How I see her: Lauren Bacall, the most sultry and independent of screen sirens. She was a star from the moment she stepped on screen, rocketing to fame after her very first movie role. Dubbed “The Look” because of her seductive stare, she, immediately, became known as one of the few actresses capable of holding her own opposite even the toughest of Hollywood leading men. One leading man, in particular, became her greatest screen partner, as well as, her greatest love: the king of film noir, Humphrey Bogart. Their relationship (onscreen and off) has since become known as one of Hollywood’s greatest love stories.

She could turn a phrase in real life, too: Another story goes that after partying in Las Vegas with Judy Garland, Judy’s husband Sid Luft, Frank Sinatra, David Niven, Angie Dickinson, restaurateur Mike Romanoff and his wife, Bogart’s wife Lauren Bacall took one look at them and said, “You look like a __ __ rat pack!” So in Beverly Hills at Mike’s restaurant, Romanoff’s, the name became official and titles were given to the founding members of Frank and his gang…

Course not: Lauren Bacall’s story doesn’t begin and end with Bogie. This brash leading lady, also, starred in a wide variety of films on her own, including dramas, adventures, comedies and even melodramatic romances. She, also, managed to conquer Broadway, winning a Tony Award for her leading role in the musical, Applause. She remained active in Hollywood right up until her death at the age of 89, appearing in films such as, Dogville and The Walker, as well as, lending her distinctive husky voice to animated films like, Howl’s Moving Castle.

And although her trademark stare may have, originally, been borne out of nerves (holding her head down was the only way to stop herself from shaking), to see Lauren Bacall onscreen, you’d never suspect that anything could ever rattle this intelligent and most enduring of bombshells.

Here’s looking at you, kid: Lauren Bacall was only 19 years old when she was cast in a film opposite the famous actor Humphrey Bogart. The two married soon after and were a hot couple on and off screen until Bogart’s death. Bacall’s career stayed active on screen and on Broadway over the decades and she won an Academy Award for her role as a harsh mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces. Wouldn’t all of us want to age as beautifully as Bacall?

Trivia: Madonna included Bacall in the litany of stylish hotties in her 1990 song Vogue. Bacall is the only surviving woman of the “babes with attitude” listed in song. Also immortalized in the 1980s song Key Largo…”we had it all just like Bogie and Bacall.”