English strumpet Claire Bloom is a classic brunette beauty, and while she may not be a bombshell, she is the reason the Brits have more than a stiff upper lip. She made her stage debut in 1947, but it was Charlie Chaplin who was tramping around and discovered the svelte sexpot. He cast her as the female lead ballerina in his Limelight (1952), only her second role onscreen. Her first role came in Blind Goddess (1948), and it would take a sightless sap not to realize that Claire is a goddess. Laurence Olivier and Richard Burton could see what was hot about Claire and cast her for their film and theater joints. Claire even married lucky actor Rod Steiger, who got to see Bloom's pedals up close and personal. Throughout her long movie career, starring in such productions as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and Clash of the Titans (1981), Claire only graced her devoted audience with one fleeting shot of her bouquet. It was in A Severed Head (1970), which is not a horror movie but a screwball romance. The emphasis is on the screw.
