Known for: Hannah and Her Sisters and Edward Scissorhands
Net worth: $18 million
She is Brad Pitt’s favorite actress and Woody Allen adores her talent. Who, might you ask, is this industry darling? Meet, Dianne Wiest. Kansas City, Missouri-born Dianne Wiest had big dreams of being a ballet dancer. Instead, as a senior in high school going off to the University of Maryland, she decided to study theatre. At the university, she hitched up with a Shakespearean troupe which eventually led to Broadway and her stage debut in 1971. She played Emily in Our Town and Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
After landing some small film roles, the incomparable filmmaker, Woody Allen, discovered Wiest. He cast her in Hannah and Her Sisters to all kinds of acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also won the award for Allen’s 1994 black comedy crime-film Bullets Over Broadway. She’s a rare winner for the prize in a comedy a film. In 1990, second only to Johnny Depp, she was exceptionally loved as Peg Boggs, the kind Avon lady, in Edward Scissorhands.
Ann-Margret
Known for: Tommy
Net worth: $20 million
Ann-Margret loved theatre and performed throughout her teens. As fate would have it, she became an iconic American sex symbol, a.k.a. “sex kitten.” Launching that attention, undoubtedly, was a role in Viva Las Vegas . Her sizzling hot film relationship with Elvis Presley got steamy off camera too. Elvis was 28, and Ann-Margret was 22. Striking fame in Bye Bye Birdie and as a chart-topping vocal artist, Ann-Margret was invited to sing at John F. Kennedy’s birthday in the White House. Meanwhile, Elvis and Ann-Margret tumbled wildly in love. The matter, however, didn’t bode well for them in the press, and the steaming hot 2-year affair cooled down. Under enormous pressure, Elvis decided to stick it out with Priscilla.
In the 1970s, she would upend the "sex kitten" label with dramatic successes in Hollywood playing serious roles. To wit, she was nominated for two Academy Awards—Carnal Knowledge and Tommy. During the 1960s, Ann-Margret modeled for Triumph bikes. She loved riding a Triumph in the 1966 movie, The Swinger. She’s been an avid motorcycle enthusiast ever since.
Goldie Hawn
Known for: Private Benjamin Net worth: $60 million
Blondes ruled the Seventies. This beauty ruled as a comedian. She’s best known for satirizing the dumb blonde stereotype. As one of the hottest actresses of the Seventies and Eighties, Goldie Hawn’s career peaked with Private Benjamin (1980). Hawn co-produced and starred in the endearing comedy which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
Less well known is the fact that she started out as a go-go dancer in New York City. When she relocated her dance career to California, she found a new career. Acting. Landing a major role in Cactus Flower, she hit the ground running winning her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Needless to say, her career took off. Goldie’s life partner is Kurt Russel. They paired up permanently in 1983 when their stupendous Hollywood careers collided on the set of Swing Shift.
Brooke Shields
Known for: The Blue Lagoon and Pretty Baby
Net worth: $25 million
Throughout the 1980s Brooke Shields was like the supermodel-next-door. She was simply adored. As a teenage actress, she starred in The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love . She took a break from her career to graduate from Princeton University.
She performed in her first modeling gig when she was eleven months old. At 12, she played the controversial role of a child prostitute in the film Pretty Baby. The Manhattan-born model and actress was the youngest fashion model ever to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine at 14. By 16, she was one of the most well-known faces and a household name. She was on the cover of every major fashion magazine. Shields is a vegan and an animal rights activist. She protested the fur industry in 1989. But PETA called her out for modeling a mink coat at the Copenhagen Fur show. They called her a “fur pimp.” Geez. Savage.
Janet Suzman
Known for: Nicholas and Alexandra
Net worth: $2 million
South African-born British actress Janet Suzman went to school in Johannesburg and moved to London to train in theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In 1963 she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where she became a celebrated actress.
Suzman starred in many British-telly drama productions like Saint Joan , The Three Sisters, Macbeth , Hedda Gabbler and Twelfth Night. In her debut film role as Empress Alexandra in Nicholas and Alexandra , Suzman received showers of praise plus a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Not bad. In her later years, she has taken on directing. Her first project, a televised production of Othello was filmed in South Africa at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg.