Blonde Ambition: The Cream of the Crop

It really was a no-brainer to reward our loyal punters with a gallery to set the heart racing on the back of the Marilyn Monroe classic, which showed on ITV's flagship channel earlier this year.

The Howard Hawks film features Norma Jean Mortensen, Monroe's birth name, and Jane Russell as the 'Two Little Girls from Little Rock'. When told she was not the star, Monroe apparently said: "Well whatever I am, I'm still the blonde."

With that humdinger of a line in mind, we look at the best blondes the movie world has served up over the years starting with...

We could have gone one of three ways with this quirky category, thanks to Uma Thurman's mesmerising turn as The Bride in Kill Bill and Michael Madsen's terminally cool role as Mr Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's heist bloodfest Reservoir Dogs.

But we covered Uma in a gallery last week and, well, Madsen's packing something decidedly unfemale between the legs so it led us to the whirlwind of nature Jessica Alba to knock our socks off as Sin City's lasso wielding exotic dancer Nancy Callahan.

Despite the fact Marilyn Monroe was given the punchy nickname for her daring exploits on and off screen, there were a whole host of other movie stars before her, like Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard, that entranced audiences worldwide.

Once she exploded into the mainstream consciousness, Monroe was the name on most people's lips however fellow blondie Jayne Mansfield also carved out an impressive career on the silver screen before a car crash killed her aged just 34.

Old Alfred most definitely had a soft spot for a blonde during his prolific career as The Master of Suspense employing the likes of Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak and Janet Leigh to star in his classic thrillers.

Nevertheless they had to go some to beat Tippi Hedren's iconic performance in 1963's The Birds, which still leaves audiences staring up at the sky in dread after any sphincter clenching viewing. Naomi Watts is set to star in the new remake.

You'd have thought that 007 would have had a boatload of brilliant blondes to seduce or tangle with over the years, however the Bond franchise seems to have been brunette heavy ever since Ursula Andress stepped out the water in Dr. No.

Despite his penchant for dark-haired damsels, there are still enough blondes to set the pulse racing thanks to Andress and Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore. However, Britt Ekland's marvellous Mary Goodnight from The Man With The Golden Gun tops the lot.

There's been a fair few blondes to venture into the depths of space or various apocalyptic futures, however none have had quite the impact that Daryl Hannah's pretty Pris did on audiences in Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi flick Blade Runner.

I know, I know, she's a replicant, but damn she looked good. Considering she's got the likes of Species stunner Natasha Henstridge to fend off, it shows how much she sizzled. Hannah also starred in The Real Blonde. Nuff said.

Damn, this was a hard one to narrow down with a bevy of seductresses to pick from including Madonna's wax-laden temptress Rebecca Carlson in the ludicrous Body of Evidence and Patricia Arquette's foxy Alabama in True Romance.

Let's not beat around the bush though, despite the fact it's what made the film famous, it's got to be Basic Instinct ice maiden Catherine Tramell. As played by Sharon Stone, this is one top-to tail-blonde that leaves you seriously weak at the knees.

Don't call me babe! Alright, chill out Pammie. Jeepers, you'd think I'd leaked another of her sex tapes on the Internet. Who could forget the Baywatch star's big screen effort from 1996? Well quite a few people based on the lousy box office as it happens.

Aside from this trifling fact, Anderson steamed up the screen as bounty hunter Barbara 'Barb Wire' Kopetski to pip the likes of Nine to Five's Dolly Parton and Dukes of Hazzard's Daisy Duke herself, Jessica Simpson, in this hard fought category.

As you'd expect, based on the endless stream of blonde jokes that do the rounds, this category was as fiercely contested as a Hollywood casting call for Titanic 2. With Tinseltown, in particular, embracing the delicious div it was a real cat fight.

Goldie Hawn set the tone ahead of daughter Kate Hudson, Paris Hilton, Alicia Silverstone and Legally Blonde's Reese Witherspoon. The pick of the bunch, though, is Cameron Diaz's Natalie Cook from Charlie's Angels. Only pic I could find, honest! 

I'm not going to lie folks. This one had me stumped after a lifelong fascination with the elegant Elisabeth Shue, stemming from way too many fevered rewinds of Adventures in Babysitting, clouded my judgement of more recent films.

Perennial darling Drew Barrymore should have had this category locked up ahead of contenders like Kate Bosworth, but it's Elisha Cuthbert who edges it this time based on 2004's retired porn star lives nearby effort....The Girl Next Door. I need a cold shower.

Is there anything sexier than a classic noir blonde fixing you with intoxicating eyes, while locking her lips round a cigarette? A naked noir blonde, for starters, but aside from that you can see why this was another tricky category that left me in a pickle.

After all we have a treasure trove of classy dames from noir staples to pick from, together with L.A. Confidential's luscious Lynn Bracken. When push came to shove, though, Scarlett Johansson's turn as Kay Lake in The Black Dahlia won out. Kookamunga.

Along with the final category, this presented me with one hell of a blonde dilemma. Being blonde myself, you can imagine the cerebral carnage it induced. With the likes of Helen Mirren and Julie Christie in the mix, it was never going to be easy.

They are both British blondes and Classic blondes on the back of their stellar careers - I mean Christie in Dr Zhivago alone makes me shudder. Sienna Miller, however, gets the nod for the likes of Layer Cake and her quality turn in Interview. Simply stunning.

You can probably guess from my enthusiasm for this gallery that I could create a shedload more needless categories to pimp movie blondes, and avoid the real world for a few more hours, but alas I have to bring this to a close for fear of cardiac arrest.

We've covered the cream of the crop, which leaves us with one final choice. Kelly, Lange, Deneuve and Dunaway came close, but they lost to the wondrous Michelle Pfeiffer. From Scarface to Stardust, she's blazed a blonde trail like no other. We salute you.