Betty Grable

The biggest box office star of the 1940s and the most desired WWII pin-up girl, acting-singing-dancing triple-threat Betty Grable became the stuff of Hollywood legend after her studio reportedly insured her famously gorgeous legs for $1 million with Lloyd's of London - the same legs that were captured in one of the most iconic photographic images of the 20th century. After a decade of toiling with minor roles in dozens of films, Grable rose to fame with the musical "Down Argentine Way" (1940). From there it was on to a string of hits alongside leading men that included Victor Mature, Cesar Romero and Dan Dailey in such films as "I Wake Up Screaming" (1941), "Coney Island" (1943) and "Mother Wore Tights" (1947), respectively. So desired was the bubbly blonde that bandleader Harry James became the most envied man in America when he famously wed the pin-up queen in 1943. Grable single-handedly caused Twentieth Century stock to soar for a solid decade before the girl-next-door's Technicolor reign began to wind down. Even as the sun was setting on Grable's movie career by the early 1950s - as had her desire to continue to make movies - she enjoyed one final hit as she passed the torch to her successor and fellow Fox contract player, Marilyn Monroe, in "How to Marry a Millionaire" (1953). Grable gracefully retired from film two years later and enjoyed a brief run in a hugely successful Broadway mounting of "Hello, Dolly!" in 1967 before her untimely passing six years later. While some of the films in her incredibly prolific canon may not have stood the test of time, there was no denying the joy Betty Grable brought to many fans, both at home and abroad, during that pivotal decade in American history.