Lauren Bacall Was Smokin' [VINTAGE FOXY GIFS]

In case you’re wondering about all of the commotion over the death of vintage Hollywood movie star Lauren Bacall–well, she was kind of a big deal as a pioneering sex symbol. In fact, Lauren Bacall had one of the sexiest film debuts of all time in 1944’s To Have or Have Not. She played a crooner named Slim who pretty much created the template for the sultry lounge singer.
You could even say that legendary Jessica Rabbit was a Joan Bacall tribute act. Slim was a very sexy screen presence, thanks in part to a low-cut outfit that provided a glimpse of shocking sideboob…

Yeah, “provocative” is the right word. Lauren became even more of a legend because she made that screen debut when she was only 19 years old, and quickly became the great love of Humphrey Bogart’s life. There wasn’t anybody cooler than Humphrey Bogart in 1944. The idea of a 19-year-old landing the tough guy sparked lots of speculation about how Lauren Bacall had to be some kind of real woman.
Also, check out this move right here from To Have and Have Not. Guys were having fits over this move, because this is kind of the 1954 equivalent of twerking…

Lauren Bacall wasn’t some Hollywood creation, either. The tabloids of the times loved how Lauren quickly proved to be just as tough as her hubby. She was very quotable with her outspoken opinions–and guys loved imagining hearing Lauren speak in her deep voice toughened by lots of nicotine abuse. Yeah, we’ll go ahead and note that Lauren made smoking very sexy. It was a different time where that kind of thing was encouraged by everybody from John Wayne to Fred Flintstone. That’s just the way things were.
Anyway, Lauren Bacall passed away as one of the last legends from Hollywood’s Golden Age. We have Kirk Douglas still, and a few other veterans who are hanging on into their 90s–but Lauren Bacall might be the last of the really important sex symbols from that time. We’ll miss seeing her around New York. We once saw her do a live reading of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and that was still plenty sexy. So are these moments of vintage Bacall that’ll get you feeling nostalgic for a time that we all missed out on…