Judy Garland
(1922-1969)

Talented but insecure, Garland was the little girl with a voice big enough to inspire everyone who felt out of step with the world.

Best Films: Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937), Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Babes in Arms (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Ziegfeld Girl (1941), For Me and My Gal (1942), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Clock (1945), The Harvey Girls (1946), Easter Parade (1948), The Pirate (1948), A Star is Born (1954), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Jean Harlow
(1911-1937)

"Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?" asked the bombshell in Hell's Angels, and a bad-girl cliche was born.

Best Films: Hell's Angels (1930), Platinum Blonde (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), Red Dust (1932), Red-Headed Woman (1932), Bombshell (1933), Dinner at Eight (1933), China Seas (1935), Libeled Lady (1936), Saratoga (1937)

Susan Hayward
(1918-1975)

Modeling got Hayward to Hollywood, where she delivered wrenching performances in Smash-Up and I Want to Live!

Best Films: Smash-Up, The Story of a Woman (1947), My Foolish Heart (1949), I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1951), The Lusty Men (1952), With a Song in My Heart (1952), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), Soldier of Fortune (1955), I Want to Live! (1958), The Stolen Hours (1963)

Rita Hayworth
(1918-1987)

A Hollywood makeover turned Latina dancer Margarita Cansino into a red-haired pinup and erotic icon.

Best Films: Only Angels Have Wings (1939), You'll Never Get Rich (1941), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Cover Girl (1944), Gilda (1946), The Lady From Shanghai (1948), Pal Joey (1957), Separate Tables (1958)

Audrey Hepburn
(1929-1993)

In a world of pneumatic blondes, Hepburn made smart, complicated brunette sprites sexy in Roman Holiday and Sabrina.

Best Films: Roman Holiday (1953), Sabrina (1954), War and Peace (1956), Funny Face (1957), Love in the Afternoon (1957), The Nun's Story (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), The Children's Hour (1961), Charade (1963), My Fair Lady (1964), How to Steal a Million (1966), Two for the Road (1967), Wait Until Dark (1967), Robin and Marian (1976), Bloodline (1979), They All Laughed (1981), Always (1989)

Katharine Hepburn
(1907-2003)

She made casual elegant and relocated the seat of sex appeal from the bosom to the brain in Bringing Up Baby and Adam's Rib.

Best Films: A Bill of Divorcement (1932), Christopher Strong (1933), Little Women (1933), Morning Glory (1933), Alice Adams (1935), Sylvia Scarlett (1936), Mary of Scotland (1936), A Woman Rebels (1936), Stage Door (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Holiday (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Woman of the Year (1942), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), The African Queen (1951), Pat and Mike (1952), Summertime (1955), The Rainmaker (1956), Desk Set (1957), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Long Day's Journey into Night (1962), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), Rooster Cogburn (1975), On Golden Pond (1981), Love Affair (1994)

Angelina Jolie
(1975- )

The Tesla roadster of actresses, Jolie is the rare woman who looks like Lara Croft and talks like Mother Teresa.

Best Films: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Cyborg 2 (1993), Hackers (1995), Without Evidence (1995), Foxfire (1996), Love is All There Is (1996), Mojave Moon (1996), Playing God (1997), Gia (1998), Hell's Kitchen (1998), Playing By Heart (1998), Pushing Tin (1999), The Bone Collector (1999), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Original Sin (2001), Life or Something Like It (2002), Beyond Borders (2003), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003), Taking Lives (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Alexander (2004), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), The Good Shepherd (2006), Beowulf (2007), A Mighty Heart (2007), Changeling (2008), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010), The Tourist (2010), Maleficent (2014), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Come Away (2020), Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021), Eternals (2021)

Diane Keaton
(1946- )

Often daffy but never dumb, Keaton was equally at home in Annie Hall and The Godfather trilogy.

Best Films: The Godfather Trilogy (1972, 1974, 1990), Play It Again, Sam (1972), Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), Annie Hall (1977), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Manhattan (1979), Reds (1981), Baby Boom (1987), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), Father of the Bride 2 (1995), Marvin's Room (1996), The First Wives Club (1996), Town & Country (2001), Something's Gotta Give (2003), The Family Stone (2005), Mad Money (2008), Book Club (2018), Poms (2019), Love, Weddings & Other Disasters (2020), Mack & Rita (2022), Maybe I Do (2023), Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023)

Grace Kelly
(1929-1982)

Before becoming Princess Grace of Monaco, she was the impossibly elegant star of Rear Window and Dial M for Murder.

Best Films: High Noon (1952), Mogambo (1953), The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1954), The Country Girl (1954), Rear Window (1954), Dial M For Murder (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), High Society (1956), The Swan (1956)

Deborah Kerr
(1921-2007)

British beauty Kerr specialized in channeling the hidden heat beneath the brittle, high-strung facade.

Best Films: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), The Hucksters (1947), Edward, My Son (1949), King Solomon's Mines (1950), From Here to Eternity (1953), The King and I (1956), Tea and Sympathy (1956), An Affair to Remember (1957), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Separate Tables (1958), The Sundowners (1960), The Innocents (1961), The Night of the Iguana (1964)