Spanish actress and model Rossy de Palma was BOTD in 1964. Born in Palma de Mallorca in the Spanish Balearic Islands, she was christened Rosa Elena García Echave. In the 1980s, she moved to Madrid, performing as a singer and dancer with the pop band Peor Impossible. She met filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar in 1986 while she was performing in a café. Impressed by her larger-than-life performance and comic timing, he cast her in his comedy film La ley del deseo (Law of Desire), appearing alongside Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. She became a regular in Almodóvar’s repertory company, with vivid cameos in Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), ¡Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) and La flor de mi secreto (The Flower of My Secret). In 1993, she took a prominent role in Almodóvar’s controversial rape comedy Kika, in which she modelled a “nude” Jean-Paul Gaultier corset. Beloved for her statuesque appearance and Cubist profile, she has modelled for fashion designers including Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Sybilla, and made amusing cameos in Madonna‘s 1991 documentary Truth or Dare, Robert Altman’s fashion world satire Prêt-à-Porter and George Michael‘s music video for his single Too Funky. In recent years, she starred in stage productions of The Threepenny Opera, and taken more dramatic roles in Almodóvar’s films Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces), Julieta and Madres paralelas (Parallel Mothers). Her androgyny, salty humour and fabulous dress sense has made her an LGBTQ icon and a popular tribute for drag acts. De Palma has two children from a former relationship, and lives in Paris. Her fabulous life is wittily documented in her Instagram account.