13 Hottest Women of the 80s

Tons of makeup, big, bright clothing, a shit ton of hairspray, the female models and celebrities of the 80s are smoking hot! With their godly features, personalities and wild pop culture, this amazing era only amplified their beauty. After taking a gander at these hot babes from the 80s, you might even question today’s models on the Victoria’s Secret fashion line.

While TV and movie streaming and everything else online has taken over people’s minds today, MTV, Cable TV and the radio were all that made up the intangible media back then. And there was a lot less of it! So when these models were on camera, they were sizzling hot.

1. Cindy Crawford

Ah, Cindy. A gorgeous model, actress and businesswoman, she has become not only one to gawk at but one to follow. She made her way into fame during the 1980s and 90s through modeling, becoming one of the most popular supermodels on fashion runways and magazine covers. Since then, she’s been in MTV’s House of Style, Super Bowl XXVI Pepsi commercials as well as posing nude for Playboy in 1988! Right now, she’s enjoying life in privacy, focusing on her family.

2. Pamela Anderson

Beautiful babe Pamela Anderson is best known for her work on Home Improvement (1991- 93, 1997), Baywatch (1992 – 97) and V.I.P. (198 – 2002). She’s also been in numerous Playboy magazines, rising to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 Playmate of the Month. She’s also got the record for appearing on the most Playboy magazine covers.

In addition to her fame and beautiful body, Pamela is a strong animal rights activist, conducting numerous campaigns to condemn the commercial fur industry while promoting veganism through People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She’s also got four autobiographical books and two novels she’s published.

3. Olivia Newton-John

Modeling, acting, dancing, businesswoman and activist, Olivia Newton-John does it all. You might think, “where does she get all this time?” Well, she only has one daughter, Chloe, born in 1986. Her work has won her four Grammy awards, five number-one and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles as well as two number-one Billboard 200 albums.

In the music industry, she’s got eleven singles and fourteen albums that have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

But you probably best know her in Grease (1978) movie musical, playing Sandy, who falls in love with an edgy bad boy, Danny (John Travolta). Many of her songs in the movie are among the most successful of all time, including “You’re the One That I Want” and “Summer Night”.

4. Whitney Houston

Gorgeous Whitney Houston is not only hot, she’s a strong independent woman! Also a very successful singer and actress, certified as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records around the world. She’s released seven studio albums as well as two soundtrack albums, each of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her prominence on MTV has also influence various African American female artists.

Her career began singing in church as a kid, becoming a background vocalist in high school. After signing her first label at 19, her first two albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987) each peaked number one on the Billboard 200 and are still among the best-selling albums of all time.

5. Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster is one of my personal role models. It’s always nice to have someone smart and beautiful to look up to! But did you know her first name is not actually Jodie? It’s Alicia (For the purpose of this article, we’ll use “Jodie”). Dazzling Jodie is both an actress and director with a laundry list of awards, including:

• two Academy Awards
• three British Academy Film Awards
• two Golden Globe Awards
• Cecil B. DeMille Award

She’s also been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her work as a director. Jodie first began her career at the age of three as a child model. She then made her acting debut in 1968 in the television sitcom Mayberry R.F.D. She’s then made a number of appearances in several movies throughout the late 60s and 70s.

It was in the 80s that she really rose to fame, winning awards from The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). More currently, she’s focused on directing, including Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Black Mirror, among others.

6. Lisa Bonet

Gorgeous Lisa is both an actress and activist. Playing Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show was her road to stardom, followed by starring in the spinoff comedy A Different World for the first season. But after becoming pregnant, she left the series.

Once ready to return to the acting world, she returned to The Cosby Show but was later fired in April 1991 for “creative differences”. She then appeared in direct-to-video releases and made-for-television movies.

Since then, she’s hosted Why Bother Voting? in September of 1992, followed by playing several supporting roles in Enemy of the State (1998) and High Fidelity (2000).

Now, she’s married to the gorgeous Jason Momoa with whom she’s had two children. She also has one daughter, Zoë Isabella Kravitz from her previous marriage with rock star Lenny Kravitz.

7. Jennifer Beals

Beautiful Mrs. Beals is an actress and former teen model. Her first film was My Bodyguard in 1980, before winning an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and nominated for a Golden Glove Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her role in Flashdance (1983). Following these films, she’s starred in each of the following:

• Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
• The Last Days of Disco (1998)
• Roger Dodger (2002)
• The L Word (2004 – 09)
• The Book of Eli (2010)
• The Chicago Code (2011)
• Proof (2015)
• Before I Fall (2017)
• Proof (2017)

Now, she’s starring as Bette Porter in The L Word: Generation Q (2019 – present).

8. Winona Ryder

Her official name is Winona Laura Horowitz, but of course she’s best known professionally as Winona Ryder. She’s gotten several awards, including a Golden Globe Award, throughout her acting career and has been nominated for two Academy Awards.

While her first film debut was Lucas (1986), she rose to fame through playing Lydia in Beetlejuice (1988). Some of her other highly successful films include Edward Scissorhands with Johnny Depp (1990), Little Women (1994), The Crucible (1994) and Girl, Interrupted (1999) which she also executive produced.

Most currently, she’s starring in the Netflix series Stranger Things, playing Joyce Byers, as well as the HBO drama miniseries The Plot Against America.

9. Jennifer Connelly

Oh Jennifer, with the face of an angel, it’s hard to pass her up for any starring role in a movie or TV series. It certainly didn’t take long for everyone to notice since she started her career as a child model, appearing in magazine, newspaper and TV commercials, before starting her first film in Once Upon a Time in America (1984).

Since her doorway to fame, she’s starred in a number of movies, her most successful being Career Opportunities (1991), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Hulk (2003), Dark Water (2005), Blood Diamond (2006), He’s Just Not That Into You (2009), and Alita: Battle Angel (2019). Now, she’s working on a TNT dystopian TV series called Snowpiercer.

In addition to her acting career, Jennifer was named Amnesy International Ambassador for Human Right Education in 2005. She’s also been the face of Balenciaga fashion advertisements and Revlon cosmetics. She was also name the first global face of the Shiseido Company in 2012. Big magazine and newspaper companies, including Time, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and The Los Angeles Times have included her on their lists of the world’s most beautiful women. I agree!

10. Jennifer Grey

Jennifer Grey just has 80s written all over her; she’s simply the icon of the era. Her first role in a film was playing Cathy Bennario in Reckless (1984), but later her world-famous recognition from playing Jeanie Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). She received a lot of critical acclaim in Dirty Dancing (1987), playing Frances “Baby” Houseman, for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination.

This beautiful face has also made it into several TV series, including Murder in Mississippi (1990), Criminal Justice (1990), and If the Shoe Fits (1990).  More recently, she’s starred in the Prime Video comedy Red Oaks (2014 – 2017). Her most frequent film was Bittersweet Symphony (2019).

11. Sigourney Weaver

This woman is the icon of the female character in science fiction movies, best known for her role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise, earning her the Academy Award nomination in 1986. She’s also viewed as one of the most significant female protagonists in the history of cinema.

In addition to all her alien and sci-fi movies, she’s been nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards, won both Best Actress in Drama and Best Supporting Actress in 1988 for her work in Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl. These have both allowed her to become the first person to win two acting Golden Globes within the same year. She’s also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well as received a Tony Award nomination for her work in the 1984 Broadway play Hurlyburly.

Now, she’s currently working on The Good House, a comedy directed by Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, based on the novel by Ann Leary.

12. Goldie Hawn

While she’s a little on the older side now, Goldie Hawn was a real slice in the 80s! She’s an actress, producer, singer, and dancer, rising to fame through the Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968 – 70). She then won an Academy Award and Golden Glove Award for Best Supporting Actress in Cactus Flower (1969).

For those of you who may not know her, she’s the mother of Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson Wyatt Russell and has been in a relationship with Kurt Russell since 1983. In 2003, she founded The Hawn Foundation, which educates underprivileged children.

13. Janet Jackson

Aside from being Michael Jackson’s sister, Janet Jackson didn’t become famous because of him! She began her career from the TV series The Jacksons in 1976, going on to appear in a number of other shows from the 1970s through early 80s.

It was in 1982 when she became a pop icon, alongside her brother, after the release of her third and fourth albums Control (1986) and Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989).  Now, she’s best known for her socially conscious, sexually provocative and sonically innovative records and intense stage shows.

In 1991, she was one of the highest-paid artists in the music industry after signing the first of two record-breaking multimillion-dollar contracts with Virgin Records. She’s now one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time. In 2019, she was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Who’s Your Favorite?

We’d love to hear what you think of these lovely ladies from the 80s! Which is your favorite? Please let us know in the comments below. You may also want to check out our list on the Hottest Guys of the 80s!