The first cover of People magazine featured actress Mia Farrow.

Quick Scoop

  • The debut issue of People (then called People Weekly) came out in 1974 with Mia Farrow on the cover, tied to her role in the film The Great Gatsby.
  • That premiere edition is described in historical summaries of the magazine as having Farrow as the cover star for the week ending March 4, 1974.

Extra Context

  • Early retrospectives on the magazine’s history consistently highlight Mia Farrow as the first-ever cover face, making it an iconic starting point for what became a major celebrity and human‑interest publication.
  • Social posts and anniversary features from media and magazine history sites repeat this same detail, confirming that Farrow’s appearance on the inaugural issue is not a disputed trivia point.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.