Women Who ActCelebrating actresses of every type, shape, size, and color, including leading ladies, femme fatales, ingénues, manic pixie dream girls, scream queens, bombshells, girls next door, alpha HBICs, virginal princesses, & sassy best friends.
The 1950s featured the rise of blonde bombshells and their beautiful brunette counterparts. Musicals and romantic comedies were still wildly popular throughout the decade, but suspense thrillers and dark dramas were also bringing in money at the box office.
Who was the most popular actress of the 1950s? Marilyn Monroe tops our list. With her iconic looks and wispy voice, Marilyn Monroe defined the classic Hollywood actress. She appeared in such classic 1950s films as Some Like It Hot, The Seven Year Itch, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Before becoming Princess Grace of Monaco, Grace Kelly was Hollywood royalty. She's certainly one of the female icons of the 1950s.
Petite and spunky, Audrey Hepburn has remained a fashion icon years after her death in 1993. Other 1950s female movie stars include Shirley MacLaine, Jayne Mansfield and Dorothy Dandridge.
Scroll on below to learn a little more about famous women from the 1950s, and their illustrious film careers.
With her iconic looks and wispy voice, Marilyn Monroe defined the classic Hollywood actress. She appeared in such 1950s films as Some Like It Hot,The Seven Year Itch, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Credits (Film): Some Like It Hot, All About Eve, The Misfits, The Seven Year Itch, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Shirley MacLaine is still regarded as an amazing actress, but she got her start in the 1955 movie The Trouble with Harry. She was nominated for an Oscar six times, and she finally took home a trophy for Terms of Endearment in 1984.
Credits (Film): The Apartment, Steel Magnolias, Terms of Endearment, Being There, Valentine's Day
Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia, United States of America
Petite and spunky, Audrey Hepburn has remained a fashion icon years after her death in 1993. In the 1950s, she appeared in great films like Roman Holiday, Sabrina, and Funny Face.
Credits (Film): Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, Charade, Wait Until Dark
Jane Russell was one of the most iconic sex symbols of the 1950s. So was Marilyn Monroe. It's no wonder that their 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a smash hit.
Credits (Film): Cinema Paradiso, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Outlaw, The Born Losers, Road to Bali
Birthplace: Bemidji, Minnesota, United States of America
Before becoming Princess Grace of Monaco, Grace Kelly was Hollywood royalty. In the 1950s, she starred in Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief.
Credits (Film): Rear Window, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
