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Farah Pahlavi was the Shahbanu of Iran from 1961 to 1979, as the wife of Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Though she was not allowed to hold a political role, she worked for many charities and helped found Iran's first American-style university. She has continued her involvement in charity work even after her husband’s death in 1980.
Stella Stevens is an American actress best known for playing important roles in popular films, such as Girls! Girls! Girls! and The Nutty Professor. Renowned for her good looks, Stevens was one of the world's most photographed women during the 1960s. She also appeared in Playboy pictorials and was adjudged Playmate of the Month in January 1960.
Claudia Cardinale is a Tunisian-born Italian actress who played important roles in some of the most popular Italian and French movies of the 1960s and 1970s. After achieving immense popularity as an actress in Italy, Cardinale starred in the 1963 American comedy film The Pink Panther, which increased her popularity. Claudia Cardinale was also renowned for her beauty.
Norwegian actress-film director Liv Ullmann is counted among the greatest European actresses. She is best-known for her roles in films like The Emigrants and Face to Face, both of which earned her Oscar nomination, and the former won her a Golden Globe She received an Honorary Academy Award. Her second directorial feature-film Faithless was nominated for Palme d'Or in 2000.
Liberian politician, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, served as the 24th President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. She was the first elected female head of state in Africa. An alumnus of the Harvard University, she began her political career in the 1970s and rose through the ranks with time. She is the recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
Juliet Hulme, better known as Anne Perry, is the bestselling author of the widely popular William Monk and Thomas Pitt series of novels. She changed her name after a 5-year sentence for killing her friend’s mother at age 15. She has also worked as a flight attendant.
Lola Van Wagenen is an American historian who is credited with co-founding non-profit educational organizations like Consumer Action Now (CAN) and Clio Visualizing History, Inc. Consumer Action Now went on to establish several environmental education and consumer-oriented programs in an attempt to raise awareness about the effects of consumers' buying habits on the environment.
Beatrix of the Netherlands reigned as Queen of the Netherlands for 33 years. At the time of her abdication in favor of her son, she was the oldest-reigning monarch in the history of the monarchy of the Netherlands. As the queen, Beatrix had a huge impact on the Dutch people and continues to serve as a patron of several organizations.
Twelve-time Grammy-winning gospel singer Shirley Caesar is also known as The First Lady of Gospel. She began her music career with The Caravans and later went solo, releasing phenomenal hits such as Faded Rose and I Remember Mama. She also established a non-profit to serve the needy.
British playwright Caryl Churchill is best-known for works that emphasize on feminist-issues, sexual-politics and abuses of power. Most renowned works of Churchill, who also gained attention for using non-naturalistic techniques, include the farce Cloud 9 about sexual politics; the play Top Girls that deals with feminist issues; and the satirical play Serious Money that was largely written in rhyming couplets.
The daughter of actor Thora Hird, Janette Scott began her career as a child artist. She later appeared in films such as The Day of the Triffids. She penned her memoir at 14 and was the youngest actor to portray Peter Pan. She quit her career after marrying Mel Tormé.
Better known as Janaki Amma, playback singer S. Janaki had begun her career with the Tamil film Vidhiyin Vilayattu. Also known as the Nightingale of South India, she has lent her voice to over 48,000 songs. Following her retirement, she has been the victim of death hoaxes at least twice.
Janet Guthrie created history when she became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500 races. An adventure lover from the very beginning, she was interested in planes and parachutes since her teens. She also excelled in physics and worked as an aerospace R&D engineer.
Tessa Kennedy is a British interior designer who works for prominent hotels, restaurants, multi-national corporations, clubs, celebrities, and royalty. She is credited with establishing her own company Tessa Kennedy Design, Ltd., which has received many design accolades. Tessa Kennedy made headlines in 1957 when she eloped with English portrait painter Bede Evelyn Dominick Elwes.
Michèle Mercier is a French actress best known for playing Angélique Sancé de Monteloup in the 1964 historical romance film Angélique, Marquise des Anges. Over the course of her illustrious career, Mercier has worked with prominent directors like Dino Risi, François Truffaut, Mario Monicelli, and Ken Annakin. She has also appeared alongside popular actors like Marcello Mastroianni and Charles Bronson.
Renata Adler is an author, journalist, and film critic who has been a staff writer-reporter for The New Yorker. She studied comparative literature at Harvard University and later received a J.D. from Yale Law School. Despite not being much knowledgeable about films, she became a film critic for The New York Times. She has also written many books.
American retired actress Lynn Carlin is best-known for her Academy Award nominated debut role in John Cassavetes written-directed American drama film Faces. The Oscar nomination marked Carlin, a secretary-turned-actress, as the first nonprofessional who earned nomination for this prestigious award. Other notable roles of Carlin include in the films Taking Off and Deathdream; and in television drama-series James at 15.
Polish writer and painter Roma Ligocka, who fled from the Kraków Ghetto during German occupation of Poland in Second World War, is best known for her works as a successful set designer in theatre, film and television, and for her memoir The Girl in the Red Coat. Other novels of Ligocka include Znajoma z lustre and Kobieta w podróży.
Marinella is a Greek singer best known for her longevity and versatility. Marinella, whose singing career has spanned over 65 years, is one of the most popular and respected singers in Greece. Apart from releasing several solo albums, she has also collaborated with other prominent musicians over the course of her illustrious career.
Margret Nissen is a German photographer and daughter of German architect Albert Speer. Best known for her architectural photography skills, Nissen's works have been widely exhibited in Berlin since 1980. Margret Nissen is also a writer; in 2004, she wrote a book about her father titled Sind Sie die Tochter Speer?
