Remember When?

Mel Gibson Smoked Onstage

Australian actor Mel Gibson has become something of a controversial figure in recent years. That wasn't the case when he appeared on the first season of The Oprah Show in 1987 to promote Lethal Weapon. 

Two years earlier, a 29-year-old Mel had been named People magazine's inaugural Sexiest Man Alive. Mel spoke about the honor, joking that his wife, Robyn, was just relieved to see that the magazine didn't say "The Sexiest Man Dead."

During this conversation, Mel did what no Oprah Show guest has done since: He smoked a cigarette on set!

At the time, Mel was expecting his fifth child. "You don't realize what [being a father] means before you do it," he said. "You can't conceive of what it is to feel for another person what you feel for that little person. It's a pleasant surprise."

In the 24 years since that appearance, Gibson went on to direct and star in a number of films, including the Oscar®-winning Braveheart. His personal life became a little more tumultuous—in 2006, Mel admitted to making anti-Semitic remarks when he had been arrested for driving under the influence, and entered a rehabilitation program. In 2011, he plead no contest to a misdemeanor spousal battery charge.