Throughout history and until today, there have been stunning and inspirational women all around the world. Their beauty, grace, and talent should be appreciated regardless of the time period, as these powerful women have each accomplished incredible feats that can be recognized for decades. Here are some of the most amazing women of all time.
Jaclyn Smith
Jaclyn Smith played Kelly Garret in the original Charlie’s Angels TV series. She reprised the role in the 2003 film Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. She has since mostly remained away from the spotlight and even pursued a career in clothing design, with a line that was sold at Kmart as well as a wig collection.
Barbara Eden
Barbara Eden is best known for her role as the genie in I Dream of Jeannie. Interestingly enough, Eden was almost not cast in the role that became her defining one. At the time, Bewitched was a very popular show and producers wanted a brunette actress in order to differentiate between the shows’ main characters. However, she was so charming that they knew they could not pass up on her, and even let her keep her blonde hair.
Barbara Eden
Sharon Tate
Sadly, Sharon Tate’s acting was overshadowed by her tragic murder in 1969. Her career was on the rise when her life was cut short by members of the the Manson family. She married director Roman Polanski in 1968 and was eight and a half months pregnant when she was killed.
Sharon Tate
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh was best known for her role in Gone with the Wind, in which she played Scarlett O’Hara, a role that earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. She won a second Oscar for Best Actress for her role of Blache DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. She was strongly associated with her second husband, Laurence Olivier, the two having starred in many productions together. She sadly passed away at age 53 after suffering from tuberculosis.
Vivien Leigh
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood first became known for her role in Miracle on 34th Street, playing the role of Susan Walker when she was just 8 years old. She later appeared in successful films like Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. In 1981, she died tragically in mysterious circumstances while on a yacht with her husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken. In 2018, the case was reopened and Wagner became a person of interest.
Natalie Wood
Sophie Marceau
French actress Sophie Marceau first appeared on screen in 1980 film La Boum. After a successful career in Europe, she moved to Hollywood and emerged onto the scene in films like Braveheart and James Bond film The World is Not Enough. She has also appeared on over 300 magazine covers around the world, including Ell, Vogue, Madame Figaro, Glamour, and Marie Claire.
Sophie Marceau
Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner signed onto MGM in 1941 but didn’t have her big break until 1946 when she starred in The Killers. She later became a leading lady in many films including Show Boat, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, The Barefoot Contessa, Bowani Junction, and On the Beach. She continued acting until four years before she passed away in 1990 at 67 years old.
Ava Gardner
Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch appeared in several films before making it big when she appeared in One Millions Years B.C. She only had three lines in the film but became known for the doe-skin bikini she wore, with the film’s poster with her image in the bikini on it becoming the best selling poster of the time. She continued acting and appeared in Legally Blonde as well as How to Be a Latin Lover in 2017.
Raquel Welch
Julie Gibson
Julie Gibson is best known for her work with The Three Stooges as well as Orson Welles, John Huston, Ida Lupino, and The Bowery Boys. She was one of the last surviving members of the Hollywood Gold Era before she passed away in October 2019 at the age of 106! Gibson’s impressive career spanned over several decades.
Julie Gibson
Kim Novak
In the 1940’s, Kim Novak was brought on by Columbia Pictures in order to take over Rita Hayworth, whose popularity began to decline at the time. They were also hoping Novak could bring the same level of success that Marilyn Monroe was bringing rival studio, 20th Century Fox. Her first big break came in 1958 when she appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. In 1966, she mostly withdrew from acting.
Kim Novak
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn became a worldwide sensation after she starred in Roman Holiday in 1952 alongside Gregory Peck. For the role, she earned an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award. She went on to star in successful films like Sabrina, Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady, and Robin and Marian. Her final film appearance was in 1990’s Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming.
Audrey Hepburn
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer began acting in the 1970’s, landing her first role in 1978;s Grease 2. She was tired of being typecast, she sought more diverse roles and was finally cast in Scarface in 1983, which became her breakout role. She later appeared in The Witches of Eastwick, Married to the Mob, Dangerous Liaisons, and The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is still one of the biggest Hollywood icons, becoming a sex symbol of the 1950’s and 60’s, and went on to become a top billed actress by 1962, when she sadly passed away. She starred in many successful films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, and Some Like It Hot.
Marilyn Monroe
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was not only a successful actress but also an inventor who helped develop a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes during WWII using spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology that would later provide principles for modern day Bluetooth and GPS, and Wi-Fi technology. She also appeared in films like Ecstasy, Lady of the Tropics, Samson and Delilah, and The Female Animal.
Hedy Lamarr
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly was an actress who later became Princess of Monaco after she married Prince Rainier III in 1956. She first became known for her 1953 role in Mogambo, which earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She later appeared in many more films, including several Alfred Hitchcock films like Dial M For Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief.
Grace Kelly
Jacqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset is actress actress who first became known in 1968 for films like The Detective, Bullitt, and The Sweet Ride. She later appeared in Airport, The Mephisto Waltz, Murder on the Orient Express, St. Ives, The Deep, The Greek Tycoon, and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Bisset most recently appeared in films like Miss You Already, Backstabbing for Beginners, and Birds of Paradise.
Jacqueline Bisset
Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale is a Tunisian-Italian actress who is best known for films like The Pink Panther, Blindfold, Lost Command, The Professionals, Don’t Make Waves, The Hell with Heroes, and Once Upon a Time in the West. After becoming disillusioned with Hollywood, she returned to Italian and French films.
Claudia Cardinale
Brigitte Bardot
French actress Brigitte Bardot first became known after appearing in 1956 film And God Created Woman. She later appeared in The Truth, Le Mepris, and Viva Maria! She retired in 1973 and became an animal rights activist, founding the Fondation Brigitte Bardot.
France : Brigitte Bardot
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor was an actress who was one of the most successful classical Hollywood actresses in the 1950s. She became a teen star after starring in the 1944 film National Velvet and went on to become a star after appearing in Father of the Bride, A Place in the Sun, Car on a Hot Tin Roof, and Suddenly, Last Summer. She also starred in Cleopatra alongside Richard Burton, who she married and divorced twice.
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