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20 Classic Beauties: PEOPLE's Picks

Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney

Yes, she was physically exquisite -- 20th Century Fox founder Daryl F. Zanuck once called her "undeniably the most beautiful woman in movie history." But beyond her looks, Tierney had a remarkable inner strength that helped her overcome numerous struggles: She battled bipolar disorder, had her heart broken by Oleg Cassini and John F. Kennedy, contracted a case of rubella that left the daughter she was carrying deaf, partially blind, and mentally handicapped...and survived to write about it all in her 1979 autobiography "Self-Portrait."

In this photo: Gene Tierney

Photo: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1945