Was there ever an actress with a face more photogenic than that of Hedy Lamarr's?

Capucine. Impossibly beautiful without a stitch of make up.

Young Joan

It's practically a cliche at this point, but Marilyn.

Dorothy Dandrige, no makeup.

1940s actress, Shangguan Yunzhu.

It's Hedley!

The epitome of beauty and grace, Madame Tippi.

Freddie Washington

Freddie Washington

Ahem

Hedy was impossibly beautiful, with a face that managed to be both cherubic and sensual at the same time. She was a terrible actress, but you spent so much time focused on her face you forgot about her acting.

Hedy was known to not have a a bad angle/side.

R7 beat me to it, that BITCH.

It's the heart shaped face and symmetrical features

F&F for R11!

You know she invented some radio thing in WWII that helped the Allies? I forget the details. She was brilliant apparently.

Miss Cillian Murphy

R17....

Hollywood glamour photographer George Hurrell found her stunning, but felt her cheeks were too full. One of his best known photographs of her.

Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg was one of silver screen's greatest beauties and it's not hard to see why she was touted as the new Garbo. Her face started to look a bit rough in her mid-thirties, but in her prime there was no one like her. Those eyes...

[R21] - Your Alida Valli post gave me a childhood flashback to one of my favorite movies. Miracle of the Bells. I never missed it.

R22 I know it's a bit early, but here's my Christmas present just for you!

OP, I wouldn't say Hedy is almost forgotten today.

Rihanna is an actress, so I'd say her.

Are you kidding, R25?

R26 no. are you?

No, I'm not.

No one was more beautiful than Grace Kelly

Kelly Osbourne

You bitches are out of your damn minds.

R27 Rihanna is very beautiful, but she made the mistake of covering herself in tats. Why must all the young stars do that?

R31 Liz had the best resting bitch face in the business. Vivian came close, but Liz is the winner.

Julie Christie

Timeless.

Jean Simmons

Classically beautiful.

Just a teenager but already showing promise...

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I thought this thread was about Hedy Lamarr?

Hedy looks like a model. Vivien 's face has 'life' to it.

Loretta Young

Halle Berry

Charlize Theron

Fuck yes.

Gene!

I see you at R16, G, you naughty scamp!

Ava Gardner

Hedy led a crazy life. She was arrested for shoplifting laxatives. She escaped from one husband by sneaking into a brothel and pretending to be a hooker. She was addicted to plastic surgery.

Hedy was gorgeous, but I'm not sure her face was that much perfect than others. Eyebrows are a little too round in that pic, and her nose is so narrow it looks unnatural.

Ava

Oh come on, there were lots of gorgeous actresses. You can't say one is better than them all. But here are some of them:

Greta Garbo

Louise Brooks

Clara Bow

Grace Kelly

Lana Turner

Hedy La Marr

Gene Tierney

Ava Gardner

Elizabeth Taylor

Marilyn Monroe

Julie Christie

Sharon Tate

Ingrid Bergman

Jacqueline Bisset

Rita Hayworth

Kim Novak

Audrey Hepburn

Catherine Deneuve

LINDA DARNELL was another considered to be near perfect. HOWARD HUGHES said that she was the only woman he'd ever known who looked just as good at 7 am without a stitch of make-up and she did on the set with a face full of the stuff.

IMO, though beautiful, DARNELL was not as beautiful as TAYLOR, KELLY, nor LaMARR.

DENEUVE was gorgeous too !

Similarly to DENEUVE, tragic SHARON TATE was another 10+.

Deanna Durbin was not a classic beauty. She had fat cherubic cheeks but for some reason the camera loved her.

The only thing the camera didn't love was that weird "O" shape Deanna's mouth sometimes formed while singing.

How can anyone forget how beautiful the broad was? This thread is trotted out every few months just l like clock-work.

Of course Hedy was gorgeous but as for photogenic, I think Brooksie has them all beat. She could make even the most garish styles and plot situations look like silk Japanese paintings. She had the most interesting shadows on her face and powerful coloring for black and white photography and film. Her eyes weren't flat black, they were like polished hematite.

R56 Many have tried to capture that photogenic/telegenic essence with matching haircuts and era style but it's just not the same. Everything came together, including spirit and personality, in the right way to make a person who it would have been a tragedy to not have captured on film. That's what I'd consider having an exceptionally photogenic quality. She just translated well onscreen and in print.

[quote]Rita Hayworth

In motion, Rita was astonishing looking. Few actresses can touch her for sheer magnetism and charisma.

However, I don't think she photographed consistently well. She has a tendency to look a little coarse in some of her stills.

Hedy was brought to MGM in 1939 as a sort of replacement for Garbo was getting too old and too difficult. But she became quite another sort of creature.

I do think Greta's face turned every studio portrait/headshot (basically advertisements) into a piece of high art. If ever there was a star the phrase "good bones" was apt for, it was her.

Plastic surgery ruined Hedy's face by the mid-1950s.

Why did some actresses like Loretta Young, Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine and even Joan Crawford achieve such better results with plastic surgery?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R58 Yikes! She looks like a Sicilian peasant in that photo. Did she have any Italian ancestors?

[quote]Plastic surgery ruined Hedy's face by the mid-1950s.

I would say no. Here she is in an appearance on the Merv Griffin Show in 1969 looking older,maybe "freshened up a little" but still GLORIOUS.

The PS disasters didn't start until the 70s at least.

Yvonne de Carlo

R60

GARBO'S profile was a little harsh.

[quote]Yvonne de Carlo

Yvonne de Carlo is interesting because after years of watching movies from that era and seeing many beautiful actresses perform in musical and non-musical roles it seems to me she was the 1st to really project a more contemporary view or idea of "hotness". ..at least in this scene. The moves, attitude, sexy bitchfaces and taunting imperiousness really seem MODERN to me and even when compared to current female pop singer, stripper, dance or even drag performances the essence of what she did in 1945 is just as forceful.

Yvonne wink wink

Martha Stewart.......

Liz Taylor..those violet eyes were truly amazing....never seen anything close. I saw her in national velvet as a kid..still love that film

I don't get the praise for Vivien Leigh - she looks like a mean gerbil. Hedy is ten times more beautiful.

My favourite is Garbo though. True perfection!

Capucine? I guess she was OK. I picked her up once.

r67, if you're talking about a gorgeous actress who projected a truly contemporary vibe, might I suggest Paulette Goddard? In 1939's The Women she appears to be on some futuristic planet compared to the quaint staginess of Shearer, Crawford, Russell and Fontaine.

R51, Totally agree on Linda Darnell and I would also offer Joan Bennett as another beautiful brunette along the lines of Lamarr and Leigh.

Helen Lawson's features and complexion were flawless.

Gail Patrick

[R76] - Also notable that as Gail Patrick Jackson she was executive producer on Perry Mason. She was definitely.....

R55 and the Capucine stan faithfully nominates his goddess.

And the Sharon Tate stan.

And the POCs get itchy and nominate their top ten.

There were plenty of actresses who were not perfectly beautiful but who had wonderfully photogenic faces. Dietrich in the top 5 of those. As you all know, this tired tale, that she and von Sternberg perfected her camera wizardry early on.

Madonna. Terrible actress. Fabulously photogenic face.

Some European actresses come to mind.

Romy Schneider

Virna Lisi

Maria Schell

Ursula Andress

Who let the DOGS out WHO.... WHO.... WHO... WHOWHO

Only one, OP. And unlike Hedy, she didn't have to get her nose fixed.

She was all natural, baby.

Blondes can't be highly photogenic.

Does he have a name, dear/r85?

Supposedly Hitler was in love with her, and that's why she had to flee. First husband Fritz Mandl was the biggest arms dealer in Europe. Absolutely brilliant woman in the forefront of WiFi, but the US thought she was more valuable raising money for war bonds than working on sonar. Apparently not much of a financial manager, however.

Madonna?!?!

I'm so sick of the Joan Crawford troll

She was hidious you troll. Then now forrevet

Let her rest in peace you freek

R90, and the Liz Taylor troll too. If I hear him mention her violet eyes or coloring one more time...

R91 Liz Taylor is one of the most gorgeous women ever, u filthy piece of shit

r91 put down the pipe, try to sleep a few hours.

Where's the Liv Ullmann troll to SHIT IN OUR MOUTHS!!!!!!!!!!

Merle Oberon surpasses them all .

[quote]Liz Taylor is one of the most gorgeous women ever

I liked 80's Liz

Joan Bennett

Hi bitches.

Hedy the Inventor

Thanks R102. Amazing story.

"Lamarr had always loved design. She loved inventing things; she was smart and clever and skilled. When she died, she would leave behind designs for all manner of contraptions, including a [sic’d] “functionable, disposable accordion type attachment for and on any size of Kleenex box” as a place to put used tissues, along with a glow-in-the-dark dog collar, an anti-wrinkle technique that operated on the same principles as the accordion, and many more."

She had smarts but mostly people just wanted to fuck her because she was so gorgeous. She started her own production company so its still a bit unclear how she disappeared from Hollywood when she could have worked. She was offered Casablanca and Gas Light but turned down both.

I first saw Hedy in "Her Highness and the Bellhop."

I was about 14 or 15, and not into old movies, but Lamarr's smoldering beauty stopped me in my tracks and I settled in to watch the flick. She is the MOST beautiful actress of the 40's as voted by the public year after year.

Ava Gardner and Gene Tierney are the only brunettes who could give Hedy a run for her money, and maybe Vivien Leigh.

Not trying to rub run your faces in it bitches, well yeah I am, but Scorpio dominates the hot list as usual. Hedy Lamarr, Vivien Leigh, Gene Tierney, Veronica Lake, Dorothy Dandridge, Jean Seberg, Bo Derek. Yeah yeah yeah...we know. Now so do you.

Elizabeth Taylor -- peerless during her time (50's)

Catherine Deneuve -- breathtaking

Ava Gardner -- cleft chinned perfection

Marilyn Monroe -- most sexy and beautifully HOT

Greta Garbo -- magnetic stunner

Brigitte Bardot/Sophia Loren/Sharon Tate -- 60's sex kittens who owned their era.

Liz Taylor had a magnificent face (when she wasn't fat) but a trollish bod.

You know, coincidentally, I just came across a youtube clip of Hedy on the panel of What's My Line from 1958 (Pat Boone is the Mystery Guest, if you want to do a search).

This oh so smart woman could barely phrase an intelligent question. And her looks had faded badly. It was like her face was too small to contain her features. I find it very hard to believe she alone really invented all they are telling us, and if she did, why she wasn't AT ALL credited until after she died.

There also don't seem to be any of those wonderful old anecdotes from Golden Age Hollywood about how smart she was or that she always seemed to be doing some sort of mathematical problems in her dressing room between takes. Are there? Have I missed them?

[R106] - She was very short-waisted.

Wow, Pat Boone's teeth look jacked up in that picture!

Thanks for posting r109!

Please have a look and tell me what you think of Hedy. Are the brains and looks really there?

R66 I love how carved her profile was and her swooping chin contrasted against her deep set eyes. It makes me think of a handful of angular pen and ink strokes barely joined together.

Liz was gorgeous from the waist up. Her hips were broad, legs too short and butt was a bit on the flat side.

Being photogenic is about something different than beauty. It's about a person -- their demeanor and the composition of their features in relation to light and shadow -- coming together in a way that's naturally compatible with film, that allows it to capture some essence of life, of being human for posterity.

Really, for most photogenic, it has to be Garbo. It's fascinating how so much tender character, yet the distant other-worldliness of some general, carved idol from antiquity, can be translated through one powerful face.

I don't get any of that R114. I see a potato faced, thin lipped, frowning mouthed, pinched nosed, miserable looking woman with the slight beginnings of a double chin and chola brows. Sorry, not buying Greta. Never did. At all.

She wouldn't get catalog work these days. Here's another pic of average looking, perpetually grumpy Greta:

Yes, OP, poo shoes.

But seriously, Catherine Deneuve is pretty spectacular.

FF for R116. I seriously can't look at that PS bullshit one more fucking time.

R115 She looks beautiful in that shot. Softer and more accessible. She actually looks prettier than she usually did. You're in a very small minority of people who would say she was not photogenic.

Of course, she was never a nubile sexpot type. She never came across as a Ziegfeld ingenue. She was a fascinating looking person. She looked like some Arthurian figure.

So is Greta. Well put R114.

Sorry hon R115. Even your "plain" posted pic of Garbo, shows abovementioned shadows and light hitting her angles and bone structure just right.

R85

Though M.G.M.' s make-up & hair artists worked on improving her look once she arrived in Hollywood, the young HEDY LaMARR was not known to have had any plastic surgery. Below is a picture of the 18 year old HEDY from 1931. Plastic surgery was in its infancy back then for cosmetic procedures. I don't where you got the notion that the young HEDY had her nose fixed. I don't believe it. Now the older, post Hollywood HEDY had too much, albeit poorly done procedures.

What exactly makes a face "photogenic" ? Can any photographers on DL explain?

Why is it that some people can look attractive in person, but awful in photos, or why some people can be plain looking in person but gorgeous in photos?

I have a friend who has a very similar facial structure to Ava Gardner, heart shaped face, high cheekbones, full cheeks, cleft chin, pale skin, dark hair, and green eyes. She's pretty in person but she photographs phenomenally. She's the most photographic person I know.

*photogenic not photographic

All the lesbos on this site are gonna go crazy with this suggestion but I think Jodie Foster is one of the most photogenic actresses ever. Not a great beauty by any means but she photographs beautifully. It's the sharp angles of her face that just photograph so well.

It's HEDLEY!

R92, did you carry Liz's snack bag back in the day? You are awfully rabid lol.

R113

Though I'm a fan of ELIZABETH TAYLOR, her body had its flaws. Aside from her legs being short, they weren't toned and she had huge knees. TAYLOR wore an 8.5 shoe and yet was barely 5' tall. As a really young woman her body had yet to begun settling so she got away with her flaws but as young as her late 20s the signs were in evidence. The longer skirts of the 50s, early 60s allowed her to camouflage her legs. TAYLOR was also very hairy; that is her body was. She also had several bald spots on her head.

R59, she looks like Sandra Bernhard there.

[quote] I don't where you got the notion that the young HEDY had her nose fixed. I don't believe it.

I agree.

Looking at people throughout history who have had a rhinoplasty it's been my observation that the more "perfect" a nose looks the more likely it is to be natural.

When nature gets it right NO surgeon can re-create it.

Hedy's nose is TOO FLAWLESS to be fake,

Hedy always looks preternaturally beautiful in B&W but in color she is looking...................

FUCKING HOT!

Interesting.

I didn't realize Hedy Lamarr's frequency hopping invention was publicized at the time at ALL.

A friend of mine who did fashion photography told me people with large features (big eyes, big lips) photograph well, and that often, those features don't look as good IRL.

R134, she kinda looks like a dude.

Never took a bad picture...

R131

IMO other actresses who did NOT have surgery on their schnoz yet possessed a perfect or near perfect nose:

JANET LEIGH

ViRNA LISI

SHARON TATE

ADRIENNE AMES

LEILA HYAMS

GRACE KELLY

PIER ANGELI

Myrna Loy was the first movie star to be adored for her sexy perfect turned up nose. It was the nose most requested when nose jobs became the thing.

R137.

If I may add to your list of perfect, natural noses.

Kim Novak

'Tippi' Hedren

Gene Tierney

Donna Reed

Carroll Bakker

Lee Remick

Lynda Carter(who I think has the prettiest nose of all)

And I almost forgot...La Fonda

I am Tondelayo

R139

Love TIPPI but I will tell you she has HUGE nostrils. You could place your thumbs inside. No lie.

R139

Poor LINDA always had those huge loose cheeks and her lips are too thin. I always thought that she looked like ANJANETTE COMER'S prettier younger sister.

R115 is obviously blind. Or deranged. No one in their right mind would consider Greta Garbo "potato faced" or "average looking."

Elizabeth Taylor also had a double chin, which today could be remedied through liposuction.

Garbo had an amazing profile

stunning

Get your own thread, Garbo! This is about ME.

Hedy took my husband, I took her hair.

[quote]Poor LINDA...her lips are too thin.

Well, I happen to prefer more delicate,"thinner" features on women.

Even Joan Crawford succumbed to Hedy's center parted hairdo, though it was in one of her worst pictures Ice Follies of 1939.

[quote]Even Joan Crawford succumbed to Hedy's center parted hairdo, though it was in one of her worst pictures Ice Follies of 1939.

As Faye's dubious finger drumming implies.

Ingrid is one of my favorites, and the camera liked her as well.

Photogenic doesn't mean perfect, IMO. Sometimes a face demands attention despite its imperfections.

Katharine Hepburn had a face made for motion pictures, impossibly angular and perfect for caricature. Thankfully, she didn't fuck it up with plastic surgery. Her face lost its beauty but never its magnetism.

Genevieve Bujold had a face that was slightly asymmetrical and with the large nostrils bemoaned in posts upthread, but she had a softness and an allure that quietly commands attention. In her old age, Bujold has aged naturally and now in her mid-seventies, looks wonderfully human.

BULLSHIT, ALL OF IT...the thread hijackers are out in force!!! Just a bunch of narcissistic 'mos shoving their film divas down each others throats - the women they want to be but never can be. Their egos tell them that they are these women, when they are not...just miserable old queens in caftans and clogs whining about their favorite actress and how much better she is than YOURS, or anyone else's. It's sickening and yet, strangely entertaining at the same time.

Not Rihanna, nor anyone else with a broad nose. Sorry, but that's just the way of the "photogenic"** world.

**"Photogenic" is not synonymous with "beautiful." The former is rare; there are innumerable examples of the latter.

R155 The camera loves her.

r69, Are you sure that's MS?

If we are going to post photos of actresses beyond their prime, r96, it's Katy, bar the door.

Si R134

R64 is correct. Hedy didn't start the plastic surgery mess until mid 1970's.

And more.

Better link.

Joan Bennett was involved in the lewdest scandal when her husband caught her with her lover and shot him in the groin.

Is that Paul Anka with Hedy?

Yes, r165.

Sadly, it appears that eventually Hedy became the inspiration for "Madam":

Sorry, bad link. It's just as well.

Ingrid had shoulders like a linebacker

Yep [R158] - it was from a photo spread in Allure magazine where Kevyn Aucoin made up several women as famous actresses. He did Sarandon as Bette, Julia Roberts as Julie Christie, Sherilynn Fenn as Liz among others.

Julia as Julie.

Is that Ellen with Hedy at r161?

Shelley Winters

Dear god, how do Christie, Bergman and others make it onto this thread when there is no comparison?

Julie Christie was an attractive little troll not a gorgeous film star. Hedy not only had a spectacularly beautiful face but she was 5'7", beautiful to behold whenever she entered a room.

Yes, Mrs Patrick Campbell

R157 Truly stunning. Those big green eyes, that glossy fur!

I'm torn between Garbo being most photogenic or Louise. Louise could make the most bizarre and unwearable styles fade away around her face and posture. Although I liked the costumes she wore in "Prix de Beaute" and I like how her haircut shows off the molten glossiness her cool, dark hair, you have to admit it's a very difficult style to pull off. Her looks were so defiantly unusual. It was like she knew she couldn't look ordinary if she tried, so she embraced her distinctiveness.

The camera adored her face from every angle.

Is that Tony Curtis R176?

R177 De-steam your spectacles.

r161, did you check out the WML clip of Hedy in 1958?

You can see the beginnings of her plastic surgery mistakes in full motion right there. She obviously doesn't look as bad as she did in the 70s but it was a start.

Poor Judy. A girl with esteem issues sandwiched between such lovelies.

Hedy doesn't look good in that photo

r181 post your photo fat whore.

You're welcome R182

....

Hsve you gents never heard of Marjorie Main

Marie Dressler

Edna Mae Oliver

Margaret Hamilton

Marilyn Monroe was very photogenic. Someone said that her despite her face being "flat" she had the ability to "project" and that's what made her look good in photos and on film. Billy Wilder said she had "flesh impact" that her screen image gave the impression of actual flesh. Clara Bow was the same way. Very photogenic due to projection and flesh impact.

Natalie Wood.

R21, I agree about Alida Valli. She ius stunning in "The Third Man." Harsher in "Eyes without a Face" and downright terrifying in "Suspiria."

"Liz was gorgeous from the waist up. Her hips were broad, legs too short and butt was a bit on the flat side."

Disagree. Obviously she chunked out when she got older, but when she was young she had the kind of body straight guys love, with a teeny waist and big boobs

THAT'S HEDLEY!!

Michelle Phillips was stunning also. Can't seem to link a picture of her.

Grace Kelly

R151, Hedy hair did not look good on Crawford.

2 Joans and a Hedy

Virna Lisi is photogenic.

Who is the actress on the right in the picture @R180? She looks better than Hedy in that photo.

Virna

Grace Kelley was very photogenic.

R195, that's Lana Turner.

In my opinion, in the photo at R198, Judy looks the best.

Grace - it's hard to find a very unflattering photo of Grace when she was still acting.

Some early true beauties we haven't named:

Mary Astor

Dolores Costello

Loretta Young

Madeleine Carroll

Virginia Grey

Virginia Bruce

Alexis Smith

Grace Kelly was ridiculously photogenic but there was also something very generic and unexciting about her looks. Unlike Lamarr, Liz Taylor and others mentioned here she just lacked that certain mystique.

Anita Ekberg was also a stunning beauty in her day.

Catherine Deneuve never took a bad photo in her life...gorgeous.

Virna Lisi -- who knew? Consider me schooled..Damn, she is smoking hot!

Gina Lollobrigida was another stunning Italian beauty.

The last time I saw Hedy on TV was that extremely campy show about has been show business people guessing about each other called Personality. Yes, Gordon MacRae knew her.

yes, Virna was stunning

La Lollo

Yes, Virna Lisi is arguably the most gorgeous woman ever committed to celluloid.

Of course, I'm not saying she's my FAVORITE beauty...... only that in terms of pure aesthetic perfection she's in another league.

R205

Even BARDOT said that LISI was "god's most magnificent creature !"

As you can see here, even in her 70s ViRNA LISI looked terrific.

Virna was a good actress too...not just a pretty

I like all the love for Virna Lisi here. I usually find blonde women a bit dull-looking (including Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe) but not Virna - she was just perfect in every way possible and also a very gifted actress. Too bad her Hollywood career never really took off because she could become just as iconic as Sophia Loren. And luckily she wasn't afraid to age gracefully.

She looks gorgeous even in her 70's! No crazy plastic surgery noticeable at least.

Gorgeous as she was, Lisi was too forgetably bland to succeed in Hollywood. Same with Sharon Stone, Sharon Tate and that ilk. Nothing ultimately distinctive about them. Grace Kelly is really the only bland blonde who became iconic. Give me Monroe or Bardot any time.

Ava Gardner was slightly more beautiful by being less generic.

There's nothing 'generic' and 'bland' about Virna

She was more comfortable acting in her native language, which is normal

If you watch the movie called A Virgin for the Prince, you can see that Madonna totally copied Virna's look in it...something like 30 odd years after the film was made.

R212 I can't believe you just compared Lisi to Sharon Tate! Unlike those other bimbos you mentioned Lisi could actually act, although her acting skills were often overlooked due to her gorgeous looks. It was only when she got older that she also became a respected actress (she even won a best actress award in Cannes in 1994), but that doesn't mean that her earlier roles were no good.

I forgot its name but there's a scene in one of her movies where her teen son tells Lisi that he had gay sex and she starts sobbing very quietly. I saw that movie when I was in my teens (and still closeted) and Lisi's performance really touched me. I actually got even more scared of coming out after seeing that scene because I was afraid my mother would be heartbroken like that (by the way, that "gay son" character was a jerk in the movie, so that's why I sympathized with the mother character).

This is the name of the movie, in case anyone's interested. If I remember correctly there's also a really hot homosex scene in there.

My money is on Merle Oberon! Gorgeous woman. She was also a size queen and a cougar!!!

I keep trying to think of the most beautiful face and Alain Delon keeps popping into my mind. At about 30, he was a dream walking.

Oberon had a freakishly large forehead (it almost looks like she was going bald) and a weird egg-shaped head. She was still beautiful but I think she doesn't really belong in this thread.

Of course she does. Your opinion is only that, YOUR opinion.

By the way, OP, it's either "... more photogenic than that of Hedy Lamarr," or "... more photogenic than Hedy Lamarr's," not both. You don't need two possessives.

Maria Montez aka Cobra Woman

What have you got against Maria?

She was a good woman!

Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai #2

[quote] By the way, OP, it's either "... more photogenic than that of Hedy Lamarr," or "... more photogenic than Hedy Lamarr's," not both. You don't need two possessives.

By the way, smartass - it's HEDLEY!

Aishwarya Rai #3

Aishwarya Rai #4

Miss Crawford was truly photogenic!

Alain Delon is prettier than Merle Oberon..sorry but it's true. The perfect Scorpio man archetype (Euro style)

Aishrawya Rai -- breathtakingly beautiful. The darker skin tone and tawny greenish/blue eyes. Miss World..? .. you bet your moo-moo wearing chunky asses. What's her astrological sign? Huh? Grace Kelly too. Bland blonde? Cataract surgery is obviously needed by R212.

Kim Novak is anything BUT a bland blonde. Same as Marilyn. Drop dead gorgeous the both of them. Add Virna Lisi and Catherine Deneuve and sweetums it's as beautifully blonde blinding as a supernova(k). Maria Montez who? A pretty soccer mom on a goddess thread. LOL.

I agree with Hedy, Audrey, Virna, Kim Novak and Aishrawya. There's something about those faces! So alluring.

The photogenic blonde to end all blondes was Yvette Mimieux. It's a very specific look and it's hard to photograph people who look like this without their being washed out with light but the angles on Yvette's face worked to give definition to a very low contrast kind of look.

Even the Gabors blended more out of photos than Yvonne.

R234 Grace Kelly was arguably the more beautiful of this kind of look but Yvette was the more photogenic. More character picks up in her face.

My favorite blonde

Merle Oberon.

[quote]Was there ever an actress with a face more photogenic than that of Hedy Lamarr'

Hedy had a very inconsistent look, at least on film. Depending on the photographer or DOP she often is SO ravishingly beautiful and flawless as to seem like statuary. Her facial balances, shapes and proportions appear ideal and unclockable.

However, I've noticed in certain photos and on film the proportion,size and shape of her face and features change almost to the point of unrecognizability. I know hair, makeup and camera lenses can account for some of this but it always leaves me with the question...what did she really look like? The goddess come to life I see in certain films or pix or the pretty, but rather ordinary woman I see in others.

Who the fuck keeps posting Merle Oberon?! She looked like an extra from Coneheads!

Alain Delon wins this thread! Yes, even over Hedy Lamarr!

No, it's Ava. Hedy looks boring, boring, boring. Ava looks like she'd toss back a drink and throw a stiletto at her date's head. As Frank learned.

Susan Cabot was quite lovely.

Let's face it. Beauty is incredibly subjective and a LOT of it depends on makeup, lighting, photographer and hair. I've seen enough films where an actress may look incredible in one and fairly plain in the next.

When it comes down to it it's how one looks IN REAL LIFE that matters. And according to many interviews I've seen and read of people who were working with her the consensus was that HEDY was the most beautiful.

MERLE OBERON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[quote]By the way, smartass - it's HEDLEY!

What am I, the Teutonic Titwillow?

Ava was crazy pussy (in a good way).

Anouk Aimée, of course.

Frances was lovely.

MERLE Oberon!!

OP is talking photogenic, not beautiful, attractive or pretty in person. Photogenic face is the topic.

To compare so many of these bitches like Yvette Wazername to Lamarr is laughable.

Thank you [R250] - Now if you could mimeograph your list of instructions and hand them out to each DL'er, we'll have a hard copy to reference and not color outside the lines....so to speak.

Lamarr was indeed gorgeous but it's unfair to compare her likeness to others if we're only going to look at her visage in highly controlled studio shots, portraits and screen stills, all in b&w. I wonder why it took so long for a her to make a technicolor picture?

I'll bet if we looked at some color candids of her even in her prime she'd be less of a goddess. Perhaps, true of Garbo as well.

Ava Gardner, OTOH, was often captured in color candids and she always came through as a natural beauty. Though b&w check out Ava in her appearance on WML?. Even with street makeup and the primitive lighting and photography of mid-1950s TV, she looks amazing.

R206 - I always thought La Lolla was much prettier and a more interesting character than Sophia Loren.

[R253] - Lollobrigida was indeed a beauty but with more standard features. Loren had very distinctive features (eyes and mouth) that set her apart and IMHO above Gina.

Raquel Welch has always been lovely and photogenic, but she has finally gone too far with procedures:

Merle Oberon!!!

Haters!!!

Merle Haggard

Hedy in color, R252. Still looks good.

When was that pic of Raquel taken, R255? Because she was still looking great just a few months ago on Piers Morgan interview as this photo shows.

I *heart* r224!

Not with that beaky nose, r225.

r243, The thread is about being PHOTOGENIC. Not about "real life."

Re: Delon. Had Zac Efron not started out with Disney, he could've had a mature-roles career as had his doppelganger.

Jennifer Jones?

In 2015, r259.

R259, she looks like she should take the Mae West part in a remake of Myra Breckinridge.

R212

And along that thought, when they first brought her to Hollywood in the mid 60s, she was to be 'a new MONROE' for the JACK LEMMON comedy HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE.

VIRNA also didn't have to work. She was married to a prosperous Italian contractor. He wanted her in Italy ! After only a handful of films here circa 1964-66 she left the States permanently.

Are there any photos of Virna Lisi without gobs of eye makeup?

Who is this Miss Lisi? Never heard of her...so many superficially pretty, glam Eurotrash starlets in the sixties - Elke Sommer, Senta Berger, Hildegarde Knef, Marisa Mell, countless women with exotic sounding names and indeterminable accents. Lots of them in spy movies, all pretty much forgettable.

Photogenic Lisi.

Anna Karina

Here in one of her last roles VIRNA at age 73 still looked amazing !

La Oberon

If era is no factor, Winona deserves to be in the running.

[R263]- That broad was photogenic even flying out of a glass elevator!

she's not an actress, but i find these features to be harmonious

indian actress

pic #2

R62 I disagree that Zac Efron is as good looking as Delon. His jaw is much broader so the lower part of his face is not as chiseled and "pretty." Also his eyes are squintier than Delon's and not as beautiful. Finally, his coloring - the smoldering dark eyes/hair and olive skin tone of Delon photograph (and look) much handsomer than Efron's paler skin and lighter hair/eyes. While Delon is a definite 10, I think Efron is no more than an 8 - or maybe a 9 if you love twinks.

R276, never heard of her, but in that pic she looks like Clara Bow from the '20's.

R279 she's hema malini. beats most of this thread in my opinion

Please...

R280, she isn't prettier than Aishwarya Rai, or Merle Oberon.

Not getting the Oberon hate...she was exquisite.

Any votes for Rita

Yes, Rita was gorgeous. But, as another poster said., she was even better looking in motion.

What about me?

B$ you have a face made for radio and a body(in your day) built for sin. Put a flag over your face and I'd fuck you for the glory of it darling.

Virna is just awesome in as an Uberbitch in LA REINE MARGOT (with Isabelle Adjani).

Did Hedy have plastic surgery? To me she was plainer in her younger days

Anna Nicole smith owns this thread

I've seen a million of them, but when I saw Anna Nicole, I gasped.

Poor misguided dear could have been a huge star in a different era when blonds were a real thing in pop culture, though I don't think she had any acting talent.

But she was spectacular looking.

One of my favourites from the GUESS days She could've been a huge star in the 1950s even with her natural chest (which was much smaller apparently) she's just one of those women you have to stop and stare at

She knew how to work a camera

Anna Nicole Smith looked like country trash. Pretty enough for the Miss Chickpea & Garbanzo Bean Pageant, but not for Hollywood celluloid.

"Anna Nicole smith owns this thread."

You're an idiot. She was gussied up white trash: fake hair, fake boobs, and tons of makeup. Without all that , she looked like a plain ol' white trash girl.

R295 R294 ignoring her personality and checkered past you simply can't deny how truly beautiful she looks on camera even her name sounds like that of a star

Anna Nicole Smith could be made to look good on camera but it took a lot of work to do it. Her looks were very high maintenance. During the trial where she was trying to get her dead husband's money she stated "it's expensive to be me."

Anna Nicole Smith could be made to look good on camera but it took a lot of work to do it. Her looks were very high maintenance. During the trial where she was trying to get her dead husband's money she stated "it's expensive to be me."

Doesn't make her any less stunning

I can think of only one actress as beautiful and perfect as Hedy - Eva Gardner.

[quote]I can think of only one actress as beautiful and perfect as Hedy - Eva Gardner.

And yet you STILL can't get her name right!

Bump

Anna Nicole looking stunning in 2006

So pretty!

r288, Hedy re-drew her brows and lips. I doubt she had surgery as her features look the same. The arched brow suited her, and brought to mind Vivien Leigh.

Bow, bitches:

Those other ladies. with the right lighting and makeup, were terrific mannequins, but I could actually ACT, you know.

Hedy has always been the hands-down winner in the real beauty department of old Hollywood. For the men, it seems to be Tyrone Power in his heyday. I think Lana Turner had perhaps the most perfect face, not necessarily the most beautiful but pretty damn flawless.

Anna Nicole

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Very "dime a dozen" lol if all women looked like her in showbuisness Scarlett johanson would be out of a career

Iconic

Magnificent

Playful

Even with minimal makeup she is just ugh perfection

Hedy Lamarr was born Hedwig Keisler. Hedy was her nickname, a diminutive of Hedwig. When she came to Hollywood, her lush dark ethereal beauty reminded Louis B. Mayer of Barbara LaMarr - "the woman who was too beautiful". So her dropped "Keisler", kept the diminutive of her first name and added "Lamarr" as the surname and voila! MGM had a new star in the firmament

Barbara LaMarr died young of alcohol and drug addiction. Barbara was a southern beauty born Reatha Watson.

Umm we aren't talking about that ugly old white R317 WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. ANNA

Pretty pretty?

R319 cause heddy would've looked so good after years of drug addiction, weight problems and the death of her son? She looks pretty good considering

Such a stunning true beauty 😂

Anna never looked that messed up ^

The Anna Nicole Smith troll is pathetic. Obviously this pitiful fool has never seen pictures of Vickie Lynn Hogan, a plain, flat-chested white trash girl with dirty blonde hair. After a huge boob job, some hair dye and lots and lots of makeup and careful lighting and photoshop she became the blowsy blonde bimbo that the stupid twat at R313, R314, etc. is so obsessed with. She always looked like what she was: artificial and whorish.

Anna Nicole was a pretty woman but I have to say, as far as photogenic goes, for some reason, she makes the male models next to her look stunning by contrast. Obviously, she was not ugly nor plain. But every one of those 90's male models in the "Guess" ads looks better than she does and that's not just about sexual preference. Your eye goes right to the male.

Her look was sort of like a blank projection screen. She filled the space with a very general, classic but non-descript (when you try to pin it down) image of female sex appeal, that was more like a graphic symbol than anything else.

R324, I agree. There's really no there there. Just a bottle blonde glammed up to look like an old-time Hollywood goddess, but lacking any real presence. And when you look closely, you realize that her facial structure is too big and broad, not at all delicate and feminine like the classic beauties she's made up to evoke in those Guess ads.

I agree about ANS. My eye goes right to the men, and what I admire about the Guess photoshoot was the hair and makeup artistry.

Umm ok let's compare hefty lawhore at the end of her life to THE STUNNING ANNA NICOLE

Still stunning though slightly worse for wear

Hefty without her studio lighting so fucking ugly

"Your eye goes right to the male."

Because you're gay. I doubt a straight man would be looking at anyone but her.

That's the point R330 she had it in photos As a bi guy trust me the eye goes right to Anna always

Interesting story about Hedy's oldest son, James Lamarr Loder. He was a police officer who shot a black girl in Omaha, and it started a riot.

"He was in the Air Force for eight years before that. Arrested for the murder, he was released on $500 bail and suspended from the police department for 15 days. In September 1969, he when to court against charges from the Douglas County prosecutor. Six months later, he was found innocent of all charges. Coincidentally, Loder was estranged from his mother for almost his whole life. She abandoned him as a child, and when confronted with his existence, suggested he was adopted. Hedy disowned him all of the rest of her life. He was denied an inheritance after she died. In 2001, an investigation recognized his genealogy. That year he was 61-years-old and working as a security guard on the riverboat casino in Council Bluffs. He had previously taken a small settlement to stay away from the inheritance, less than many non-family inheritors. Today, he apparently lives in Millard near the airport."

R330 I really don't think that's it. Look at this ad featuring Monica Bellucci, who has long been a perfect example of what heterosexual men would find classically appealing. My eye goes right to her face and mouth, which would seem unlikely if I was only moved by sexual attraction.

Monica looks like shit in that pic R333

For the last hour or so I have been watching Samson and Delilah which I have not seen for roughly 30 years. No "actress" should be forgiven this. At first I thought "This is classic camp" but it is so much worse. Just plain bad. Bad, bad, bad. Victor Mature is about to pull down the Temple. I will be relieved to see them all dead. I can't begin to express how bad and inexcusable this all is. And I am an eldergay who loves classic camp.

"The Robe" is coming up next. I will watch a little of it to see if it is as mediocre as I remember. It's importance in film history is solely due to the fact that it was the first Cinemascope film. Hopefully this will be a showing of the recently restored version.

Although the restored version is supposedly only fair as the original film elements were in deplorable condition

Anna Nicole looked rabishing in color

Anna Schmanna. Gentlemen may prefer blondes, but they marry brunettes.

[quote]"The Robe" is coming up next. I will watch a little of it to see if it is as mediocre as I remember

I haven't see the Robe in years, but thought it was better than average for the bible movies. The one thing I remember is Jean Simmons. I always liked her and I think she helped elevate the movie a little. She had a decent career, but feel she could have been a bigger star.

Let's speak of Lamarr, that Hedy so fair,

Why does she let Joan Bennett wear all her old hair?

Anna Nicole was a goddess

R338, So many look-alikes.

Anna Nicole smith = real beauty no one can compare

The hissing queen working overtime to discredit ANS is a dimwit. She was stunning in her prime and there is no denying it. It's an objective fact. It doesn't matter that she was born in a barn. You don't point to someone's humble beginnings or their "mousy" high school pictures as evidence that they can't possibly be a "true" beauty. Very few beautiful women were gorgeous teenagers. Many grow into their looks. And yes, ALL of them blossom into swans with the help of professional styling, make up and lighting.

Yes R344 I mean look at hetty lammar without her studio lighting she looked like a hefty pig

Hefty Lamar lol ANS was a true beauty

R341, R343, R344, R345 and R346 are all the same retard with with the Anna Nicole Smith fetish. She was a plain white trash girl who with the help of lots of makeup, breast implants, careful lighting and dyed blonde hair transformed herself into a blowsy blonde bimbo, a type that appeals to men who like blowsy blonde bimbos (Hugh Hefner is one of those). She had tons of plastic surgery and in later pictures it was evident her face was obliterated by excessive surgeries. ANS wasn't a "true beauty." She was a true whore. A retarded whore.

Ok I'm R341 and R344 so there are others lok

R347 is a loser with an axe to grind.

Simone Simon was unexpectedly photogenic. I write "unexpectedly" because natural angularity is more typical of photogenic faces but she had a curvy, classic "baby face", yet an eerie amount of character picked up on film.

Even though you could call her a beauty, it wasn't beauty that made her photogenic, it was the weird mix of a face that didn't fit the amount of knowing behind the eyes. A quality not missed by casting directors, who often put her in roles where a hard to place sense of unease had to be communicated to an audience.

Young farrah fawcett anyone?

351 posts and did anyone mention that Hedy essentially invented wifi???

Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe were incredibly photogenic, almost classically beautiful faces.

Speaking of popular actors who "discovered" young hunks......

^ Whoops, that was posted in the wrong thread

Simply FARRAH

Elise Elliot darling she looks fabulous

Farrah had a weird mouth. It turned down...and her lips were too thin. Not a classic beauty by a long shot.

R349 is a loser with a fetish for fat bleached blonde retarded whores.

My personal favorite is Catherine Deneuve: not just beautiful, but a wonderful actress, and an intelligent and interesting interview (if you take the time to find one). I haven't seen any mention that Hedy came to the US after scandalizing much of the world with a nude scene, and apparently one of the first filmed (fake) orgasm scenes, in 1933's 'Ecstasy'. Her later plastic surgery procedures were tragic. She had given up acting, so what was the point?

Nothing from the 1970s/80s can be considered beautiful. NOTHING. True glamour died in the 1960s. Hedy Lamarr was breathtaking, as was Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall, and Vivien Leigh.

I disagree R361. The 70's, yep, you're so right. However the 80's saw a return to classic beauty standards. The era of the supermodel was beginning to take shape.

Farrah Fawcett was gorgeous, but she shouldn't be compared to Hedy Lamarr and other Hollywood Golden Age stunners. Farrah had a sort of masculine quality to her and wasn't spectacularly photographic from all angles....oh say like her fellow Angel, the Scorpio Jaclyn Smith. Just saying. And Smith herself doesn't stack up against the film fatales.

*PHOTOGENIC* not photographic. R362^

"Nothing from the 1970s/80s can be considered beautiful. NOTHING. True glamour died in the 1960s. Hedy Lamarr was breathtaking, as was Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall, and Vivien Leigh."

Greta Garbo had a big, horsey face and so did Crawford. I think a ton of actresses from the 70s, 80s, and today are more attractive.

Don't be coming after Joan, hunny. This ain't her first time at the rodeo.

"Greta Garbo had a big, horsey face and so did Crawford."

You're an idiot. Or blind. Or a blind idiot. Because Greta Garbo did NOT have "a big horsey face." Neither did Crawford. Crawford had exaggerated facial features but she never was "horsey." Examples of a "horsey" face are Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarah Silverman. Both have a very bad case of horse face.

The camera loved Kim Basinger.

r366 is the real blind idiot

Loretta Young looks gorgeous in this pic.

R360 here. I also want to point out that Catherine Deneuve began her career in the 50s but is still making movies today.

A lot of the women you're posting here, need proper lighting and/or make up to make them look beautiful. Hedy needed nothing. She is exquisite. I know it's a cheesy old movie, but watch Samson & Delilah. She did a lot of acting with just her facial expressions and saved the movie from being a complete mess. It's campy now and Victor Mature is not my idea of a sex symbol, and who in the world would chose Angela Lansbury over Hedy, but there you are. but Hedy was the perfect Delilah! I loved the musical score by Victor Young too. It was SO overdone.

Lamarr's beauty, under scrutiny or in outside conditions, didn't hold up

Thank you Max Factor R372

Dolores del Rio

Catherine Deneuve's sister Francoise was also beautiful. The sisters starred together in The Young Girls of Rochefort but unforunately those horrible wigs and make-up made them look like a couple of aging drag queens in that movie. Francoise died only three months after that movie was released in a horrible car crash - she crashed her car into a signpost and was burned alive in it (that was the same week that Jayne Mansfield also died in a car crash). What's interesting is that their mother is still alive and well at 105, which means that she overlived her daughter for 50 years (and counting).

this post has been pretty interesting with a lot of actresses I've never heard - so you learn something every day. But today Hedy Lamarr's films are largely forgotten, her beauty is/was legendary. I remember watching the Merv Griffin Show in the late 70's and he had on Eileen Ford, founder of Ford Models, and he asked her of all the beautiful faces she had ever seen whose was the most perfect, without a beat, she replied "Hedy Lamarr". Now that is saying something.

Of course, this thread with Hollywood being Hollywood, has been 99% caucasian women. That said, I like to add some diversity. Here's silent screen star Anna May Wong, one of the biggest stars of the silent era.

There's a great documentary about her called "Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words" that came out a few years ago, the trailer is on youtube:

the above-mentioned trailer link:

If R368 thinks that Greta Garbo, who is considered one of the most beautiful screen actresses of all time (She was known as "The Face" or "The Divine One" ) had a "horsey face" then this fool truly is blind and a big fat idiot.

Loretta Young remained beautiful well into her senior years

I always thought Maureen O'Hara was one of the most gorgeous, photogenic actresses around

I get the controversy over Hedy, in spite of Eileen Ford's remark. Somehow there are not a lot of candid shots of her out there and the ones that are, show her as beautiful, for sure, but she's not any more exquisite than many another Golden Age actress. Her legendary status comes from a very studio-controlled portraiture.

Compare candids from the 1940s of Lamarr, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell, Ava Gardner and other brunettes of the era.

Loretta did age really well. So did Dolores Del Rio.

Dolores Del Rio's beauty secret - sleep 16 hours a day

Yes, I know Loretta Young has never been very popular around here but she truly aged better than any of her contemporaries. She may had plastic surgery but she always looked like herself, a gorgeous elderly lady and never freakish, even in her 90s.

Another beautiful picture of Loretta.

Loretta was a beauty alright. She used to come to town often to visit one of her friends (rumored to be her boyfriend) who was a professor at a local university. Of course Loretta had an affair with Clark Gable, and ended up having a child with him (who she pretended she adopted after disappearing for months to have the child). That infuriated Joan Crawford, who was one of Gable's fuckbuddies. Supposedly at some party, someone was about to sit down, and Joan grabbed the guest's arm and said, "Can't sit there. Loretta Young just got up, and it has the mark of the cross on the seat."

Young Ava Gardner.

Harry Styles is way more photogenic than all these ancient hos.

Bone structure cut with a diamond, bitches.

I'm going to say Marilyn was the most photogenic actress in photos and on screen.

She also looked great with red hair.

R377, Anna May Wong isn't usually classified as just a "silent screen star". She achieved her greatest fame in the 1930's.

She was never even famous she was no Jean Harlow, Shirley temple, just garland or even a Olivia de What's her face she was a nothing

Marilyn Monroe's natural hair was reddish-brown and very curly. Her mother was a red head. I imagine it took a lot of doing to keep her hair bright blonde or white platinum blonde; and it had to be straightened as well. No wonder at the time of her death her hair was in bad shape. But she was incredibly photogenic. That's what you keep hearing about her; that she always looked so good in photo and onscreen. She had "flesh impact", as Billy Wilder. Not many actresses ever had that quality, the "real" quality on film. Clara Bow did. Has she been mentioned on this thread? Although she had a tendency to be plump her face was stunning.

R393, Who? Anna May Wong?

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I think Marilyn looked better before the platinum blonde days too.

No..

The artificial confection and impossibly authentic Marilyn Monroe had the most photogenic face ever.

Hedy Lamarr's immense beauty was evident on two sides and had nothing but glamour to dazzle you with. Aloofness makes for an idol. Ava Gardner's substantial beauty showed more depth but her lack of avid engagement with the camera and her frequent projection of unhappiness limited her appeal (while adding to it, too, in some ways).

Suggesting Anna Nichole is like suggesting Jane Mansfield with a 30-point lower IQ and an age advantage. Both were great with the camera but their beauty was commercial and intentionally cheap. That's fine, but the camera wants nuance, and that requires a capacity to present the appearance of depth.

Marilyn, as people said here, could look fey, sexy, exhausted, sorrowful, playful, engaged, teasing and thoughtful, sometimes with several emotions playing at the same time. She loved the camera, understood it, and needed it. It was her best friend. And good photographers knew they had hit gold when they worked with her, no matter how challenging she could be.

One thing Marilyn had that not many of the others here had was the ability to work both in natural as well as studio light. She could do it anywhere. And she could pose or she could move through it. A unique and unlikely combination of talents (and a critical lack of talent and skill in certain areas) that left her simply the most photogenic person.

The blonde works well at R338 for Marilyn because of the light strawberry blonde at the roots around her face and in the back.

^^R398

Marilyn's blondeness was never has flat and 2 dimensional as Jean Harlow's platinum blonde. But then. it was a different era and everything about Harlow's hair and makeup was intentionally very artificial .....the perfect counterpoint to her b&w Art Deco surroundings. Harlow's look could never have worked in Technicolor.

She's mostly forgotten these days but....Hazel Brooks

r394 this link is a montage of candid shots Marilyn of getting made up by famed hairdresser Kenneth. And like many above posters have stated, she looks gorgeous even in the most mundane settings, without the usual precise lighting most glamor girls of the time required for their own fabulous looks.

When I was a young teenager 13-14, I became obsessed with MM, i think I had like 17-20 biographies of her. I live/lived in Hollywood and my gayling buddy and I would try and find all the different places she worked, set locations, lived, even the home in which she died; a tiny enclave on in Brentwood called "the Helena's". Which I was shocked to see how modest of a house it was for a star of her magnitude.

BTW: I remember reading a book by MM's last maid (actually the person who found the body) and she relates how she once found MM in naked in bed writhing in pain with an ice back between her legs. apparently, she wanted the drapes to match the carpet and would bleach her pubes herself.

Marilyn could wear all that falderal, R134, if a role required it, but I prefer her without lace and curlicues.

I occurred to me watching that that even without her trademark comic voice, she could have been a very successful silent star.

"I remember reading a book by MM's last maid (actually the person who found the body) and she relates how she once found MM in naked in bed writhing in pain with an ice back between her legs. apparently, she wanted the drapes to match the carpet and would bleach her pubes herself."

No, her last housekeeper was the infamous Mrs. Murray; she gave conflicting reports of what happened the night MM died. The person who first found her body was her psychiatrist, Ralph Greenson.

The maid you're referring to is Lena Pepitone. She was Marilyn's seamstress/cook/maid when she lived in New York with Arthur Miller. The Marilyn depicted in her memoir is dumb, slovenly, unwashed, depressed and shameless about displaying her body. Pepitone said that when she met Marilyn she was "totally nude (Marilyn, not her.)" She'd lie around in bed all day naked, talking on the phone or listening to records (Frank Sinatra, mostly). She ate in bed; she ate meat a lot (steak, lamb chops) and would wipe her greasy hands on the bed clothes, which of course would have to be changed. She always wanted a side dish of cottage cheese with her meat; maybe she thought that was a healthy diet. She never wore pads or anything when she had her period so the bed clothes would have be changed a lot during her time of the month. She smelled because she didn't bathe very often. She also belched and farted a lot. Pepitone also claimed that she and Marilyn became dear friends and that Marilyn nicknamed her "Baby Lamb." This seems pretty far fetched in light of the fact that Pepitone could barely speak English. I don't believe the bit about their being best friends but Pepitone probably was privy to MM's habits and behavior. I think some of what she said was true.

Interesting thread. Some of the women mentioned as great beauties by some people surprise me but I guess it all goes back to beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I would agree Hedy is the most beautiful. She screwed up her career by being so difficult to work with and was not filmed in color until she was at least 35-too bad I would like to have seen her in color when she was in her mid-20's. Her exaggerated coloring, coal black thick shiny hair with alabaster skin and green eyes was spectacular according to people who actually saw her. All MGM cared about was making money and rarely filmed in color.

On a related topic, "Bombshell" is a terrific documentary about Lamarr. She came up with frequency hopping during WWII, which formed the basis for secure wifi.

In R180's (I think) photo, Judy Garland is very pretty. She may not have been a glamour puss like the others, but she had a nice face....cute up turned nose and full lips. She was insecure about her looks, but she was quite pretty. Of course, she truly shined in her talents.

Ursula.

Liza Minnelli is strikingly beautiful. So distinct looking.

Now what beautiful woman had the most personality? One that wasn't boring and about soaking up attention for their looks?

Marilyn Monroe has never looked bad in a photo...even at her most slovenly...or candid shots. The camera just loved her. I think she was one of the most photogenic women ever. A rarity. Even gorgeous people, seen in person, may not look good in a photograph.

R412...I saw her the other night on TCM, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. That movie is really obsolete. Yes...her features are exaggerated...huge eyes...sloping nose and full mouth. It all worked, though. Very distinctive looks. She played up her eyes with makeup beautifully. Sophia Loren has exaggerated features, too...which made her beauty unique. These type of features can backfire....make a person look really odd. In their cases, it worked positively for them.

[Quote] Now what beautiful woman had the most personality?

Carole Lombard?

The one who crashed into Mt. Charleston outside of Vegas because it was WW2 and the lights were out for fear of a Japanese attack?