FOTOS

Audrey Hepburn & James Garner on the set of The Children’s Hour, 1961

Theda Bara at home with her dog, 1920s

Marilyn Monroe, 1950

Marilyn Monroe taking a nap, 1952. Photo taken by Philippe Halsman

In October 1958, well before she donned kittenish ears and an unforgettable, sparkling black bodysuit as TV’s original feline femme fatale, Catwoman, 25-year-old Julie Newmar starred on Broadway in a sex comedy called The Marriage-Go-Round. Her racy role of a seductive young Swede, for which she won a Tony Award, also nabbed the actress a high-profile photo shoot for LIFE magazine. “I was supposed to be on the cover,” Newmar, who turned 81 on Aug. 16, recalled in an interview with LIFE.com. “But you know what happened? The pope died!” Read more: Julie Newmar Remembers an Early Photo Shoot With LIFE Magazine | LIFE.com

Julie Newmar

Belle de Jour (1967) dir. Luis Buñuel

Greta Garbo in a promotional photo for Torrent (1926). Photo by Bert Longworth

Grace Kelly at Cannes Film Festival in France, 1955

Audrey Hepburn

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