# Poll: the most beautiful woman who ever lived **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2003, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992 "2003-06-15T10:32:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/41 "2003-06-15T21:53:43Z")
How could I forget Soliel Moon Fye? She’s so pretty and that’s a very hot name. I can’t find any pictures of her pre-breast reduction (hint-hint). And or course my SO. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/42 "2003-06-15T22:21:05Z")
Without a doubt [Ingrid Bergman](http://silverscreensirens.com/galleries/bergman3.htm) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/43 "2003-06-15T22:25:00Z")
Gwyneth Paltrow looks like Howdy Doody. Of the current crop of actresses, I’d have to vote for Julianne Moore. I think she’s absolutely gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/44 "2003-06-16T00:06:36Z")
Raquel Welch. ---
**Author:** ![Bandanaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Bandanaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bandanaman)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/45 "2003-06-16T00:15:40Z")
Rebecca DeMornay. [sub]not the one from “Seinfeld”[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/46 "2003-06-16T00:47:39Z")
The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen was wearing a ragged dress and bare feet, beside a fish stall one hot night in China. She was squatting in the mud with a knife and a bucket, cleaning fish, under the light of a bare bulb. I was riding by in a taxi. She glanced up, flipped the hair out of her eyes, and our gazes met for one moment, which I will remember for the rest of my life. Her eyes, her cheekbones, her mouth, her arms, her feet–all perfect. No makeup, no flashy evening gown. I suppose the thread is really meant for famous people, but honestly, I think most famous women are chosen for their roles because they are pretty, maybe even beautiful, but not _too_ beautiful. Too beautiful can be off-putting, scary and hard to relate to. Sure, some of the women mentioned here are beautiful (so far, my vote would go for Isabelle Adjani), but I still say the most beautiful women are unknown, carrying baskets on their heads in Botswana, selling trinkets in Laos, waiting tables in small towns across the world. (Or managing small clothing stores in Korea, like MrsO, who is right up there with the fish-cleaning woman, but a little more expensively dressed.) ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/47 "2003-06-16T01:06:58Z")
Another vote for Grace Kelly–she was simply breathtaking. Vivien Leigh is a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/48 "2003-06-16T03:38:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*And precisely what part of “Helen of Troy doesn’t count” did you fail to understand…? > > 😉 \*\* I didn’t understand any of it. I have a very special and rare reading disability that I just discovered now. That’s the only explanation I can offer, because under normal circumstances I would _never_ post an answer that has been specifically disallowed by the OP, because I hate it when people do that. So it must be a very special and rare reading disability. Or possibly aliens. That said, eh, probably, Grace Kelly or Catherine Deneuve. ---
**Author:** ![Romola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e36b37/32.png) [@Romola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romola)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/49 "2003-06-16T03:52:07Z")
[Monica](http://membres.lycos.fr/mbellucci/photos/mb4.jpg) [Bellucci](http://us.imdb.com/EGallery?source=ss&group=0234215&photo=Ss/0234215/MX2CT-3215R.jpg&path=pgallery&path_key=Bellucci,%20Monica) ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/50 "2003-06-16T04:37:43Z")
Bettie Page and/or Jennifer Connelly. ---
**Author:** ![Necromancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@Necromancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necromancer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/51 "2003-06-16T04:40:20Z")
I agree with \*\* Romola\*\*. Monica Bellucci is a stunner. I’ll add her to my original list of Ava, Vivien and Hedy. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/52 "2003-06-16T05:13:51Z")
Photographs. Feh. I bring you . . . [Lady Agnew of Lochnaw](http://www.tigtail.org/TVM/X2/d.English/a.portraits/sargent/M/sargent_lady_agnew_of_lochnaw.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/53 "2003-06-16T05:22:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* > \*\*Photographs. Feh. > > I bring you . . . [Lady Agnew of Lochnaw](http://www.tigtail.org/TVM/X2/d.English/a.portraits/sargent/M/sargent_lady_agnew_of_lochnaw.jpg) \*\* Beautiful woman! Is the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence? It has that look. ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/54 "2003-06-16T05:48:00Z")
My grandmother. “sniff” Miss you. Love you forever. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/55 "2003-06-16T05:56:25Z")
Audrey Hepburn. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/56 "2003-06-16T08:18:33Z")
I would say Laetitia Casta is the most gorgeous famous woman on the planet. However, I’ve known some better-looking ones in my lifetime. Another top contender, although one who’s long-dead, would be Penelope, Viscountess Ligonier, judging from the Gainsborough portrait of her (and I can’t seem to find a satisfactory picture of it online). ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/57 "2003-06-16T10:43:18Z")
How utterly wierd to hear people disdain Gwyneth. She’s got this [brilliant](http://www.triviatribute.com/gwynethpaltrow.html) sunny smile perfect for picnics, see the one with the flower. If you were going to design a woman to walk over to you under a shade tree on a sunny day she’s the one. And her stint in **Emma** throughly satiated my lust for Victorian ladies. And her hair, sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/58 "2003-06-16T11:12:33Z")
No-one mentioned [Kathy Burke](http://www.blue.uk.com/kathy/gallery/harry02.jpg) yet? ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/59 "2003-06-16T11:14:20Z")
A guy I know went to his debs (kinda like a prom) with Sharon Corr - she’s the fiddle player. I have a good few friends from their home town, Dundalk, and we used to go to McManus pub to ogle Sharon, who worked behind the bar in those days. On the substantive issue, Kylie Minogue tickles my fancy (although I’d doubt whether she’d fancy my tackle). I find her more attractive than the classic beauties, probably because she gives the illusion of accessibility. I find it hard to fancy women who’d look very out of place with a pint of stout in her hand. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-most-beautiful-woman-who-ever-lived/181992/60 "2003-06-16T12:27:07Z")
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