Can You Please List Your 25 Favorite Actresses?

[MissGoddess]

MARILYN MONROE and SOPHIA LOREN on your list, ChiO?! Now I can stop worrying about you.

Can you tell me some more CONSTANCE TOWERS movies, I'm starting
to like her a lot now.

[stuart.uk]

Here goes honey-bun

1-Katharine Hepburn-That's more to do with the fact she survived at the top as much as anything else. 2-Bette Davis. 3-Ingrid Bergman. 4-Olivia De Havilland. 5-Doris Day. 6-Barbara Stanwyck. 7-Jean Arthur. 8-Maureen O'Hara. 9-Judy Garland. 10-Natalie Wood-Had she lived a normal live span. Who knows she might have hit the same heights as Katy H. 11-Ginger Rogers. 12-Audrey Hepburn. 13-Lillian Gish-But for the lost yrs in the 30s I think Lillian playing romantic leads in that decade to add to her classic silents and her later character roles, would now be rated the greatest ever actress, bar-none. 14-Barbra Striesand. 15-Shirley Maclaine. 16-Myrna Loy. 17-Greta Garbo. 18-Helen Mirren. 19-Marilyn Monroe. 20-Vivien Leigh. 21-Marlene Dietrich. 22-Lauren Bacall.
23-Julie Andrews. 24-Jean Simmons. 25-Angela Lansbury

Here's a Brit list as a bonus, including the ones already mentioned

1-ODH. 2. Audrey Hepburn. 3-Helen Mirren. 4-Viv Leigh. 5-Jean Simmons. 6-Angela Lansbury. 7-Greer Garson. 8-Virginia McKenna, for Carve Her Name With Pride alone. 9-Judi Dench. 10-Rosamund John. 11-Celia Johnson. 12-Deborah Kerr. 13-Claire Bloom. 14-Julie Walters. 15-Kay Walsh. 16-Anna Neagle. 17-Brenda Blethyn. 18-Victoria Wood. 19-Diana Rigg. 20-Susannah York. 21-Julie Christie. 22-Glenda Jackson. 23-Venessa Redgrave. 24-Maggie Smith. 25-Amanda Redman, the star of current cop show New Tricks and Dickens Little Dorrit, who was recently voted tv times actress of the year.

[jdb1]

Oh. Gee. This is so difficult. Really. Every time I think of 4 or 5, I come up with 4 or 5 more I maybe like better. Well, I guess No. 1 is

1. Katharine Hepburn - she could play anything, sometimes by sheer force of will. I have no problem with strong-willed women, especially if they are as talented as KH.
2. Sophia Loren - See No. 1.
3. Marilyn Monroe - never boring to watch. Much better than some are willing to admit.
4. Judy Garland - ditto. IMO a great and magnetic screen actress, even in her teen years parts.
5. Audrey Hepburn - She played women that might be thought of as delicate with skill and ease that made it look like she herself was delicate. She wasn't - she was tough, and she knew exactly what she was doing.
6. Joan Crawford - As with Monroe, never boring to watch. And you never forget you are looking at a Movie Star.
7. Bette Davis - Great strength on the screen, and great intelligence of interpretation.
8. Claudette Colbert - one glamorous actress whose persona I find entirely believable; yet she can get silly with equal comfort and aplomb.
8. Barbara Stanwyck - Smart, tough, funny, glamorous, and Brooklyn.
9. Lucille Ball - same comment as about Colbert, only more All-American vs. Colbert's Continental-ness.
10. Mae Clarke - a new discovery for me. Capable of in equal measure of both great depth and great wackiness. The demise of her career was Hollywood's and our loss.
11. Thelma Ritter - A master at portraying real-life women.
12. Mary Astor - You can say the same about Astor. Her women characters ring so true.

And many, many more.

[srowley75]

Given your definition of what you want, here's my list:

1-Bette Davis - the consummate performer who fought throughout her legendary career for strong roles, never shrinking from portraying even the most unappealing characters.
2-Katharine Hepburn
3-Carole Lombard
4-Joan Crawford
5-Barbara Stanwyck

and the rest, in no order:

6-Myrna Loy
7-Vivien Leigh
8-Miriam Hopkins
9-Margaret Sullavan
10-Hattie McDaniel
11-Irene Dunne
12-Lillian Gish
13-Rosalind Russell
14-Joan Blondell
15-Jean Arthur
16-Shelley Winters
17-Gloria Grahame
18-Pam Grier
19-Elizabeth Taylor
20-Hayley Mills
21-Giulietta Masina
22-Kathleen Freeman
23-Mary Astor
24-Thelma Ritter
25-Barbara Steele

And the ones I hated to leave off: Louise Brooks, Meryl Streep, Edna May Oliver, Olivia de Havilland, Angela Mao, Maggie Smith, Eve Arden, Deborah Kerr, Susan Hayward, Beverly Garland, Sissy Spacek, Edwige Fenech, Machiko Kyo, Tura Satana, Gladys Cooper, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda, Edith Massey, Jodie Foster, and Allison Hayes.

And if I could include television stars as well, somewhere I'd probably attempt to make room for Mary Tyler Moore, Irene Ryan, Valerie Harper, Beatrice Arthur and Roseanne Barr.

-Stephen

[ken123]

1. Maurenn O' Hara - Being Irish is good enough
13.Kim Hunter


Lonette McKee, Dorothy Dandridge, Greer Garson, Merle Oberon, Marilyn Monroe, Ina Balin, Dorothy McGuire,Eve Arden,Margaret Sullavan honorable mentions.

Hi Kenny! I can't argue with that logic.

I was surprised to see Kim Hunter on your list. Interesting choice.
You've certainly got just about all the noir babes in your stable.

Noir - never heard of it !

[ken123]

Oops ! How could I forget Ann Dvorak, real name Anne McKim ?

[mongoII]

Barbara Stanwyck
Gladys George
Doris Day
Lucile Watson
Thelma Ritter
Joan Crawford
Judy Garland
Jane Wyman
Bette Davis
Ann Sheridan
Marie Windsor
Eleanor Parker
Ruth Roman
Gladys Cooper
Hattie McDaniel
Maureen O'Hara
Anna Magnani
Shelley Winters
Claire Trevor
Maureen Stapleton
Jennifer Jones
Teresa Wright
Jan Sterling
Claudette Colbert
Meryl Streep

[ken123]

Add Jan Sterling to my hororable mentions.

[ChiO]

srowley wrote:

And the ones I hated to leave off: ...Tura Satana....

How could I have listed Simone Signoret and left off Tura Satana? I hate lists.

[ChiO]

MissG wrote:

MARILYN MONROE and SOPHIA LOREN on your list, ChiO?! Now I can stop worrying about you.

Your worry was...?

I truly love Monroe's performances. I truly love Loren. When Mrs. ChiO and I married, I told her that it was until death do us part...unless Carlo Ponti died and Sophia was available. On the day he died, I received two emails and one phone call from former employees wanting to know if I'd purchased my plane tickets.

Luckily, Mrs. ChiO understands. Mediterranean women are so understanding.

[MissGoddess]

MissG wrote:

MARILYN MONROE and SOPHIA LOREN on your list, ChiO?! Now I can stop worrying about you.

Your worry was...?

I truly love Monroe's performances. I truly love Loren. When Mrs. ChiO and I married, I told her that it was until death do us part...unless Carlo Ponti died and Sophia was available. On the day he died, I received two emails and one phone call from former employees wanting to know if I'd purchased my plane tickets.

I have a friend who loves Sophia and she always likes to say if her husband ever wanted to leave her for anyone else, she'd kill him. If he said he was leaving her for Sophia, she'd help him pack. And she's not even Mediterranean.

[mrsl]

As with my men's list, these are my favorites, not necessarily great actresses, although some of them are, but ladies who I know almost assuredly that I will enjoy their movies before seeing them because they are in them.

..1. Deborah Kerr - Perfect in everything she does and elegantly sexy.
..2. Greer Garson - Gorgeous and also great in all she does.
..3. Claudette Colbert - Perfect actress from drama to comedy.
..4. Ann Sheridan - Wish I had been like most of her characters.
..5. Paulett Goddard - Someone I might have liked for a friend.
..6. Norma Shearer - Such a lady at all times.
..7. Ingrid Bergman - Another great actress.
..8. Eve Arden - Just love her.
..9. Julia Roberts - Love her in everything she does.
.10. Sandra Bullock - Same as Julia Roberts.
.11. Thelma Ritter - Marvelous lady much too short a career.
.12. Gene Tierney - So beautiful she made my eyes tear up.
.13. Susan Haywood - Another wonderful redhead who did it all.
.14. Sandra Dee - Hey, hey, such a cutie, so sad a story.
.15. Maureen O'Hara - I never knew I had a thing for redheads eeewww.
.16. Barbara Stanwyck - Should be higher up on list - One of the best.
.17. Ann Sothern - Made me laugh and that's hard to do.
.18. Joan Blondell - Same as Ann Sothern.
.19. Ginger Rogers - Loved her without Fred.
.20. Edna Mae Oliver - Could watch her all day for the enjoyment of it.
.21. Debbie Reynolds - Got so good after Eddie.
.22. Una Merkel - Like Edna Mae Oliver.
.23. Rosalind Russell - In a class of her own.
.24. Olivia de Havilland - Should be higher up - perfectamundo!

Very Special Mention:

Elizabeth Taylor - Meryl Streep - Katherine Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn - Bette Davis - Marilyn Monroe
Anne Hathaway - Kirsten Dunst - Charlize Theron

Why are the women so much harder to choose? Other than Miss G, does anyone else find this to be true, or just because there are more women actors than men

Anne

[MichiganJ]

(Boy, no work getting done, today. This is too much fun!) Like everyone’s list, the content and order is subject to change, even as I type.

Kate Hepburn--can do it all...and did

Cate Blanchet--can do it all...and does (have you seen her Hepburn in The Aviator? She’s even great in the wacky The Life Aquatic)

Jeanne Moreau--is brilliant in many of the greatest films produced. She’s even great as the narrator in The Lover, one of the few reasons to see that picture)

Jodie Foster --Have you seen her in Panic Room? She’s still got it, in spades

Juliette Binoche--Wonderful in too many films to mention, but I’ll say Blue is a highlight, and she’s pretty great in the recent Dan in Real Life, too

Garbo--what need be said

Joan Allen--way under appreciated. The Contender is a must, as is The Ice Storm. Heck, check out the last two Bourne movies

Louise Brooks--my palms are sweating as I type

Clara Bow--probably the most natural actress in Silents, if not ever

Mary Pickford--could do drama as well as comedy, and not always as a little girl

Marilyn Monroe--The Misfits breaks my heart, all of her other films warm it. She’s great as the lead, but check her out in Clash by Night. She holds her own with Stanwyck

Catherine Deneuve--Like Moreau, she’s brilliant in many masterpieces, and like Moreau, she still looks great, too!

Myrna Loy--Her pairings with Powell are enough, but toss in The Best Years of Our Lives. Another who could, and did, do it all

Carole Lombard--She’s in a lot of great movies and many so-so films, but she’s always wonderful (and beautiful). I love Godfrey but my favorite may be Twentieth Century

Jean Arthur--I could say The Talk of the Town, but really it’s Arthur’s unique voice that keeps me watching whatever she’s in.

Isabelle Huppert--may be the hardest working actress in show business. She’s in many Chabrol films, is daring in The Piano Teacher and then turns up in the flawed (but fun) I Heart Huckabees

Julie Delpy--I’m in love with Julie Delpy (don’t tell my wife) Check her out in White; Killing Zoe; Before Sunrise/Sunset, and 2 Days in Paris (which she also wrote and directed)

Barbara Stanwyck--we’re pretty much all in agreement, here, no?

Teresa Wright--her fairly short role in The Best Years of Our Lives is a standout, but I love her most in The Pride of the Yankees

Naomi Watts--Mulholland Dr. may not be to everyone’s taste, but she (and it) are brilliant. Love her in Kong, too (the movie, not so much) but check out 21 Grams and Eastern Promises

Ingrid Thulin--Ah Bergman...Thulin is icy cold in Wild Strawberries but in Cries and Whispers she’s a dying sister...and even knowing that, your heart breaks at her screams

Harriet Andersson (Bibi Andersson, too!)--More Bergman. Harriet is wonderful in Winter Light while Bibi shines in Persona, Seventh Seal and Smiles of a Summer Night

Kate Winslet--Say what you will about Titanic, but Winslet is wonderful in Finding Neverland, Little Children, The Holiday and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (she’s great in Titanic, too)

Diane Lane--I love Diane Lane (don’t tell my wife or Julie Delpy). Fell in love with her in A Little Romance and love her now, even in so-so films like Must Love Dogs.

Charlotte Rampling--Ms. Rampling is in two of my favorite films: Stardust Memories and The Verdict. Glad she’s back in The Swimming Pool (The more “adventurous” may want to check out The Night Porter, too.)

Keira Knightley--She continues to surprise me with her choices and performances. Love her in Love Actually and Pride and Prejudice (She’s fine, too in the Pirate films and even in the wacky Domino. Did I forget to mention Atonement?)

[MissGoddess]

Thanks everyone, for your lists! I'm enjoying reading over them and familiarizing myself with your individual tastes.

MichiganJ---thanks especially for giving your reasons for each selection, love it!

[melwalton]

I left out Phyllis Calvert, Joan Leslie and Odile Versois. there are times when I think I'm geetting old ... I picked them mostly for talent but a few got in on looks alone .... mel