LIFE - Sexiest Showbiz Blondes

At Home With Marilyn Monroe

Fri, 01 May 1953 03:00:00 EDT

Sitting on her patio at home in Hollywood in May 1953, Monroe strikes a pensive pose that belies her status as Hollywood's all-time goddess of carefree sexuality.

Jayne Mansfield, Bottle Blonde

Tue, 01 Jan 1957 03:00:00 EST

The formerly brunette Mansfield, who became a rival to Marilyn Monroe once she went platinum, floats in a California pool in 1957 alongside plastic bottles crafted in her likeness.

Marlene Dietrich Suits Up

Tue, 01 Jan 1929 03:00:00 EST

A gender-bending Dietrich attends a ball for foreign press in Berlin in 1929. A year later, the movie "The Blue Angel" will make her an international star, and she'll move to Hollywood.

Lauren Bacall Smolders

Mon, 01 Jan 1945 03:00:00 EWT

Bacall, 20, poses in 1945, months after her debut opposite Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not" makes her one of Hollywood's sultriest stars.

Betty Grable Protects Her Assets

Tue, 01 Jun 1943 03:00:00 EWT

Lucky LIFE magazine photographer Walter Sanders prepares Grable for a 1942 photo shoot by rubbing cold cream on the legs that would make her World War II's favorite pinup girl.

Veronica Lake Is On Fire

Thu, 01 Jan 1942 03:00:00 EST

Lake, known for the blond tresses that sometimes hid her right eye, poses in 1941, the year she broke through with "Sullivan's Travels."

Kim Novak Writhes in 'Jeanne Eagels'

Tue, 01 Jan 1957 03:00:00 EST

The real Eagels toured in tent shows before becoming a silent-screen star, but she never performed a carnival hootchie-kootchie dance on a tiger-skin rug like Novak does in this 1957 biopic.

Brigitte Bardot Invents Striptease

Fri, 01 Jan 1965 03:00:00 EST

The French sex symbol takes a break on the set in Mexico of the 1965 film "Viva Maria," in which she plays a performer-turned-revolutionary who accidentally invents the striptease.

Julie Christie Brings Swinging London Style to the Screen

Tue, 01 Feb 1966 03:00:00 EST

Christie smokes a cigarette in London in 1965, the year her performance as a chic golddigger in "Darling" makes her an international sex symbol and wins her a Best Actress Oscar.

Farrah Fawcett Becomes a Major Star

Wed, 01 Jan 1975 03:00:00 EST

In 1975, Fawcett displays the feathered blond mane and gleaming smile that, within a year, will make her a star on TV's "Charlie's Angels" and the most iconic pinup of the 1970s.

'Barbarella' Makes Jane Fonda an Intergalactic Pinup

Sun, 01 Jan 1967 03:00:00 EST

Within a few years of this 1968 publicity still for 'Barbarella,' future Oscar-winner/political activist/aerobics queen Fonda will shed her blond mane and her space-bimbo image.

Blondie's Debbie Harry Enraptures Rock Fans

Tue, 01 Jan 1980 03:00:00 EST

Blondie, performing in 1980, proves innovative for its new-wave rock sound and for frontwoman Harry's canny self-presentation as an icepick-cold rock goddess.

Nicole Eggert and Pamela Anderson Buoy 'Baywatch'

Wed, 01 Jan 1992 03:00:00 EST

Eggert and Anderson, in their most famous roles, take a break from running in slo-mo on the beach on the set of 'Baywatch' in 1992.

Beyonce Rocks, Fashionably

Wed, 08 Sep 2004 03:00:00 EDT

Singer/actress/stylista Beyonce displays her bootyliciousness as she performs at the annual Fashion Rocks concert in 2004 at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Scarlett Johansson Toasts Her Big Golden Globes Night

Sun, 25 Jan 2004 03:00:00 EST

Johansson hangs out at the after-party following the 2004 Golden Globes, which honored her breakthrough year with nominations for her starmaking roles in "Lost in Translation" and "Girl With a Pearl Earring."

Madonna Puts on a Provocative Show

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:00:00 EST

Madonna, still a blonde bombshell after all these years, offers a naughty peek during a 2008 date of her "Sticky and Sweet" tour.

Britney Spears Displays Animal Magnetism

Thu, 06 Sep 2001 03:00:00 EDT

Spears, Madonna's heir as pop music's look-but-don't-touch provocateur, performs "I'm a Slave 4 U," a number at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards involving a python. (Want more sexy stars? Check out our Sexiest Showbiz Redheads.)