Transformation

Julie Christie has always paired style with substance. Born in India and raised in the U.K., she often set aside her sex symbol status (earned in classics like Darling and Dr. Zhivago) in order to wage an offscreen campaign for human and animal rights. Christie went so far as to pass on roles in order to live in a Welsh commune and champion her political causes. "I've had a good run," she once told InStyle. "I've loved every minute of my life."

She played a beatnik beauty in Billy Liar, attracting the attention of Time, who pronounced her "an actress so brimful of careless charm that she parlays a few brief scenes into instant stardom."