Christina Hendricks, Blake Lively, Laura Linney, Rutina Wesley: Eye-Riveting Beauty Parts

Sept. 3, 2010 — -- Beauty may be the sum of its parts, but sometimes the parts are way too extraordinary not to dazzle on their own. On rare occasions in an actress's career, her physical assets merge with her role so completely that the mystique is intoxicating.

Here's what we mean.

Christina Hendricks, who portrays Joan Harris (formerly Holloway) on AMC's "Mad Men" – is arguably her ad agency employer's best advertising campaign. Although her character's can-do no-nonsense professional traits are hard to miss, neither are her voluptuous physical attributes.

Set in the mid-sixties, -- an era when women were coming into their own -- the show features an array of self-important male characters not shy about ogling Hendricks's character's magnificent bosom and sashaying hips. Roger Sterling (John Slattery), a partner in the agency who had an affair with Joan, said it crudely but best, "You are the finest piece of a** I ever had and I don't care who knows it. I am so glad I got to roam those hillsides."

Not surprisingly, in an industry that prizes skinniness, Hendricks's curves have prompted speculation. The web site www.christinahendricksgallery.com estimates the 5'8" actress's weight, dress size and bra cup size, and surmises her measurements from a dress she wore on the show that was donated to eBay to benefit a charity.