Today, we have Beyoncé and Idris, but before they were heating up Google images, there was Eartha Kitt and Billy Dee Williams. With movie star good looks and the magic to make grown men and women cry, these 15 stars gave us nothing but sex appeal and our parents and grandparents loved it! Here are some of the best black sex symbols of yesteryear!

Source: Promotional Photos/Google Images

Billy Dee Williams

“Oh Billy Dee” is what all of our grandmothers said whenever the mere shadow of this actor came on a screen. Billy Dee was so hot that Diana Ross couldn’t  stop acting with him, appearing with him in Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany.  Billy even made the hood-classic drink Colt 45 hot. Who else can do that?

Christmas was just yesterday and hopefully Santa has already visited your house; but we’re still in the mood for Christmas music, so we chose Eartha Kitt’s slightly sultry, definitely demanding wish list for Mr. Claus. It’s one of our favorites. Is this your song too?

Source: robertoramone.tumblr.com

It’s no secret that black films thrived in the late eighties and early nineties. So it’s no surprise that Boomerang came along when it did. Released in 1992, the film started off as Eddie Murphy’s brainchild. The movie was a hit, becoming the 18th highest grossing film of the year. By now, you’ve probably seen the movie, but we bet you don’t know some of the behind the scenes secrets. Well don’t worry sweetness, we’re going to share the knowledge.

From StyleBlazer.com

StyleBlazer.com

It’s been a long uphill climb for women and an especially burdensome one for black women.  The beaten that we’ve often taken blazing our own trails has left our self-esteem and self-images quite battered and bruised.  Which is why we have celebrated,  and continue to celebrate, those famous black female figures that we do so fiercely.  They taught their generations, and all those that followed, that black was, and always will be, beautiful.

So in honor of National Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating eight great black women in movies, music, modeling, and social movements,  who taught us to love ourselves through their own strength, beauty, and undeniably fabulous styles.

For the full story, visit StyleBlazer.com.

More on Madame Noire!

• Shequoiya, Cordozar And Other Amusing Middle Names Of Black CelebsII
• The Fashion Police’s Most Wanted: 6 Celebrities Whose Style Should Be A Crime
• Chaka Khan, Angela Bassett And Other Celebs Create ‘Super Life’ Video In Trayvon Martin’s Memory
• Tami Roman Suffers Mild Heart Attack
• Would You Let A Man Upgrade You?
• Allen Iverson Says No To Divorce Because He’s Still Getting It On With His Wife
• Introducing Caviar Nails-The Next Nail Trent You’ll Be Beading + How-To Video
• Style To Steal or Girl, Stop: June Ambrose, La La Anthony & Adrienne Bailon

Source: koolcatshipchicksblog.com

Eartha Kitt was a fascinating woman with an equally fascinating story. Born in 1927, Eartha Kitt was the product of a rape between a Cherokee woman and German-Dutch man. As a young girl Eartha went to live with an aunt, who she believed was her biological mother, in South Carolina until she was eight years old. When her aunt got married, her new husband did not like the fact that Eartha was too light complected. So she moved to Harlem to live with her biological mother, although she didn’t know it at the time.

From there, Eartha started performing in Harlem and went on to become a singer, actress and a cabaret star. Spending a good portion of her career in Europe, Eartha spoke four languages and sang in seven. Always reemerging at different points in her career, Orson Welles called her “the most exciting woman in the world.” While there’s no way we can prove that, Eartha definitely was an exciting woman. If you need any proof, check out the pictures of the starlet throughout the course of her lifetime.

Anybody who’s ever achieved anything will tell you that realizing your dreams takes significant hard work and hustle. The word “hustle” may mean different things to different people; but it almost always means making moves, whether legal or…not so legal, to get where you need to go in life. While hustling, grinding and doing what you have to do, you might find yourself in less than comfortable situations. Which is what happened to the following celebs. On the path to their dreams they found themselves in some of the most uncomfortable predicaments as they were homeless, either on the street, or in their car, while they worked toward becoming the people we know them to be. Check out this list and use it as inspiration to go for what you want and deserve in life.

Tyler Perry

Best to start off with the obvious ones. Tyler Perry has told Oprah and the world that before he made it big, writing hit plays and eventually movies the writer, director, producer and actor lived in his car for three months in 1996- while he was using his rent and car payments to finance his plays. Perry says he rolled the dice one too many times but clearly it worked out pretty well… and that’s an understatement.

In everyone’s list of  black women that helped define fashion throughout history, there are the persistent regulars. Let’s see: Grace Jones, Dorothy Dandridge, Halle Berry, Lena Horne, Diana Ross and on and on. They’re known best because they were bombshells or they were fashion freaks–I mean that in a good way, Grace Jones. But behind all these big names and the people that count them as their fashion icons, there have been women like you and me, who aren’t all about the over-the-top glitz but about wearing what works for them and them only. They make their own trends. They are the unsung icons of fashion. So here’s a toast to the women who changed your wardrobe, your hair, your makeup and overall style, even though you didn’t realize it.