Bo Derek turned a single movie into a decade-defining moment of beauty. That movie was "10," and the image of her running down the beach in cornrows and a swimsuit became one of the most replicated visuals of 1979. She wasn't a trained actress with a long resume, but she didn't need one, because the camera did all the talking. Few actresses have ever made one role carry so much cultural weight. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Jane Seymour spent the 70s bouncing between Bond glamour and prestige miniseries, and both sides worked in her favor. Live and Let Die introduced her as Solitaire, a tarot reader whose whole look became a defining Bond girl image of the decade. Then she pivoted to something softer and more romantic in Somewhere in Time, a role that still gets brought up by fans decades later. Her face had a kind of old-fashioned elegance that fit period pieces almost too perfectly. | © United Artists
Lauren Hutton broke the rulebook on what a top model was supposed to look like, gap tooth and all. Revlon signed her to a contract that made her one of the highest-paid faces in the business, proof that her look sold better than anything polished. She carried that same confidence into film, holding her own next to Richard Gere in American Gigolo. Her whole appeal was built on refusing to fix the thing everyone told her to fix. | ©
Ali MacGraw became a symbol of early 70s cool without ever trying too hard for it. Love Story turned her into a household name, but it was that thick, dark hair and unfiltered smile that made magazines chase her for years after. She had this preppy, no-makeup glamour that felt completely different from the polished starlets around her. Even Steve McQueen fell for it, and their marriage only added more mystique to her appeal. | © National General Pictures
Cybill Shepherd walked into The Last Picture Show at twenty and made every other actor on screen look like they were working harder for less attention. That cool, unbothered beauty became her whole thing, the sense that she knew exactly how good she looked and didn't need to prove it. Peter Bogdanovich built her into a movie star almost overnight, then kept casting her through the decade like he'd found something he couldn't stop filming. She had the kind of face that photographed like it was already lit before anyone touched a lamp. | ©
Isabelle Adjani turned quiet devastation into an art form before she was even twenty. In The Story of Adele H, her face did more work than most actresses manage with pages of dialogue, all wide eyes and barely contained obsession. French cinema treated her like a national treasure, and Hollywood took notice fast. She had the kind of beauty that made directors want to just point a camera at her and wait. | © Gaumont
Goldie Hawn turned goofy charm into something people found irresistible. She won an Oscar for Cactus Flower before she even hit 25, then spent the decade proving that ditzy blonde routine was actually a smokescreen for real comic timing. That laugh of hers became as famous as her looks. Hawn made being adorable look like a skill instead of an accident. | © Columbia Pictures
Susan Sarandon spent the 1970s building a reputation for looks that felt smart instead of just pretty. Those heavy-lidded eyes and that low, unhurried voice gave her a kind of presence nobody else on this list had. In Rocky Horror, she played buttoned-up innocence, then let it crack apart on screen. By the time Pretty Baby came out, it was clear she could unsettle an audience just by holding still. | © Gramercy Pictures
Jacqueline Bisset became a full-blown sensation the moment she swam through The Deep in that soaked white t-shirt. People forget she was already a serious working actress by then, holding her own in Bullitt and Airport years before that scene made headlines. What made her different from other sex symbols of the decade was the restraint. She never leaned into the attention, and that quiet confidence is exactly why she aged into a respected career instead of a punchline. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Meryl Streep spent the 1970s proving that beauty could look like intelligence instead of just glamour. She showed up in The Deer Hunter and Manhattan with a face that felt real, all sharp cheekbones and quiet expression, next to actresses selling tans and teeth. That restraint made her stand out even then, before the Oscars started piling up. Her looks never needed to shout because her presence already filled the room. | © 20th Century Fox
Catherine Deneuve spent the 70s proving that ice-cold beauty could still carry real weight on screen. In films like Belle de Jour's aftermath and Tristana, she played women with secrets behind perfect composure. French cinema built entire moods around her face, calm on the surface, complicated underneath. She never needed to raise her voice to hold a scene, and that restraint became her signature. | © 20th Century Fox
Sophia Loren spent the 1970s proving that beauty and comedic timing were not mutually exclusive. She could headline a farce one year and a heavy drama the next, and audiences never questioned the range. Her look was never about being polished or perfect either, it was that face full of personality and those eyes doing half the acting for her. Decades later, she is still the reference point people use when they argue Italian cinema had the best-looking stars of anyone. | © Aquarius TV
Faye Dunaway carried a kind of danger in her face that most actresses never bothered chasing. Those sharp cheekbones and cool stare made her perfect for Chinatown, where she looked like trouble wrapped in silk. Network gave her the same energy pointed at ambition instead of mystery, and she won the Oscar for it. Dunaway never played soft, and that edge became its own kind of beauty. | © Paramount Pictures
Raquel Welch spent the decade proving that one image, a fur bikini from One Million Years B.C., could outlast most people's entire filmography. She kept working steadily through the 70s, from Kansas City Bomber to The Three Musketeers, but the poster on every teenager's wall did most of the talking. Hollywood tried to box her in as a body first and actress second, and she spent years fighting that label in interviews. Her comeback came through sheer stubbornness, not the industry's help. | © 20th Century Fox
That famous red swimsuit poster made Farrah Fawcett the biggest pinup on the planet before most people even saw her act. Charlie's Angels turned her into a household name almost overnight, with that feathered hair becoming a look every salon in America tried to copy. She only stayed on the show for one season, but the image stuck around for decades. Fawcett proved that a single photograph could outlast an entire career's worth of publicity. | © Atlantic Releasing Corporation
The 1970s gave Hollywood a new kind of leading lady, effortlessly cool, naturally glamorous, and unforgettable both on screen and off. From New Hollywood darlings to disco-era icons, these actresses defined the decade's style. Here are 15 of the most beautiful actresses of the 1970s.
