Dedications: My four late friends Rory, Stan, Bryan, Jeff - shine on you crazy diamonds, they would have blogged too. Then theres Garry from Brisbane, Franco in Milan, Mike now in S.F. / my '60s-'80s gang: Ned & Joseph in Ireland; in England: Frank, Des, Guy, Clive, Joe & Joe, Ian, Ivan, Nick, David, Les, Stewart, the 3 Michaels / Catriona, Sally, Monica, Jean, Ella, Anne, Candie / and now: Daryl in N.Y., Jerry, John, Colin, Martin and Donal.

Wednesday 1 October 2014

All those actresses

A thread over at IMDB on favourite actresses, got me thinking on just who are my favourite actresses and how would I rank them ..... This then is my top 25 (or so) ... but we like so many more --- so there's also a second tier.  I must have forgot some .... (left: Remick & Hepburn in A DELIATE BALANCE).


Sophia Loren
Monica Vitti
Lee Remick
Romy Schneider
Marilyn Monroe
Susan Hayward
Kay Kendall
Katharine Hepburn
Bette Davis
Garbo

Dietrich
Ingrid Bergman
Anouk Aimee
Julie Christie
Faye Dunaway
Deborah Kerr
Jean Simmons
Elizabeth Taylor
Julie Harris
Joan Fontaine
Janet Leigh
Anne Baxter
Ruth Roman
Catherine Deneuve
Frncoise Dorleac
Silvana Mangano
Barbara Stanwyck.

5 more:
Audrey Hepburn
Simone Signoret
Maggie Smith
Judi Dench
Lauren Bacall !

Plus: Geraldine PageSarah Miles, Vanessa Redgrave, Belinda Lee, Lilli Palmer, Claudia Cardinale, Gina Lollobrigida, Jeanne Moreau, Melina Mercouri, Joan Greenwood, Claire Bloom, Ava Gardner, Kim Novak, Jean Seberg, Irene Papas, Irene Dunne, Margaret Sullavan, Loretta Young, 
Mary Astor, Norma Shearer, Glenn Close, Alison Steadman, Imelda Staunton, Joan Sims, Isabelle Adjani, Stephane Audran, Ingrid Thulin, Celia Johnson, Flora Robson, Gladys Cooper, Margaret Leighton, Capucine, Judy Garland, Wendy Hiller, Yvonne Mitchell, Kay Walsh, Pamela Brown, Eleanor Parker, Dolores Gray, Dorothy Malone, Vera Miles, Martha Hyer, Suzanne Pleshette, Brigitte  Bardot, Susannah York, Rita Tushingham, Vivien Leigh, Cyd Charisse, Eva Marie Saint, Francesca Annis, Natalie Wood, Olivia De Havilland, Debra Paget, Lea Massari, Alida Valli, Anne Bancroft, Lana Turner, Jane Fonda, June Allyson ... 
Phew! We like all those gals in THE WOMEN, 1939 and its 1956 remake too - THE OPPOSITE SEX - as per posts on them. Plus that line-up for the 2001 VANITY FAIR Hollywood issue! Meryl!, Sophia!, Catherine! Vanessa! Kate! Cate! Nicole! Gywneth! Penelope! - Were they all there at the same time ?
We will have to tackle Actors and Directors next, or soon ...

3 comments:

  1. That's a great list! An almost impossible task!! The first five or so are easy but then winnowing down the others becomes the real challenge. I'll try though. I'm sure I'll have to include an addendum too. I did notice our list shared some of the same ladies albeit in different spots.

    In as close order as I can get:
    Linda Darnell
    Julie Christie
    Susan Hayward
    Ida Lupino
    Margaret Sullavan
    Thelma Ritter
    Suzanne Pleshette
    Gloria Grahame
    Bette Davis
    Emma Thompson
    Eve Arden
    Jane Fonda
    Barbara Stanwyck
    Joan Crawford
    Doris Day
    Judy Garland
    Marilyn Monroe
    Diana Rigg
    Vanessa Redgrave
    Jean Simmons
    Sally Field
    Diane Lane
    Veronica Lake
    Priscilla Lane
    Lee Remick

    With apologies to: Ruth Roman (I love her dark intensity-if it was a list of top 26 she'd be in that slot), Gena Rowlands, Joan Plowright, Vivien Leigh, Joan Bennett, Anne Bancroft, Kay Kendall, Kate Winslet, Christine Lahti, Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Debbie Reynolds, Judy Holliday, Rosalind Russell, Ann Sheridan, Inger Stevens, Mary Wickes, Lee Grant, Spring Byington, Glynis Johns, Ann Sothern, Fay Bainter, Julie Harris, Alfre Woodard, Claire Trevor, Lucile Watson, Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page, Sissy Spacek, Agnes Moorehead, Madeline Kahn, Glenda Jackson, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Angelica Huston, Maggie Smith, Simone Signoret, Bonnie Bedelia, Julianne Moore, Ellen Burstyn, Carole Lombard, Audrey Hepburn, Rachel Weisz, Sigourney Weaver, Gladys Cooper, Colleen Dewhurst, Natalie Wood, Juliet Stevenson, Polly Walker, Stella Stevens, Catherine Deneuve, Gail Russell, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jane Wyman and Ann Dvorak. I'm positive I've left a few off that I love and admire but really the list could be twice as long and still not get everyone!

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  2. I know ! - its impossible to list every actress one like - how could I have forgot Linda Darnell or Gene Tierney? I tried to keep mine to leading ladies, otherwise would have had to include Thelma, Agnes, Eve Arden and so many more ...
    Yours is a terrific list too. Actors and Directors should be easier !

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  3. Directors will be a snap I think. Actors will be easier than the actresses but I'm sure my list will exceed 25!

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