Focus Features

Sharon Stone, born on this day in 1958 in Meadville, Pennsylvania, will forever be remembered for her performance as bisexual novelist Catherine Tramell in Paul Verhoeven's 1992 Basic Instinct. Or, more specifically, for that moment in the movie when she uncrosses her legs. Never afraid to trade on her sexuality, Stone became the go-to femme fatale of 90s cinema in a slew of not particularly good erotic thrillers following her breakthrough success. An actress who was Razzie nominated for her role in the 1985 Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, her first big movie, she nevertheless showed what a talented performer she is in both her films for Verhoeven (Total Recall and Basic Instinct) as well as Scorsese's Casino, for which she won a Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for Best Actress. A former Miss Crawford County who became a Ford model, Stone has not only beauty but also brains - she reportedly has an IQ of 154. That said, her intelligence seemed to desert her when she recently made very ill-advised comments following the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China (she claimed the disaster was a karmic payback for China's treatment of Tibet), while equally baffling was her objection to the released cut of Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, which she disapproved because there was, yes, not enough nudity in the film!

Sharon Stone, born on this day in 1958 in Meadville, Pennsylvania, will forever be remembered for her performance as bisexual novelist Catherine Tramell in Paul Verhoeven's 1992 Basic Instinct. Or, more specifically, for that moment in the movie when she uncrosses her legs. Never afraid to trade on her sexuality, Stone became the go-to femme fatale of 90s cinema in a slew of not particularly good erotic thrillers following her breakthrough success. An actress who was Razzie nominated for her role in the 1985 Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, her first big movie, she nevertheless showed what a talented performer she is in both her films for Verhoeven (Total Recall and Basic Instinct) as well as Scorsese's Casino, for which she won a Golden Globe and was Oscar nominated for Best Actress. A former Miss Crawford County who became a Ford model, Stone has not only beauty but also brains - she reportedly has an IQ of 154. That said, her intelligence seemed to desert her when she recently made very ill-advised comments following the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China (she claimed the disaster was a karmic payback for China's treatment of Tibet), while equally baffling was her objection to the released cut of Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, which she disapproved because there was, yes, not enough nudity in the film!