Madonna
(1958- )

One of the masters of the idiom that sex sells, Madonna has made a career of steaming up screens, both big and small.

Films: Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Who's That Girl? (1987), Dick Tracy (1990), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Shadows and Fog (1992), Body of Evidence (1993), Four Rooms (1995), Evita (1996), The Next Best Thing (2000), Swept Away (2002)

Jayne Mansfield
(1933-1967)

Mansfield's flaunted cleavage, tight-fitting costumes, and willingness to play the sex kitten (40-21-35) led to a surprisingly lasting legacy.

Films: The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Burglar (1957), Kiss Them For Me (1957), The Wayward Bus (1957), Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), Too Hot to Handle (1959), Promises! Promises! (1963)

Marilyn Monroe
(1926-1962)

Playboy's first centerfold capitalized on her "dumb blonde" persona, then proved her acting chops in movies like Bus Stop and Some Like It Hot.

Films: All About Eve (1950), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Clash By Night (1952), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Niagara (1953), River of No Return (1954), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), The Seven Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), Some Like It Hot (1959), Let's Make Love (1960), The Misfits (1961)

Kim Novak
(1933-)

Best known for her role in Hitchcock's Vertigo, Novak was originally hired by Columbia to be the studio's answer to Marilyn Monroe.

Films: The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), Picnic (1955), The Eddie Duchin Story (1956), Pal Joey (1957), Bell, Book and Candle (1958), Vertigo (1958), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

Jane Russell
(1921-2011)

Russell was a statuesque brunette most noted for her cleavage and her controversial breakthrough film The Outlaw.

Films: The Outlaw (1943), The Paleface (1948), His Kind of Woman (1951), Macao (1952), Son of Paleface (1952), The French Line (1953), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)

Anna Nicole Smith
(1967-2007)

Smith's movie appearances were few, but the buxom blonde's off-screen escapades made her a Hollywood icon.

Films: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Be Cool (2005)

Sharon Stone
(1958-)

Stone made her mark as a sex-crazed murder suspect in Basic Instinct, but then found critical acclaim in movies like Casino.

Films: Irreconcilable Differences (1984), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Action Jackson (1988), Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1992), Sliver (1993), Intersection (1994), The Specialist (1994), Casino (1995),The Quick and the Dead (1995), Diabolique (1996), The Last Dance (1996), The Mighty (1998), Sphere (1998), Gloria (1999), The Muse (1999), Sympatico (1999), Picking Up the Pieces (2000), Catwoman (2004), Broken Flowers (2005), Alpha Dog (2006), Basic Instinct 2 (2006), Bobby (2006), Lovelace (2013), Fading Gigolo (2013)

Elizabeth Taylor
(1932-2011)

Taylor lived many lives on the big screen: child star, Oscar-winner, and also violet-eyed sex symbol, with movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Films: Jane Eyre (1943), National Velvet (1944), Life With Father (1947), A Date With Judy (1948), Little Women (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Ivanhoe (1952), Elephant Walk (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Giant (1956), Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), BUtterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Comedians (1967), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), The Taming of the Shrew (1967)

Lana Turner
(1921-1995)

First known as "The Sweater Girl," Turner's professional life and repertoire of films was often overshadowed by her troubled personal life.

Films: They Won't Forget (1937), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Three Musketeers (1948), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Peyton Place (1957), Imitation of Life (1959), Madame X (1966)

Mamie Van Doren
(1931-)

A lesser-known movie starlet, but Van Doren comprised a trio of blonde beauties (Monroe & Mansfield) by possessing all the attributes of a bombshell.

Films: Running Wild (1955), Untamed Youth (1957), Teacher's Pet (1958), High School Confidential! (1958), Born Reckless (1958), Guns, Girls, and Gangsters (1959), The Beat Generation (1959), Girls Town (1959), College Confidential (1960), Sex Kittens Go to College (1960), The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960), 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964), Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)

Raquel Welch
(1940-)

Welch burst onto the movie scene in the mid-60s, most notably by practically busting out of her animal-skin bikini in One Million Years B.C.

Films: Fantastic Voyage (1966), One Million Years, B.C. (1966), Bedazzled (1967), Fathom (1967), Bandolero! (1968), Lady in Cement (1968), 100 Rifles (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Hannie Caulder (1971), Fuzz (1972), Kansas City Bomber (1972), The Three Musketeers (1974), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976)

Mae West
(1892-1980)

Widely considered Tinseltown's first bombshell, West was best known for her wise-cracking one-liners and raunchy double-entendres.

Films: Night After Night (1932), I'm No Angel (1933), She Done Him Wrong (1933), Belle of the Nineties (1934), Klondike Annie (1936), My Little Chickadee (1940), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Sextette (1978)