Modern Hollywood has more than enough talent to fit each and every quirky role out there, but the classic era hit different. These old-school actresses looked incredible on camera and became the blueprint for what glamour, charisma, and screen presence should be.
These ten women helped define what we still think of as “Old Hollywood.”
Marilyn Monroe
If you picture Old Hollywood glamour, you’re probably thinking of the most beautiful blonde to ever live—Marilyn Monroe. The curls, the red lips, the sexy voice—yup, that’s her. But her looks weren’t even the best part. It was her acting that turned Marilyn into a star. The way she could be hilarious and heartbreaking in the same scene just made her a real Queen. All that mix of shine and vulnerability is exactly why she still feels modern.
Elizabeth Taylor
Those famously violet eyes, the jet-black hair, the larger-than-life aura—it was almost unfair to be this gorgeous. Taylor was a major force in classic films like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cleopatra, but off-screen, her love life and headline-making lifestyle kept her in the spotlight. In the end, her real legacy is how unapologetically spectacular she was on and off camera.
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey wasn’t the “bombshell” type; in fact, she looked cute, clean, and graceful. While other stars leaned into curves and drama, she made simplicity look like the most glamorous thing in the room. Roman Holiday established her as an immediate favorite, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s cemented her status as a style icon for eternity, and we continue to admire her for it.
Vivien Leigh
Vivien was one of those women who looked delicate and fragile on the outside, but still felt powerful. Her performance as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind is the kind of career-defining role most actors only dream of, and she won another Oscar later for A Streetcar Named Desire. Behind the scenes, her life was far more complicated than her polished image suggested, as she dealt with health struggles.