The Story Behind the 10 Most Famous Kisses in History
#10: The “Star Trek” Liplock
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There is a lot of debate as to what exactly constituted the first interracial kiss on television. However, there’s arguably no scripted T.V. episode that captures the dramatic spirit of the moment more than this lip-lock from the original “Star Trek.” Actress Nichelle Nichols documented in her 1994 autobiography that she and co-star William Shatner intentionally messed up while filming a smooch-less version of the scene. This was so that the more explicit take (one actually showing the kiss) would be used for the final product. Some behind the scenes on “Star Trek” were initially worried that pushback might occur from some regions of the United States. Some did, but overall, the episode aired without major incident.
#9: Gas Mask Embrace
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According to reports, this photo was taken in 1940, during the Second World War. This sentiment perhaps seems obvious, but there’s nothing nefarious going on behind the scenes. Instead, the pair behind this gas mask kiss was reportedly staging this scene in order to demonstrate how air raid warnings of the time had dampened much of the U.K.’s holiday spirit. The image of the two gas masks beneath a sprig of mistletoe is a striking one, to be sure. But the original British text that supports the photo claims that the duo did, in fact, take their masks off for the real deal, after this picture was taken.
#8: A Smooch at the Berlin Wall
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The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a cause for much celebration. Yet many in Germany remembered exactly how this division between the East and West had caused so much pain and heartache. As a result, folks reacted to news of the Wall’s imminent collapse in different ways, from tears to joy. This photo captures a young couple kissing in front of it not long before its fall in 1989, and symbolizes a lot of things to many different people. Freedom immediately comes to mind, but also hope, promise and opportunity. This photo is a happy one, but many will never forget what it took to get the country to this point.
#7: Klimt’s Kiss
The Austrian painter Gustav Klimt utilized amorous themes within much of his work. However, his oil-on-canvas piece "The Kiss” sits amongst his most famous creations. The image is powerful, and demonstrates how passion and love can be transformative for the human experience. Klimt finished “The Kiss” hot on the heels of another project, the Vienna Ceiling Paintings, that saw some labeling the artist’s work as being too sexual. However, “The Kiss” today is seen not as smut, but as a triumph of modern art by one of its most iconic personalities.
#6: Rodin’s Kiss
Klimt wasn’t the only famous artist to create an enduring piece of art labeled “The Kiss.” French sculptor Auguste Rodin was the man behind another iconic work, a nude couple captured in 1882, forever locked in a marble embrace. The story behind Rodin’s Kiss is taken from “Dante’s Inferno,” with the woman in question being Francesca da Rimini. Rimini was a noblewoman who had a love affair with the younger brother of her husband, Giovanni Malatesta. The sculpture captures Francesca and the brother, Paolo, about to kiss, when (as the story goes) they are discovered and murdered by the husband. As a result, “The Kiss” sits as a tragic story of love, betrayal, passion and, ultimately…death.
#5: The Fraternal Kiss
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The Fraternal Kiss also goes by another, more dramatic moniker, one that states, “My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love.” The painting features Leonid Brezhnev of the former Soviet Union and Germany’s Erich Honecker locked in an embrace, and was one of the most famous pieces of graffiti art to be created on the Berlin Wall. The original instance of the kiss, and the resulting photograph, took place on October 7th, 1979, when Brezhnev had gone to what was then East Germany. What’s perhaps most striking is the differences in tone between the photo and painting. The original kiss acted as a “fraternal” greeting between two communist nations. The 1990 reproduction, for its part, seems to largely satirize communism’s failure in Germany.
#4: The Judas Kiss
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Not every kiss is performed with the intent of love or affection. The Kiss of Judas refers to the Biblical story wherein Judas Iscariot kisses Jesus Christ, in order to betray and identify him to officials. It’s here where the story of Christ's arrest, trial and eventual crucifixion essentially begins, forever marking Judas as one of the best-known traitors. The Judas Kiss has been captured many times in art over the years, and can represent the act of kissing as symbolically hiding true, more nefarious intentions. This symbolism can also be seen in other famous examples, such as when Michael Corleone kisses his brother Fredo in “The Godfather Part II.” These are but two examples of the act that represent tragedy.
#3: The Vancouver Riot Embrace
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This is a great example of how perception can alter how we view something, or the story we ascribe to it in our heads. During the Vancouver hockey riots of 2011, an image quickly went viral, one that depicted a couple kissing amidst all of the chaos. However, the moment wasn’t borne out of the most tender circumstances. Indeed, the duo, Scott Jones and Alex Thomas, had been knocked down to the ground by riot police. They were caught in a situation that was scary, to put it mildly. The kiss was Jones’ way of “calm[ing]” Thomas down. Romantics will be happy to know that as of 2021, the couple are reportedly still together!
#2: The First Film Kiss
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The clip barely lasts twenty seconds, but there it is, in all of its not-so-sultry glory. It’s the first smooch captured on film, and it was directed by William Heise. The 1896 short, succinctly titled, you guessed it, “The Kiss,” was actually distributed by Thomas Edison’s company. It features a live-action reproduction of a smooch that occurs during the stage play, “The Widow Jones.” It sits alongside another famous example of cultural significance that came out only two years later. This is usually dubbed the first black kiss on film, and was actually considered to be “lost”, until it was found in 2017 and saved for posterity.
#1: The Times Square Smooch
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It’s one of the most famous kisses in history, yet also one of the most controversial. Titled “V-J Day in Times Square,” the photo shows a sailor in the United States Navy locking lips with a woman, as New York celebrates the end of the Second World War. Many have claimed to be the two people in the picture over the years. But today, it’s largely agreed that the woman was a dental assistant named Greta Zimmer Friedman, and that the act was not consensual. According to Friedman, the sailor in the photo “grabbed” her, and she actually didn’t know him. As a result, this “Times Square Couple” were actually anything but, which shines a different light upon one of America’s most well-recognized images.
