Julia Roberts
(1967- )

Pretty Woman catapulted the coltish Roberts to stardom, and her megawatt smile continues to light up comedies and dramas.

Best Films: Mystic Pizza (1988), Steel Magnolias (1989), Flatliners (1990), Pretty Woman (1990), Dying Young (1991), Hook (1991), Sleeping With the Enemy (1991), The Pelican Brief (1993), Conspiracy Theory (1997), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Stepmom (1998), Notting Hill (1999), Runaway Bride (1999), Erin Brockovich (2000), America's Sweethearts (2001), The Mexican (2001), Ocean's 11 (2001), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Full Frontal (2002), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Closer (2004), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Charlotte's Web (2006), Charlie Wilson's War (2007), Duplicity (2009), Valentine's Day (2010), Eat Pray Love (2010), Mirror Mirror (2012)

Ginger Rogers
(1911-1995)

Rogers could sing, dance, and had enough sex appeal that it rubbed off on Fred Astaire, with whom she starred in Top Hat.

Best Films: 42nd Street (1933), Flying Down to Rio (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance? (1937), Stage Door (1937), Carefree (1938), Bachelor Mother (1939), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Kitty Foyle (1940), The Major and the Minor (1942), Roxie Hart (1942), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Monkey Business (1952)

Barbara Stanwyck
(1907-1990)

From Double Indemnity to The Lady Eve, Stanwyck was a lean live wire with an alluringly husky voice.

Best Films: The Miracle Woman (1931), Baby Face (1933), The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933), Stella Dallas (1937), Union Pacific (1939), Remember the Night (1940), Ball of Fire (1941), The Lady Eve (1941), Meet John Doe (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), To Please a Lady (1950), Clash by Night (1952), Titanic (1953)

Meryl Streep
(1951- )

Boss from hell, Holocaust survivor, and frustrated housewife -- is there anyone Streep can't play?

Best Films: The Deer Hunter (1978), Manhattan (1979), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Sophie's Choice (1982), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Cry In the Dark (1988), Postcards From the Edge (1990), Death Becomes Her (1992), The River Wild (1994), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Marvin's Room (1996), One True Thing (1998), Music of the Heart (1999), Adaptation (2002), The Hours (2002), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), Evening (2007), Lions for Lambs (2007), Doubt (2008), Mamma Mia! (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), It's Complicated (2009), The Iron Lady (2011), August: Osage County (2013)

Barbra Streisand
(1942- )

Her mother said she wasn't pretty enough, but brassy Barbra from Brooklyn won an Oscar for her first film, Funny Girl.

Best Films: Funny Girl (1968), Hello, Dolly! (1969), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), What's Up, Doc? (1972), Up the Sandbox (1972), The Way We Were (1973), For Pete's Sake (1974), Funny Lady (1975), A Star is Born (1976), The Main Event (1979), Yentl (1983), Nuts (1987), The Prince of Tides (1991), The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), Meet the Fockers (2004), Little Fockers (2010), The Guilt Trip (2012)

Elizabeth Taylor
(1932-2011)

Taylor could act when she wanted to, as in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and even when she didn't her looks sufficed.

Best Films: Jane Eyre (1943), National Velvet (1944), Life With Father (1947), A Date With Judy (1948), Little Women (1949), Father of the Bride (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), Ivanhoe (1952), Elephant Walk (1954), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Giant (1956), Raintree County (1957), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), BUtterfield 8 (1960), Cleopatra (1963), The Sandpiper (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), The Comedians (1967), The Flintstones (1994)

Mae West
(1892-1980)

The star of the sex farces She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel, the full-figured West was queen of the bawdy double entendre.

Best Films: Night After Night (1932), She Done Him Wrong (1933), I'm No Angel (1933), Belle of the Nineties (1934), Klondike Annie (1936), My Little Chickadee (1940), Myra Breckinridge (1970), Sextette (1978)

Kate Winslet
(1975- )

Cast at 17, Winslet wowed moviegoers as a sociopathic teen in Heavenly Creatures. She's never shied away from offbeat characters.

Best Films: Heavenly Creatures (1994), A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Hamlet (1996), Jude (1996), Titanic (1997), Hideous Kinky (1998), Holy Smoke (1999), Quills (2000), Enigma (2001), Iris (2001), The Life of David Gale (2003), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), Romance & Cigarettes (2005), All the King's Men (2006), The Holiday (2006), Little Children (2006), The Reader (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Contagion (2011)

Reese Witherspoon
(1976- )

She may be tiny, but she can go from cute (Legally Blonde) to formidable (Walk the Line) in an instant.

Best Films: The Man in the Moon (1991), A Far Off Place (1993), Jack the Bear (1993), Fear (1996), Freeway (1996), Overnight Delivery (1998), Pleasantville (1998), Twilight (1998), Best Laid Plans (1999), Cruel Intentions (1999), Election (1999), American Psycho (2000), Little Nicky (2000), Legally Blonde (2001), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), Vanity Fair (2004), Just Like Heaven (2005), Walk the Line (2005), Penelope (2006), Rendition (2007), Four Christmases (2008), Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), How Do You Know (2010)

Natalie Wood
(1938-1981)

As a child star (Miracle on 34th Street), teen idol (Rebel Without a Cause), and ingenue (West Side Story), Wood always sparkled.

Best Films: Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), The Searchers (1956), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), Splendor in the Grass (1961), West Side Story (1961), Gypsy (1962), Love With the Proper Stranger (1963), Sex and the Single Girl (1964), The Great Race (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), This Property is Condemned (1966), Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Brainstorm (1983)