Veronica Lake (1922-1973) once observed of herself, "I wasn't a sex symbol, I was a sex zombie."
The coolest of cool blondes, peering out mischievously from behind that signature hairstyle, was one of Hollywood's hottest properties through the 1940s.
Setting aside her sorry decline from the 1950s onwards, Veronica Lake was a genuine film star with starring roles in some of the forties classics: Sullivan's Travels (1941), I Married a Witch (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946). Incidentally, I Married a Witch eventually morphed into Bewitched (TV comedy series and further movie).
During the war, Veronica was asked to alter her hairstyle - apparently too many American women working in munitions factories were putting their lives at risk by getting their VL-mimicking locks caught in the machinery.
Kim Bassinger's role in L.A. Confidential (1997) sees her playing a prostitute much in demand because she has the Veronica Lake look. And clearly Jessica Rabbit had VL genes in her cartoon image.
Kay Kendall was beautiful, curvaceous, smart and funny. An actress whose ability far outstripped the opportunities she was given, her only major hit was the 1953 British comedy Genevieve.
Her lasting fame seems to have relied upon two facts - one that she married Oscar-winning actor Rex Harrison and two that she died of leukaemia in her early thirties.
We remember her here for being gifted, stylish and beautiful.
Hedy Lamarr (1913-2000)
Born in Vienna, Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, made a literal and metaphorical splash with her role in Ecstasy, a 1933 Gustav Machat´y film which featured close-ups of the nineteen-year-old's face in the throes of orgasm (according to Hedy simulated with the aid of the director jabbing a safety pin in her behind!).
The film was equally notorious for showing its youthful star swimming naked - this time most assuredly not simulated.
Full frontal nudity at a time when, in the USA, the Hays Code was coming into force was bound to cause a stir.
Perhaps the other amazing thing is that the "scandal" did not prevent her becoming a Hollywood star.
That's a mystery for which we can all be grateful.
Bright and beautiful
Our admiration for 'the most beautiful woman in Europe', must not overlook her intelligence. Hedy Lamarr was a mathematician and inventor who contributed to what would later become mobile phone and laptop technology (such as Bluetooth and WiFi).
Pauline in a Yellow Dress (1944) by Herbert James Gunn
(location - Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, Lancashire, UK)
(Marie) Pauline Miller was the artist's second wife. When it was first exhibited, this painting was described by that renowned art journal, The Daily Mail, as the 'Mona Lisa of 1944'.
She died in 1950, aged just 49.
