"What Pam Grier was to blaxploitation movies, what Bruce Lee was to kung fu movies, what Burt Reynolds was to good-ol'-boy movies, Rainbeaux Smith was to cheerleader movies. She truly has, without trying whatsoever, a Marilyn Monroe quality. She doesn't look like Monroe at all; she just has that kind of vacantness. She's not so much acting as she is existing. Imagine Marilyn Monroe as kind of a '70s hippie junky, then you kind of have Rainbeaux Smith." -- Quentin Tarentino

And on this date in 2002, the remarkable beauty who loomed so ethereal that the world naturally called her “Rainbeaux” departed this mortal coil.

Cheryl Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith was a one-of-a-kind B-movie goddess and fans of outlaw cinema must be grateful that we had her for as long as we did.

While missing Rainbeaux, just consider the luminous legacy she left behind via naked classics such as The Swinging Cheerleaders, Caged Heat, Video Vixens, The Pom Pom Girls, Massacre at Central High, Drum, Revenge of the Cheerleaders, Cinderella, Fantasm Comes Again, The Incredible Melting Man, Slumber Party ’57, and Parasite.

Plus there is her extraordinary non-nude masterwork Lemora, the Lady Dracula.

Cheryl E! Online posted a sobering account of Rainbeaux’s passing, but Mr Skin prefers to celebrate Cheryl Smith’s life the way she lived it -- by bringing naked joy to the masses.

Also be sure to drop by RainbeauxSmith.net.