Polling of thousands of gay and bisexual men. More recent silver screen icons are Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, ] Demi Moore, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Keira Knightley, Alicia Silverstone, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Alba, Lindsay Lohan, Cameron Diaz, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Will Smith, George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Colin Farrell, cite web | title=Company Magazine's 100 Sexiest Men of 2003 | work=Obtained 6th position | url= | accessdate= ].
Fact|date=June 2008Īs TV's influence grew during the last three decades there was a shift Fact|date=May 2008 to TV stars becoming more famous, Pamela Anderson, ] Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Carmen Electra, Farrah Fawcett, Lucy Liu, Valerie Bertinelli, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mila Kunis and Don Johnson, all became sex symbols through TV. Fox, Patrick Swayze, Matthew Broderick, Robert Downey Jr., Sean Penn, Kathleen Turner, & Carrie Fisher. In the 1980s, other signtificant sex symbols at one point or another during that period included Harrison Ford, Val Kilmer, Matt Dillon, Charlie Sheen, Bruce Willis, muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mel Gibson, Meg Ryan, John Travolta, Michael J. Important 60s and 70s sex symbols included Ursula Andress, Mark Hamill, Ann-Margret, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Bouchet, Jane Fonda, Sharon Tate, Raquel Welch, Catherine Deneuve, Nichelle Nichols, Pam Grier, Ali MacGraw, Helen Mirren, ] Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Robert De Niro and John Travolta.
40s and 50s icons Rita Hayworth (nicknamed "The Love Goddess"), Ava Gardner, Jane Russell, Betty Grable, Bettie Page (in print and underground films), Lana Turner, the three " Blond Bombshells": Marilyn Monroe (the most iconic sex symbol of Hollywood's Golden Age)- Jayne Mansfield - Mamie Van Doren, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Kim Novak, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck and Cary Grant. Rudolph Valentino was cinema's first Fact|date=June 2008 male sex symbol.įilm's " Golden Age" sex symbols include 1930s stars Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow ("The Platinum Blonde"), Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Mae West and Clark Gable. Fact|date=June 2008 Theda Bara and Pola Negri, famed for their vamp roles, were also early female sex symbols. Although not seen as a real sex symbol, Lillian Gish ('The First Lady of the Silent Screen') became the most popular actress of the era. The first Fact|date=May 2008 sex symbols were Victorian actress and singer Lillian Russell, Danish silent-film actress Asta Nielsen (nicknamed 'The Silent Muse') and ' It Girl' Clara Bow in the 1910s and 1920s. The film industry played an important part in the rise of sex symbols by disseminating images of beautiful people around the world. These media industries are in turn sustained by a strong public demand for sexually alluring photographs or footage of celebrities, including both posed, scantily-clad publicity shots for magazines like " Maxim" and unauthorized beach or nightclub photos taken by pararazzi with zoom lenses. The celebrity "star system"-the tabloid papers, paparazzi, and gossip talk shows - play an important role in creating and sustaining the public perception of which stars are viewed as attractive. A sex symbol is a famous person of either gender, typically an actor, musician, model, teen idol, or sports star who is found to be sexually attractive by the public or by a substantial niche audience.