# Which classic period actresses would have done nude scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766 "2007-04-26T18:44:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/21 "2007-04-27T01:24:06Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Oh, there’s an image I didn’t need. [/QUOTE] It’s 2007. You can sue _him!_ I’ve always been hard err, fond, of Paulette Goddard ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/22 "2007-04-27T01:38:41Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] You’re not fooling anyone, Streisand! I know it was you in that grainy porn loop! [/QUOTE] Streisand is way to young to count in this thread. Her Career basically started in the sixties. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/23 "2007-04-27T02:44:07Z")
Jean Harlow? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/24 "2007-04-27T02:57:14Z")
Merle Oberon (in my dreams). Maybe Judy Holliday. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/25 "2007-04-27T03:19:01Z")
I dunno about _would_ have, but _should_ have? I’d vote for two knockout girl-next-door types: Teresa Wright, [http://www.teatral.net/asp/img/espectacles/9959.jpg](http://www.teatral.net/asp/img/espectacles/9959.jpg) and Donna Reed, [http://www.nndb.com/people/702/000031609/reed6-sized.jpg](http://www.nndb.com/people/702/000031609/reed6-sized.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/26 "2007-04-27T03:21:01Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Fay Wray just seems likely to me. [/QUOTE] Didn’t we get some unintentional peeks during **King Kong**? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/27 "2007-04-27T03:29:33Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Didn’t we get some unintentional peeks during **King Kong**? [/QUOTE] I’m not sure, but that was what made me think, she would have been willing. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/28 "2007-04-27T03:30:41Z")
Clara Bow, the “It Girl” from the 20s, did nude photos, so it’s a good bet she would have. If you were to do a Google image search with Safe Search off, you would see some of them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/29 "2007-04-27T03:37:39Z")
Susan Hayward and Rhonda Fleming ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/30 "2007-04-27T08:52:16Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Shame on you folks for not thinking of the most obvious name - Mae West! [/QUOTE] I disagree. Her entire schtick was based on suggestion. She’d never reveal ALL. Never. Never ever ever EVER. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/31 "2007-04-27T13:04:26Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] [QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Shame on you folks for not thinking of the most obvious name - Mae West! [/QUOTE] I disagree. Her entire schtick was based on suggestion. She’d never reveal ALL. Never. Never ever ever EVER. [/QUOTE] I think you are spot on, on this one. Even in her famous play Sex that led to her arrest, it was all innuendo. She showed less of herself in her pre-code films then other starlets of the time. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/32 "2007-04-27T16:57:32Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] It’s 2007. You can sue _him!_ I’ve always been hard err, fond, of Paulette Goddard [/QUOTE] You and Charlie Chaplin. ---
**Author:** ![Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Olive\_The\_Other\_Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olive_The_Other_Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/33 "2007-04-27T17:19:41Z")
Well, even if she didn’t do it back then, she’s doing it now - and at the age of 73!!! [Mamie Van Doren](http://mamievandoren.com/home.html) You won’t need eye bleach ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/34 "2007-04-27T17:20:37Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I think you are spot on, on this one. Even in her famous play Sex that led to her arrest, it was all innuendo. She showed less of herself in her pre-code films then other starlets of the time. Jim [/QUOTE] Not quite. There’s a pretty well-known story in which a reporter came to her house to interview her. A personal assistant ushered the reporter into an antechamber room to wait for Ms. West to get ready. The antechamber’s only furnishing was a single bench bolted to the floor, and facing a life-sized photographic portrait of Mae West, wearing absolutely nothing but an oversized hat, and proudly displaying her genitalia. After a few minutes, the P.A. came back to usher the reporter into a parlor where Ms. West was waiting. When the reporter seated himself, Ms. West smiled, cocked her head, and coolly asked “What did you think of the hat?” No, I don’t have a cite. But it’s a pretty well-known story and I have no trouble believing that it’s real and not an urban legend. West enjoyed using wit and suggestion, but times also forced her to be coy-er than she might have been. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/35 "2007-04-27T17:38:31Z")
[QUOTE=E. Thorp] I am grateful for any thread that gives me the opportunity to mention Louise Brooks. [/QUOTE] Praise your good taste. ---
**Author:** ![nabob423](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8dc957/32.png) [@nabob423](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nabob423)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/36 "2010-07-08T16:39:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s 2007. You can sue _him!_ > > I’ve always been hard err, fond, of Paulette Goddard Yes, Paulette was a hottie. I’d like to toss in the pot one Ava Gardner. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/37 "2010-07-08T16:43:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s 2007. You can sue _him!_ If it’s 2007, I’m definitely going to sue _somebody_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/38 "2010-07-08T18:50:39Z")
Veronica Lake Constance Bennett I’ll be in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/39 "2010-07-08T19:01:00Z")
Zombie porn! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766/40 "2010-07-08T19:31:41Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **nabob423**. In general, we prefer that people not revive really old threads (and yes, three years counts as “really old”), which we call zombies. Feel free to start a new thread on this topic if you’d like. In the meantime, you might want to swing by ATMB (About This Message Board) to get an eyeful of our rules and guidelines, which will help you get oriented here ASAP. Again, welcome! **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-classic-period-actresses-would-have-done-nude-scenes/401766.md?page=1)