From Celebrities To Serial Killers: 48 Famous Mugshots Brought To Life In Vivid Color

Discover the colorized mugshots of notorious criminals, petty thieves, and David Bowie.

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Al Pacino

Arrested for possession of a concealed weapon.
1961.Woonsocket Police

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Albert Fish

American serial killer, child rapist, and cannibal.
1903.Wikimedia Commons

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Bugsy Siegal

A Jewish-American mobster.
1928.New York Police Department

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Charles Manson

Cult leader and career criminal.
1968.Wikimedia Commons

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Clyde Barrow

An early mugshot of Clyde Barrow of Bonnie And Clyde infamy.
Circa 1930.Dallas Police Department

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David Berkowitz

Notorious serial killer known as the "Son of Sam."
1977.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Frank Sinatra

Charged with the outdated crime of "seduction" for allegedly convincing an unmarried woman of good repute to engage in an "inappropriate" encounter.
1938.Bergen County Sheriff's Office

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Hermann Göring

Hitler's right-hand man and the commander of the Luftwaffe, Hermann Göring was captured by the Allies in 1945 and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials a year later - a sentence he escaped by ingesting cyanide in his cell 2 hours before his scheduled execution.Wikimedia Commons

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Jack Ruby

A nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy.
1963.Dallas Police Department

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James Earl Ray

Future assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.
1955.Wikimedia Commons

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Jane Fonda

Arrested for alleged pill smuggling. The charges were later dropped.
1970.AP Images

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Janis Joplin

Charged with using “vulgar and obscene language."
1969.Tampa Police Department

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Jim Morrison

Arrested for disturbing the peace.
1963.Tallahassee Police Department

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Jim Morrison

Convicted for indecent exposure and profanity.
1970.Dade County Sheriff’s Office

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Jimi Hendrix

Arrested for drug possession.
1969.Wikimedia Commons

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John Dillinger

One of the most famous American bank robbers in history.
1931.Indiana State Prison

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John Gotti

Italian-American crime boss.
1968.Getty Images

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Johnny Cash

Arrested for possession of illegal drugs.
1965.El Paso County Jail

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Joseph Stalin

Then 33 years old, the future Soviet dictator had a long string of arrests during the Russian Revolution.
1911.Tsarist Secret Police

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Julius Rosenberg

American man convicted of giving military secrets to the Soviet Union.
1950.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Kurt Cobain

Arrested for trespassing onto the roof of an abandoned warehouse while intoxicated.
1986.Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images

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Larry King

Charged with grand larceny.
1971.Wikimedia Commons

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Lee Harvey Oswald

Man accused of killing President John F. Kennedy.
1963.Wikimedia Commons

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Lucky Luciano

Italian-American crime boss.
1931.Wikimedia Commons

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Malcolm X

Arrested for a string of alleged muggings and burglaries.
1944.Wikimedia Commons

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Mark David Chapman

The assassin of John Lennon.
2003.New York State Department of Correctional Services

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Martin Luther King Jr.

Arrested for directing the Montgomery bus boycott.
1956.Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

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Mick Jagger

Charged with assault and obstruction of a police officer.
1972.Warwick Police

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Myra Hindley

English serial killer who murdered children with her partner.
1965.Wikimedia Commons

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O.J. Simpson

The chief suspect in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. He was later acquitted, which remains a controversial court decision even today.
1994.Wikimedia Commons

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Patty Hearst

Arrested for crimes she committed while being held captive by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1975.Wikimedia Commons

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Nick Nolte

Arrested for selling phony draft cards.
1961.Omaha Police Department

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Robert Leroy Parker

Arrested for thievery.
1894.Wikimedia Commons

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Rosa Parks

Arrested for her role in the segregated bus boycott.
1955.Universal History Archive/Getty Images

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Sid Vicious

Arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
1978.Wikimedia Commons

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Sirhan Sirhan

Convicted of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
1968.Los Angeles Police Department

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Steven Tyler

Arrested for possession of marijuana.
1967.Yonkers Police Department

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Ted Bundy

One of the most infamous American serial killers in history.
1980.Wikimedia Commons

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Tupac Shakur

Convicted of sexual assault charges.
1995.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Vladimir Lenin

The future founder of the Russian Communist Party was arrested for his work in revolutionary politics.
1895.Wikimedia Commons

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Whitey Bulger

Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, who was locked up in the notorious Alcatraz. 1959.Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Steve McQueen

Arrested for drunk driving and speeding.
1972.Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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Al Capone

Notorious American gangster.
1930.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

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David Bowie

Arrested for marijuana possession.
1976.Public Domain

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Dutch Schultz

New York City mobster.
Circa 1931.Wikimedia Commons

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John Wayne Gacy

The American serial killer known as the "Killer Clown" who murdered at least 33 people.
1978.Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

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Pablo Escobar

Infamous drug lord responsible for much of the world's cocaine supply.
1977.Wikimedia Commons

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Benito Mussolini

The future fascist dictator of Italy was arrested for advocating for a strike.
1903.Mads Madsen

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From Celebrities To Serial Killers: 48 Famous Mugshots Brought To Life In Vivid Color

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For many, some of the most memorable images of famous people are the snapshots showing them at their lowest: their mugshots.

Whether the photos show someone high and mighty being brought down or whether they symbolize heroic defiance of authority, the intersection of fame and the criminal justice system is an inherently dramatic one.

Sometimes certain mugshots, like the ones of serial killer David Berkowitz or Nazi Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring, reassure the public that evil people can be brought to justice.

Regardless of the reason, the mugshots of the most famous and infamous figures in modern history become defining chapters in their stories.

Mugshots As Historical Artifacts

Wikimedia CommonsThe mugshot of a 33-year-old Joseph Stalin, held by the Tsar's secret police, in 1911.

Joseph Stalin's 1911 mugshot, for example, offers a compelling historical artifact of Tsarist Russia. Taken by the Okhrana, the secret police of the Russian empire, the mugshot reminds us that the agents behind history's most pivotal events have complicated backstories of their own.

In this case, the future Soviet dictator was then in the midst of his many arrests and exiles during the early years of the Russian Revolution.

Other mugshots record examples of systemic oppression. Those of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks don't reflect the subjects' criminality like most mugshots, but instead indict a criminal justice system that was unequal and oppressive during the civil rights movement.

The willingness of those opposed to the system to subject themselves to its machinations to highlight its issues was an essential step to dismantling that very system.

History's Most Infamous Criminals

New York Police DepartmentThe "Son of Sam," David Berkowitz, after his arrest in 1977.

Much is made of the early mugshots of legendary criminals as well, like Clyde Barrow's, of Bonnie and Clyde infamy. Taken when he was a young man, Barrow's mugshot preceded a period of brutal incarceration that perhaps contributed to him becoming a brutal killer later on.

His time in the Eastham State Farm prison — where he was repeatedly sexually assaulted — only fueled his burning hatred for law enforcement.

The mugshot of Albert Fish belies the absolutely abominable human being that is its subject. Fish, a serial killer and cannibal who terrorized people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, wrote a letter to the mother of one of his victims, a 10-year-old girl named Grace Budd.

The sickening note read: "Dear Mrs. Budd, ... On June 3, 1928, I called on you at 406 W. 15 St. and brought you pot cheese and strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat on my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her."

And one could never forget the mugshot of the "Son of Sam," David Berkowitz, an image splashed all over newspapers in New York City during the summer of 1977, telling people that his string of murders was finally over.

Celebrities Behaving Badly

Public DomainThe various mugshots of Lindsay Lohan, the perpetually-troubled star.

Easily the most widely remembered mugshots of recent days are those of celebrities whose run-ins with the law are immortalized in the public consciousness.

Nearly every musician in the 1960s has a mugshot floating around out there, usually for drug possession or disorderly conduct. Jim Morrison of the Doors has more than one.

Famous actors like Al Pacino have mugshots, as do not-so-famous-anymore stars like Lindsay Lohan. Even a young Larry King was once booked by police for grand larceny. Apparently he was unable to pay a financier back money that he owed him.

Then there's O.J. Simpson's mugshot, probably one of the most infamous of the last 30 years. It signaled the beginning of a criminal saga that would captivate the American public and continue to divide public opinion for more than two decades after his not guilty verdict was announced.

Mugshots have clearly become ubiquitous in the media in recent years, but there's no denying their historic impact throughout the last century. It's unlikely that we'll see the end of mugshots any day soon.

If you want to see more famous mugshots in their original form, check out this famous mugshots gallery. Then, see some more vintage mugshots that bring the past to life.