Theater and film actresses, models, singers, public figures - these women are not only exceptional in beauty, but also in fortitude, self-confidence and ambitiousness. They achieved a lot in life, and their appearance drove them crazy, excited their imagination and made the hearts of fans beat faster.
Beginning of the century
The most beautiful women of the 20th century were very different, but invariably attractive, elegant and eye-catching. At the beginning of the century, the image of a languid beauty was in fashion, the embodiment of which was the ballerina Pavlova, who played the role of a dying swan. In the twenties, Greta Garbo was universally recognized, possessing a sophisticated appearance, incredibly sexy and inaccessible.
Interwar era
In the interwar era, luxury came into fashion. An attractive woman was considered well-groomed, going out without makeup was considered unacceptable. The standard of the era was the blonde with impeccable styling in a revealing outfit by Gene Harlow. In the forties it was felt that war was approaching, and chic and luxury became unpopular. A beautiful brown-haired woman with an innocent doll appearance. The most memorable image is the half-naked Rita Hayworth, posing against the backdrop of the atomic bomb.
Frank fifties
In the fifties, open sex appeal became popular. The most beautiful woman of the 20th century should have had a magnificent breast, a narrow waist and sloping shoulders. The standard of beauty - attractive, feminine, sexy and affordable Marilyn Monroe. This is a classic blonde - a little vicious, beautiful and naive.
Playful sixties
Fashion dramatically changed to the sixties - the most beautiful women began to be considered the owners of a small chest, long and thin legs, flat stomach. A little awkward, but natural and sexy Brigitte Bardot, who behaved defiantly and provocatively - the standard of those years. The fragile Audrey Hepburn became popular. The Frenchwoman is known to a wide audience for the film "Roman Vacations." Audrey Hepburn did an excellent job with the role of Natasha Rostova in the 1956 film, and her image became truly cult for many years after “Breakfast at Tiffany's.” At the same time, the invention of miniskirts made the image of a woman-child even more popular. This character perfectly fit Twiggy with her upturned nose, fragile figure and semi-childish facial expression.
Active seventies
The seventies were remembered for the sexual revolution, massive political uprisings and bold youth riots. The ideal of beauty was a self-confident woman with an active civic position. This is a bold astronaut exploring distant civilizations from the movie "Barbarella" - Jane Fonda. By the eightieth standard, a girl with wide shoulders, a taut figure and long legs became a. The image was embodied by Kim Basinger - a blue-eyed blonde with plump sensual lips and a neat nose.
"Model" nineties
In the nineties, the most beautiful women of the 20th century were considered not actresses, but top models who received huge fees for their attractive appearance, which was part of the standards. The most famous are Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer. It was a time of chiseled female forms. Soon, total femininity was replaced by the era of unisex - a fragile and young Kate Moss appeared.
The best of the best
In the list of the most beautiful women, according to the QVC online store, the Frenchwoman Audrey Hepburn leads, British actress Cheryl Cole took second place, and the famous Marilyn Monroe was only on the third line. Further places were distributed as follows: Angelina Jolie, Grace Kelly, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry, Princess Diana, Kelly Brook, Jennifer Aniston. Similar lists were published by many publications. Interestingly, each time the places are distributed differently, so beauty is a relative concept.
Marilyn Monroe
Norma Jean Mortenson, who was named after the famous actress of the time Norma Talmadge, was born in Los Angeles in 1926. The girl’s mother, Gladys Mortenson, worked in a Hollywood movie lab and believed that her daughter would become a movie star. Childhood Norms cannot be called happy. The father left the family, and the unbalanced mother gave the girl to the foster family at the age of only two weeks.
Until the age of seven, Gladys visited Norma from time to time, and then decided to pick her up. Soon the woman suffered a mental breakdown and went to a psychiatric hospital for treatment, and the girl spent the rest of her childhood in foster care. Norma was not yet twelve when her stepfather and cousin had already tried to rape her twice. According to one version, that is why in adulthood, Marilyn Monroe's personal life did not work out. Until she was nineteen, she twice tried to commit suicide.
Norma first married at sixteen, she dropped out of school and moved to her husband, Jim Doherty. This was a necessary measure, as she was afraid to find herself in an orphanage again. The fact is that the foster family was just about to move, and they did not want to take the girl with them. A year after the wedding, Jim went to the front, and Norma Jeanne got a job at the aircraft factory.
One of the photographers who shot a plot at the factory about the contribution of American women to the fight against Nazism, suggested that the girl pose for a series of pictures for $ 5 an hour. Thus began Norma Jean Mortenson's career. In 1946, she signed a contract with the Twentieth Century Fox film studio and took a pseudonym by which she soon became known throughout the world. In March 1954, Marilyn Monroe received the most popular actress award, and in 1955 she created her own corporation.
The girl really became incredibly popular. At the beginning of her career, she starred nude for a series of calendars. Then, such pictures were equated with pornography, and when Marilyn became famous, a scandal broke out against this background. But the pictures were acquired by Hugh Hefner, who placed them in the first issue of Playboy. This made Monroe even more famous.
Only Marilyn Monroe's personal life did not work out: nine months after the wedding, her second marriage with Joe Di Maggio broke up, she lived with Arthur Miller for four unhappy years. Millionaire Aristotle Onassis wanted to marry the girl for the Prince of Monaco, she did not mind, but these plans were frustrated. Unconfirmed rumors circulated about Marilyn Monroe’s romance with John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert. After another overdose, she decided to restore relations with Joe Di Maggio. They set a date, but a few days before that, Marilyn was found dead in her house.
Brigitte Bardot
Throughout the twentieth century, the most beautiful were considered talented actresses, for example, Bridget Bardot and Sophia Loren. Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born in 1934 in Paris. In childhood, the girl was an ugly duckling, and she herself did not consider herself a beauty. She wore massive glasses and metal staples, suffered strabismus. But already in 1949, Bardot starred for the French edition, and a year later got on the cover of ELLE. The film debut took place in 1952, but the real popularity came to her after the film “And God Created a Woman” (1956). The Catholic Church condemned this picture for being too frank, but the nude scene with Brigitte Bardot made the actress a world-class star and a sex symbol of the era.
Repeatedly Brigitte Bardot was at the center of political scandals. Residents of France have repeatedly heard from the lips of the famous actress and singer statements in a nationalist spirit. Bardo openly stated that she did not sympathize with any of the political parties, but she was still condemned for inciting interracial hostility. Brigitte Bardot was featured in several lawsuits in this regard. In 1973, the actress announced her retirement and took up the protection of animals. Now the eighty-four-year-old film actress lives in St. Tropez.
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren (Sofia Villani Chicolon) was born in Rome, grew up in the vicinity of Naples. The girl was somewhat awkward, but still got into the list of several selected finalists of the Queen of the Sea contest and went to a casting in Rome. Two years later, she received the title of "Miss Elegance", but luck did not accompany her. The girl was offered either erotic scenes or the roles of extras, so Sophie moonlighted as a model. Her career began to develop actively in 1952 after Sophia Loren took second place at the Miss Rome beauty contest.
In the first paintings, the girl starred under the pseudonym Sofia Lazarro, but in 1953 producer Carlo Ponti suggested that she change her last name to Loren, which was consonant with the last name of the popular Belgian actress Marta Thoren. The girl got rid of a Neapolitan accent, changed the style of makeup, learned to shake her hips sexually while walking, was carried away by dramatic literature. It quickly bore fruit. Over the next 15 years, she managed to work on almost all the cult actors of the American scene. The golden time in her biography was the period between the fifties and eighties.
Gina Lollobrigida
The future actress Gina Lollobrigida was born in the vicinity of Rome in 1927. At birth, she received the name of Luigin. From an early age, the girl attracted attention with her bright beauty, and already at the age of three she won the children's beauty contest. In addition, she differed from her peers in her artistic and acting talent. Gina Lollobrigida studied vocal skills at the academy, entered the theater school and received her first roles in the theater. The girl spent the money spent on vocals.
On the set, the girl who dreamed of becoming a sculptor or opera singer, brought the need to earn a living. After debuting in the Black Eagle, Gene Lollobrigida received other invitations to roles in films, but did not stop dreaming of a musical or artistic career. The first Hollywood work of Gina was the film “Devil's Devils”, which was released in 1953, and one of the most talented works was the role of Esmeralda in the film “Notre Dame de Paris”. Gina Lollobrigida finished acting in films at a fairly advanced age, so she left fans a bright creative heritage.
Elizabeth Taylor
The future actress received a good ticket to life: her parents were American actors who worked in the British capital. In 1942, ten-year-old Elizabeth Taylor received her first contract for the shooting, and in the fifties she began to be invited to star in major films. The films “Once Last Summer” and “Cat on a Hot Roof” brought her popularity. In 1962, Elizabeth Taylor received an incredible fee of one million dollars for the film "Cleopatra." Since the eighties, she mainly starred in TV series little-known to the Russian audience, began to engage in social activities (the fight against HIV infection) and business (she released her perfume line).
Catherine Deneuve
The actress became the personification of a real Frenchwoman and received the nickname "The Snow Queen of French Cinema" for her strict beauty. Photos of the beauty of the 20th century Catherine Deneuve adorned billboards in North America and Europe, she was one of the main models of Chanel No. 5 perfumery, starred in the Oscar-winning military drama Indochina, the frank Day Beauty, the melodrama Girls from Rochefort, historical the East-West social film and the horror film Disgust.
Vivien leigh
The legend of British cinema Vivan Mary Hartley was born in 1913 in India. The girl’s unusual appearance is explained by her origin: her mother was half Irish and French by birth, her father is English. At 22, actress Vivien Leigh impressed the London audience with a brilliant performance in the play “Masquerade of Virtue”. The production made a splash, so they decided to transfer it from the small hall to the big one, but Vivien's voice was too weak for a large space, so popularity quickly waned.
During this period, the girl met with the director and actor Lawrence Olivier, who invited her to work in the film “Flames over the Island”. The audience loved the image of the heroine, and the directors began to offer her new roles in the movie. In 1939, Vivien Leigh began filming in the Hollywood bestseller Gone With the Wind. The film received many Oscar awards, including for the best leading female role. Four years later, the audience saw the film “Lady Hamilton”, in which Vivien Leigh played with Laurence Olivier. This work is very fond of Winston Churchill, who began to invite a creative couple to social events.
In the future, the actress developed a serious mental disorder, and her reputation on the set was corrupted by constant psychoses and inappropriate behavior. In the fifties, the actress starred in only a few secondary roles. Gradually, Vivien Leigh moved away from professional activities. One of the most beautiful women of the 20th century died in her home on the outskirts of London alone in 1967.
Claudia Cardinale
The Italian actress Claudia Cardinale (biography, personal life is briefly discussed below) was born in 1938 in the Republic of Tunisia, which at that time was a French colony. The first role in the movie, a pretty girl with an Arab appearance received by chance. Director Renault Vottier invited her to star in the Golden Rings documentary about Sicilian sailors. After Claudia, who dreamed of becoming a missionary teacher in Africa, she won the local beauty contest and attended the Venice Film Festival.
Vedes Studio has signed a seven-year contract with a novice actress and model, guaranteeing permanent employment in secondary roles. In exchange for this, the girl was forbidden to cut her hair, gain weight and get married during the entire contract. By the way, Claudia Cardinale violated the last point almost immediately. In 1963, the actress starred in the Hollywood film "Pink Panther", followed by work in the cult film Federico Fellini "8 1 \ 2", the painting by Marc Robbson "Missing Squad" in the "Professionals" by Richard Brooks.
In her first marriage, the actress lived from 1966 to 1975. Her chosen one was producer Franco Cristaldi. Ten years before the wedding, Claudia Cardinale was the victim of rape. She did not report to the police and said nothing to her parents. But soon the girl’s stomach began to grow, and Franco Cristaldi persuaded her to leave the child. Cardinal gave birth to a boy who received the name Patrick. After the first marriage, the actress married the director Pasquale Squitieri.
Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford personifies the model boom of the nineties. She constantly starred for magazine covers and participated in fashion shows. Expressive eyes, a cute mole above lips, a toned figure and high cheekbones of Cindy Crawford became a real standard of beauty of those years. She got into the modeling business by accident: a newspaper photographer captured a girl who helped her sick father harvest corn. These photos were liked by Victor Skrebneski, who suggested that Cindy Crawford try his hand at a beauty contest.
The girl took second place, and after a short collaboration with the photographer dropped out of school and left for New York. Soon she began to appear on the covers of Vog and Cosmopolitan magazines, to appear in advertisements of famous brands, and one of the longest-running projects was a collaboration with the cosmetic brand Revlon. For a while, Cindy Crawford hosted a television program on MTV, tried herself in the movies and released fitness training discs. Thirty-four-year-old Cindy Crawford left the modeling business at the peak of popularity in 2000.
Soviet beauties
In the Soviet Union there were no such concepts as “glamorous diva”, “sex symbol” or “star of show business”, but the most beautiful women of the 20th century in the USSR conquered the audience with natural attractiveness and brilliant talent. Many of them were known not only at home, but also abroad. In the sixties, for example, the French Candide magazine included Natalia Kustinskaya in the list of ten most beautiful actresses in the world, for many years Lyubov Orlova was the prima donna of the Soviet cinema screen. Emigrated Alla Nazimova became a Hollywood star.
The main beauties of the USSR attracted the attention of foreign directors and the jury of international film festivals. Young Irina Skobtseva for the role of Desdemona in the film "Othello" was awarded the title of "Miss Charm" at the Cannes Film Festival, Rufina Nifontova was not only natural beauty, but also a subtle sense of humor, and Tatyana Piletskaya conquered the audience with a bold look, proud posture and not at all classically beautiful features.
I remember the Soviet audience “beauty-athlete-Komsomol” Natalia Varley, who had to choose between the current circus career and the world of cinema. Anastasia Vertinskaya looked into the soul with her bewitching eyes, charming Lyubov Polishchuk was not afraid to be funny on the screen. Janet Agren of Soviet cinema - Tatyana Vedeneeva. She became really famous after her role in the film "Hello, I am your aunt." In the mid-eighties, Tatyana Vedeneeva became a popular television presenter.