20 Women Who Changed the World With Beauty and Power – See Who Made the Cut

For decades, beau­ty and influ­ence have been mea­sured by more than just appear­ances. The most icon­ic women in his­to­ry have shaped cul­ture, fash­ion, and soci­ety in ways that tran­scend the screen or stage. A recent pub­lic rank­ing sheds light on the 20 women who con­tin­ue to cap­ti­vate hearts and minds with their ele­gance, tal­ent, and lega­cy. From Old Hol­ly­wood leg­ends to mod­ern pow­er­hous­es, here’s a look at the women who’ve defined their generations—and still inspire us today

20. Audrey Hepburn — The Unforgettable Icon of Elegance

Top­ping the list is Audrey Hep­burn, the eter­nal icon of grace and glam­our. Best known for her roles in “Break­fast at Tiffany’s” and “Roman Hol­i­day,” Hep­burn brought not only tal­ent but also a time­less style to the screen. Beyond Hol­ly­wood, she ded­i­cat­ed much of her lat­er life to human­i­tar­i­an work with UNICEF, adding depth to her beau­ty and fame. Her ele­gant fash­ion choic­es con­tin­ue to inspire design­ers and fans around the world. Decades lat­er, Audrey remains a gold stan­dard of charm and sophis­ti­ca­tion

Step into time­less ele­gance with the top 10 most icon­ic Audrey Hep­burn and Givenchy looks—this video cel­e­brates a leg­endary fash­ion duo that defined clas­sic Hol­ly­wood style!

19. Raquel Welch — The 60s Sex Symbol Who Owned the Spotlight

Raquel Welch turned heads with her unfor­get­table pres­ence in the 1960s. Known for her pow­er­ful roles and smol­der­ing screen pres­ence, she quick­ly became a pop cul­ture icon. She won a Gold­en Globe and also made a mark as a mod­el and pre­sen­ter. Welch’s bold image pushed bound­aries for women in Hol­ly­wood, cel­e­brat­ing strength along­side beau­ty. Her influ­ence on both fash­ion and film endures to this day.

18. Grace Kelly — The Princess Who Paused Hollywood

Before becom­ing Princess of Mona­co, Grace Kel­ly enchant­ed audi­ences with her per­for­mances in films like “Rear Win­dow” and “To Catch a Thief.” Her tran­si­tion from Hol­ly­wood roy­al­ty to actu­al roy­al­ty only ampli­fied her mys­tique. Grace com­bined ele­gance, tal­ent, and poise, set­ting a bench­mark for gen­er­a­tions to come. Her lega­cy con­tin­ues through fash­ion ret­ro­spec­tives and roy­al doc­u­men­taries. Kel­ly remains a beloved sym­bol of refined beau­ty.

17. Marilyn Monroe — The Eternal Flame of Pop Culture

A true sym­bol of sen­su­al­i­ty, Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe cap­ti­vat­ed the world with her per­for­mances in “Some Like It Hot” and “Gen­tle­men Pre­fer Blondes.” Her image—blonde curls, red lips, and a play­ful smile—became cul­tur­al short­hand for glam­our. Despite her trag­ic end, Monroe’s influ­ence remains pow­er­ful across fash­ion, film, and music. She defined 1950s beau­ty stan­dards and remains one of Hollywood’s most ref­er­enced stars.

Relive one of Hollywood’s most unfor­get­table moments with Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe in this icon­ic scene—timeless, glam­orous, and for­ev­er etched in film his­to­ry!

16. Scarlett Johansson — The Modern Siren of the Silver Screen

Scar­lett Johans­son is the mod­ern-day embod­i­ment of screen mag­net­ism. From her dra­mat­ic work in “Mar­riage Sto­ry” to action-packed roles like Black Wid­ow in the Mar­vel uni­verse, Johans­son has shown remark­able range. She topped Forbes’ list of high­est-paid actress­es and was named one of Time’s most influ­en­tial peo­ple. Her com­bi­na­tion of clas­sic beau­ty and con­tem­po­rary edge makes her a stand­out fig­ure in today’s enter­tain­ment world

15. Charlize Theron — From Ballet Dreams to Oscar Gold

Char­l­ize Theron’s rise from mod­el to Oscar-win­ning actress is noth­ing short of inspir­ing. Known for her fear­less trans­for­ma­tions, she stunned audi­ences with roles in “Mon­ster” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” She’s also a pro­duc­er and activist, lend­ing her voice to impor­tant glob­al caus­es. Charlize’s beau­ty is unde­ni­able, but it’s her strength and com­mit­ment to her craft that ele­vate her lega­cy.

14. Sophia Loren — The Ital­ian Icon Who Rede­fined Sen­su­al­i­ty

Sophia Loren brought fiery Mediter­ranean beau­ty to the fore­front dur­ing Hollywood’s Gold­en Age. With her deep eyes and expres­sive fea­tures, she starred in clas­sics like “Two Women” and won an Acad­e­my Award. Loren’s pas­sion­ate screen pres­ence and effort­less ele­gance made her an inter­na­tion­al super­star. She con­tin­ues to inspire actress­es and fash­ion design­ers world­wide.

13. Catherine Zeta-Jones — A Glamorous Force to Be Reckoned With

Welsh actress Cather­ine Zeta-Jones exudes time­less glam­our. Known for roles in “Chica­go” and “The Mask of Zor­ro,” she com­mands atten­tion with every per­for­mance. A Tony and Acad­e­my Award win­ner, Zeta-Jones blends sen­su­al­i­ty with sophis­ti­ca­tion. Her mar­riage to Michael Dou­glas and endur­ing pop­u­lar­i­ty keep her in the pub­lic eye as a style icon and act­ing pow­er­house.

12. Salma Hayek — Fiery, Fearless, and Flawless

Salma Hayek broke bar­ri­ers for Lati­na actress­es in Hol­ly­wood. With her mag­net­ic per­for­mance in “Fri­da,” she earned an Acad­e­my Award nom­i­na­tion and glob­al respect. Hayek is not only known for her beau­ty but also her activism and pro­duc­tion work. She has con­sis­tent­ly appeared on beau­ty rank­ings while cham­pi­oning diver­si­ty and women’s rights.

11. Jessica Alba — The Reluctant Bombshell Who Wanted More

Jes­si­ca Alba became a house­hold name with roles in “Fan­tas­tic Four” and “Sin City.” While admired for her looks, Alba sought to rede­fine her pub­lic image through entre­pre­neur­ship. As co-founder of The Hon­est Com­pa­ny, she pro­motes eth­i­cal con­sumerism and fam­i­ly health. Alba proves that beau­ty paired with brains can build an influ­en­tial lega­cy.

Dis­cov­er relat­ed top­ics

Most Nat­u­ral­ly Beau­ti­ful Women of All Time in 2004

Women React Chris Hemsworth

1970s Female Celebri­ties

Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe Movies Down­load

Mar­i­lyn Mon­roe Movies on Net­flix

Count­down the top 10 Jes­si­ca Alba movies in this must-watch video—celebrating her most unfor­get­table roles, from action-packed hits to heart­felt fan favorites!

10. Eliz­a­beth Hur­ley — The Eng­lish Rose With Mag­net­ic Appeal

Eliz­a­beth Hur­ley lit up red car­pets in the ’90s with her bold fash­ion choices—most famous­ly a safe­ty-pin Ver­sace  dress. Her act­ing in films like “Austin Pow­ers” and  TV roles like in “Gos­sip Girl” kept her in the spot­light. A mod­el, busi­ness­woman, and moth­er, Hur­ley main­tains her allure and rel­e­vance even decades into her career

9. Michelle Pfeif­fer — Cool, Cap­ti­vat­ing, and Unfor­get­table

Michelle Pfeiffer’s break­through came with “Scar­face,” but her tal­ent solid­i­fied her place among the greats in films like “The Fab­u­lous Bak­er Boys” and “Dan­ger­ous Liaisons.” Regard­ed for both her beau­ty and act­ing chops, she was among the high­est-paid actress­es of the 1990s. Pfeif­fer has aged grace­ful­ly, appear­ing on mag­a­zine cov­ers well into her 40s and beyond

8. Jaclyn Smith — The Angel Who Became an Endur­ing Style Icon

Best known as one of the orig­i­nal “Charlie’s Angels,” Jaclyn Smith brought beau­ty and strength to the small screen. Start­ing as a mod­el, she became a TV sen­sa­tion in the 1970s. She lat­er ven­tured into fash­ion and busi­ness, build­ing her brand beyond act­ing. Smith remains an endur­ing face of clas­sic Amer­i­can tele­vi­sion

7. Natal­ie Port­man — Bril­liance, Bal­let, and Beau­ty in Har­mo­ny

Natal­ie Port­man bal­ances ele­gance with intel­lect. A Har­vard grad­u­ate and Oscar win­ner, Port­man is known for roles in “Black Swan” and “V for Vendet­ta.” She also speaks out on social issues and sup­ports female empow­er­ment in film. Her beau­ty is matched by her intel­li­gence and poise, mak­ing her a mod­ern icon.

6. Elizabeth Taylor — The Violet-Eyed Empress of Classic Cinema

Eliz­a­beth Taylor’s vio­let eyes and com­mand­ing pres­ence defined a gen­er­a­tion of Hol­ly­wood glam­our. A two-time Acad­e­my Award win­ner, she starred in epics like “Cleopa­tra” and “Who’s Afraid of Vir­ginia Woolf?” Her per­son­al life often made head­lines, but her human­i­tar­i­an work, espe­cial­ly with HIV/AIDS, cement­ed her lega­cy as more than just a star.

5. Kate Beckinsale — A Lethal Combination of Brains and Beauty

British actress Kate Beck­in­sale is known for both her wit and her good looks. From “Pearl Har­bor” to the “Under­world” fran­chise, she has dis­played both charm and action-hero tough­ness. Her fash­ion sense and sense of humor make her a favorite among fans and jour­nal­ists alike. Beck­in­sale often tops beau­ty polls and con­tin­ues to work steadi­ly.

4. Halle Berry — The Queen Who Broke Every Mold

Halle Berry broke bar­ri­ers as the first Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in “Monster’s Ball.” A for­mer pageant queen and mod­el, she’s also known for action roles in “X‑Men” and “John Wick.” Berry’s resilience in both career and per­son­al life has earned her admi­ra­tion across gen­er­a­tions.

3. Jane Seymour — Royal Grace Meets Prime-Time Power

Jane Sey­mour rose to fame as a Bond girl in “Live and Let Die” and lat­er charmed audi­ences in “Dr. Quinn, Med­i­cine Woman.” Her ele­gance and British poise have kept her in the spot­light for decades. She’s also a writer and entre­pre­neur, reflect­ing her many tal­ents. Sey­mour remains a beloved fig­ure in both the UK and the US.

2. Natalie Wood — The Tragic Luminary of Young Hollywood

Natal­ie Wood’s act­ing career began in child­hood, and she became a house­hold name by her teens. Roles in “West Side Sto­ry” and “Rebel With­out a Cause” made her one of the most admired actress­es of her gen­er­a­tion. Her untime­ly death only added to her mys­tique. Wood is remem­bered for her emo­tion­al depth and strik­ing beau­ty.

1. Diane Lane — The Early Blooming Starlet Who Never Faded

Diane Lane cap­tured atten­tion ear­ly with “A Lit­tle Romance” and main­tained her star pow­er with films like “Unfaith­ful” and “Under the Tus­can Sun.” Her mature, nat­ur­al beau­ty and nuanced per­for­mances have earned her respect from both fans and crit­ics. Lane’s career longevi­ty speaks to her tal­ent and endur­ing appeal.

Watch Diane Lane share a fun­ny and unfor­get­table sto­ry about a sur­pris­ing train ride moment on Late Night with Conan O’Brien—a charm­ing clip full of laughs and per­son­al­i­ty!