The 80 Hottest Women of the '80s

Intro

Big hair, bright colors, spandex, Reaganomics, heavy metal, preppies, and VHS porn. The 1980s were the best of times and the worst of times. Mainstream pop culture was—with plenty of exceptions, sure—a musical wasteland, a fashion disaster, and generally a strange place we wouldn't necessarily want to return to.

And yet, the women. We can laugh at their attire and plumage today, but there is no denying that the best of them measure up perfectly well against the icons of any decade. The '80s saw the rise of the swimsuit model, and with the onset of MTV, a sexy girl could score a hit or even maintain a career off her looks alone. Teen movies flourished thanks to John Hughes and his Brat Pack. Cable TV came to American households in a big way, with lots of hotties in starring roles. Even the women involved in scandals that brought down a televangelist, a presidential hopeful, and a loyal soldier were eye candy.

Whether it's Phoebe Cates in the scene that defined a generation or Janet Jackson stepping out from her brother's shadow, ladies who made a name for themselves during those 10 years were something special. Here are The 80 Hottest Women of the '80s.

Written by Josh Robertson

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Princess Diana

80. Princess Diana

Occupation: Princess
Hottest Moment: 1981, when she married Prince Charles and became the hottie who would be Queen of England. This was a radical change from the status quo – between Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mum, the royal family was strapped for pulchritude.
Where Is She Now: Sadly, after a divorce from Charles, she was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Sybil Danning

79. Sybil Danning

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, Howling II, Your Sister is a Werewolf. It's a fairly arbitrary pick; basically Sybil Danning's career (stretching back to the early '70s) was one of sustained B-movie nudity built on her essentially perfect physique. She did women-in-prison movies (Chained Heat, Reform School Girls), Sci-Fi (Battle Beyond the Stars), swords-n-sandals (Hercules, Warrior Queen), nude whodunit (Malibu Express) and straight-up erotica (Young Lady Chatterley II).
Where Is She Now: With her filmography, it was hardly surprising Rob Zombie gave her the call for the fake trailer Werewolf Women of the SS from the 2007 drive-in homage Grindhouse.

Pat Benatar

78. Pat Benatar

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1983, “Love is a Battlefield.” Pat always had a certain rough look to her – which worked very well with her raw vocals -- and was never more convincing than when she played a runaway who becomes a hooker who leads a hooker uprising against their pimp. Apparently he was not a very nice pimp.
Where Is She Now: Well, she was on a huge tour in 2011 – until her husband and lead guitarist Neil Giraldo suffered what her website calls an “arm injury.” Dates have been canceled until further notice.

Venice Kong

77. Venice Kong

Occupation: Playmate
Hottest Moment: 1985, posing nude wearing (well, not wearing) tweed in the September issue of Playboy – the last to be staple-bound (Madonna was on the cover). Jamaica-born Venice (rhymes with Denise) was a Bunny at the Chicago Playboy Club, as her mother and aunt had been at the Playboy Resort in Ocho, Rios.
Where Is She Now: Unknown

Carrie Fisher

76. Carrie Fisher

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, Slave Leia in Return of the Jedi, as if you had to ask. After two sexless Star Wars films, the last thing anyone expected to see moments into Return of the Jedi was a bikini babe with un-subtle notes of bondage. Yet there it was. To this day, dressing a girl (not Carrie Fisher) in a Slave Leia costume is the easiest way to give a nerd a boner.
Where Is She Now: Most recently seen in her one-woman show Wishful Drinking, which tells tales from her fucked-up life. She's also a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig.

Bobbi Brown

75. Bobbi Brown

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1990, Warrant's “Cherry Pie” video. Bobbi, Miss Teen Louisiana USA 1987, had dominate the spokesmodel category on Star Search, but really peaked as a video vixen in this video that, despite being released in 1990 just seems so 80s. That was truly her moment in the sun, the best example on record of a really hot girl doing wonders for a really shitty song.
Where Is She Now: In 2011, she published a memoir, Sex, Lies, and Cherry Pie.

Dana Wheeler-Nicholson

74. Dana Wheeler-Nicholson

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, Fletch: Chevy Chase knocks on her cabana door, and when she answers wearing nothing but a towel he asks to borrow it, explaining “my car just hit a water buffalo.” He doesn't get the towel, but after lunch (charged to Ted Underhill) he gets the goods.
Where Is She Now: Most recently spotted in a recurring role on Friday Night Lights.

Tawny Kitaen

73. Tawny Kitaen

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1987, when she writhed on the hood of a Jaguar in the video for Whitesnake's “Here I Go Again.” She was dating lead singer David Coverdale at the time who, by unofficial tally, was only her 6th-most-famous boyfriend.
Where Is She Now: Tawny picked up a bit of a drug habit, enough to win her a spot on Celebrity Rehab earlier this year.

Valeria Golino

72. Valeria Golino

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1988, in Rain Man, in which she played Tom Cruise's hot-blooded Italian squeeze. Her thick accent makes anything sexy, even a sexual buzzkill like “I think Raymond is in the room.” Mama mia, thatsa spicy meatball.
Where Is She Now: Making movies, mostly Italian.

LaToya Jackson

71. LaToya Jackson

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1989, when she appeared in Playboy. Before 1989, Latoya was an also-ran in the Jackson family, doomed to second place among the girls and toward the bottom in a 9-way race. After 1989, her life was a nightmare; but for one shining, naked moment she was the best Jackson on the planet.
Where Is She Now: Saved by reality TV: She's done Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Apprentice, and RuPaul's drag queen show.

Beverly D'Angelo

70. Beverly D'Angelo

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, the gratuitous nude shower scene at the start of National Lampoon's Vacation. Husband Chevy Chase pretends to be Norman Bates from Psycho and she handily disarms him with her ample cans.
Where Is She Now: She's best known these days as Jeremy Piven's partner on Entourage.

Betsy Russell

69. Betsy Russell

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, Private School – in this excellent example of the '80s teen sex comedy genre, Betsy's turn as a topless equestrian was epic.
Where Is She Now: After surviving the '80s and '90s in B-movies and bit parts, Betsy wound up as Jigsaw's ex-wife in Saw III through whatever Saw we're on now. She's approaching 50, and a certified MILF.

Dana Delany

68. Dana Delany

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1988, although it's not really 1988. It's years yearlier. Vietnam, deep in the shit. You're a shellshocked dogface recovering in a MASH tent. “Sorry private,” says Dr. Dick Richard, “we're going to have to amputate.” As he fires up the bone saw to relieve you of your useless leg, you focus on Nurse Colleen McMurphy, which is not hard to do because of the large breasts straining her tight olive drab tee. Leg, schmeg, you think. Ok, we never watched a single episode of China Beach.
Where Is She Now: In a career renaissance, starring in the series Body of Proof after a long run on Desperate Housewives.

Kim Wilde

67. Kim Wilde

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1981, "Kids in America." Looking like a less-hip Debbie Harry, Kim was a nice looking girl with a catchy tune and bad sense of American geography. Really, has anyone else ever used the term "east California"? Is there even such a thing as "east California"? Map says no. Although her chart success was sporadic in the US, she had the most hits of any female artist in the UK during the '80s.
Where Is She Now: In 2000s plays the occasional gig but has become equally famous for her career in (it says here) gardening. The British love their gardens.

Alyssa Milano

66. Alyssa Milano

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1988, Who's the Boss?. It was clear in the late '80s that Alyssa was going to be a major babe – so what if she didn't turn 18 until 1990? Hey, she started it – her Who's the Boss character was quintessential jailbait, and Alyssa's porny-titled dance video Teen Steam (“Ya gotta let it out!”) only made matters worse/better.
Where Is She Now: She continues to act, and to play babe roles, from Melrose Place, to Charmed, to My Name is Earl.

Monique Gabrielle

65. Monique Gabrielle

Occupation: Penthouse Pet/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1984, Bachelor Party. Who can forget Monique Gabrielle, nude, perched on the end of a bed offering herself to groom Tom Hanks? When he resists, her head is replaced by his friend, who urges him to go for the gold, and then a nun, who scolds him for considering it. Bizarre hot fun, with spectacular boobs.
Where Is She Now: Last seen in Planet of the Erotic Ape, 2002.

Jessica Hahn

64. Jessica Hahn

Occupation: Scandalizer
Hottest Moment: 1988, good girl-turned-bad girl Jess writhes in some sort of sex pit/chicken coop as horny rock stars on in the video for Sam Kinison's “Wild Thing.” It's great while it lasts, until she's tackled and molested by Kinison himself, the fat fuck.
Where Is She Now: Funny you ask—earlier this year, she appeared on The View for a “Where are they now?” segment and harassed Barbara Walters over Walters' admission that she had an affair with a U.S. Senator.

Sean Young

63. Sean Young

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1982, Blade Runner. Sean played Rachael, a replicant who believed she was human. She seemed real enough to Harrison Ford, who was ordered to give her a Voight-Kampff but opted instead to give her the old in-out.
Where Is She Now: First contestant eliminated on Skating With the Stars, 2010.

Samantha Fox

62. Samantha Fox

Occupation: Model/Singer
Hottest Moment: 1983-86, as a "Page 3 Girl" in the UK -- if you lived there, you might have seen Samantha's boobs in the newspaper on any given morning, which is pretty hot, but for the rest of the world it would be the video for her first single “Touch Me (I Want Your Body),” which believe it or not was all about sex.
Where Is She Now: Gone lesbian, actually, with her manager Myra Stratton.

Ola Ray

61. Ola Ray

Occupation: Playmate
Hottest Moment: 1983, Michael Jackson's “Thriller” long-form music video. With his jheri-curl, soft voice, and snappy zippery leather jackets, Michael Jackson was one pretty young fellow. It took an extra-pretty girl to steal the spotlight, and Ola was that girl. When he tells her “Go away!” you know something must really be wrong.
Where Is She Now: Last seen suing Michael Jackson for uncollected royalties on the video.

Susanna Hoffs

60. Susanna Hoffs

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1986, the video for “Walk Like an Egyptian.” She only sings one verse, but she gets her money's worth; with the little-girl voice, giant perm hairdo, and the big shifty eyes she's the porn star in the girl group.
Where Is She Now: The Bangles released their fifth album, Sweetheart of the Sun, on September 27, and it's totally not bad. More importantly, Susanna has barely aged in the 25 years since her aforementioned hottest moment.

Traci Lords

59. Traci Lords

Occupation: Porn Star
Hottest Moment: Hard to say. She undoubtedly had many moments that seemed hot at the time, but when it was discovered she had been underage for the bulk of her porn career, those moments went from “hot” to “illegal.” So, uh, yeah... all her movies are in a 100-way tie for disqualified.
Where Is She Now: Now two decades into her mainstream career. Last seen in Zack & Miri Make a Porno and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.

Linda Fiorentino

58. Linda Fiorentino

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, Vision Quest. Matthew Modine is an 18-year-old high school wrestler. His dad rents a room in the house to a model-quality hot 21-year-old babe who tends to go bra-less in a wife-beater tee. What could possibly not go right?
Where Is She Now: Flirting with retirement – she's made one movie since 2002.

Dolly Parton

57. Dolly Parton

Occupation: Singer/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1980, Dolly starts off in Nine to Five as a helpless busty secretary ogled and harassed every day by boss Dabney Coleman; by the end she's a busty badass who'll hog-tie you if you step out of line. Both have their charms.
Where Is She Now: She's AARP age but still making country records and promoting them with her huge augmented backbreaking boobs. Or is it promoting her huge augmented backbreaking boobs with country records?

Ally Sheedy

56. Ally Sheedy

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, The Breakfast Club. Molly Ringwald scrapes and scrubs this weird, grimy loner; when she's done the weird, clean loner that remains is pretty damn cute. Still – part of us liked her better dirty.
Where Is She Now: Still acting; her most interesting post-80s moment was without a doubt the lesbian scene with Radha Mitchell in 1998's High Art.

Erin Gray

55. Erin Gray

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1979-81, when she appeared weekly as Dr. Wilma Deering, sexpot in a white jumpsuit on Buck Rogers. It was also nice when she returned to TV in 1982 as Ricky Schroeder's stepMILF on Silver Spoons.
Where Is She Now: Looks like she'll be returning to the 25th century with Buck Rogers Begins, although she plays Frances Rogers, Buck's mom. Paging Dr. Freud…

Sheena Easton

54. Sheena Easton

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1987, Prince's “U Got the Look” video. Sheena did some sappy stuff – duets with Kenny Rogers, the song about her baby taking the morning train – but was happiest strutting her Scottish stuff. Particularly on songs like “Strut,” and “U Got the Look.” And “Sugar Walls”? What was that about? Go ask your father.
Where Is She Now: Playing small ball in various TV and theater productions. Earlier this year she appeared on a special celebrating Kenny Rogers' 50 year country music career.

Tanya Roberts

53. Tanya Roberts

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1982, Beastmaster. It's hard to say whether she was sexier in Beastmaster or Sheena – the nude scenes (caught bathing in a lake) are nearly identical, so maybe it doesn't matter. But Beastmaster is the far awesomer film, no doubt about it. The guy could control animals with his mind!
Where Is She Now: She did 76 episodes of That 70s Show.

Olivia Newton John

52. Olivia Newton John

Occupation: Singer/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1981, “Physical.” This early-80s megahit was emblematic of the decade in so many ways. The beautiful and toned Olivia prancing around, unashamedly objectifying musclebound weightlifters. This was a woman in control of her body and her sexuality. This was also a woman with that awful 80s short hair singing synth-heavy cheesy pop music. But don't kid yourself, you still would.
Where Is She Now: Standard stuff for a mostly-retired icon: Charity gigs and occasional mega-hyped concerts. And she's done Glee twice.

Donna Rice

51. Donna Rice

Occupation: Scandalizer
Hottest Moment: 1987, sitting on presidential hopeful Gary Hart's lap. She's a sexy blonde with legs up to here; he's married and wearing a t-shirt that says “Monkey Business Crew.” Make that former presidential hopeful Gary Hart.
Where Is She Now: Born again (but still pretty hot, praise Jesus) and preaching against the dangers of the Internet with the group Enough is Enough.

Meredith Salenger

50. Meredith Salenger

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1988-89, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon and Dream a Little Dream; this sweet young thing with a pug nose and – frankly – huge rack was unforgettably hot in these two movies you are ashamed to admit you've seen.
Where Is She Now: Still acting; you may have spotted her on a couple of episodes of Damages earlier this year.

Michelle Pfeiffer

49. Michelle Pfeiffer

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, Scarface. Al Pacino as Tony Montana is one serious bad-ass coke mogul. But his weakness wasn't really the white stuff – it was his white-bread high-class tramp of a wife. The poor bastard.
Where Is She Now: Soon to be seen in the movie version of Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp.

Courteney Cox

48. Courteney Cox

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1984, “Dancing in the Dark.” No, it wasn't her multi-season run as Michael J. Fox's girlfriend on Family Ties. It wasn't her turn as a telekinetic on Misfits of Science. It was 30 seconds at the end of Bruce Springsteen's “Dancing in the Dark” video. She was fresh-faced and cute; by today's standards her outfit was boyish, her white Converse sneaks were dorky, her haircut was butch—but in 1984? Smokin'!
Where Is She Now: Gearing up for the third season of Cougar Town, coming to your local ABC affiliate in November.

Melanie Griffith

47. Melanie Griffith

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1984, Body Double. In Brian DePalma's pervy voyeuristic thriller, Melanie played Holly Body, the porn star who does a naked dance that sucks a B-movie actor into a murder trap. When our wimpy peeping Tom visits the sexual underworld (to the sounds of Frankie Goes to Hollywood), he's clearly out of his depth, and she is its queen in assless chaps.
Where Is She Now: Still acting, now and then, and still improbably married to Antonio Banderas.

Demi Moore

46. Demi Moore

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1986, Making hot monkey love to Rob Lowe in About Last Night, then going to the kitchen to drink orange juice in the nude. A girl needs her vitamin C.
Where Is She Now: Making movies, but more famous for being the cougar that ate Ashton Kutcher, her child groom.

Lea Thompson

45. Lea Thompson

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, Back to the Future, but when she busts out the booze at prom and tries to seduce her time-traveling son Michael J. Fox. It's the perfect oedipal moment, making every man wonder, if only for a split second – If I could go back in time and meet my mom in her prime, would I, you know...? Would I at least feel her up just to see what it was like?
Where Is She Now: Still acting, most recently in the family TV series Switched at Birth. We had to look it up on IMDB.

Ginger Lynn

44. Ginger Lynn

Occupation: Porn Star
Hottest Moment: 1984-86, her brief but prolific porn career in which she made an appropriate 69 films. She borrowed her look from Madonna, specialized in back-door sex, and beat out Traci Lords to become the first ever Vivid Girl.
Where Is She Now: Doing the wild thing on camera with studs half her age, having come out of retirement (again) in 2007.

Kirstie Alley

43. Kirstie Alley

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1987, when she joined the cast of Cheers. Cheers had been on the air since 1982, and it was a great show except for one thing: There is no way Ted Danson would be hung up on Shelley Long. Completely implausible. From her appearance to her character traits, there was just nothing to merit that romantic plotline. When the creators woke up to that fact and gave him a worthy adversary, things got interesting.
Where Is She Now: She's livin' large, recently seen on Fat Actress, Dancing With the Stars, and Jenny Craig commercials.

Whitney Houston

42. Whitney Houston

Occupation: Singer/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, “How Will I Know.” She'd been a fashion model in the early '80s (and was the first black girl to make the cover of Seventeen), and it shows in this happy, dancey video. In fact, the wonder of it was that once you got past the fact that this was a very, very pretty girl you might notice she was actually a hell of a singer too.
Where Is She Now: Not doing so good. Lets not go into it. We prefer to remember her as she was.

Kimberley Conrad

41. Kimberley Conrad

Occupation: Playmate
Hottest Moment: 1989, when she was named Playmate of the Year. Although it was in the same year that she married Hugh Hefner, which was not a very hot moment, and in fact ushered in a buzzkill of an era at the Playboy Mansion as the party schedule was drastically reduced and the diaper-changing schedule increased. But she was hot.
Where Is She Now: After years of separation (with Kim living in a house next door), their divorce was finalized in 2010.

Dian Parkinson

40. Dian Parkinson

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1975-1993. Whether the prize was a boat or a trip to Puerto Vallarta, The Price is Right's producers jumped at every chance to put the shapely Miss Parkinson into a bikini. Bob Barker (later accused of sexual harassment, don't you know) didn't hesitate to bring the show to a halt just to ogle Dian before the audience of unamused housewives.
Where Is She Now: Unknown. Last seen in on the cover of Playboy in 1991 and 1995 and in her own “Celebrity Centerfold “ Special Edition.

Mia Sara

39. Mia Sara

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1986, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Much as we like the character of Ferris Bueller, the cheeky trickster who gets away with it all, we still have a hard time believing he could get with girlfriend Sloane Peterson. Mia Sara was so hot, if you stuck a lump of coal up her ass you'd be grilling burgers in no time. What?
Where Is She Now: Last seen as a game Harley Quinn in the shoulda-been-better Birds of Prey.

Jody Watley

38. Jody Watley

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1989, "Real Love." On her previous album she'd been "Looking for a New Love," and now she was back complaining that she needed a "Real Love." What? Did nobody have any sort of halfway decent love for Jody? That's a damn shame.
Where Is She Now: In 2008 had chart-topping dance single with "I Want Your Love." Dammit will somebody give this girl love?

Kathy Ireland

37. Kathy Ireland

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1989, when she appeared on the cover of the 25th anniversary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. In all she had a 13-year run as a Sports Illustrated model, and though she may have been second fiddle to Elle MacPherson, she's a very nice fiddle – we're talking Stradivarius.
Where Is She Now: Multitasking the hell out of Kathy Ireland Worldwide, her phenomenally successful marketing and lifestyle company.

Rebecca Demornay

36. Rebecca Demornay

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, Risky Business. As Lana the hooker with a heart of stone, she was everything a white boy off the lake wants. But only Tom Cruise had the nerve to dial her up, and the over-the-top sex scene that happens in the living room (did the wind really just blow the door open?) seemed worth any price. That is, until Guido the Killer Pimp shows up with a moving van.
Where Is She Now: She's kept the career going, playing past-their-prime-but-still-hot babes in The Wedding Crashers and the doomed HBO series John from Cincinnati.

Joan Jett

35. Joan Jett

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1982, the video for “Do You Wanna Touch Me.” With early videos like “I Love Rock 'n Roll” and “Crimson and Clover,” Jett played up her rock-chick image: perhaps attractive, but so tough and scary you'll never really know. With “Dou You Wanna Touch Me,” she allowed herself a little more sex appeal, opening a fur coat to show off her bikini-clad body and boxing is a tank top and short shorts.
Where Is She Now: Gay and still kicking ass

Vanna White

34. Vanna White

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1987, when old pictures of her were published in Playboy. She was a hot presence on Wheel of Fortune throughout the '80s, but the Playboy spread took her to another level.
Where Is She Now: After nearly 30 years, still turning them letters, sellin' them vowels, and clappin' them hands with Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune.

Renee Tenison

33. Renee Tenison

Occupation: Playmate
Hottest Moment: A midwestern phenom with a white mother and black father – the Barack Obama of Centerfolds – Renee posed for the November 1989 Playmate pictorial and was picked Playmate of the Year. She was the first (and remains the only) black girl to win the honor.
Where Is She Now: In 2002, Renee returned to the pages of Playboy in a nude photo session with her twin sister Rosie. And today, at just 43 years old, the Tenison Twins are still hot as hell; just a couple of months ago they made the scene in lingerie at the Midsummer Night's Dream party at the Playboy Mansion.

Christy Canyon

32. Christy Canyon

Occupation: Porn Star
Hottest Moment: 1984. When you're a porn star (and you're not), just showing up for work every day is a hottest moment by the standards of the straight world—but for the sake of argument we'll say that Christy's hottest was her first, when she busted her porn cherry in 1984's Swedish Erotica 57 with one Ron Jeremy. She was 18 and a natural 36DD; he was, as always, the Hedgehog.
Where Is She Now: Co-hosting Spice Sex Circus with Ginger Lynn on Sirius XM Radio.

Helen Slater

31. Helen Slater

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, as the title character in The Legend of Billie Jean. When a blonde Texas beauty decides to avenge the trashing of her brother's Honda scooter, she chops off her hair, slips into a wetsuit, and goes rogue all over the Lone Star State.
Where Is She Now: Plays Kristin Mercer on the ABC Family series The Lying Game

Annabella Lwin

30. Annabella Lwin

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1982; as the Mohawk-ed exotic (half-Burmese) siren on the beach in Bow Wow Wow's “I Want Candy,” she was hot—then she topped it by going nude on the cover of the group's album. She was 15.
Where Is She Now: Alive and perhaps still making music – there's a sorta-recent biography and free mp3s (and they're not bad) at annabellalwin.com

Loni Anderson

29. Loni Anderson

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1980, carrying her '70s TV hotness and big hair right into the '80s. A steadying influence given the turnover (and impending demise) of Charlie's Angels. Loni as receptionist Jennifer Marlowe was perfect, yet perfectly unavailable: She constantly nurtured hapless Arthur Carlson, who wouldn't dream of laying a finger on her, and easily rebuffed the inane advances of Herb Tarlek and Johnny Fever.
Where Is She Now: Hasn't been seen on the screen since the Tori Spelling show So NoTORIous. Yes, there was a Tori Spelling show So NoTORIous.

Jennifer Beals

28. Jennifer Beals

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1983, Flashdance, dousing her naked self with water in a gentlemen's club (as we call them today). She played a welder who works as a stripper but dreams of being a ballerina, and her leggy, bra-lessm grungy gray sweatshirt look made for one of the decade's sexiest movie posters.
Where Is She Now: Starred on The Chicago Code, which was canceled after one season by Fox earlier this year.

Belinda Carlisle

27. Belinda Carlisle

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1981, "Our Lips Are Sealed." Belinda as the lead singer needs to be the prettiest of the Go-Go's, and she is. In this classic video she's driving an old Buick around with her chick posse, and you know that they're not gonna pick you up. They might slow down and laugh, but they're gonna keep driving.
Where Is She Now: Appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2009 and did Hairspray in London's West End

Kelly McGillis

26. Kelly McGillis

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: Only in a Tom Cruise movie could the Navy's top civilian expert on Soviet aircraft be a totally nailable chick. The many young men who flocked to military flight schools after seeing the movie were no doubt disappointed in the lack of leggy babes to debrief.
Where Is She Now: Out lesbian.

Kathleen Turner

25. Kathleen Turner

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1981, Body Heat. In her debut screen role, Turner played a husky-voiced temptress wants to kill her rich husband and run away with the loot and William Hurt. This foolproof plan goes awry in many ways, and Hurt has to wonder whether she's playing him. She is, of course, but she's so damn hot...
Where Is She Now: Still husky-voiced and now also physically husky, Kathleen plays a sexually aggressive Hollywood type in Californication.

Naomi Campbell

24. Naomi Campbell

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1988, when she appeared on the cover of French Vogue. You may not care about French Vogue (ok, you don't) but consider this: She was the first black model ever to be on the cover, and got the job because Yves Saint-Laurent threatened to pull his advertising if she didn't. That's boundary-breaking sex appeal. Every black fashion model who followed owes a debt to this assistant-abusing beauty who at decade's end was (with Lind Evangelista and Christy Turnlington) one of “the trinity” of uber-successful supermodels.
Where Is She Now: Still modeling and still assaulting inferiors – you go, girl! Actually, take it easy on the inferiors.

Daryl Hannah

23. Daryl Hannah

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1984, Splash. She was hot in Blade Runner and Wall Street (see also Sean Young), but nothing touches Daryl in Splash. When she's a mermaid, she's topless; when she grows legs and steps onto dry land, she's buck naked. Good and gooder.
Where Is She Now: In the early 2000s, she did the Kill Bill movies and Playboy, but lately she's making “plastic surgery gone wrong” lists. Such a shame.

Fawn Hall

22. Fawn Hall

Occupation: Scandalizer
Hottest Moment: 1987, allegedly smuggling confidential documents out of Ollie North's office by hiding them in her underwear. Pervy senator Howell Heflin stated it publicly; Hall denied it and called it sexist; Fawn's bra and panties could not be reached for comment.
Where Is She Now: She went beat an addiction to crack in the 1990s and was last seen (in 2008, by TMZ) working at bookstore Book Soup in West Hollywood.

Bo Derek

21. Bo Derek

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1984, Bolero. Bo steamed it up as the generally-naked sex bomb in “10” in 1979, but don't let that overshadow several nudity-packed, poorly-acted films she made in the '80s. Bolero wasn't a good movie, but watching the sheikh lick honey off Bo's quivering tummy was amply entertaining.
Where Is She Now: She continues to act, though is more involved in working with horse rights and veterans' issues. For several years she's been living with John Corbett, of Northern Exposure, United States of Tara, and Applebee's fame.

Janet Jackson

20. Janet Jackson

Occupation: Singer/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1986, when she released the album Control. Michael Jackson's baby sister, no longer the overcute teen of Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes, embraces her sexuality and tells the mashers “My name ain't 'baby,' it's Janet—Miss Jackson if you're nasty.” We're sorry, Miss Jackson. Please Janet don't hurt us.
Where Is She Now: Still releasing albums and acting (in For Colored Girls and a couple of Tyler Perry movies), the best thing she did in the 21st century was pop a boob in a “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2005 Super Bowl.

Christina Applegate

19. Christina Applegate

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1987; Married With Children was a crass show on a network (Fox) eager to make a name for itself. Christina, as prime time sitcomdom's first slutty daughter, was mesmerizing.
Where Is She Now: Currently co-starring in the new NBC comedy Up All Night.

Stephanie Seymour

18. Stephanie Seymour

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: The late 1980s, when she was a perennial presence in your mailbox. Not just in the Sports Illustrted Swimsuit Issue, she was also a regular in the Victoria's Secret catalog. Which had begun to look a lot like the Swimsuit Issue at that point.
Where Is She Now: Married with a high school-aged son. Earlier this year pictures of them seming to make out caused a ruckus on the internet, but that died down when the lad came forth and said he's gay.

Paula Abdul

17. Paula Abdul

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1989, “Straight Up.” Who is this babe, American wondered, with the exotic last name, dance moves, and tolerable singing voice, and why is Arsenio Hall in her video? The mystery drew us in, and her sexiest videos – “Cold Hearted” and “Promise of a New Day” kept us interested. But she almost lost us with that MC Skat Cat travesty.
Where Is She Now: Eh, not so much mystery left after tabloid ubiquity and TV saturation on American Idol. But she gets credit for still being in the game.

Shannon Tweed

16. Shannon Tweed

Occupation: Playmate/Actress
Hottest Moment: 1982, Hot Dog the Movie. As Sylvia Fonda, Shannon was there to provide boobs, a welcome respite from the heavy plot of this ski slope comedy. She went on to be naked in numerous other art films. She was one of Playboy's most frequent posers: as Playmate, Playmate of the Year, and semi-lesbian with her younger sister Tracy.
Where Is She Now: On the reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, playing the Kiss lead singer's still-hot wife. Which she is.

Heather Locklear

15. Heather Locklear

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1982, when she began working both sides of the moral fence as gold-digger Sammy Jo Dean on Dynasty and hot cop Stacy Sheridan on TJ Hooker.
Where Is She Now: Still going strong as a sex symbol, even hitting the beach in a polka-dot bikini on her 50th birthday.

Sheila E.

14. Sheila E.

Occupation: Singer/Drummer
Hottest Moment: 1987, drum solo in Sign O' The Times. Drum solos suck – really, do you ever get much out of a drum solo? The one exception to this rule is when the drummer is a hot babe, like Sheila E. in her mid-80s prime. You can find the clip on YouTube – we don't think we're being overly perverted when we say that Sheila in a spandex top and hot pants hammering away at the traps looks like sex. It just does. Really good sex.
Where Is She Now: In 2009 she won the third season of the CMT show Gone Country.

Elle MacPherson

13. Elle MacPherson

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1988, cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She is holding goggles, wearing what appears to be a rubber one-piece, and flaunting a couple of impressive all-natural flotation devices.
Where Is She Now: Living in the UK, hosting Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, bathing, dressing, undressing, making exciting underwear for her own label, Elle MacPherson Intimates.

Vanessa Williams

12. Vanessa Williams

Occupation: Singer/Actress/Miss America
Hottest Moment: 1983-84, winning Miss America and then being published nude in Penthouse. Those were highs and lows for her, no doubt, but thus was a sex symbol born. We kind of think it's unlikely that she would have become the esteemed actress and singer had she not received that boost of notoriety that elicited, more than anything, public sympathy. Everyone likes a comeback kid, especially when she's hot. (Trivia: It is illegal to possess Vanessa's issue of Penthouse because it also features an underage Traci Lords and is therefore child pornography.)
Where Is She Now: Played bitchy Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty from 2006 to 2010.

Kelly LeBrock

11. Kelly LeBrock

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1985, Weird Science, a film about two geeks who create a perfect woman. And they pretty much succeeded with Kelly: Saucy English accent, pleasingly-sized breasts (“any larger and you're risking a sprained thumb” says one nerd), huge '80s hair and all.
Where Is She Now: She most recently popped up on a couple of reality shows, Hells Kitchen and Celebrity Fit Club.

Debbie Harry

10. Debbie Harry

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1980, Blondie's “Rapture” video; the ever-beautiful Harry mingles with downtown NYC types and then tries her hand at rapping. And her rapping was not, ah, good. But damn – this is a white girl who was at the vanguard of punk and new wave, and now she's cool enough to follow Grandmaster Flash's lead? That's hot. She was once a Playboy Bunny, you know.
Where Is She Now: Debbie has released five solo albums to date, and Blondie plays reunion tours every couple of years.

Cindy Crawford

9. Cindy Crawford

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1988. Arguably the world's first supermodel, she graced countless fashion magazine covers—yeah, yeah. All you need to know is 1988. Playboy. Herb Ritts.
Where Is She Now: She retired from modeling in 2000, but in May 2011 appeared on the cover of Mexican Vogue. Could this be a comeback?

Robin Givens

8. Robin Givens

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1986, Head of the Class. Robin played the spoiled, smart, and super-cute Darlene Merriman – the kind of squeaky-clean princess that inspires the dirtiest of thoughts.
Where Is She Now: She continues to act, although her public image has never been the same since her brief, tumultuous marriage to Mike Tyson. For the messy divorce that arguably sent Iron Mike's career swirling down the toilet, Givens was dubbed “the most hated woman in America,” although she wasn't so hated that people wouldn't look at her naked in Playboy in 1994.

Christie Brinkley

7. Christie Brinkley

Occupation: Model
Hottest Moment: 1983; as Chevy Chase drives across the country in Vacation, his babe of a wife (Beverly D'Angelo) by his side, he longs for something else—and something else (Christy Brinkley) shows up driving a red Ferrari. At a roadside motel, she strips naked and coaxes him into the pool, which, it turns out, is freezing cold.
Where Is She Now: She's currently involved in politics and anti-nuclear activism, and owns a ton of valuable property in the Hamptons.

Lisa Bonet

6. Lisa Bonet

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1987, Angel Heart. If you were to pick one girl from the Cosby Show you wanted to see in a New Orleans voodoo sex movie, it would have been Lisa Bonet. Well, you could make the case for Phylicia Rashad.
Where Is She Now: Did a stint on Life on Mars as Detective Maya Daniels.

Elizabeth Shue

5. Elizabeth Shue

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1988, skinny-dipping with Tom Cruise under a waterfall in Cocktail, although the scene pales in comparison to her boobtastic tequila bath in Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
Where Is She Now: Moved on to executive hottie role in Piranha (2009), presiding over the likes of Kelly Brook and Riley Steele.

Sade

4. Sade

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1985, “Smooth Operator.” Nigerian-born seductress Sade croons breathy vocals over tropical rhythm and an lazy but insistent saxophone – this is chillwave music before its time, the perfect soundtrack to your fantasy of making love with a breathy, Nigerian-born seductress.
Where Is She Now: In 2010, released her sixth album, Soldier of Love.

Kim Basinger

3. Kim Basinger

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1986, 9 ½ weeks. We kind of have to say 9 ½ weeks because it's legendary as one of the sex-packed Mickey Rourke 80s films that nearly got an X rating (other is Angel Heart – see Lisa Bonet). But really, Kim was just as hot in Blind Date, No Mercy, Batman – one of the true sexpots of the decade. And those other ones are far better movies.
Where Is She Now: Still acting – last seen, if barely, in The Informers.

Phoebe Cates

2. Phoebe Cates

Occupation: Actress
Hottest Moment: 1982, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the single most iconic nude scene of the decade. Judge Reinhold's life is a big steaming pile of crap and all he wants it a little private time to rub one out to his sister's friend. He imagines Phoebe undoing her bikini top and kissing him, and all is well in his private little world until she walks in on him in flagrante delicto solo.
Where Is She Now: All but retired from acting since the mid-90s, she owns a super-fancy boutique on the Upper East Side of Manhattan called Blue Tree.

Madonna

1. Madonna

Occupation: Singer
Hottest Moment: 1983-89; Madonna was without a doubt the sexual icon of the decade, going from hot to hotter. She burst out of the gates by bringing usually-hidden sexuality to the surface – pioneering the lingerie-on-the-outside look and dancing like a stripper while wearing a wedding dress. One of her first hits was the obviously sexual “Like a Virgin;” in her videos she was a peep-show dancer (Open Your Heart), a pregnant teen (Papa Don't Preach), a money-grubbing Marilyn Monroe (Material Girl) and a dominatrix in charge of a gay porn factory (Express Yourself). Oh yeah, and there was the time she fooled around with Jesus – black Jesus (Like a Prayer). Girls wanted to be her, straight boys and lesbians wanted to do her, and gay boys wanted to soak up her fabulousness. Something for everyone.
Where Is She Now: She continues to make music and score hits – “4 Minutes” from 2008 went to #3 in the US and topped the charts in seven other countries. Not bad for a sinewy 50-year-old mom.