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German scientists were the first to link cigarettes and lung cancer in 1920. Deutschland had a bit of political instability between the two wars so it was two Brits, Richard Doll and Bradford Hill, who cemented the link. First finding a strong correlation in 1949 in patients.
In 1951 they tracked 59,600 doctors and their smoking habits, published the results in 1954, and after a follow up in 1956 they found a certifiable link between lung cancer rates and smoking habits.
E. Cuyler Hammond and Daniel Horn were neck and neck in the U.S. but the Brits were first with the Royal College recommendations of Ad and Age restrictions plus taxation. This led to a momentous drop in tobacco sales.
This was in 1962. Meanwhile in Hollywood, Peter O’Toole was up for an Oscar for the most popular film of that year, Laurence of Arabia. Mr. O’Toole had a fondness for unfiltered cigarettes. But he lost the Best Actor Oscar to...
...Gregory Peck for his great performance in “To Kill A Mockingbird” Peck is less well known for being the face of the Chesterfield brand of cigarettes.
Of course today cigarettes are digitally removed or cut from films. We know better than to promote such things but I do wonder how many people along the way picked up their first cigarette because the cool movie stars were doing it? Certainly way after 1962.
