The queen of the supermodels, Cindy Crawford began modelling aged 15 after reaching the finals of Elite Model Management's Look Of The Year competition in 1983. Despite being told early on in her career that she would have to remove her famous mole if she was going to get work, Crawford went on to become one of the most photographed women in the world. She appeared on over 600 magazine covers worldwide. Crawford's sex symbol status was confirmed when she released a fitness workout video in 1992, which sold over 2 million copies in the US.
The sex symbol of the British middle class, Colin Firth found fame as Mr. Darcy in the 1995 BBC TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice. The iconic image of a dripping wet Firth chatting up Jennifer Ehle in the show caused many hearts to flutter, and the character of Darcy has followed him ever since. Helen Fielding was so steamed up by him that she wrote Darcy into her novel Bridget Jones's Diary. Firth then famously played the character again in the Bridget Jones movie.
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The girl that proved success in women's tennis is 0% ability and 100% looks. Despite being mediocre with the racket, Anna Kournikova became an overnight tennis sensation after scraping through to the semis at Wimbledon in 1997. However, perhaps sensing that the tabloids were only interested in her looks Anna's career on court faded as fast as her status as a sex symbol rose. That she remains female sport's No. 1 sex symbol, despite being retired, says it all really.
What is it about rebels that make them so damn sexy? Despite, or maybe because, of the fact that he starred in only three films ? East Of Eden (1955), Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and Giant (1956) ? Dean's impact on society has been huge. With his iconic good looks, flowing hair and tortured stare James Dean captured the hearts of a generation, who understood exactly what it meant to feel trapped within post-war America, and then broke them after a car crash tragically end his life in 1956. Since then, his beauty has become a cult and the poster image for rebellion.
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Blonde, beautiful and sweet, Cameron Diaz is one of the sexiest women in Hollywood. After starting out as a model, Diaz unexpectedly landed a role alongside Jim Carrey in The Mask (1994). Her leggy performance helped make the movie a smash and catapulted Diaz to stardom. Since then, she has proved herself to be an incredibly versatile actress, in comedies like There's Something About Mary (1998), blockbusters like Charlie's Angels (2000) and independent movies like Being John Malkovich (1999). Women were envious when she bagged Justin Timberlake, but we secretly think he's the lucky one.
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Poor ol' Tom doesn't appear in many sex symbol lists these days. His bizarre private life (a devout Scientologist, he is engaged to Katie Holmes, 16 years his junior) means Tom is more likely to appear in the gossip pages. But back in the '80s and '90s, he was the man, thanks to classic films like Top Gun (1986), Cocktail (1988), Mission Impossible (1996) and Jerry Maguire (1996). A recent return to form in War Of The Worlds (2005) and Collateral (2004) means Tom is still a worthy sex symbol nominee, but for how long?
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This Mediterranean sex bomb is one of the most beautiful women to have ever graced the big screen. Best remembered as the voluptuous siren of many Italian sex comedies, Loren was also the first actor to win an Oscar for a performance entirely in a foreign language (for Two Women in 1961), proving she could also act as well. She starred in The Pride And The Passion (1957), El Cid (1961) and The Fall Of The Roman Empire (1964). Loren is famously once supposed to have said "sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got". Well, she had 100%.
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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.
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That Pamela Anderson has appeared on the cover of Playboy more times than any other woman in history means one thing, she's beyond sexy. Famously discovered after appearing on the big screen at a sports stadium, Anderson became an international star running around a lot in a swimsuit in the Baywatch TV series. Her perfect barbie doll figure has since appeared in numerous films, making her the benchmark of beauty in the new millennium.
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Nearly all of the women who ever sleep with James Bond wind up dead, so why do they still fall for him? Maybe it's the British charm. Like no other movie franchise, James Bond has endured. Through nearly 50 years and 20 films he has gone on saving the world and getting the girl. Sean Connery was so sexy that he probably set Bond's attractiveness in stone for eternity. Of all the actors that have followed him, perhaps only Pierce Brosnan has come close to Connery. Maybe Daniel Craig will raise the bar again...
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