This raven-haired vixen is one of the world's greatest ever pin-ups. Born in 1923, in Nashville, Tennessee, Page started modelling after moving to San Francisco, and in 1955 she won the title Miss Pin-up Girl Of The World'. Her beautiful figure made Page a sex symbol, but she became an icon after mysteriously disappearing at the height of her fame. The world's media and fans speculated wildly about what had happened to her, only for it to later emerge that she had simply attempted to be a regular housewife.

The woman who put the crazy in love is one of the music world's biggest sex symbols. One of the founding members and lead singer of Destiny's Child, it helped that her dad was the manager; Beyonce threw off the shackles of being in a group and went solo in 2003. Now, she is a 'triple threat', with successful albums, movies and perfumes pulling in millions. We should celebrate Beyonce; she's one of the few female members of the A-List that doesn't seem to be starving herself to death.

In an age when men's tennis was awash with sex symbols like John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Nastasi, one man (and beard) towered above them all. Bjorn Borg was the Swedish sensation that dominated 70's tennis, especially at Wimbledon, which he won 5 times in a row. Admired for his ice cold temperament, Borg was untouchable on court and would wear his opponents down during incredible rallies. During Wimbledon, Borg would refuse to shave out of superstition. His beard, along with flowing blonde hair, caused such a stir each year that the organisers once wrote to local girls schools begging them to keep their pupils calm when he was on court.

Do we even need to explain that women find Brad Pitt sexy? The Hollywood star with the body of marble exploded onto the movie scene as Geena Davies' seducer, in Thelma & Louise (1991), and since then he hasn't looked back. Able to charm mass audiences in blockbusters like Ocean's Eleven and Troy, and turn in blistering performances in edgy movies like Se7en and Fight Club, Pitt has proved himself a talented actor. Will Pitt's status as a sex symbol fall now that his fairytale marriage to Jennifer Aniston has ended, or will all the girls simply blame Angelina Jolie?

Two words: 'sex kitten'. French actress Brigitte Bardot was the sexual revolution of the 1950s and 1960s; watch Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman if you don't believe us. At a time when America was censorship-obsessed and prudish, Bardot represented European sexual confidence. The French icon is not simply a sex symbol however, since retiring from acting in 1974, Bardot has worked tirelessly to promote the rights of animals. The Foundation Brigitte Bardot fought against the use of fur in fashion long before the issue became popular.

At the age of only twelve, Shields controversially starred as a prostitute in the film Pretty Baby (1978), before going on to cause even more of a stir in the soft-core The Blue Lagoon two years later. Brooke cemented her status as an international sex symbol by appearing in a Calvin Klein jeans advert, in which she made famous the phrase "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins". As time has passed, Shields has become more famous for her relationships with men like Andre Agassi and for her brave battle with post-natal depression.

A Hollywood sex symbol from the age in which the moustache was sexy, Burt Reynolds had intended to play American Football before injury forced him into an acting career. His performances on TV and in films made little impact until Reynolds starred in John Boorman's Deliverance (1972). The film, about a river-rafting trip from hell, made him a star. The secret of Reynold's success as a sex symbol, and movie star, was to play the bad boy. It also didn't hurt that he was Cosmopolitan Magazine's first ever nude centrefold star.