MY 10 FAVORITE ACTRESSES OF ALL-TIME

Glamorous starlets, scream queens, the brave heroine, the villainess, the object of affection, the victim, the perpetrator, luckily these days women have become accepted in any role that their male counterparts appear in. Although it hasn’t always been this way and it seems like many of the actresses of our cinematic past were typecast or bogged down with the victim role, they nonetheless had far superior and far more interesting characters to play. In the 21st century I see many women in starring roles (especially in the comedy field), but the characters and the women playing them feel far less diverse. I don't mean that in regards to race or nation of origin, but more the style of acting. In the previous decades, the characters women played were far braver and actresses seemed to make far stranger choices than the endless clichés we currently see in the theaters and on television. These days it seems like any role that may be the least bit interesting are handed to a select few and the hundreds of other actresses get to fight for the remaining scraps. I hope this changes at some point, but I think just cinema as a whole focuses much, much more on CGI special effects than they do character or plot so I'm certainly not blaming the actresses of today. For now, I hope you will enjoy seeking out the filmographies of these ten wonderful and uniquely talented ladies…

10. Pam Grier

Pretty much the goddess of the blaxploitation genre, but she is also so much more. She of course had her HUGE comeback and in turn possibly her finest performance ever with Jackie Brown. Prior to this however she was working in stupendous roles in things like Miami Vice, Above The Law and one of my favorites the Class Of 1999.

9. Sigourney Weaver

First off her film debut was Annie freaking Hall...that's impressive. Of course very shortly after that she would portray perhaps the most iconic female heroine in cinematic history with Ellen Ripley. After that Ghostbusters, Gorillas In The Mist, Working Girl, Death And The Maiden, The Ice Storm...my god this woman has range and made very few stinkers in her long career.

8. Whoopi Goldberg

For me this is the funniest woman on the planet! In some cases I think her on stage and Broadway performances better encapsulate her range of comedic genius, but try watching Jumpin' Jack Flash, Burglar or Soapdish without laughing at Whoopi. Of course films like The Color Purple and Ghost proved she was a great dramatic actress and today The View proves she can do the talk show thing as well while never shying away from her strong political beliefs.

7. Ellen Burstyn

Of course we all know her from The Exorcist, but in my opinion that film belongs to another great actress. What we should know Ms. Burstyn from is what many consider her masterpiece, the 1974 Martin Scorsese picture Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. If you only see one Ellen Burstyn film do yourself a favor and make it that one. Luckily for us she turned in another amazing role in Requiem For A Dream and is also a big part of the reason to watch films like The Last Picture Show, Same Time Next Year and W.

6. Joan Crawford

With one of her first roles being as an extra in the silent version (and the version I prefer) of Ben-Hur and her last being Trog in 1970, this leading lady has had one of the longest and most active tenures in cinematic history. Her peak seemed to be in the 1930s when she starred in numerous happy ending movies that appealed to the audiences of the Great Depression, but she was also on fire in the mid-40s. I personally think the woman is made for horror and creepy surreal films so my favorites tend to be things like The Unknown, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane, Straight Jacket and Berserk, but you can't go wrong with Joan.

5. Linda Blair

Even above the Devil himself, Linda Blair is the true star of The Exorcist. How a child her age was able to act like she did will boggle the minds of movie viewers for centuries to come. Did she put herself into a trance because this performance is on a whole other level? With her reprisal of the role she was able to now add some sex appeal to the innocent beginning of the Regan character. From there people acted like she disappeared, but she was in 1 or 2 films every year and many of them are quite entertaining. Check out Hell Night, Savage Streets or The Chilling to see what I mean.

4. Fay Wray

Many of her scenes from King Kong would be considered some of the most memorable and iconic scenes in all of cinema! Of course the 1933 version of King Kong is considered one of the best and certainly one of the most important and influential movies ever made, but Fay was plenty busy making other movies with a streak of horror masterpieces such as Doctor X, Most Dangerous Game and Mystery Of The Wax Museum. Unfortunately Fay retired 24 years before her death so we never got a Jackie Brown or a Requiem For A Dream, but who knows what could've been...

3. Angela Lansbury

She is best known as Jessica Fletcher which she should be, but the role she should be most applauded for is The Manchurian Candidate where I swear to you she plays the most diabolical villain ever to be portrayed by any actress or actor! The fact that she's so well known as a much gentler character on Murder She Wrote just demonstrates her range. Angela was one of the key players in early television starring in dozens of episodes and she did a couple of chilling thrillers very early in her career with Gaslight and The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

2. Piper Laurie

The single greatest performance by an actress in over a century of film is Piper Laurie as Sarah Packard in 1961's The Hustler. If you know movies you know of The Hustler as being one of the finest films ever made. It stars Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott all three of whom turn in possibly their best ever performances yet somehow Piper outdoes them all. After that she quits acting (damn her) until she comes back with what role...the mother in Carrie! If those back to back gems aren't reason enough to worship this actress also remember her recurring role in Twin Peaks.

1. Evelyn Ankers

Evelyn who? I know what you're thinking, that as usual I just picked the most obscure choice for my numero uno, but you need to realize what a constant this woman has been in my life and how her roles are responsible for the love of cinema I have to this very day. Since I'm only 40, I didn't grow up seeing her movies in the theaters, but luckily UHF stations played her black and white horror classics every other night. She was in so many films with Lon Chaney Jr. that I just assumed they were husband or wife like George and Gracie, but she was also the leading lady with horror gods such as Bela Lugosi, Abbott and Costello, Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. It seemed like everywhere I looked she was there. The Wolf Man, Hold That Ghost, The Ghost Of Frankenstein, Voice Of Terror, Son Of Dracula, Weird Woman, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Frozen Ghost (lots of ghosts in Evelyn's life). I started with all of these films before I was a teenager and today I watch them all on a regular basis. Prior to moving into television in the late 40s she managed to appear in my favorite Wolf Man film, my favorite Frankenstein film and my favorite Sherlock Holmes picture. That's not a coincidence...that's Evelyn Ankers.