debbie Reynolds, Mary Doran, Margaret O’Brien, Kate Smith, Margaret Lindsay, Gloria DeHaven, Gale Robbins, and Dusty Anderson. Seeing the same stars reappear in different years highlights just how deeply embedded this tradition was in the Hollywood calendar.
Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe each make another appearance, joined by Angela Greene, Paula Corday, Esther Williams, and Jeanne Crain. Each photo, whether staged in a studio or set against a holiday backdrop, captures a moment of a very specific American tradition — one that tied the biggest names in entertainment to the most domestic of holidays.
Frank Sinatra closes out the collection — and his inclusion is a reminder that these Thanksgiving photo shoots weren’t exclusively a female celebrity tradition. From the silent film era of the 1920s all the way through the glamour of the 1950s, Hollywood’s biggest stars made the turkey a recurring co-star every November.
