As stressed in the title, PLEASE look at all of the girls before voting. Most people will on instinct vote for BB or Marilyn, so please don't be predictable. Have a look at the other girls, and give them a serious chance.

Pictures

SET #1

" I don't feel that I was a Hollywood-created star." -- Kim Novak

Kim Novak --Nicknamed ' The Lavender Girl', Kim Novak is a two-time Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, best known for her performance in the classic 1958 film Vertigo. Although Kim was originally signed by Columbia pictures at 21 to be the studio's answer to Marilyn Monroe, she is one of the few bombshells to have had a 'serious' career, having stared alongside the likes of Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Jimmy Stewart. Her long, blonde beauty may have won Kim some Hollywood hearts, but it is her talents that have given her longevity.

"It is possible that blondes also prefer gentlemen." -- Mamie Van Doren

Mamie Van Doren -- It is definitely arguable that the petite Miss Van Doren is and always has been more of a sex symbol than an actress. Born Joan Lucille Olander in Rowena, South Dakota, Mamie's career in fact only took off thanks to a beauty contest and a love affair. In 1949, she was crowned Miss Palm Springs, and caught the eye of an audience member - Howard Hughes. The pair dated for several years, and Hughes launched Mamie into the spotlight by placing her in several RKO films. Mamie became an automatic sex symbol and pin-up girl, and started on a lifetime of sexual escapades, with the likes of Tom Jones, Clark Gable, Johnny Carson, Elvis Presley, Burt Reynolds, Jack Dempsey, Steve McQueen, Johnny Rivers, Robert Evans, Eddie Fisher, Warren Beatty, Tony Curtis, Steve Cochran, and Joe Namath! Mamie is often credited as being the last surviving of the American Bombshells.

" She makes a man proud to be a man." -- Clark Gable on Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe -- Little can be said about Marilyn Monroe that has not already been said by thousands before. A symbol of beauty, femininity and fragility, who blushed when studio works wolf-whistled at her, Marilyn not only defined 50's sex appeal, but her happiness and beauty has given joy to millions. Through the decades, many actresses have bleached their hair and donned diamonds in imitation of Marilyn, but very few have ever had anything close to the warmth and talent that made her such a beloved star. In the words of Nunally Johnson, " Marilyn's a phenomenon of nature, like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. All you can do is stand back and be awed by it."

" Gee, I hope these 1930's styles never come back. Not one man whistled at me all morning." -- Joi Lansing

Joi Lansing -- Joi wasn't exactly the most polished of actresses, but it's hardly suprising that Hollywood producers at the time didn't really care! Having developed early in her teens, Joi's natural assests quickly landed her on the silver screen. She found early film roles in the likes of 'Hot Cars' and 'Touch of Evil' which, obviously, called for plenty of skimpy outfits! It was arguably in the world of television, though, that Joi really made her mark. Throughout the 50s and 60s, Joi found air time on such well received shows as ' I Love Lucy', ' Klondike', ' The Bob Cummings Show' and ' The Beverly Hillbillies'. It's also worth mentioning that she also managed to make her mark on a number of Hollywoods top men, including Howard Hughes, Frank Sinatra, and Arthur Loew Jr. All in a days work for a bombshell.

" If only every man who sees my films did not get the impression he can make love to me, I would be a lot happier." -- Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot --While American's had found their greatest love affair in Marilyn Monroe, Europe was occupied with quite a different beauty. Her name was Brigitte, and nowadays it seems like far too small a name for such an immense icon. Affectionatly known as BB, Brigitte became one of the worlds most photographed women before her sixteenth birthday, and with her incredible figure and otherwordly beauty, she was destined to remain in the spotlight for her entire life. Naturally, her sex appeal only increased with age, and lead her into a number of high-profile encounters with the likes of Sean Connery, Jimi Hendrix, Roger Vadim, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, Marlon Brando, Serge Gainsbourg, Glenn Ford... just to name a few. In fact, Brigitte Bardot's life has been so filled by fasinating stories of rumored love affairs and glamour that it's far too easy to forget that she is also extrememly talented, with an accomplished acting career to her name, a lifetime fighting for animal rights ( long before it was "fashionable"), and substantial skill in dance and music. Today, at the age of 73, Brigitte remains an icon, and a woman of great dignity and beauty, with a life that few could even imagine.

" There will never be another glamour girl like Betty Brosmer... Her magnificently contoured-beyond-perfection figure was without equal. Further, there was a glow, an incandescence about Betty that was not to be found in any other model. And the total package was so utterly winning that Betty was definitely the super model of the 1950's. " -- Steven Sullivan on Betty Bosmer

Betty Bosmer --If there is a body that sums up the 50's, it just has to be the coke bottle shaped body of Betty Bosmer! With mouthwatering measurements of 38-18-36, it's not at all suprising that Miss Bosmer continues to be considered the quinessential Pin-up. Her pronounced hourglass was not at all where her appeal ended, though. Betty also possessed a stunningly pretty face, with California girl beauty and a girl-next-door charm not unlike the Hollywood knockouts of the time. During the 1950s, she was the highest payed model around, and today Betty Bosner continues to be a role model for good health and fitness, along with her husband Joe Weider.

" Believe it or not, I was all fully rounded by the time I was nine years old." -- Cleo Moore

Cleo Moore -- Cleo Moore was definitely one bombshell who could never be described as a boring lookalike. Sure, like many of them she resembled Monroe, and sure like many of them she started out in RKO pictures... but she's probably the only one to have had a five minute long kiss on live television in 1954, and she's definitely the only one who ever pledged to become the Govenor of Louisianna! Known as ' Queen of the B Movie Bad Girl', Cleo Moore once made the hopeful statement, " I'm just hoping I don't get typed for those creature movies - you know, "The Thing From Outer Sputnik" and so on". Obviously, this didn't really work out, and her career was made in such B movies as ' The Other Woman' and ' This Side of the Law'. All very substandard films that took advantage of Cleo's looks and none of her talent. Her trademark southern drawl and long-running personal feud with fellow starlet Anita Ekberg kept her in Hollywood for a time, but eventually she dropped out, and found success as a businesswoman. Still, Cleo remains one of the quinessentail bombshells thanks to her beauty, her body, and her eternally amusing spunk!

" Life seems to be a never-ending series of survivals, doesn't it?" -- Carroll Baker

Carroll Baker --It was in the sensational 1956 film 'Baby Doll' that Carroll catapulted to stardom, curled up in a child's crib, sucking her thumb. Not only was she hailed world-wide for her beauty and sensuality, but esteemed critics and filmgoers alike acclaimed her "the best new dramatic actress" and she was nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures for Best Actress. She also stared alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson in James Dean's final film, 'Giant', and was the bombshell that was finally picked to portray Jean Harlow in the Paramount 1965 movie 'Harlow' ( Jayne Mansfield and Cleo Moore had also tried for the part of Harlow, but with no success). It is arguable that Carroll had one of the most successful dramatic careers of any American bombshell, and it could have been even more successful. Afer meeting Carroll during tests for 'Giant', James Dean ( who she is rumored to have dated) insisted to director Nicholas Ray that she act opposite him in ' Rebel Without a Cause', but Carroll turned down the role, and it went to Natalie Wood. Furthermore, Carroll's numerous run-ins with Warner Bros. when she refused to act in a series of pulp movie and then also refused to play a trashy female nymphomaniac, kept her from leads in ' The Three Faces of Eve', ' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and ' The Devils Disciple', opposite Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Sir Laurence Olivier. It is somehow ironic that Carroll Baker is the one bombshell who came closest to true acting stardom, and yet missed out for refusing to play the silly bimbo roles that doomed so many of the bomshells to B movie careers. Still, it is hard to say Carroll Baker's career was not glittering and fasinating. Especially when you're talking about a woman whose beauty infactuated an African Masai chieftain so much that he tried to buy her off her studio for 150 cows, 200 goats and sheep, and $750!

" Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I`m tired." -- Mae West

Mae West -- Few actresses have cultivated the iconic status of Mae West, a woman who is well known for her tremendous figure, acting talents, her writing, and, perhaps more than anything, her incredible witticisms. Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in Vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood to become a comedienne, actress and writer in the motion picture industry. One of the more controversial stars of her day, West encountered many problems including censorship, and a number of rumors that she was in fact a man! If you haven't heard the quotes " Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" and " I used to be Snow White but I drifted", you've probably been living under a rock on mars for the last half century. In fact, Mae is one of the only bombshells to have entered the English dictionary! Inflatable, vestlike life preservers were nicknamed ' Mae Wests' due to their resemblance to her curvaceous torso. Well, if that doesn't make you a sex symbol, what will?

SET #2

" They asked me to change my name. I suppose they were afraid that if my real name Diana Fluck was in lights and one of the lights blew..." -- Diana Dors

Diana Dors -- Some Dors fans may claim that before there was Marilyn, there was Diana. However, a more fair statement may be that Diana Dors was Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, and she was definitely a good answer! Known as ' The Siren of Swindon' and ' Hurricane in Mink', Diana was the daughter of a railway worker and, through hard trainning at The Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, managed to begin a film career at the tender age of fifteen. Despite being overshadowed slightly when Miss Monroe took the earth by storm, Diana still managed to carve a successful career for herself in a number of good roles, such as Peter Sellers ex-wife in 'There's a Girl in My Soup'. Diana's beauty also had quite an impact on the music scene, and she appeared on the cover of The Beatles album ' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and The Smiths 1995 compilation album. She fufilled the sexy side required for all bombshells not only through her film roles, but by joining a forwards-thinking campaign in 1972 aimed at allowing prisoners to have sexual intercourse with their wives. At the age of twenty, she was also the youngest person in Britain to own a Rolls Royce! After her death in 1984, her husband Alan Lake comitted suicide. She was remembered in the song ' Good Day', written by Ray Davies.

" To this day men still ask me about her. They remember her pure, flawless, innocent beauty." -- Photographer Bunny Yeager on Lisa Winters.

Lisa Winters --Had she wanted it, Lisa Winters may have been one of Hollywoods biggest blonde bombshells. Evidently, however, she was just too shy. At only 19 years old, the sweet and retiring Miss Winters was spotted on a Miami bus by top Pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager, who was so entranced by Lisa's beauty that she did not initially approach her. Yeager returned to the Flagler street bus stop for several days, hoping to bump into the young blonde again. Luckily for Hugh Hefner, Yeager managed to catch up with Lisa and approached her about posing nude for Playboy. Naturally, Lisa was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed under the terms that Yeager would photograph her, and that no men be there on the set. This agreement would prove to be one of the most successful in the history of Mr Hefner's little bunny magazine. Playboy had already seen Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield model on it's pages as Playmates, but the responce it recieved after Lisa Winters December 1956 appearance was simply unpresidented. Thousands of letters came flooding into the Playboy offices from men across America who had fallen in love with the shy, innocent beauty of Lisa Winters. For this reason, she was made Playboy's first ever Playmate of the Year. Hollywood also noticed the young girls unique appeal and she was quickly offered $500 for a single TV appearance in New York, and the competing studio's in Hollywood clamored to sign her. She turned them all down. As it turned out, Playboys ultimate girl-next-door was not a good actress with a pretty face... she really was the girl-next-door, and far too shy and unassuming for a life of glitter and fame. Still, to this day Lisa's 1956 pictorial remains one of Playboys most treasured, and one of the most moving examples of how innocence and purity can still warm mens hearts.

" Underwear makes me uncomfortable and besides my parts have to breathe."

BB

Jayne Mansfield

BB

BB

Anita

BB

Betty Bosmer

Lisa Winters

Jayne Mansfield...

Although I meant to vote for Harlow instead of Mansfield... so if you're wanting to vote for Jayne, vote for Harlow. My vote for Jayne can be your vote, and your vote for Harlow can be mine! xxx

Mae West

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Zsa Zsa Gabor

Brigitte Bardot

Jayne Mansfield

Brigitte Bardot

Damn, what a great poll! I'll have to consider my choices carefully.

EDIT: It's Joi, Anita and Jayne :]

BTW, we should make threads for those of them who don't have threads yet.

^ Thanks, qball!

Had I the room, I would have also added Dorethy Malone, Toby Wing, Jean Carmen, Angie Dickenson, Sabrina and many others to the list, but I didn't want to make it impossibly long either.

I am also going to make a " Best of the Classic Brunettes" thread with the likes of Raquel Welsh, Sophia Loren, Pier Angeli and Gina Lollobrigida batteling it out, but that will be later.

Yeah, spot on! Can't wait for that one. Hey, you seem to be quite an expert on classic beauties, props to you!

i looked at all the other bombshells, and my vote remains the same as its been since i was 12

marilyn

genius jayne

marilyn

BUMP

Just getting this poll to the front again with the hope more people might want to vote. I spent ages on this! Lol!

Marylin, Jane, Marylin

Mamie

Diana

Mamie

Mae West

Anita Ekberg

Anita Ekberg

Kim Novak
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow

_{Claudia Schiffer :dance:} 

BB, Diana Dors(sexy, wow) and BB