Clara Bow
Nude

The original “It Girl,” milky-skinned brunette sexpot Clara Bow led the way for every celluloid sex symbol who followed. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1905, Bow’s meteoric rise to national fantasy fodder coincided with the incredible burgeoning of the motion picture industry. She appeared in 59 silent films, including the aptly named It (1927), in just over 11 years. By ignoring the archaic taboos on cinematic boobs, Clara Bow established herself as the embodiment of lustful hopes and dreams cherished by a nation on an unprecedented growth spurt. Without a word, her sex-brimming eyes and the sinuous eroticism of her slightest movement filled the screen with the crackling potential of spontaneous combustion. Clara let her perfectly pasty perkies fly in Wings (1927) while she took off her dress. But even inside the dress her silent assassins looked ready to pop at any moment. They did pop out in 1932’s Call Her Savage during a particularly savage cat fight. With the advent of talkies, Bow became self-conscious of her honking Brooklyn accent and retired at the age of 28. The onset of the Great Depression may have been a simple sign of mourning over all of Clara’s squandered, middle-aged opportunities. However, the restrictive Hays Code, established in 1934 to govern the content of studio films, would have put an end to Clara’s nudity. Take a bow for this pre-Hays Code hottie. She provided the big screen with big boobies before the practice was outlawed for 34 years. Forget “It Girl,” Clara Bow was the original “Tit Girl”!