16 of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood

There’s no denying that Hollywood has had plenty of beautiful stars, but there were some women who were so stunning that people are still talking about them decades later.

A face made for Technicolor

There was something so special about Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes. They sometimes got as much attention as her movies, and that’s really saying something because her movies were true classics. She appeared in Giant, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Cleopatra, among others.

Taylor’s eyes sometimes looked violet, and they sometimes looked blue. It all depended on the light. Her naturally dark eyelashes made her eyes stand out even more. Once you add the dark hair, strong brows, and that very 1950s lipstick, color film really made her appearance pop.

Hitchcock’s cool blonde

There’s a moment in Rear Window when Grace Kelly enters James Stewart’s apartment, and it seems lit from within. Part of that was movie magic, yes, but a lot of it had to do with Kelly’s incredibly polished look. She had blonde hair and pale skin, as well as light eyes, and features that looked beautiful from just about every angle. 

She had that same kind of elegant image in To Catch a Thief opposite Cary Grant and High Society with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. It kind of makes sense that she became an official princess in 1956. She certainly had the looks for it.

Beauty Hollywood didn’t redesign

Italy noticed Sophia Loren’s potential as a movie star long before Hollywood did. She entered beauty contests before appearing in films, and by the 1950s, her appearance was nothing like the very controlled blonde image Hollywood relied on.

She had dark eyes and full lips, as well as high cheekbones and a tall figure. That was pretty rare back then for a Hollywood actress. Loren worked with Cary Grant in Houseboat and Charlton Heston in El Cid. She also won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Two Women.

The photograph that started everything

Ava Gardner’s life completely changed because of one photograph. Yes, really. Her brother-in-law showed her portrait in his New York photography studio, and someone working for MGM noticed it. They eventually gave Gardner a screen test and a studio contract. 

With her green eyes and a kind of face that didn’t need much fussing with, it’s not hard to see why they loved her. She appeared in films including The Killers, Mogambo, Show Boat, and The Barefoot Contessa. Gardner might’ve dismissed her acting ability, but the camera certainly didn’t.

A carefully created screen look

Let’s be real, there’s no way Marilyn Monroe wouldn’t make this list. Most people don’t realize that Norma Jeane’s original look was darker, and her hair eventually became lighter until it reached that iconic platinum shade. Her full face and beauty mark finished the screen version of Marilyn. 

Her famous appearance was firmly in place by the time she appeared in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, while her roles in The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot only made it more familiar. But appearance aside, let’s not forget how expressive her face was, too. She could seem glamorous in one frame and mischievous the next.

One poster changed her career

Raquel Welch barely had any dialogue in One Million Years B.C. But still, she made it famous. The 1966 movie gave her a promotional image that followed her around for years, with long brown hair and strong cheekbones. She also had a prehistoric costume that, honestly, made absolutely no historical sense. 

Welch previously won beauty titles as a teenager, including Miss Photogenic, and she went on to appear in Fantastic Voyage. She was also a star of 100 Rifles and The Three Musketeers, with the latter getting her a Golden Globe.

Growing up without losing the camera

Most audiences had known Natalie Wood since she was a child, so it was a little strange seeing her turn into one of Hollywood’s most glamorous young actresses. Wood had the looks in Rebel Without a Cause that she’d later be associated with as an adult.

You know, thick brows and glossy hair. She had the whole thing. She later appeared in Splendor in the Grass and earned an Oscar nomination before her role as Maria in West Side Story. Her look was quite different from the heavily made-up stars of the previous decade. That’s why it worked.

When slender became glamorous

The Hollywood ideal of the early 1950s was of a curvier woman. Audrey Hepburn didn’t really fit that model, but it seems that nobody really cared once Roman Holiday came out. She had a dancer’s narrow frame and a long neck. Her almost boyish haircut in parts of the film didn’t hurt, either.

Hubert de Givenchy later dressed her for movies including Sabrina and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which really brought her looks out even more. Her eyelashes got special treatment, too, as makeup artist Wally Westmore separated them individually for Funny Face. It sounds like a lot. But look at the close-ups, and you can see why they bothered.

Hollywood changed the frame

Rita Hayworth arrived at Columbia Pictures looking quite different from the woman audiences later saw in Gilda. Studio executives gradually altered her screen image by changing her hair color and reshaping her hairline. It worked.

Her long red waves and glamorous gowns, as well as her dancer’s posture, became unmistakably hers by the mid-1940s. Hayworth performed professionally from childhood and later partnered Fred Astaire in You Were Never Lovelier and Gene Kelly in Cover Girl. 

The less-fussy kind of glamour

Movie beauty began looking a little less glossy by the late 1960s, and that’s where Jacqueline Bisset stepped in. She had green eyes, dark hair, pronounced cheekbones, and a style that could look glamorous without seeming overdone.

Bisset appeared with Steve McQueen in Bullitt and Frank Sinatra in The Detective. She also starred in The Deep in 1977. By far the most interesting thing about Bisset’s look, however, was how little it seemed to need, because even simple hair worked. She was that beautiful.

Almost impossibly composed

Catherine Deneuve had a special kind of power. She could sit almost completely still and yet somehow, she’d be the center of attention. It was something that fit her appearance in Belle de Jour, where her blue eyes and controlled expressions made Séverine look like a porcelain doll.

Deneuve became internationally famous through her appearances in films like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She also starred in The Last Metro and Indochine. Deneuve’s beauty wasn’t exactly warm but more severe, and that ended up being a big part of her appeal.

The face in the photograph

The plot of Somewhere in Time relies on viewers accepting that Christopher Reeve could see one photograph of Jane Seymour’s Elise McKenna and become completely fascinated by her. It’s not hard to do that. Seymour’s long brown hair and delicate features make her so captivating.

Before appearing in the film, Seymour played Solitaire opposite Roger Moore in Live and Let Die. Television audiences knew her years later as Dr. Michaela Quinn in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. It seems that the period dresses kept finding her.

Those eyebrows arrived early

There’s no way that fashion magazines are ever going to pluck Brooke Shields’s brows into oblivion. They’re just that recognizable. Yes, her eyebrows frame her bright blue eyes and helped create a face that made her a successful model while she was still very young. 

Her movie roles include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon. She appeared in Endless Love, too, and major photographers keep putting her in front of their cameras. There’s actually a portrait of her by Francesco Scavullo in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. 

The smile and the hair

There’s one thing that people picture when they imagine Farrah Fawcett, and that’s her hair. It was practically a celebrity on its own. Her blonde hair was big and feathered, yet somehow, it always sat exactly where it should be. It soon became the hairstyle for women after Charlie’s Angels began in 1976. 

Fawcett played Jill Munroe, but that’s not what she was most known for. No, it was her 1976 pin-up poster, where she’s wearing a reddish-orange swimsuit, that really became popular. It sold over 12 million copies and became the best-selling poster to date.

The face behind several transformations

You could put Michelle Pfeiffer in practically any decade, and somehow she looks like she belongs there. She was icy and sharply styled as Elvira Hancock in Scarface. Then in Dangerous Liaisons, everything was a lot softer with powdered hair and period dresses.

Batman Returns gave her one of her strangest looks as Selina Kyle, and her high cheekbones carried through all of it. She appeared in The Fabulous Baker Boys, with that famous piano scene that was a lot less glamorous. But still, it was unmistakably her.

A 1960s face frozen in time

Sharon Tate’s career might’ve been short, but it was also timeless. She had long blonde hair and huge lashes, along with a smile that still looks so stunning. She had a very specific late-1960s look that worked so well.

Just look at her role as Sarah in The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Jennifer North in Valley of the Dolls. There’s something about her appearance that continues to make photos of her look incredible, even all these years after her death.

Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.

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