Hepburn was known for being headstrong and independent, with a spirited personality, and outspokenness that translated onto the screen playing strong-willed, sophisticated women.

She took parts in screwball comedy to literary drama, proving her versatility and earning four Academy Awards for Best Actress.

Hepburn could care less about Hollywood publicity, refusing to conform to society’s expectations of women. She famously wore trousers before they were fashionable for women.

She epitomized the “modern woman” in the 20th-century United States, being fondly remembered as an important cultural figure.

Born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell, the actress, singer, and model was one of Hollywood’s leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in more than 20 films.

Russell acted while continuing to make music, married three times and adopted three children all while receiving well deserved accolades for all her amazing work.

She passed away on February 28, 2011 at the age of 89.

Betty Joan Perske was born on September 16, 1924, and is the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema according to the American Film Institute.

Known for her alluring, sultry presence and a distinctive, husky voice, Bacall was a model turned actress and was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Bergman was Swedish actress who starred in European and American films, television movies, and plays. She boasts of a career spanning five decades, and is regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history.

The American Film Institute recognised Ingrid Bergman as the fourth greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

The half Swedish half German actress has three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, four Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Award and a Volpi Cup thanks to her on screen brilliance.

She was born Tula Ellice Finklea on March 8, 1922, entering films in the 1940s with roles featuring her abilities as a dancer. She was often paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly as a result.

Charisse had this to say on her experience with Astaire and Kelly:

“As one of the handful of girls who worked with both of those dance geniuses, I think I can give an honest comparison. In my opinion, Kelly is the more inventive choreographer of the two. Astaire, with Hermes Pan’s help, creates fabulous numbers—for himself and his partner. But Kelly can create an entire number for somebody else … I think, however, that Astaire’s coordination is better than Kelly’s … his sense of rhythm is uncanny. Kelly, on the other hand, is the stronger of the two. When he lifts you, he lifts you! … To sum it up, I’d say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it’s like comparing apples and oranges. They’re both delicious.”

One of the more popular names and faces of the Golden Age, Rogers was often paired with Fred Astaire, starring in films and musicals still popular today.

Rogers made a total 73 films, and ranks number 14 on the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars list of female stars of classic American cinema.

She wrote an autobiography Ginger: My Story which was published in 1991. Ginger Rogers died of natural causes in 1995 at the age 83.

German and American Dietrich was an actress and singer with a career spanning from the 1910s to the 1980s. In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich performed on stage and in silent films.

She was also known for her humanitarian efforts during World War II. Dietrich housed German and French exiles, giving them financial support and even advocating their American citizenship.

Her efforts on improving morale on the front lines during the war had the actress receiving several honors from the United States, France, Belgium and Israel.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the ninth greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema, a well deserved honor.

Dorothy Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton on December 10, 1914, and is best remembered for appearing in the Road to… movies, which were a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

She starred in different movie musicals and sang in many of her comedies and dramatic films for several years beginning in the late 1930s with Harriet Lee as her voice teacher.

Gaynor was born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber on September 4, 1931. She was just eleven when her family moved to Hollywood.

She trained as a ballerina starting her career in the corps de ballet. At the age of 13, she was singing and dancing with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera company.

Gaynor sang, acted, and danced in a number of film musicals, even being paired with some of the biggest male musical stars of the day.

Born on May 7, 1921, Robbins had a 1941 newspaper article describing her as “the famous model whose face has appeared on the covers of many leading magazines, and whose eyes and teeth are the trademarks respectively of Murine and Iodent.”

In 1942, she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox where she went on to star in films before moving to TV.

Robbins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6510 Hollywood Boulevard.

Grahame began her acting career in theatre, then making her first film in 1944 for MGM, but they didn’t think she had potential for huge success.

She starred in a few films but her film career began to wane soon afterwards.

Grahame went on to work on the stage, while appearing in films and television productions taking on supporting roles.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1974, refusing treatment, causing her health to deteriorate rapidly. Gloria Grahame returned to New York City, where she passed away on October 1981 at the age of 57.

A native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, O’Hara found success in Hollywood from the 1940s to the 1960s.

She was a natural redhead who often played passionate and sensible heroines, especially in Westerns and adventure films. She has worked with director John Ford and long-time friend John Wayne on multiple projects.

O’Hara took no nonsense from anybody and was even known for being bossy.

This British-American actress had a cinematic career which spanned from 1935 to 1988. de Havilland appeared in 49 feature films, becoming one of the leading actresses of the day.

She passed away in 2020 at age 104, becoming the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner. Olivia de Havilland was considered to be one of the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Veronica Lake was born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman on November 14, 1922. She was best known for her femme fatale roles but her career soon declined due to a drinking habit.

She attempted to revive her acting career but was unsuccessful in doing so.

Her memoir, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, was published in 1970. Years of heavy drinking took its toll on Lake and she died at the age of 50 in July 1973, from hepatitis and acute kidney injury.

Born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1908 (or so she claimed since her daughter says 1904), Crawford began her career as a dancer. She traveled with theatrical companies before her debut on Broadway.

Crawford signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925 but was initially frustrated with her small roles.

She went public as one of the more famous “Clappers” in the 1920s.

Crawford would play hardworking young women in films. Women who find romance and financial success in “rags-to-riches” stories that Depression-era audiences loved.

Crawford was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and one of the highest paid women in the country until her films began losing money. The end of the 1930s saw the actress labeled as “box office poison”.

Jane Alice Peters was born on October 6, 1908, and as an actress was famous for her energetic, off-beat roles in screwball comedies.

The American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema thanks to her many successful films that allowed her to showcase her range.

Her career was cut short at the age of 33 when she perished in an aircraft crash.

Novak began her acting career in 1954, signing with Columbia Pictures and immediately becoming one of Hollywood’s top box office stars.

She has been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Novak is a painter and visual artist, with paintings that are impressionistic and surrealistic. She currently lives on a ranch with her husband.

Monroe needs no introduction, perhaps being the most famous of the era with her name still going around today thanks to her acting and controversial life and death.

Known for comedic “blonde bombshell” characters, Monroe became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, an emblem of the era’s sexual revolution.

She was a top-billed actress for a decade, with films grossing $200 million, equivalent to $2 billion or so today.

Monroe is still a major icon of pop culture, with the American Film Institute ranking her sixth as one of the greatest female screen legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Film critics and media outlets say she is one of the best actresses to never have received an Academy Award nomination.

Greer was born on September 9, 1924 and was known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past.

She is one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination according to The Guardian in 2009.

In her teens, Greer was a beauty-contest winner and professional model who began her show-business career as a big-band singer. Her many successful films earned her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1634 Vine Street.

Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician Luigia “Gina” Lollobrigida was born on July 4, 1927.

She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the era, and was an international sex symbol in her day.

She is among the last living, high-profile international actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema and is an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, especially the National Italian American Foundation.

Natalie Wood began her career as a child of four and successfully transitioned to young adult roles with films that represented a “coming of age” for her and for Hollywood films.

Critics have even suggested that her cinematic career represents the modern American womanhood in transition, being one of the few to take both child roles and those of middle-aged characters throughout her career.

Wood perished off the coast of Santa Catalina Island on November 29, 1981 at the age of 43.

She was on a holiday break from the production of her would-be comeback film Brainstorm (1983).

Horne’s career as a dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist spanned more than seventy years, with fans finding her in film, television, and theatre.

She joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the young age of sixteen, becoming a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood.

Horne passed away from congestive heart failure on May 9, 2010, with many celebrities attending her funeral service.

Simmons was a British actress and singer, and was a well spoken starlet of her day.

She appeared mostly in films, with those made in Great Britain during and after World War II, before making Hollywood films from 1950 onwards where she garnered many awards for her work.

Simmons was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to acting in the 2003 New Year Honours.

Margaret Yvonne Middleton was born on September 1, 1922. A Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer, she became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s.

At three, De Carlo was enrolled by her mother in a local dance school and by the early 1940s, she took part in beauty contests and worked as a dancer in nightclubs before becoming a star.

After many successful films, De Carlo found herself in debt, until 1964 when she was cast as Lily Munster.

She says, “It was a happy show with audience appeal for both children and adults. It was a happy show behind the scenes, too; we all enjoy working with each other.”

In 1987, she had this to say about her role, “I think Yvonne De Carlo was more famous than Lily, but I gained the younger audience through The Munsters. And it was a steady job.”

Kelly was a successful actress who became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.

She retired from acting at the age 26 to marry Rainier and fulfill her duties as Princess of Monaco.

Grace Kelly is ranked 13th among the American Film Institute’s 25 Greatest Female Stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Her son, Prince Albert, established the Princess Grace Awards in 1984 in order to recognize emerging talents in film, theatre, and dance.

Born Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone on September 20, 1934, Loren was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cinema.

As of this year, she is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

Loren is also the only living person to appear on the AFI’s list of the 25 greatest female stars of American film history where she is positioned at number 21.

Hepburn was born in Ixelles, Brussels, to an aristocratic family. She spent her childhood in Belgium, England, and the Netherlands before performing as a chorus girl in West End musical theatre productions.

The British actress and humanitarian is recognised as both a film and fashion icon.

Audrey Hepburn was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Hollywood cinema and was also inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

She passed away from appendiceal cancer at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland, aged 63.

Dandridge is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress,thanks to her performance in Carmen Jones (1954).

Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Porgy and Bess, Dandridge is the subject of the 1999 HBO biographical film, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.

A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame helped seal her status as one of Hollywood’s best actresses.

Young started as a child, and went on to have a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953.

She was born Gretchen Young, with the name Loretta given to her by actress Colleen Moore who said it was the name of her favorite doll.

From starring in many films, and then television productions, Loretta Young continued to work until her old age all while supporting various Catholic charities until retiring from acting.

Young passed away from ovarian cancer on August 12, 2000.

Often referred to by her initials B.B., Bardot is a former French actress, singer and model who was known for portraying sexually emancipated characters living hedonistic lifestyles.

One of the best known sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, she left the entertainment industry in 1973, but remains a popular culture icon.

She starred in 47 films, performed in several musicals, and recorded more than 60 songs throughout her career.

Garbo was born on September 18, 1905 and is regarded as one of the greatest actresses known for her melancholic, somber persona.

She portrayed tragic characters throughout her career. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her fifth on its list of the greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

After retiring, Garbo led a private life, becoming an art collector and declining offers to appear on screen.

Born Julia Jean Turner on February 8, 1921, Lana Turner had a near-50-year career, as a film actress and pin-up model.

She was one of the highest-paid actresses in the United States in the mid 40s, and one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s biggest stars.

Her films made more than $50 million for the studio during her 18-year contract.

Turner is a popular culture icon of Hollywood glamour and a screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema with various roles played in different genres throughout her career.

Margarita Carmen Cansino was born on October 17, 1918. The American actress, dancer and producer appeared in 61 films over 37 years.

“The Love Goddess” was coined by the press to describe Hayworth after she became the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s.

In fact, she was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.

Hayworth was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and she passed away in 1987 at 68.

The public disclosure and discussion of her illness helped increase public and private funding for research into the disease.

Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born on November 9, 1914 and is described as one of the greatest movie actresses of all time.

After an early career, she fled from her first husband, who was a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer. She secretly moved to Paris then went to London where she met Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who offered a movie contract in Hollywood.

She’s more than an actress since at the beginning of World War II, she helped avant-garde composer George Antheil develop a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes. Ones that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to combat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers.

Lamarr liked to tinker with various hobbies and ideas until her old age when she lived in seclusion before dying at the age of 85.

Claudia Cardinale was born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis. She won the “Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia” competition in 1957, with the prize being a trip to Italy, leading her to film contracts.

She didn’t last long, struggling with the language and her assignments so she went back home to Tunis.

Cardinale discovered that she was pregnant, the result of a “terrible” relationship with a Frenchman 10 years her senior.

She kept it a secret thanks to a powerful friend, staying in England for seven years as she raised her son, until she could once again pursue acting, starring in many notable films.

In 2011, the Los Angeles Times Magazine named Cardinale among the 50 most beautiful women in film history.

Cardinale says of her career, “I never felt scandal and confession were necessary to be an actress. I’ve never revealed myself or even my body in films. Mystery is very important.”

Ava Gardner first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941, appeared in small roles before critics took notice of her acting skills.

She was a part of the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1950s, establishing herself as a leading lady and one of the era’s top stars with numerous film appearances and awards.

The American Film Institute ranked Ava Gardner No. 25 on its greatest female screen legends of classic American cinema list.

Gene Tierney was widely acclaimed for her beauty, who spent two years in Europe for her studies before visiting the Warner Bros. Studios where her mother’s cousin, Gordon Hollingshead , worked as a producer of historical short films.

Director Anatole Litvak saw the 17-year-old’s beauty, and told Tierney that she should look into a acting.

Warner Bros. offered a contract, but her parents did not approve because of the low salary.

She got bored with the societal life her parents wanted so she went into acting eventually signing with 20th Century Fox, becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor started out as a child actress in the early 1940s, soon becoming one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s.

She became the world’s highest paid movie star in the 1960s, and a well-known public figure for the rest of her life.

The American Film Institute named Taylor the seventh-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema in 1999.

She was famous for being famous, with incredible range and acting skills despite the fact that she never received any professional training.

Styled Lady Olivier after 1947, Leigh was a British actress ranked by the American Film Institute as the 16th-greatest female movie star of classic Hollywood cinema.

She performed on film and on stage playing roles for comedy and classics like Shakespeare.

She had a reputation for being difficult to work with, though Leigh suffered from bipolar disorder, with recurrent bouts of chronic tuberculosis, first diagnosed in the mid-1940s.

Leigh was one of the most beautiful actresses of her day, with directors making it a point to showcase her features on screen.

When asked if her beauty was an impediment to being taken seriously as an actress, she said,

“People think that if you look fairly reasonable, you can’t possibly act, and as I only care about acting, I think beauty can be a great handicap, if you really want to look like the part you’re playing, which isn’t necessarily like you.”