10. Jane Fonda

Barbarella. End of story.

 

9. Halle Berry

Halle Berry showed up to accept her Razzie award for Worst Actress for her title role in Catwoman, a ballsy move of someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously. Additionally, she's the first and only African American woman to have won the Best Actress Oscar. Trailblazing and down-to-earth earns Halle many sexiness points. 

 

8. Barbra Streisand

Babs has that ineffable star quality. She's got the voice, the confidence, and the talent. Funny Girl-era Streisand, stuffing a pillow under her dress to perform as a faux-pregnant Zeigfeld girl, showed use that comedic timing is far more important than an angelic visage. 

 

7. Sophia Loren

The voluptuous Sophia Loren might be the straight-up, physically sexiest woman on this list. Even today, at seventy-eight-years-old, Loren is drop-dead gorgeous. 

 

6. Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson won two Oscars, guest-starred on The Muppet Show as a delusional pirate, and has served as a member of British Parliament since 1992. Each one of those things, on its own, is over-the-top sexy.

 

5. Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet defined sexiness for an entire generation when she stepped out of her dress aboard the Titanic. She's always been confident about her body, and that's the sexiest attribute you can possess.

 

4. Meryl Streep

Did you know that more people have thanked Meryl Streep in their Oscar acceptance speeches than have thanked God? We agree. 

 

3. Vivien Leigh

In Gone With the Wind, Leigh famously played Scarlett O'Hara, the archetypal Southern belle and coquette turned unflinching business woman. But it was her role in A Streetcar Named Desire, for which she earned her second Oscar, that really set her apart. She played the delusional Blanche DuBois with deftness and precision. She was delicately beautiful, and a true actress who carried herself with grace and poise. 

 

2. Elizabeth Taylor

Liz Taylor is the essence of sex appeal. From Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to Cleopatra, she embodied the seductress both on screen and off. With a life filled with diamonds, divorce, and drinking, Elizabeth Taylor was one hell of a woman. She lived hard and loved all things gaudy, but she embraced it. A far more complex character than a certain recent television miniseries would have you believe, Elizabeth Taylor was the ultimate sultry star.

 

1. Katharine Hepburn

Winning a record number of Academy Awards for Best Actress -- her four awards have never been surpassed -- Katharine Hepburn was a dynamite actress, gifted and expressive. She won her first Oscar in 1933 and her fourth in 1981. Born to a doctor and a suffragette, Katharine was encouraged to speak her mind from an early age. As a young woman, Katharine was a tomboy, cutting her hair short and calling herself "Jimmy." As an adult, Hepburn defied gender stereotype, wearing pants before it was socially acceptable and generally being more outspoken and opinionated than was thought "proper." A true trailblazer, in life and in art, Katharine Hepburn tops our sexiest stars.