The film industry played an important part in the rise of sex symbols by disseminating images of beautiful people around the world.

The film industry played an important part in the rise of sex symbols by disseminating images of beautiful people around the world. The first[citation needed] 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. 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.[citation needed] Theda Bara and Pola Negri, famed for their vamp roles, were also early female sex symbols. Rudolph Valentino was cinema's first[citation needed] male sex symbol.




Film'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. 40s and 50s icons Rita Hayworth (nicknamed "The Love Goddess"), Ava Gardner, Carmen Miranda (nicknamed "The Brazillian Bombshell") 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.

Important 60s and 70s sex symbols included Ursula Andress, Mark Hamill, Ann-Margret, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Bouchet, Jane Fonda, Sharon Tate, Goldie Hawn, Raquel Welch, Catherine Deneuve, Nichelle Nichols, Mamie van Doren, Pam Grier, Ali MacGraw, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Robert De Niro and John Travolta.

In the 1980s, other significant 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. Fox, Patrick Swayze, Matthew Broderick, Robert Downey Jr., Sean Penn, Kathleen Turner, & Carrie Fisher.

As TV's influence grew during the last three decades there was a shift[citation needed] 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.

More recent silver screen icons are Denzel Washington, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, 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, Jason Schwartzman, Colin Farrell,Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Megan Fox, Charlize Theron, Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, Brandon Routh, Jake Gyllenhaal,Heath Ledger and Hugh Jackman