# Who is or was a "femme fatale"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785 "2013-02-09T14:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/21 "2013-02-09T20:44:59Z")
Small clarification > [@Zeldar](#): > > Summarizing through Post #19: > > Jane Greer from Out of the Past. > Julie London. > Mary Astor in the Maltese Falcon. > Hedy Lamarr (2) in Samson and Delilah > Mata Hari > Barbara Stanwyck (2) in Double Indemnity. > Kathleen Turner (2) in Body Heat. > Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker > **Faye Dunaway as** Milady de Winter > Theresa Russell in Black Widow > Michelle Pfeiffer – Makin’ Whoopie > Jessica Rabbit – Why Don’t You Do Right, > Natasha Nogoodnik! > Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) on the Americans > Rita Hayworth, The Lady From Shanghai > Anna Chapman. > The Baroness. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/22 "2013-02-09T20:55:30Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Small clarification Faye Dunaway as Milady de Winter Which movie? I couldn’t find it at IMDb. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/23 "2013-02-09T21:05:45Z")
Richard Lester’s Musketeers movies (the one’s with Michael York and Raquel Welch) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/24 "2013-02-09T21:05:51Z")
[This](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072281/?ref_=sr_3) version of _The Three Musketeers_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/25 "2013-02-09T21:13:00Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Richard Lester’s Musketeers movies (the one’s with Michael York and Raquel Welch) > [@detop](#): > > [This](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072281/?ref_=sr_3) version of _The Three Musketeers_. Thanks, both of you. I missed that one. Updating the summary, too. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/26 "2013-02-09T22:22:02Z")
Sharon Stone in _Basic Instinct_. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/27 "2013-02-09T22:51:45Z")
Ornella Muti as Princess Aura in the 1980 “Flash Gordon” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/28 "2013-02-09T23:02:24Z")
Mata Hari [Mata Hari - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_hari) ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/29 "2013-02-09T23:04:26Z")
Who was in **The Last Seduction** , Linda Fiorentino, I think? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/30 "2013-02-09T23:12:32Z")
An alphabetized summary with actress names as keys. Includes Ms. Fiorentino in as good an example as there is of our topic: Mary Astor in the Maltese Falcon The Baroness Anna Chapman Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker and Milady de Winter Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction Jane Greer from Out of the Past Mata Hari (2) Rita Hayworth, The Lady From Shanghai Hedy Lamarr (2) in Samson and Delilah Julie London Ornella Muti as Princess Aura in the 1980 “Flash Gordon” Natasha Nogoodnik! Michelle Pfeiffer – Makin’ Whoopie Jessica Rabbit – Why Don’t You Do Right Keri Russell (Elizabeth Jennings) on the Americans Theresa Russell in Black Widow Barbara Stanwyck (2) in Double Indemnity Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct Kathleen Turner (2) in Body Heat ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/31 "2013-02-09T23:34:44Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > This time, with no examples from me to get it started, who do you think of when the term “femme fatale” is mentioned? The first one I thought of was Queen Mab, the Winter Queen from the Harry Dresden novels. We even first see her in a version of the “sexy mysterious lady slinks up to the hardboiled PI in his office” routine. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/32 "2013-02-09T23:36:39Z")
Nico. She was a femme fatale. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/33 "2013-02-09T23:42:57Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Nico. She was a femme fatale. Nice. Picture? Movie or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/34 "2013-02-09T23:47:56Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The first one I thought of was Queen Mab, the Winter Queen from the Harry Dresden novels. We even first see her in a version of the “sexy mysterious lady slinks up to the hardboiled PI in his office” routine. Butcher… I don’t know, he has Harry pretty much living in quaking fear of women. I thought it was some weird sexual quirk, but now he’s even scared of his 5 year old daughter, so I’m hoping no. It’s a weird bit of subtext, though. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/35 "2013-02-09T23:58:36Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Butcher… I don’t know, he has Harry pretty much living in quaking fear of women. Pretty much everybody with sense is scared of Mab. She really puts the fatale in Femme Fatale. _And_ she stabbed him through the hand when they first met. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/36 "2013-02-10T00:16:37Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Pretty much everybody with sense is scared of Mab. She really puts the fatale in Femme Fatale. > > _And_ she stabbed him through the hand when they first met. Mab and Titania are scary, but you dilute the scariness when your main character is scared of every woman he meets. Maeve is scary because she’s nuts, Lily’s scary because she’s gorgeous, his godmother’s scary because she’s ruthless, Molly’s scary because she’s attracted to him, Molly’s mother is scary because she disapproves of him, his daughter’s scary because she might not like him, Karrin’s scary because they’re friends - holy crap am I sick of this guy’s fear of owning a penis. Butcher seems to be channeling a huge amount of teen-age dating angst, almost to the level of Japanese culture, where there’s nothing more cruel and dangerous than a teen-aged schoolgirl, apparently. Anyway, it’s tough to be a femme fatale when your protagonist sees all women as femme fatales, was what I’m saying. Part of what makes them so deadly is how they take a guy out of his comfort zone. If the guy is never comfortable, he’s just jittery and lame. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/37 "2013-02-10T00:34:17Z")
He meets exceedingly lethal magical women all the time; they as a rule really are that dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/38 "2013-02-10T15:56:19Z")
Surely there must be others… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/39 "2013-02-10T16:14:32Z")
[Lucrezia Borgia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucrezia_Borgia). Even the Wiki article calls her a femme fatale. And [Jezebel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jezebel). ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785/40 "2013-02-10T16:17:05Z")
I’ll second the nomination of Rita Hayworth, who was also fatale-ish in _Gilda_, _Salome_ and probably many movies I’ve not seen. As a historic character, Anne Boleyn should qualify, at least as she’s portrayed in the TV series _The Tudors_. What about legendary or fictional characters? Delilah, Salome, or even Eve of the Apple? Or, more recently, Lorelei the Mermaid or Lola of _Damn Yankees_? (Lola was based in part on [the real-life femme fatale, Lola Montez](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Montez).) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-or-was-a-femme-fatale/649785.md?page=3)