Cat Scratch Fever: A Pre-ScarJo Maggie Retrospective

For nearly six decades, the world has been infected with Cat Scratch Fever, a condition that causes every actress–Southern, Yankee or otherwise–to lust over the sex-starved role of Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams’ classic and oft-revived drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. With its meaty first-act monologues, oppressive summer plantation setting, and stage directions that all but command Maggie spend the night slinking around her bedroom begging for attention in a satin slip, it’s easily one of the hottest roles in the history of theater. From Barbara Bel Geddes to Elizabeth Taylor, and from Ashley Judd to the Richard Rodgers Theatre‘s current star, Scarlett Johansson, we present to you the elite club of Maggies in all their lustful, lonely glory. How does Scarlett Johansson’s nightie shot measure up to the slip pics of classic beauty Natalie Wood or Broadway’s smoldering Anika Noni Rose? Let us know what you think in the comments.