JUDY HOLLIDAY: Her Amazing UNTOLD STORY

THIS BRILLIANT COMEDIC ACTRESS PROVED THAT SHE WAS JUST AS SMART OFF CAMERA AS ON

- Fortune Benatar

In her Oscar-winning role in Born Yesterday, Judy Holliday plays the none-too-bright, baby-voiced girlfriend of a corrupt tycoon. Blonde and brassy, she takes a shine to a newspaperman, played by William Holden, hired to educate her about the world and proves that she's much smarter than anyone guessed.

Judy spent her life exceeding expectations. "You have to be smart to play a dumb blonde over and over again and keep the audience's attention without extraordinary physical equipment," reasoned the star.

At 10, Judy Tuvim, who would later adopt the English translation of her surname as her professional moniker, scored 172 on an IQ test, indicating genius-level smarts. Reared in an artsy family, the youngster aspired to be a writer. "I've always loved words," she said. "I ate up all the books I could get my hands on, and when I couldn't get books, I read candy wrappers and labels on cereal and toothpaste boxes."