Who would you say are the icons of each decade in the categories below? Go back as far back as you like and add any new categories you like.

MUSIC:
TELEVISION:
FILM:
SPORTS:
LITERARY:
SUPERHERO: (this is IMWAN, after all)

1950s:
MUSIC:Elvis Presley
TV:Lucille Ball
FILM:Marlon Brando
SPORTS:Willie Mays
BOOKS:Mickey Spillane
SUPERHERO:Superman

1960s:
MUSIC:The Beatles
TV:Dick Van Dyke
FILM:Jean-Luc Goddard
SPORTS:Muhammad Ali
BOOKS:Truman Capote
SUPERHERO:Spider-Man

1990s:
MUSIC: Nirvana
TELEVISION: Seinfeld
FILM: Steven Spielberg
SPORTS: Michael Jordan
LITERARY: Michael Crichton
SUPERHERO: Spawn

I'm going to guess, without Googling, so I might be off on the decade for some of these.

1950s

MUSIC: Elvis Presley
TELEVISION: Lucille Ball
FILM: Marilyn Monroe
SPORTS: Joe DiMaggio
LITERARY: J.D. Salinger
SUPERHERO: Superman

I'd have gone with Stallone or Schwarzenegger for film.

1970s

MUSIC: The Bee Gees
TELEVISION: James Garner
FILM: Robert DeNiro
SPORTS: Joe Namath
LITERARY: Mario Puzo
SUPERHERO: Wonder Woman

Not bad, but Joltin' Joe was 40s.

Because it's me - and, to borrow a Li'l Jay phrase - this is "in my wheelhouse", I am picking the 1970's. Also, I am choosing my own personal icons, so your mileage may vary...

MUSIC: KISS
TELEVISION: The Six Million Dollar Man
FILM: Harrison Ford
SPORTS: Arnold Schwarzenegger
LITERARY: Robert M. Pirsig (Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)
SUPERHERO: Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, no question at all

Good call, I dunno why I blanked.

No need to sigh, the superhero is Batman. His films were much more successful and iconic than the one middling Spawn film. Plus he had the hit animated series on top of that.

You don't think Adam West's Batman was more famous and memorable for most people during the 60s?

True, I wasn't thinking of other media though, only comics. Definitely Batman if you go outside the comic bubble. Spawn just sold so many comics...

1970s:
MUSIC: Elton John
TV: All in the Family
FILM: Robert De Niro
SPORTS: Secretariat
BOOKS: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
SUPERHERO: Superman

It may have been.I'm sure "Laugh-In" was too,among others.
Iconography is a crowded field.

1990s
MUSIC: Kurt Cobain
Even though he died early in the decade, his influence stretched well past his death.

TELEVISION: Jerry Seinfeld
This is kind of tough, but Seinfeld best represents what was going on with TV in the 1990s. Remember how many sitcoms there were? Friends caused that trend, but they were influenced by Seinfeld, and that show got both the critical and popular praise.

FILM: Quentin Tarantino
Like Seinfeld, remember how many movies were described as "Tarantino-esque"? He literally changed how people talked in movies.

SPORTS: Michael Jordan
Duh. And I don't even follow basketball.

LITERARY: Michael Crichton
What Stephen King was to books in the 1980s, Crichton was in the 1990s. He couldn't even say "I've got this idea..." before some movie producer bought the adaptation rights for it.

SUPERHERO: Batman
I want to say Superman, because the Death of Superman set the tone for superhero comics after that point in the decade, but Bats dominated in both the comics medium, and across TV and film. Superman had a flash-in-the-pan TV show early, but Batman truly crossed over.

Very close to my list. Actually after Hanzo's correction reminding me that superhero meant more than just comics (putting Batman in his correct spot) we differ only on film. I say Spielberg because of Jurassic Park and Schindler's list, both of which were hugely important films in their own respective ways. JP showing the world what was possible with CGI for instance. I believe they advanced filmmaking special effects by a decade or more in just one year. Some may see this as a bad thing. It largely still holds up today, a few unconvincing bright daylight scenes aside.

Tarantino is definitely a solid argument though.