The Ultimate Question

Everyone asks the question at some stage, whether connossieur or casual viewer, whether man or woman, whether inherently an 'Audrey type' guy or a 'Marilyn type guy': just who was the classiest actress of the Studio Era?

Alright, so there're far too many contenders to answer the question with ease. Most talented and versatile? Katharine Hepburn and Olivia de Havilland, pick up your Oscars. Most enduring and indestructible? Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, step up to the dais. Most glamourous and 'perfect'? Marilyn Monroe and Lana Turner, don your gowns. Most flawless comedienne and queen of the screwballs? Carole Lombard and Myrna Loy, crack your jokes.

But 'classy' must surely demand some other, indefinable quality. Its about stardust and about something yet more unique, something that makes these stars of the silver screen transcend mere acting and glitz. To this end, and after arguments about this (and about the quintessential leading man, of course), I have compiled a shortlist of four women who each come close to being the Classiest Leading Lady of the Studio Era.


The Top Four

1. Audrey Hepburn
The doe-eyed beauty who sprinkled her own brand of stardust on every one of her productions, from the wonderful Sabrina Fair to the wistful Breakfast at Tiffany's. Delicate and vulnerable, Audrey still possessed the strength of steel, and her career remains the benchmark for all aspiring stars today.

2. Rita Hayworth
Aptly christened "The Love Goddess" after the dizzying heights of Gilda, she embodied sophisticated sensuality and class, with those hints of tragedy never far from the surface. Despite the demise of her career after Pal Joey, Rita's star still shines bright in Hollywood hierarchy and her femme fatales from Gilda to Elsa Bannister (The Lady from Shanghai) remain the pick of the noir crop.

3. Elizabeth Taylor
Far and away our finest English Rose and quite possibly the epitome of stardom. Her silky Southern accent in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, her breath-takingly epic Cleopatra, and her searing Martha (quite literally tearing Dick Burton apart in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)are tours de force of pure acting - and it was Liz's name that the extras cheered when the seductive Egyptian queen arrived in Rome.

4. Grace Kelly
She was the original blue-blood Tinseltown princess, and provided the inimitable je ne sais quoi of all Hitchcockian melodramas. Her Serene Highness ruled the hearts of all Americans, Monegasques and Brits, and glitters today as an unrivalled champagne blond screen star.


Audrey Hepburn, the Delicate Paragon of Style


Rita Hayworth, the Ambrosial Empress of Sensuality


Elizabeth Taylor, the Elegant Rose of Beauty


Grace Kelly, the Serene Princess of Glamour

Since Audrey Hepburn is the only actress I have seen acting ( in the elequently beautiful film 'Breakfast at Triffiny's) I have chosen to vote for her. (Isn't the cat called 'cat' the best animal actor around?)

Who voted for Liz?

don't ask me, i know nothing

We put 'Other': this means Claudette Colbert!

Who else voted for Rita Hayworth?

not me

I did!