My favorite brunettes, Audrey Hepburn

For me, Audrey Hepburn had one of the most gorgeous, distinctive voices that I have ever heard. Sweet, foreign, lilting. It's what I love most about her. She was born in Belgium, lived in England, became a superstar in the States. She was a sincere humanitarian throughout her life, even serving as UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador in the last years of her life. She made movies across an almost fifty year span. And she remains a style icon to this day.

She was also uniquely beautiful, graceful and always gracious. Hers was a different kind of beauty, not like the sultry earthiness of Liz Taylor. She had a ballet dancer's beauty, lissome and sublime. My favorite role of Audrey's is, of course, Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, the kind of eccentric, extroverted young lady of night life society. If you've read the Truman Capote book, Hollywood certainly diluted and skewed the story a bit, but, my goodness, Audrey Hepburn is engaging in that movie.

She was also so charming in Funny Face, with her fabulous Edith Head costumes and one-of-a-kind face, and absolutely fantastic in Wait Until Dark. As a child, I was fascinated by her Natasha in War and Peace.

She always carried herself regally, more of a princess than a queen, with her endearing innocence. Maybe it was her elfin face, or physical slightness. Maybe it was her individual charm and beauty. Maybe it's because no one else has ever looked like her or will ever look like her.

Audrey Hepburn is what I think angels must look like.

My favorite brunettes, Cher

Once again, I may be dating myself quite a bit here, but when I was four years old, I wanted to be Cher.

I wanted to wear Bob Mackie gowns and have my own TV show and ride a palomino horse on the beach.

I wanted dark straight perfect hair to my butt and to be able to deliver sharp one line wisecracks at all times.

I wanted rhinestones and sequins and feathers and to sing "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves."

And you know what? No matter what her hair color, or what she's "had done," it's quite a few years later and the lady still looks pretty dang good, doesn't she?

I think I still want to be Cher. . .

My favorite brunettes, Diana Rigg

I grew up in the swamps of Southern Florida. One of the three television stations that we got used to show reruns of "The Avengers" late at night. As soon as I saw Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel, I knew I had to add her to my role model roster.

Very English, wearing slinky S&M wear way back in the sixties, handy with a gun. . .

And where exactly was Mr. Peel?

And what exactly was going on with her and Mr. Steed?

Still a heroine of mine, years after I left the swamp behind.

My favorite brunettes, Elizabeth Taylor

Do I really even need to explain?

In the sewn on slip in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as beautiful as Paul Newman.

Kinda crazy in Suddenly, Last Summer, as beautiful as Montgomery Clift, giving the fabulous Katherine Hepburn a run for her money.

In that fur coat in Butterfield 8, much more beautiful than Laurence Harvey.

In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Not so beautiful, but uber scary.

Ah, Liz. . . with violet eyes to die for. . .

My favorite brunettes, Suzanne Pleshette

Oh, let's start with Suzanne Pleshette. I was watching The Birds last night, and she was so wonderfully sexy and earthy in the movie. The expressive eyes, the sultry contralto voice--she's so amazingly brunette. Of course, she wasn't an icy blonde, so Hitchcock let the birds get her.

Last year, I watched a bunch of the old Bob Newhart shows, where Suzanne played his wife, Emily. Such a smart, sardonic character, great hair, great clothes, and she played off of Newhart so well. That couple had great sex, you could just tell by the way they interacted.

She was on the Johnny Carson show in 1971, and delivered the line that supposedly got her the Newhart role. Johnny was talking about his childhood in Nebraska, and asked Suzanne if she'd ever ridden a tractor. Suzanne replied: "Johnny, I've never even been in a Chevrolet."

Ah, fabulous.