Some of the most beautiful women in the world have graced the silver screen since the beginning of film.
From the golden era of film to the modern era, some of the biggest and most iconic movie stars have influenced many women over the years. These actresses have graced the pages of top magazines, newspapers, and websites in every corner of the globe.
In fact, there’s so many of them, it’s hard to choose as to who is the most beautiful. But go through this list and see which one makes your heart flutter.
30. Vivien leigh
Vivien Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley, and styled as Lady Olivier after 1947. She was a British stage and film actress who won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for her performances as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and Blanche DuBois in the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a role she played on stage in London’s West End in 1949.
Her beauty had Leigh feeling that her physical attributes prevented her from being taken seriously. Despite her fame as an actress, Leigh was primarily a stage performer.
She did earn a reputation for being difficult to work with. Leigh suffered from bipolar disorder, including recurrent bouts of chronic tuberculosis, which was diagnosed in the mid-1940s.
She passed away at the age of 53.
29. Eva Habermann
Eva Felicitas Habermann was born on 16 January 1976). She is a German actress who has had roles in numerous films and TV series.
Habermann is known for playing the role of Zev Bellringer in the television series Lexx.
In 2003, Eva was ranked No. 17 in FHM-Germany’s 100 Sexiest Women. She helped raise awareness of the disease ALS by participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014.
28. Sharon Stone
Stone is an American actress, producer, and former fashion model. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award with nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
After modelling jobs in TV commercials and print advertisements, Stone debuted as an extra in Woody Allen’s comedy-drama Stardust Memories (1980).
Stone became a sex symbol, rising to international recognition when she starred as Catherine Tramell in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992).
She earned her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
27. Halle Berry
Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the romantic drama film Monster’s Ball (2001).
Before becoming an actress, she was a model who entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986.
Berry was one of the highest-paid actresses in the 2000s, and has been involved in the production of other films in which she had roles in.
She is also a Revlon spokesmodel and was formerly married to baseball player David Justice, singer-songwriter Eric Benét, and actor Olivier Martinez.
26. Lynda Carter
Lynda Carter is an actress, singer, songwriter, model, and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss World United States 1972 and went on to finish as a semifinalist in the Miss World 1972 pageant.
She is popularly known as the star of the live action television series Wonder Woman, playing the role of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, a show based on the DC comic book fictional superhero character of the same name.
25. Emily Ratajkowski
Emily O’Hara Ratajkowski is an American model and actress born in London, who rose to prominence in 2013 when she appeared topless in the music video for Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”.
Ratajkowski also appeared on the cover of the March 2012 issue of the erotic magazine treats!, and that led to her appearing in two music videos – “Blurred Lines” and Maroon 5’s “Love Somebody”.
She was also in the 2014 and 2015 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues. Ratajkowski made her professional runway modeling debut for Marc Jacobs, walking at New York Fashion Week in 2015 and on the Paris Fashion Week runway for Miu Miu.
She also took part in the Milan Fashion Week for Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana and Versace.
She is an advocate for women’s health issues, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, and a self-identified feminist. Emily has received both support and criticism for her views on sexual expression.
24. Natalie Portman
Portman is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli and American citizenship. She has garnered many accolades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
She made her feature film debut playing the young protégée of a hitman in the action film Léon: The Professional (1994).
In high school, Portman Gained worldwide recognition for her role as Padmé Amidala in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999).
From 1999 to 2003, she attended Harvard University for a bachelor’s degree in psychology, while continuing her role in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (2002, 2005). She went on to star in many films for which she has received awards and recognition.
Portman is vocal on the politics of America and Israel. She is also an advocate for animal rights and environmental causes.
23. Jessica Alba
Alba began her television and movie appearances at the age of 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack (1994).
She rose to fame at the age of 19, as the lead actress in Dark Angel (2000–2002), a series for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.
She also co-founded The Honest Company, a consumer goods company selling baby, personal and household products.
Men’s Health, Vanity Fair and FHM have included Jessica Alba on their lists of the world’s most beautiful women.
22. Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek Pinault is a Mexican and American film actress and producer.
Her career began in Mexico, starring in the telenovela Teresa and in the film El Callejón de los Milagros (Miracle Alley), for which Hayek was nominated for an Ariel Award.
In 1991, Hayek moved to Hollywood and found roles in films such as Desperado (1995), From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Wild Wild West, and Dogma (both 1999).
But her breakthrough role was in the 2002 film Frida. Hayek played Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, for which she was nominated for Best Actress for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
21. Sophia Loren
Sofia Villani Scicolone Dame Grand Cross OMRI was born on September 20, 1934. She was known professionally as Sophia Loren, an Italian actress.
She is a recognizable star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, so Loren was named by the American Film Institute as the 21st greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Loren was encouraged to enroll in acting lessons after joining a beauty pageant, and she began her film career at age 16 in 1950.
She has won a Grammy Award, five special Golden Globes (including the Cecil B. DeMille Award), a BAFTA Award, a Laurel Award, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival and the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for lifetime achievements.
20. Alexandra Daddario
Alexandra Daddario is known for playing Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson film series, Blake Gaines in San Andreas, Summer Quinn in the 2017 Baywatch film and Avery Martin in When We First Met.
She also starred in the films Texas Chainsaw 3D and Hall Pass with guest appearances in television series like White Collar, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, True Detective, New Girl and American Horror Story: Hotel.
19. Ana de Armas
Ana Celia de Armas Caso is a Cuban-Spanish actress who made her acting debut in the Spanish film Una rosa de Francia in 2006.
She also had a role in the Spanish television show El Internado.
In 2015, de Armas starred in her first American film Knock Knock which was followed by Exposed, Hands of Stone, and War Dogs.
She had her breakout role as Joi, an AI hologram, in the critically acclaimed science fiction film Blade Runner 2049.
18. Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918. She achieved fame during the 1940s, becoming one of the era’s top stars, appearing in 61 films over the course of 37 years.
The press coined the term “The Love Goddess” to describe Hayworth when she became the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s.
She was also the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.
Rita Hayworth is listed as one of the top 25 female motion picture stars of all time in the American Film Institute’s survey, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars.
In 1980, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and she passed away at 68. The public disclosure and discussion of her illness drew attention to Alzheimer’s, largely unknown at the time.
Her passing helped increase public and private funding for Alzheimer’s research.
17. Michelle Pfeiffer
Pfeiffer’s performances in many genres of film have consistently earned her acclaim and several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, three Academy Award nominations and an Emmy Award nomination.
She began acting in 1978 with her first leading role in the musical film Grease 2 (1982).
Frustrated with roles of the token pretty girl, she actively pursued serious roles and had her breakthrough as gangster moll Elvira Hancock in Scarface (1983).
16. Kate Beckinsale
Beckinsale made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing (1993) while she was still a student at the University of Oxford.
She went to the United States in the late 1990s for work, and after small-scale dramas The Last Days of Disco (1998) and Brokedown Palace (1999), she took on roles in Pearl Harbor (2001), Serendipity, and Tiptoes (2003).
Since her role as Selene in the Underworld film series (2003–2016), Beckinsale has become popular for her work in action films, including Van Helsing (2004), Whiteout (2009), Contraband (2012), and Total Recall (2012).
She still joins in smaller dramatic projects such as Snow Angels (2007), Nothing but the Truth (2008), and Everybody’s Fine (2009).
In 2016, Beckinsale received critical acclaim for her acting in the film Love & Friendship.
15. Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s, and became one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s.
Her career blossomed into the 1960s, and was a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Taylor the seventh-greatest female screen legend.
She was born in London to socially prominent American parents, moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939, and made her acting debut in a minor role in the Universal Pictures film There’s One Born Every Minute (1942).
Taylor’s career began to decline in the late 1960s, which saw her focus on supporting the career of her sixth husband, Senator John Warner.
She then co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991, dedicating her time to philanthropy, for which she received several accolades, including the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Taylor’s life was controversial, being married eight times to seven men, survived several serious illnesses, all while living a jet set lifestyle.
She also assembled one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry in the world. Taylor died from congestive heart failure in 2011, at 79.
14. Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was acclaimed as a great beauty, and became established as a leading lady.
She was best known for her role of the title character in the film Laura (1944), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).
Tierney’s other roles are Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor’s Edge (1946), Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ann Sutton in Whirlpool (1949), Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955).
13. Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Hurley is an English businesswoman, actress, and model who has been associated with the cosmetics company Estée Lauder since the company gave her her first modelling job when she was 29.
They featured her as a representative and model, especially for perfumes such as Sensuous, Intuition, and Pleasures.
Hurley also owns an eponymous beachwear line.
In 1994, Hugh Grant became popular due to the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral, so Hurley accompanied him to the film’s Los Angeles premiere in a plunging black Versace dress held together with gold safety pins, grabbing the media’s attention.
12. Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot Varsano is an Israeli actress and model who, at age 18, was crowned Miss Israel 2004.
She served two years in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat instructor, then took up law and international relations at IDC Herzliya college at the same time she was pursuing her modeling and acting careers.
Her first international film role came as Gisele Yashar in Fast & Furious (2009).
She became famous for portraying Wonder Woman in the DC Extended Universe, starting with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), followed by the solo film Wonder Woman and the Justice League both in 2017.
Gadot was on Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
11. Ava Gardner
Gardner was signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941, appearing mainly in small roles until she drew attention for her performance in The Killers (1946).
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Mogambo (1953), and even received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her other films.
Gardner continued acting until 1986, four years before her passing in London in 1990, at the age of 67.
She is 25th in the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
10. Jacqueline Bisset
Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset began her film career in 1965, then gaining popularity in 1968 with roles in The Detective, Bullitt, and The Sweet Ride, receiving a most promising newcomer Golden Globe nomination.
In the 1970s, Bisset starred in Airport (1970), Day for Night (1973) which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Deep (1977), and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), the film that earned her a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy.
In 2010, she received France’s highest honour, the Légion d’honneur.
9. Scarlett Johansson
Johansson is the world’s highest-paid actress, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and multiple appearances in the Forbes Celebrity 100.
She is the recipient of several awards, including a Tony Award and a British Academy Film Award.
Born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, Johansson wanted to be an actress at a young age, making her debut in the fantasy comedy North (1994), and was soon recognized for her roles in Manny & Lo (1996), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and Ghost World (2001).
Her many films have grossed over $5 billion in North America and over $14.3 billion worldwide.
That makes Johansson the third-highest-grossing box-office star of all time both domestically and worldwide.
As a public figure, she is a Hollywood sex symbol, a prominent celebrity brand endorser, and a supporter of different charities and causes.
8. Charlize Theron
Theron is a South African and American actress and producer who is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Silver Bear for Best Actress.
In 2016, Time magazine included Theron on the 100 most influential people in the world. Charlize is also one of the world’s highest-paid actresses, as of 2019.
Theron rose to international prominence in the 1990s as the leading lady in the films The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).
She has ventured into film production with her company Denver and Delilah Productions since the 2000s, and has produced many films, some of which she had a starring role, including The Burning Plain (2008), Dark Places (2015), and Long Shot (2019).
7. Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn is recognised as a film and fashion icon. She was active during Hollywood’s Golden Age and was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood.
She was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.
Born in Ixelles, Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood in Belgium, England, and the Netherlands. It was in Amsterdam where she studied ballet with Sonia Gaskell.
She then moved to London in 1948, continuing her ballet training with Marie Rambert.
In recognition of her film career, Hepburn received BAFTA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, and the Special Tony Award.
She remains one of only 15 who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.
In December of 1992, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. And just a month later, she died of appendiceal cancer in Switzerland at the age of 63.
6. Raquel Welch
Raquel Welch garnered attention for her role in Fantastic Voyage (1966), which led to a contract with 20th Century Fox.
They then lent her contract to the British studio Hammer Film Productions, where Welch made One Million Years B.C. (1966).
She only had three lines of dialogue in the film, but images of her in the doe-skin bikini became best-selling posters that turned Welch into an international sex symbol.
Welch’s unique persona made her an icon of the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to her portrayal of strong female characters which broke the mold of the submissive sex symbol.
In 1995, she was selected by Empire magazine as one of the “100 Sexiest Stars in Film History”.
Playboy ranked Welch No. 3 on their “100 Sexiest Stars of the Twentieth Century” list.
In 2011, Men’s Health ranked Welch No. 2 in their “Hottest Women of All Time” list.
5. Catherine Zeta-Jones
Welsh actress Zeta-Jones was born and raised in Swansea. She aspired to be an actress from a young age so she played roles in the West End productions of the musicals Annie and Bugsy Malone at a young age.
She was often typecast as the token pretty girl in British films, so Zeta-Jones moved to Los Angeles and established herself with roles that highlighted her sex appeal.
Zeta-Jones is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award.
She supports various charities and causes, while her struggle with depression and bipolar II disorder was documented by the media.
4. Odette Annable
Odette Juliette Annable is known for her many different roles in film and television.
Some of them include Dr. Jessica Adams in the Fox medical drama series House, Beth McIntyre in the film Cloverfield, Aubrey Diaz in the ABC drama series October Road, and Samantha Arias/Reign in Supergirl.
3. Marilyn Monroe
Monroe was famous for playing comic “blonde bombshell” characters, becoming one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s.
She was emblematic of the era’s changing attitudes towards sexuality.
Monroe was a top-billed actress for only a decade, but her films grossed $200 million – equivalent to $2 billion in 2018 – by the time of her unexpected death in 1962.
More than half a century later, she is still a major popular culture icon.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she spent her childhood in foster homes and an orphanage before getting married at the age of 16.
She was working in the Radioplane Company in 1944 during World War II, when she was introduced to a photographer from the First Motion Picture Unit where she soon began a successful pin-up modeling career.
Monroe’s troubled private life received a lot of attention. She battled with substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.
On August 4, 1962, she died from an overdose of barbiturates at her LA home.
Monroe’s death was ruled a probable suicide, but conspiracy theories still linger in the decades following her death.
2. Margot Robbie
Margot Elise Robbie has received nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards. In 2017, Time magazine named the actress one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In 2019, Robbie was ranked among the world’s highest-paid actresses.
Born and raised on a farm in Dalby, Queensland, she studied drama at Somerset College then began her career in Australian independent films before moving to the United States.
Robbie’s profile continued to grow with roles in Focus (2015), as Jane Porter Clayton in the action-adventure film The Legend of Tarzan (2016), and as Harley Quinn in the superhero film Suicide Squad (2016).
1. Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American film actress who became Princess of Monaco after she married Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kelly’s more notable films include High Noon (1952), with Gary Cooper; High Society (1956), with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra; and three Alfred Hitchcock films: Dial M for Murder (1954), with Ray Milland; Rear Window (1954), with James Stewart; and, To Catch a Thief (1955), with Cary Grant.
She retired from acting to marry Rainier, and soon began her duties as Princess of Monaco at the age of 26. The couple had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie.
Princess Grace died at Monaco Hospital on September 14, 1982, due to injuries sustained in a traffic collision the day before.
The French physicians reported that a CAT scan revealed how she had suffered two brain hemorrhages. The first happened prior, and is believed to have been what led to the crash.
The second was suffered in hospital, and is believed to be the result of physical trauma sustained in the crash.
She was 52 years old. Kelly is listed 13th among the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classical Hollywood Cinema.
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