The 20 Greatest Sex Symbols - African American

Ebony, Dec, 1999

As you can see from these photos, they don't just have it. They ooze it. Drip it. Seep it. In pictures or in person, sex appeal--that maddeningly opaque quality that no one can explain but everyone can recognize--pulsates from their gaze, their smile, their stance.

And while each and every one of these stars has been repeatedly described as gorgeous in the extreme, they were--and in many cases still are--much more than physically beautiful. for millions, they are fantasy-made flesh. Passion-made persons. Magic and mystery and make-you-wanna-holler longing made mortal.

On the following pages, EBONY celebrates the 20 hottest sex symbols of the last 100 years.

Naomi Campbell

How important is the right walk? On the run-ways of New York and Paris, it can make or break a fashion show--not to mention a model's career. That's why Campbell's famous strut has inspired thousands of imitators. To millions of admiring men, the British-born model's sensual stride, with all its panther-like grace, is as sexy as her perfect figure and come-hither stare. In an industry filled with beautiful women, the undeniable sensuality of this 29-year-old daughter of Jamaican immigrants has not only landed her on the cover of every major fashion magazine, it's made her a showstopper, not to mention one of the highest-paid models in the world.

Lena Horne

She was the pin-up Black GIs carried with them during World War II and, in 1944, her striking beauty made the star of Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather the first Black actress pictured on the cover of a movie magazine, Motion Picture Magazine. Today, at 81, the legendary beauty and Grammy Award-winning star is as gorgeous as she was when she began her career at the Cotton Club. "The thing is now, I'm glad I still have a little bit of this beauty they have made such a fuss about all these years," she has said of her legendary looks. "When I'm made up, I look as though I still have a lot of it. So they might come to look, but...they forget about it after...I sing. And then if I'm true in what I sing and do, they forget about the way I look. They see what I want them to see--what's in [my heart]."

Dorothy Dandridge

Men worshipped her and women wanted to be her. Her smoldering sensuality and take-your-breath-away beauty made her Hollywood's first Black sex symbol. When the Cleveland-born star lit up the screen as the sultry, seductive Carmen Jones, international fame and a place in history followed. (Dandridge was the first Black woman nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.) In 1965, Dandridge died young and beautiful of an overdose of an antidepressant.

Billy Dee Williams

His portrayal of Louis McKay, the Harlem gambler who loved jazz legend Billie Holiday in the 1972 movie Lady Sings the Blues, made the 6-foot actor an overnight matinee idol and sex symbol. Throughout the '70s, Williams epitomized, for millions of women, the perfect man--sensitive, romantic, sexy in the extreme. "I like the idea of making love, and I don't mean just a little bit," the actor, now 62, once said. "I enjoy putting myself totally into a woman. I want to experience the whole animal thing and the whole spiritual thing with no reservations."

Joe Louis

Long regarded as the king of the ring, Joe Louis was also the king of ladies' hearts. The dapper prizefighter, who held the heavyweight championship longer than any other boxer (12 years), captivated women with his charm and grace for nearly 30 years. It is said that Louis valued romance as much as he loved sports, and history seems to agree. The boxer was married three times and linked romantically to a number of Hollywood stars.

Josephine Baker

She conquered Paris and Broadway and became a legend in her own time. As an actor, singer and dancer, Baker's charisma and sex appeal was nothing short of magnetic. "There was something about her rhythm, her warmth, her smile and her impudent grace that made her stand out," Langston Hughes said of Baker after he saw her dance in a New York musical. An international icon, the star of the famed Folies Bergere was as kind as she was beautiful. In the early 1950s, Baker began to adopt orphaned babies of various races and nationalities whom she called her "rainbow family."

Eartha Kitt

Her father named her Eartha to "thank the earth" and men who have seen her perform continue to thank their lucky stars. At 70, the 5-foot-2 entertainer who speaks six languages fluently has the body of a woman half her age. Apparently, she's as brainy as she is beautiful. In the '50s, when Kitt met Albert Einstein, she asked him about reincarnation. When she realized the 75-year-old physicist didn't know the English word for reincarnation, Kitt spoke in German. Now that's sexy.

Billy Eckstine

They called him "Mr. B." In the early '50s, his velvet vibrato and stunning good looks set women screaming and swooning. "There was not enough space for his fans in nightclubs and theaters, and his records sold like marked-down dollars," a national magazine writer observed of his appeal. Smooth, suave and sensual in his prime, Eckstine's golden-boy looks and romantic ballads could seduce grandmothers and teenagers.