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Famous Historical and Mythological Beauties

This page is dedicated to historical and mythological beauties who were famous and/or notorious for their beguiling looks. They include such famous and infamous figures as Eve, Lilith, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Andromeda, Jezebel, Isolde, Venus, Gaia, Hera, Astarte, Lady Godiva, Mary Magdalene, Joan of Arc, Boudicca, Pandora, Leda, Circe, Guinevere, Mata Hari, Amelia Earhart, Florence Nightingale, Sappho, Marie Antoinette, Josephine, Calamity Jane, Belle Starr, Queen Noor, Princess Grace Kelly, Princess Diana Spenser, Princess Caroline, Princess Stephanie, Princess Kate Middleton, Marilyn Monroe, Mae West, Rita Hayworth, Raquel Welch, Gypsy Rose Lee, Sophia Loren, Lillian Gish, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall, Lillian Russell, Katherine Hepburn, Bettie Page and Eva Braun Hitler.

Related pages: Famous Beauties, Famous Historical Beauties, Famous Courtesans, Famous Ingénues, Famous Hustlers, Famous Pool Sharks, Famous Rogues, Famous Heretics, Famous Hypocrites, Famous Forgers and Frauds, Famous Flops, Famous Morons, The Dumbest Things Ever Said

Veronica Lake [1919-1973] as Helen of Troy



Cher as Cleopatra



Ingrid Bergman [1915-1982] as Aphrodite



Gene Tierney [1920-1991] as Artemis



Ginger Rogers [1911-1995] as Athena



Lana Turner [1921-1995] as Andromeda



Gypsy Rose Lee [1911-1970] as Jezebel





Omer Goldman Granot as Isolde



Omer Goldman Granot is the daughter of Naftali Granot, a former deputy head of Mossad, an Israeli intelligence service similar to the CIA. In addition to her arresting supermodel-like looks, she is a member of the Shministim, a group of young Israeli conscientious objectors or “refuseniks” who refuse to serve in Israel's army after they graduate from high school. Goldman opposes Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and its brutal repression of the Palestinian people. She says, by way of explanation: "In Israel, after you finish high school, you have to join the army immediately ... When it was my time to join the Israeli army, I refused, because I am against the fact that the Israeli army is occupying the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian people. I won't take part in a system that commits war crimes and crimes against humanity ... Anyone who uses violence is wrong. But our country, which claims to be democratic, and the IDF, which is supposed to be human, act exactly like Hamas, a terrorist organization. The IDF bombs innocent people; it's a terrorist organization, but no one calls it that. We are hurting innocent people; we are acting like a terrorist organization."

Bar Rafaeli as Venus



Bar Refaeli doesn't just look like a supermodel ... she is a supermodel. Like Omer Goldman Granot, she refused to serve in the IDF, but for a more pragmatic reason. She married a family friend in 2004, then divorced him soon afterward in order to avoid serving in the Israeli military. In a compromise to avoid potential boycotts of companies Refaeli works with, she agreed to visit injured IDF soldiers on visits to Israel and, ironically, to encourage enlistment in the IDF!

Maya Wind as Gaia



Maya Yechieli Wind is a third Israeli refusenik, and a beautiful angel of peace. She grew up in Jerusalem during the second Intifada. Her first experience with conflict resolution was at age fifteen! Later she became involved in various co-existence initiatives in the West Bank. She joined the Shministim in December 2008, refusing to serve in the IDF. As a result, she spent several weeks in detention, then forty days in a military prison. Today she works for Rabbis for Human Rights, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and New Profile, a feminist peace movement.

Lillian Gish [1893-1993] as Lilith





Lillian Gish has been called "The First Lady of American Cinema." She once remarked with pride, "I played a lewd Ophelia." But she also said, "Young man, if God had wanted you to see me that way, he would have put your eyes in your bellybutton."

Lillian Russell [1860-1922] as Lady Godiva



Lillian Russell was one of the first American female celebrities. She was an actress and singer known for her stage presence. She was married four times, but her longest relationship was with Diamond Jim Brady, a man known for his enormous appetites, which included gambling, food and (as his nickname suggests) expensive jewels. Her mother was a noted feminist who became the first woman to run for mayor of New York City. In her later years Russell became an advocate of women's suffrage and was a popular lecturer and newspaper columnist.

Katherine Hepburn [1907-2003] as Mary Magdalene





Greta Garbo as Mata Hari



"There are many things in your heart you can never tell to another person. They are you, your private joys and sorrows, and you can never tell them. You cheapen yourself, the inside of yourself, when you tell them." — Greta Garbo

Scarlett Johansson as Joan of Arc





Joan of Arc by Howard David Johnson (above)

Bette Davis [1908-1989] as Hera



"She's got Bette Davis eyes ..."

Daria Zhemkova as Leda



Rihanna as Astarte



Brooke Shields as Pandora



Elizabeth Taylor [1932-2011] as Eve



Ava Gardner [1922-1990] as Circe



Ann Savage [1921-2008] as Amelia Earhart





Ann Savage and I share the same birthday, February the 19th. The day I discovered her, I received a message out of the blue, Glamour, that made me think of the word's ancient connotation of a magical spell. Then, I swear, the two pictures above were the only ones I could get to paste into this page, as if she was selecting them herself! Ann Savage is best known today for her role as the cigarette-dangling, "vicious and predatory, very sexually aggressive" femme fatale Vera in the surreal film noir Detour. She has also been called "the perfect vixen."

Beyoncé Knowles as Boudicca



Lynda Carter as Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons




Eva Braun Hitler [1912-1945] as Hel, Queen of Neifelheim, the Norse underworld





Bettie Page [1923-2008]







Bettie Page was one of the first Playboy "playmates" and she was so notorious for doing bondage stills and films that the movie made about her life was titled The Notorious Bettie Page. In 1958, she retired to become a Christian evangelist, after which she returned to live in her Bible belt hometown, Nashville, and went on to do full-time work with Billy Graham. Ironically, after her conversion she had a nervous breakdown and was institutionalized as insane for eight years.

Katy Perry as the second coming of Bettie Page



Norma Jean Baker [1926-1962], better known as Marilyn Monroe









"Goodbye Norma Jean, we never knew you at all ..."

Princess Diana [1961-1997], Her Radiant Highness



Grace Kelly [1929-1982], also known as Princess Grace of Monaco




Princess Caroline of Monaco



Candy Darling



Candy Darling certainly qualifies as a notorious beauty, since she was a favorite of Andy Warhol and the songs "Lola" by the Kinks and Lou Reed's "Candy Says" and "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" were allegedly written with her in mind. Oh, and she was a he, born James Lawrence Slattery.

Rita Hayworth [1918-1987]



"Rita Hayworth gave good face ..."

Raquel Welch



Christina Aguilera



Angelina Jolie



Jeanette Lee, the "Black Widow"



Anastasia Luppova







Famous Pool Sharks

Kelly LeBrock



Related pages: Famous Beauties, Famous Historical Beauties, Famous Courtesans, Famous Ingénues, Famous Hustlers, Famous Pool Sharks, Famous Rogues, Famous Heretics, Famous Hypocrites, Famous Forgers and Frauds, Famous Flops, Famous Morons, The Dumbest Things Ever Said, Famous Last Words, Famous Insults

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