A few of my girlfriends got together for dinner the other night to visit and just catch up on each others news.

During the evening the topic of the new People magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful” came up. Of course, we all voiced our opinion as to who we thought was the most beautiful woman in the world…Angelina Jolie? Halle Berry? Everyone had their own take “for beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

It is interesting, however, how the term “beautiful” has evolved. Years ago its reference strictly applied to ones physical appearance whereas today it also encompasses ones personality as well.

A perfect example is the magazines No. 1 Most Beautiful Woman…Christina Applegate. Definitely, she is a very attractive woman, however, I believe the courage and strength she has exhibited with her recent battle involving breast cancer has made her a beautiful and inspiring human being.

Our conversation eventually took us back to the glory days of Hollywood where many actresses were hired, based solely on their “looks,” whether they could act or not. Many actresses of the 1940’s and 50’s were evaluated by the powerful studio bosses and were made completely over if deemed necessary. Studio heads felt that the public, especially during the Depression and WW II would be uplifted by the presence of a beautiful woman on screen.

These were the days when a Hollywood actress could never be seen in public without full make-up. Also, we were never aware of their personalities; especially the bad ones…(Mommie Dearest, need I say more)…their good qualities always reached the press. Actresses were protected by the publicity departments of the studio. Their job was to trouble shoot any bad press 24/7. Today with the paparazzi, internet, blogs (i.e. Perez Hilton and TMZ) actresses of the 40’s and 50’s would have had a very different life indeed.

Of course, we all had our favorites, but the list included some of the most beautiful faces of all time…Hedy Lamarr, Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood.

What’s interesting is that later on in many of these women’s careers, as the studio system waned, and their personal lives became more public, we all began to see more of their true personalities, and for some…their demons.

Hedy Lamarr was born in Vienna, Austria in 1913. Fans and critics regard her a the most beautiful woman ever to appear in film. Her profile was the most requested in the 1940’s by women to their plastic surgeons.

It was a Czech film entitled EKSTASE (1933)… (U.S. title ECSTACY…where she appeared nude causing an international sensation. The notoriety prompted her to be signed by MGM studios. Her biggest success was Cecil B. DeMilles Samson and Delilah (1949) where she played the title temptress. However, her career declined from that point on as her looks began to fade, and a new crop of beauties arose. She left the movies in 1957. She was arrested for shoplifting in 1966 (found not guilty) and a second shoplifting arrest in 1991 where she received one year probation. She died in 2000.

Ava Gardner was born on a tobacco farm in the rural south in Grabtown, N.C. in December 1922. At age 18, her picture was featured in the window of her brother-in-law’s New York photo studio. It brought her to the attention of MGM’s chief executive, Louis B. Mayer, prompting a film contract based strictly on beauty.

As a result, she never believed in her own acting ability. However, with a good director she was able to give credible performances in such films as John Ford’s Mogambo (1953) and Joseph Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa (1957), her most famous film.

After three failed marriages…Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra (who was the love of her life), the dissatisfaction with the Hollywood life prompted her to move to Spain. Gardner was a heavy drinker, yet incredibly professional when it came to her work. The alcohol eventually took its toll on her physical beauty, and in 1989 she suffered a stroke; all medical expenses were paid for by Frank Sinatra.

It was around that time that I saw her on a plane sitting across the aisle from me on a flight from New York to London. I couldn’t believe that she was Ava Gardner! She died in January 1990 of pneumonia in London.

Christened the Love Goddess by Life Magazine, Rita Hayworth was not only a gifted actress, but also a competent dancer. She partnered with the great Fred Astaire in You Were Never Lovelier (1942). Astaire once claimed she was his favorite dancing partner. It was the film Gilda (1946) that brought her incredible fame with the mock strip tease number Put the Blame on Mame. She had a brief marriage to Orson Welles, they had a daughter, Rebecca. They divorced and she then married Prince Aly Khan. They had a daughter, Princess Yasmin. She had taken some time off to raise her family, but, by the time she returned to film, her star power was fading. She later did a film Pal Joey in 1957 with Frank Sinatra filmed on location in San Francisco at the Spreckles Mansion. But something else seemed to be going on with Rita Hayworth what many presumed to be excessive alcohol consumption causing her to stumble and appear confused. This turned out to be the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease. This was the first time a major motion picture star was identified with this illness, and she eventually died from the disease in 1987. Her daughter, Princess Yasmin continues in the mother’s name to help find a cure.

Elizabeth Taylor is considered to be one of the last major stars to have come out of the old Hollywood studio system. She is known internationally for her beauty, especially her violet eyes. She began as a child star, gaining world wide fame in the movie National Velvet (1944) in which she suffered a fall, which left her with a back injury that would plague her for her entire life. Taylor is best known for such films as Giant (1956), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Butterfield 8 (1960) for which she won an Oscar and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe (1967) which garnered her a second Academy Award.

But to put it simply, Elizabeth Taylor’s personal life was far more exciting than any film she ever appeared in. She was the original Angelina Jolie, breaking up Hollywood sweethearts Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Her explosive relationship with Richard Burton made great tabloid fodder by marrying and divorcing him twice. They were then the “World’s most famous couple.” She’s been plagued with medical problems her entire life nearly dying of pneumonia during the filming of Cleopatra, in which her salary was a whopping $1 million dollars. Taylor’s eventual battle with pain medication and alcohol increased the public’s attention. She was one of the first stars to publicly enter the Betty Ford Clinic. She married her last husband, Larry Fortensky, whom she met at the Clinic. In 1992, she celebrated her 60th birthday with a huge party at Disneyland which I was fortunate enough to attend. Even then, she was breathtaking! To her public, Taylor has retained her iconic status, maintaining a hold on their admiration not only through her beauty and her willingness to defy mores, but also through her unflagging romanticism.

Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood were America’s Princesses. They possessed an elegance and charm different from the vixen image of Gardner, Taylor or Lamarr.

Grace Kelly’s trademark was her poise, calm, cool and collected demeanor. She was born in 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to wealthy parents. She worked as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. In 1952, she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon a western starring Gary Cooper which became a very popular film.

With her regal beauty, her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) is what truly brought her to prominence, however Grace won the Academy Award for her portrayal of a dowdy matron opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954). She met Prince Rainer of Monaco at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955 and married him in a fairytale wedding the following year. Biographers show that the life of a Princess was not exactly like living happily ever after. By becoming a Princess she gave up her acting career. For the rest of her life she would remain in the news with her marriage and three children. In later years she appeared blousy and puffy due to too much drinking. In September 1982, Grace Kelly was killed in an automobile accident in Monaco caused by a stroke while driving with her youngest daughter Stephanie.

She was only 52 years old.

Audrey Hepburn was born in 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. As a child, she was living in Arnhem, Holland when Hitler’s army took over the town. During the Nazi occupation, Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition. After the liberation, she went to a ballet school in London and later began a modeling career. Audrey debuted in Hollywood in the film Roman Holiday (1953) for which she won an Academy Award. This gained her enormous popularity; one of the reasons for her success was her elegant beauty and graceful class unlike the sex goddesses of the time. Classic Hepburn films were Sabrina (1954) and Funny Face (1957) with Fred Astaire.

She reached the pinnacle of her career playing Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). Her famous little black dress from the film was designed by Givenchy and sold at a Christie’s auction in 2006 for $920,000. One of Audrey’s most radiant roles was in My Fair Lady (1964). In the 70’s, she semi-retired from Hollywood and during the 80’s she became a passionate advocate for UNICEF. She died in 1993 from colon cancer and her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history, still influencing today’s young women.

Natalie Wood was one of my favorite actresses growing up. She, like Elizabeth Taylor, was also a child star who grew into a stunning beauty. She was best known for her films Rebel Without A Cause(1955) with James Dean, Splendor in the Grass (1961) with Warren Beatty, and West Side Story (1961). Natalie married the love of her life, Robert Wagner, in 1957, divorced him in 1962, only to remarry him again in 1972. In the late 70’s, I met her at the Las Brisas Resort in Acapulco, Mexico. She was incredibly adorable and charming. It was all I could do to not follow her around.

On the night of November 29, 1981, while sailing on their yacht called “Splendour” with their friend, Christopher Walken, whom she was filming the movie Brainstorm, Natalie had a tragic accident. When trying to board the dinghy belonging to the boat she fell into the water and drowned. Speculation is that the heavy down coat she was wearing and the amount of alcohol in her system was to blame. She was only 43. Her death was kismet as she always cited a fear of the water. Showing her immense popularity in Hollywood, her pallbearers at her funeral were Rock Hudson, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Elia Kazan, Gregory Peck, David Niven and Fred Astaire.

I suppose many of these actresses’ personal lives were shielded from the press during their years at the studio. Once the studio system collapsed, all their “dirty laundry” became public knowledge. With cell phone cameras, You tube, and paparazzi following every celebrities’ move, privacy is non-existent today.

It is very clear today, however, that an actress is not only judged by her physical beauty, but also by her substance as a human being. Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry are considered some of the most beautiful women in the world because they are involved in their philanthropic and humanitarian efforts as well as their careers.

The Golden Era of Hollywood was a time when beauty was represented by physical appearance only. People magazine’s exclusive list goes far beyond the physical. It represents woman who embody the characteristics of the classic Hollywood actress today.

As a teenager, I could hardly wait to buy the monthly movie magazines, Photoplay, Modern Screen , and Screen Stories. I would devour all the latest gossip about the movie stars and share with all my girlfriends, something I continue to do today.