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THE TOP 10 OPINIONS: THE BEST LEADING LADIES OF ALL TIME

The legendary Katharine Hepburn celebrates her 100th anniversary this month...

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By Kelly Doucette

Over the course of the 112 years of film production, the first official film with a professional cast was 1895’s THE EXECUTION OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, produced by the one and only Thomas Edison. In this film, playing the title role of Queen Mary was a male stage actor by the name of Robert Thomas, who acted in no other film. So, at the time, he was technically the greatest ACTRESS ever! Nowadays, movie studios have come to their senses and realized that women could be equally as good as men, and we now have a whole list of talented female thespians. With the impending 100th birthdays of the great Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck on May 7 and July 16, respectively I thought it necessary to investigate fifteen of the greatest leading actresses EVER. Granted, there are many more talented actresses, both dead and alive, but I picked out the fifteen of the most influential Oscar-nominated actresses of all time and have taken a close look at their career and lives.

Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003)
Debut Performance: 1932’s A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT
Final Performance: 1994’s LOVE AFFAIR
Feature Film Career Span: 62 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940), THE LION IN WINTER
(1968), LITTLE WOMEN (1933), ON GOLDEN POND (1981), ADAM’S RIB (1949)

Brief Biography: One of the most dedicated, beautiful, and energetic film actresses ever to grace the silver screen, Hepburn will always be remembered for her slurred speech, most notably in 1981’s ON GOLDEN POND. Prior to popular opinion, she dismissed the notion there was anything medically wrong with her speech. Another non-acting “thing” Kate will forever be remembered for is her decades-long affair with the [married] Wisconsin native, Spencer Tracy, whom she met on the set of 1942’s WOMAN OF THE YEAR. Just before that time, she had a brief love affair to the single Howard Hughes, as is slightly exaggerated in the 2004 film THE AVIATOR. The athletic tomboy Hepburn first started landing roles on Broadway in 1928’s THESE DAYS, with modest success and notices by filmmakers of the era. She finally landed her breakthrough (though by now forgotten) part in the 1932 play A WARRIOR’S HUSBAND, in which she played an Amazonian princess. After a few screen tests, she landed her first film, a supporting role in 1932’s A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT, opposite John Barrymore and Billie Burke. The film, which was a huge hit for RKO landed Hepburn a contract with the infamous (not extinct) film production company that would later distribute CITIZEN KANE and all the great Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire musicals. Between that film and 1934, she would make five additional films for RKO, the first of which, CHRISTOPHER STRONG, which reteamed her with Billie Burke. After that, she made MORNING GLORY (for which she won her first of four Oscars) and LITTLE WOMEN, her first great performance not to be recognized by the Academy. Despite her legendary status today, she was considered box office poison all throughout the 1930s after appearing in LITTLE WOMEN, although she appeared in the classics ALICE ADAMS (1935, nom.), STAGE DOOR (1937), and BRINGING UP BABY (1938). Despite her lack of a box office appeal at the time, she managed to keep her reputation alive with her stage work, most notably with the 1939 Philip Barry play THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. Not wanting to cast a “fading” actress, director George Cukor had to campaign with MGM to cast Ms. Hepburn in the film version of that very play, and it turned out to be the signature performance of her lengthy career. It earned her her third Oscar nomination, though she unfairly lost out to box-office starlet Ginger Rogers for her so-so work in KITTY FOYLE. This is an obvious case of box office over talent (though Ginger Rogers was a great musical performer, her talent was a bit lacking in her non-singing roles). Ms. Hepburn revived her career in the 1940s with the films WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942, nom.), DRAGON SEED (1944), and ADAM’S RIB (1949), as well as the forgotten fare KEEPER OF THE FLAME (1942), UNDERCURRENT (1946), and SONG OF LOVE (1947). Up next was the 1950s, perhaps the greatest decade of Ms. Hepburn’s screen career. She began the decade with THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951, nom.) and PAT AND MIKE (1952), but then took about two years off to focus on her theatrical career and personal life, returning full-force with the David Lean romance SUMMERTIME (1955, nom.), which was then followed by THE IRON PETTICOAT (1956), her only “forgotten” film of the ‘50s, THE RAINMAKER (also 1956, nom.), DESK SET (1957), and finally, SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959, nom.). After receiving that last nomination, Ms. Hepburn began to focus on her personal life and started to [slowly] retire from acting, which she didn’t really do until the mid-1990s. She made just one film, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962, nom.) in eight years, returning five years later for duel-Oscar winning performances in GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967), her last role opposite the late Spencer Tracy, and 1968’s THE LION IN WINTER, for which she tied film newcomer Barbra Streisand as the Best Leading Actress of the Year. Her film career took a nose dive with forgettable performances that would lead up to her finest film in nearly 15 years, ON GOLDEN POND (1981, Oscar win). However, her television and theatre careers took off like nobody’s business, earning her two Tony nominations (in 1970 and 1982), an Honorary SAG award in 1980 (and an official nod in 1995), 6 Emmy nominations (and 1 win), and an additional nomination (her 8th nod and loss). Her leading men included of Fred MacMurray, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Warren Beatty, Peter O’Toole, Burt Lancaster, Jason Robards, Laurence Olivier, and Spencer Tracy, to name a few. She won Oscars for her last three nominations, GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, THE LION IN WINTER, and ON GOLDEN POND.

Jane Fonda (1937 - ?)
Debut Performance: 1960’s TALL STORY
Most Recent Performance: 2007’s GEORGIA RULE
Feature Film Career Span: 47 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: COMING HOME (1978), KLUTE (1971), ON GOLDEN POND (1981), CAT BALLOU (1965), JULIA (1977)

Biography: Right around the time of her 1937 birth, legendary father Henry, a still relatively unknown actor in film, had just starred in four films, including THAT CERTAIN WOMAN (opposite Bette Davis) and had just begun filming I MET MY LOVE AGAIN, when he was asked to play leading man to Ms. Davis once more, which was to be his breakthrough performance in JEZEBEL, which was Warner Bros.’ answer to GONE WITH THE WIND. As Henry gained further fame for his John Ford collaborations, Jane grew fond of her father, a relationship that would eventually be on the rocks for many years leading up to their first (and only) film collaboration on 1981’s ON GOLDEN POND. Ms. Fonda’s first acting experience came in a 1954 Omaha production of Joshua Logan’s THE COUNTRY GIRL (at the time of the film production), in which she played opposite father Henry. Henry then prompted her to further her acting career and in 1958, she met legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg and subsequently joined the Actors Studio. After two years with the acting company, Fonda made her screen debut in 1960’s TALL STORY, opposite Anthony Perkins and Ray Walston, for director Joshua Logan. The adaptation of the Russel Crouse- Howard Lindsey play and Howard Nemerov novel “The Homecoming Game”, was a modest success but what more could be expected from a first time screen actress? A few years later, after taking a few months off from screen acting, Fonda returned for the films to make five films in the time between 1962 and 1963, including THE 1962 films THE CHAPMAN REPORT and PERIOD OF ADJUSTMENT, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination. Shortly after, she met director husband Roger Vadim at a party, only for him to cast her in his 1964 forgotten classic CIRCLE OF LOVE. Soon after the making of the film (which earned a Golden Globe nod as Best Foreign Film), they were married. They made three more films, most notably 1968’s BARBARELLA, before their 1973 divorce. Shortly after BARBARELLA, Fonda joined the 1969 Sydney Pollack snoozer THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (opposite Red Buttons, Gig Young, Suzannah York, and Michael Sarrazin). The film was super-successful and went on to earning nine Oscar nominations, including those for Director Pollack, screenwriters James Poe and Robert Thompson, and actors Fonda, York, and Young (who won Best Supporting Actor). Suprisingly, however, the film failed to get a Best Picture nod. The best picture nominees of that year were MIDNIGHT COWBOY (the winner), HELLO, DOLLY! (with no other major nominations), ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, and the Algerian classic, Z. After earning her first nominations, Ms. Fonda’s career almost exploded in the 1970s, with an additional four Oscar nominations and wins for KLUTE (1971) and COMING HOME (1978). Always the kidder, serious actress Fonda occasionally made a comedy, such as FUN WITH DICK AND JANE (1977), CALIFORNIA SUITE (1978), and NINE TO FIVE (1980), a film which she helped produce. Perhaps her greatest but most underrated performance to date was opposite father Henry and the equally as legendary Katharine Hepburn in 1981’s ON GOLDEN POND, which earned Ms. Fonda her first (and only) Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. She also happened to be an (uncredited) producer on the film. She made two more notable films, 1985’s AGNES OF GOD and 1986’s THE MORNING AFTER as well as appeared most notably in her favorite role in the 1984 telefilm THE DOLLMAKER. Shortly after earning her seventh, and final, Oscar nod for THE MORNING AFTER, Ms. Fonda’s career took a sharp nosedive when she reteamed with CALIFORNIA SUITE co-star with Bill Cosby in the 1987 comedy LEONARD: PART 6 (1987), in which she played none other than JANE FONDA. The film went on to earn 6 razzie nominations and 3 wins (Worst Actor, Worst Script, Worst Picture). She then went on to play opposite Gregory Peck in the 1989 stinker OLD GRINGO, which earned her a Razzie nomination as Worst Leading Actress. She managed to moderately revive her career with the 1990 sleeper STANLEY & IRIS. She then went on to marry movie mogul Ted Turner, which cumulated in a horrendous 2001 divorce. During their marriage, she retired from acting, but not forever. She returned full-force in the 2005 Jennifer Lopez comedy MONSTER-IN-LAW, for which she was considered for a Razzie nod as Worst Supporting Actress. Most recently, she finished working on the Garry Marshall comedy GEORGIA RULE, opposite Lindsay Lohan and fellow Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman. Some of Ms. Fonda’s leading men include Bill Cosby, Robert De Niro, Gregory Peck, George Segal, Lee Marvin, Anthony Perkins, Robert Redford, Anthony Franciosa, Michael Caine, Jon Voight, Donald Sutherland, James Caan, Jeff Bridges, Kris Kristofferson, Jason Robards, and father Henry Fonda.

Audrey Hepburn (1929 – 1993)
Debut Performance: 1951’s MONTE CARLO BABY
Final Performance: 1989’s ALWAYS
Feature Film Career Span: 48 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953), WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967), BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961), THE NUN’S STORY (1959), TWO FOR THE ROAD (1967)

Biography: Perhaps one of the gentlest actresses ever to grace the silver screen, Hepburn held no relation to the other Hepburn, Katharine. She began her career playing the cigarette girl in the 1951 Alistair Sim comedy LAUGHTER IN PARADISE. Her first notable film, playing in a bit part, was the 1951 Alec Guinness-Stanley Holloway classic THE LAVENDAR HILL MOB. Shortly after, she landed her first leading role in the forgotten 1951 British B-film MONTE CARLO BABY. The performance was good enough to land her an American screen test in 1952. From this test, she was cast almost overnight in the slightly altered “remake” of IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, ROMAN HOLIDAY. Originally, she was to be listed under the film’s leading man, Gregory Peck; however, Peck was so impressed by the young Hepburn’s performance that he became convinced she would win the Oscar the following year. So Mr. Peck asked director William Wyler to list her first in the credits, despite her newcomer status. As Mr. Peck predicted, Ms. Hepburn went on to receive her first Oscar nomination (and only win) for her performance as a run-away Roman princess; Ms. Hepburn beating Leslie Caron (LILI), Ava Gardner (MOGAMBO), early favorite-to-win Deborah Kerr (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY), and fellow newcomer Maggie McNamara (THE MOON IS BLUE), who unlike Ms. Hepburn had no previous screen experience. Ms. Hepburn went on to become a bonified movie vixon in such Hollywood fare as SABRINA (1954, nod.), WAR AND PEACE (1956), LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON (1957), THE NUN’S STORY (1959, nod.), BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961, nod.), and WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967, nod.). Losing interest in acting, Ms. Hepburn only took the occasional part after earning her fifth (and final) Oscar nod for the latter of those films. Her first post-Oscar career film was 1976’s ROBIN AND MARIAN, a new telling of the classic Robin Hood character and tale. She later went on to star in BLOODLINE (1979) and THEY ALL LAUGHED (1981), before officially calling it quits on acting. However, she returned once in the 1987 telefilm LOVE AMONG THIEVES, opposite Robert Wagner and Jerry Orbach, a film that was dismissed by critics and audiences alike as her worst film to date. Not really caring, it took a lot of convincing for her to return to film less than a year later for the underrated Steven Spielberg film ALWAYS (1989), opposite Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman. This was to be her last film. In 1992, Ms. Hepburn was diagnosed with colon cancer. At the time, she was working on her Emmy-winning informational mini-series GARDENS OF THE WORLD WITH AUDREY HEPBURN. She would die soon after its airing on American television. Ms. Hepburn’s leading men include Richard Dreyfuss, Sean Connery, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Alan Arkin, Albert Finney, Henry Fonda, James Garner, George Peppard, Peter Finch, and Fred Astaire.

Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990)
Debut Performance: the 1920 German film MR. AND MRS. STOCKHOLM OUT SHOPPING
Final Performance: 1941’s TWO-FACED WOMAN
Feature Film Career Span: 21 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: NINOTCHKA (1939), CAMILLE (1936), ANNA CHRISTIE (1930), ANNA KARENINA (1935), GRAND HOTEL (1932)

Biography: Perhaps one of the greatest Swedish actresses of all time, Ms. Garbo was the quintessential romantic comedy lead in the 1930s. At the age of 14, Garbo’s father tragically met his demise, leaving her family in turmoil. As a result of his death, Garbo was forced out of school to find a job. This job was an advertising short (MR. AND MRS. STOCKHOLM OUT SHOPPING) shown in movie theatres of the late 1910s. This would lead to another short film job (HOW NOT TO WEAR A DRESS), which in turn provided her first film part, 1922’s PETER THE TRAMP, in which she played herself (more or less). After a few more years of forgettable supporting parts, Ms. Garbo moved to America where she made her American screen debut in 1926’s TORRENT, which was soon followed by LOVE, an adaptation of Tolstoy’s ANNA KARENINA. Her next film, 1928’s A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS, made her a bonafied movie vixon, leading to her first two Oscar-nominated performances in the 1930s films ROMANCE and ANNA CHRISTIE. Despite ROMANCE’s lack of box office appeal, she quickly redeemed herself playing opposite a young Clark Gable in 1931’s SUSAN LENOX (HER RISE AND FALL). She then landed the top-billing in 1932’s Best Picture, GRAND HOTEL, opposite John and Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, and Jean Hersholt. She later appeared in the epic romances QUEEN CHRISTINA (1933) and THE PAINTED VEIL (1934), followed by a return to Tolstoy with the 1935 adaptation of ANNA KARENINA, a role she strongly lobbied to reprise. The film was twice as successful as its 1927 predecessor and even won her her first New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Best Actress award. Up next was 1936’s CAMILLE, which won her her third Oscar nomination and second consecutive NYFCC Best Actress prize. Her next two films are among her most known, 1937’s CONQUEST and 1939’s NINOTCHKA, her signature film. It was the latter of these two films that earned her her fourth and final Oscar nomination. Tiring of acting, Ms. Garbo made just one more film, 1941’s TWO-FACED WOMAN, perhaps the most underrated performance of her Hollywood career. She came out of retirement rather briefly to accept her 1955 Honorary Award, perhaps the Academy’s apology of never before bestowing her with an Oscar of her own. Ms. Garbo’s leading men in her Hollywood films include John Gilbert, Lionel Barrymore, Conrad Nagel, John Barrymore, Roman Novarro, Lewis Stone, Wallace Beery, Clark Gable, Melvyn Douglas, Frederic March, and the long forgotten actors Theo Shall and Nils Asther.

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982)
Debut Performance: the 1935 Swedish film THE COUNT OF THE OLD TOWN
Final Performance: 1978’s AUTUMN SONATA
Feature Film Career Span: 43 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: GASLIGHT (1944), ANASTASIA (1956), AUTUMN SONATA (1978), FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL (1943), THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S (1945)

Biography: Prior to popular belief, Ms. Bergman was never married nor is she related in any way to legendary director Ingmar Bergman (FANNY AND ALEXANDER, WILD STRAWBERRIES) who directed her in her final theatrical film, 1978’s AUTUMN SONATA. Born in Stockholm, Sweden in August 1915, Ms. Bergman decided to become an actress as soon as she finished her formal schooling. Her first taste of acting came at age 17, when in 1932 she was cast as an extra in the Swedish film LANDSKAMP. Not long after, her parents died and she was sent to live with an uncle who was enthusiastic about her dream to pursue acting as a profession. After spending a few years at the Swedish Royal Theatre, she decided theatre was not her fortey and decided to become a “picture actress”. After appearing in a few excellent Swedish films, she was discovered by legendary film producer, and head of MGM, Mr. David O Selznick, who saw her in one of those very films. Her very first film as a contract Hollywood actress was 1939’s INTERMEZZO, the American remake of her 1936 Swedish film of the same name. The film was such a success, earning two technical Oscar nominations, that she retreated back to Sweden to make the 1940 film A NIGHT IN JUNE, before returning to Hollywood full-time to make the 1941 films ADAM HAS FOUR SONS, RAGE IN HEAVEN, and DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. She was seen as a good actress but could not yet be taken seriously, at least not until her next film, CASABLANCA (1942). Although the film was a bit of a flop at the time, it was expected to be a major Oscar contender of 1943. It was such, earning 8 nominations and winning three for Director, Screenplay, and Picture, but Bergman was strangely left off the list. Not to fear, she was nominated the following year for the film FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLL (1943), for which she is twice as good. She would win an Oscar the following year for GASLIGHT (1944), be a favorite (although lose) the following year for her work in the religious sequel THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S (1945), and earn an additional nod for JOAN OF ARC (1948). While filming the 1949 Hitchcockian film UNDER CAPRICORN, she met and had a brief affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini, a scandal for which she was shunned by in the U.S. for much of the first half of the 1950s, during which time she made a few films with Rossellini. She returned full-force with her second Oscar-winning performance in 1956’s ANASTASIA and followed that film with 1958’s INDISCREET and THE INN OF THE SIXTH HAPPINESS, for which she was considered for an Oscar nomination but failed to reap the nod she so helplessly deserved. She launched her career in the 1960s with an Emmy-nominated television debut in the 1961 telefilm TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN A WOMAN’S LIFE but then retreated to make the forgotten films GOODBYE AGAIN (1961) and THE VISIT (1964), the classic THE YELLOW ROLLS-ROYCE (1964), and the 1967 Swedish film STIMULANTIA, for which she first met the other Bergman, Ingmar. She managed to revive her career with a performance in the 1969 comedy CACTUS FLOWER, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. To show the power of her box-office appeal, she won a third and final Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress for her brief appearance in the 1974 whodunit MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, for which she publicly apologized to Italian favorite Valentina Cortese, who was expected to win for the 1974 Francoise Truffaut movie-set farce DAY FOR NIGHT. She would end her career with two fine performances: first, the 1978 Ingmar Bergman drama AUTUMN SONATA and the 1982 telefilm A WOMAN CALLED GOLDA, playing the infamous Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, a role for which she posthumously won a Golden Globe and Emmy. Her leading men include Albert Finney, Charles Boyer, Walter Matthau, Curd Jurgens, Yul Brynner, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, Jose Ferrer, Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Spencer Tracy, Warner Baxter, Robert Montgomery, Charles Laughton, and Leslie Howard.

Bette Davis
Debut Performance: 1931’s THE BAD SISTER
Final Performance: 1989’s WICKED STEPMOTHER
Feature Film Career Span: 58 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: ALL ABOUT EVE (1950), MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944), WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), THE LETTER (1940), OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1934)

Biography: Perhaps one of the greatest actresses of all time, Ms. Davis was horribly typecast into playing a lot of [great] failing actresses, a fate she faced several times in her career. The attention seeker was not seen at first as a good or even attractive actress, even being refused admittance for acting coach Eva La Galliene’s Manhattan Civic Repertory. By luck, she received a lead part in the 1931 Conrad Nagel drama THE BAD SISTER, but received many negative reviews. However, she managed to sign a seven-year deal with MGM studios the following year and became an overnight star in 1932’s THE MAN WHO PLAYED GOD, in which she played opposite Oscar winner George Arliss. She received many lead roles in B-films for the next few years, one of which was 1934’s OF HUMAN BONDAGE, an adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel. She was so impressing in the film that when she failed to reap an Oscar nod, she became the first-ever write-in candidate, though she eventually lost to Claudette Colbert for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, a film Claudette was always ashamed of making. As a way to make amends for Ms. Davis’ lack of an initial nomination, she would win her next two Oscar nominations, for 1935’s DANGEROUS, the first film in which she played a fading actress, and1938’s JEZEBEL, Warner Bros.’ answer to GONE WITH THE WIND. Sadly, these would be her only Oscar wins in quite a lengthy career. She became a box-office must-see throughout the 1940s with such fare as THE LETTER (1940, nod.), THE GREAT LIE (1941), NOW VOYAGER (1942, nod.), and MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944, nod.). Her last great film before her great slump was 1945’s THE CORN IS GREEN, but most of the attention was for rising starlet Joan Loarring and newcomer John Dall, who both reaped Oscar bids. The next five years for Ms. Davis were a slump, especially in the form of the 1949 flop BEYOND THE FOREST. She would revive her career one year later playing fading theatre actress Margo Channing in Joseph Mankiewicz’ ALL ABOUT EVE (1950), for which she and comeback kid Gloria Swanson, also playing a failed actress, lost surprisingly to blonde bombshell Judy Holliday.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990)
Debut Performance: 1929’s THE LOCKED DOOR
Final Performance: 1964’s THE NIGHT WALKER
Feature Film Career Span: 35 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), BALL OF FIRE (1941), TITANIC (1953), STELLA DALLAS (1937), SORRY WRONG NUMBER (1948)

Biography: Born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Stanwyck lived a life of fame, fortune, and ultimately, tragedy. She grew up admiring the works of stage actors and actresses alike, a career which she began in 1922 when she began performing cabaret acts throughout Manhattan and the five burrows. Not long after, she went on to appear in a few musical revues on Broadway, but never really garnered much attention. In 1926, she appeared in a production of Willard Mack’s “The Noose”, which went on to become an Oscar-nominated film in 1928. Not long after, she got her first taste of filmmaking when she was cast as an extra in the 1927 film BROADWAY NIGHTS, which was filmed in her native New York. Liking what she saw, she soon moved to Hollywood to take part in the increasingly popular moving “pictures” that were so very popular at the time. Liking what they saw, United Artists, a production company founded by Charles Chaplin and Mary Pickford, among others, cast her in her first film as the leading lady, of 1929’s THE LOCKED DOOR. She was then moved over to Columbia Studios where she really came into her own. While filming THE LOCKED DOOR, she was also busy portraying the title character in the 1929 Columbia melodrama MEXICALI ROSE. After making a host of films for Columbia, she was eventually loaned out to other studios to make use of her rising star status. Perhaps her first signature performance and remembered to this day by film critics and buffs alike, was 1937’s STELLA DALLAS, in which she played an overworked mother and wife. Not long after, she was cast opposite a young William Holden in 1939’s GOLDEN BOY, for director Rouben Mamoulian, whose credits include a 1931 production of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (with Frederic March and Miriam Hopkins) and 1935’s BECKY SHARP (also with Hopkins). In 1941, she really became a star to behold, appearing in not one, not two, but three successful films: THE LADY EVE, MEET JOHN DOE, and BALL OF FIRE (second nod.), for directors Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, and Howard Hawks, respectively. It was also on the set of BALL that Stanwyck befriended the film’s screenwriters, Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, the predecessor of which was filming his directorial debut, 1942’s THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR. The next few years for Stanwyck were successful but not memorable, appearing in THE GAY SISTERS and FLESH AND FANTASY, no sexual innuendo in either. In the last forty years of her career, she would earn one more unsuccessful Oscar nod, for 1948’s SORRY, WRONG NUMBER, venture into television for Emmy-winning roles in THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW (1960-1961), THE BIG VALLEY (1965-1969), and THE THORN BIRDS (1983, mini-series) as well as be forever remembered as Constance Colby Patterson on DYNASTY and later on THE COLBY’S. She would leave film behind with the 1964 films ROUSTABOUT, an Elvis musical, and THE NIGHT WALKER, a horror-thriller for camp director Bill Castle. In the last nineteen years of her life, she lost a kidney in 1971, was beaten and robbed early in a 1981 morning, and she escaped her fire-ridden home in 1985 (losing all her love letters from first husband Robert Taylor). Her ashes were scattered in Lone Pine, CA, and to this day, has no grave site. Some of her leading men include William Holden, Henry Fonda, Elvis Presley, Gary Cooper, Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson, Sydney Greenstreet, David Niven, Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Frederic March, Robert Ryan, James Mason, and Laurence Harvey.

Meryl Streep (1949 – ?)
Debut Performance: 1977’s JULIA
Most Recent Performance: 2007’s EVENING
Feature Film Career Span: 30 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: SOPHIE’S CHOICE (1982), KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979), THE HOURS (2002), A CRY IN THE DARK (1988), THE RIVER WILD (1994)

Biography: Perhaps the single greatest actress of our generation, Ms. Streep can play anything from a concentration camp survivor (SOPHIE’S CHOICE) to a divorcee fighting to see the child she abandoned (KRAMER VS. KRAMER) to a bossy fashion editor with a soft side (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA), she receives praise for almost anything she does. Making her film debut in 1977’s JULIA, which she followed up with supporting parts in THE DEER HUNTER (1978), for which she earned her first Oscar nomination playing the emotionally distant wife of a Vietnam War vet and KRAMER, winning her first Oscar, as Supporting Actress. In the next ten years, she would be bumped from supporting performances to those of lead performances. In the 1980s alone, she would star in THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN (1981), earning Streep her first Best Actress Oscar nomination, SOPHIE’S CHOICE (1982, win), SILKWOOD (1983, nod.), OUT OF AFRICA (1985, nod.), IRONWEED (1987, nod.), and A CRY IN THE DARK (1988, nod.). Her career hit a bit of a low playing opposite Roseanne Barr and Ed Begley Jr. in the comedy SHE DEVIL (1989), for which she earned an unnecessary Golden Globe nomination. She took no time in recovering, appearing later in POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990, nod.), DEATH BECOMES HER (1992.) and THE RIVER WILD (1994), for which she earned SAG and Golden Globe nods but was oddly left off the Oscar ballot. She then appeared in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (1995, nod.), MARVIN’S ROOM (1996), ONE TRUE THING (1998, nod.), and MUSIC OF THE HEART (1999, nod.), earning Streep her 10th, 11th, and 12th Oscar nominations, tying her with the great Katharine Hepburn in nominations. She took the next few years off and had she retired, we could have remained happy. In 2001, she voiced a cameo in Steven Spielberg’s ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. In 2002, she returned full-force with Oscar-worthy performances in THE HOURS, playing a bisexual woman going through a mid-life crisis and ADAPTATION., playing a fictionalized version of writer Susan Orlean. In 2003, Streep brought us what is arguably her greatest performances on screen, playing multiple roles in the 2003 Mike Nichols mini-series drama ANGELS IN AMERICA, about the 1980s AIDS crisis. The role brought streep her second Emmy (third nod) and her fifth Golden Globe (her twenty-first nomination). In 2005, she stooped to SHE-DEVIL lows to play opposite Uma Thurman and newcomer Bryan Greenburg in the comedy PRIME. However, she has since recovered for earning her fourteenth Oscar nod (now surpassing Katharine Hepburn) for this past summer’s THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Streep’s next project is a cameo opposite daughter Mamie Gummer in the fall drama EVENING, which reunites her with THE HOURS scribe Michael Cunningham, now a screenwriter and producer. She is also set to play opposite Tom Cruise and Robert Redford in the political drama LIONS FOR LAMBS, the CIA thriller RENDITION opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and fellow Oscar winners Alan Arkin and Reese Witherspoon. She is also set to star in the ABBA musical MAMMA MIA! Some of Streep’s past leading men include Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, Nicolas Cage, Sam Neill, Robert Redford, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Robert De Niro, Kurt Russell, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Willis, Kevin Bacon, Gene Hackman, Dennis Quaid, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 – ?)
Debut Performance: 1942’s THERE’S ONE BORN EVERY MORNING
Final Performance: 1994’s THE FLINTSTONES
Feature Film Career Span: 52 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: WHOS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966), CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958), BUTTERFIELD 8 (1960), SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959), RAINTREE COUNTY (1957)

Biography: English native Taylor can be described as one of the most beautiful leading ladies of all time. The natural brunette Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939, when Taylor was just seven. Almost right away, she was shoved into the acting profession with theatre work and work as a film extra. Her official screen debut came at the age of 9 in the 1942 political comedy THERE’S ONE BORN EVERY MORNING, opposite vaudeville star Hugh Herbert. She later gained notice as a child star in the 1944 horse-racing classic NATIONAL VELVET and the 1947 Christmas essential, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET. Later appearing in LITTLE WOMEN (1949) and FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950), she first got respect as an actress on the 1951 set of A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951). Soon after, she was cast in IVANHOE (1952), THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (1954), and GIANT (1956). She earned her first of five Oscar nominations in 1958 for 1957’s RAINTREE COUNTY, in which she played a sumptuous southern belle. She earned three more consecutive nods for 1958’s CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, playing the wife of an alcoholic ex-football player, 1959’s SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, playing a mentally unstable woman, and 1960’s BUTTERFIELD 8, playing a model-turned call girl, for which she won her first Oscar. She always said she did not deserve this particular Oscar. She took a few years off to focus on her [fourth] marriage, to singer-actor Eddie Fisher, with whom she appeared in BUTTERFIELD 8, as well as to develop a persona for portraying the legendary Queen Cleopatra in the 1963 film of the same name. Right after heading the rather soap-opera drama that was CLEOPATRA, she divorced Eddie Fisher and married her much-older lover (and CLEOPATRA co-star) Richard Burton. She went on to appear opposite Burton in THE V.I.P.s (1963), THE SANDPIPER (1965), WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966, 2nd Oscar win), THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, DOCTOR FAUSTUS, and THE COMEDIANS (all 1967), BOOM (1968), ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS (1969), in which Taylor was an extra, HAMMERSMITH IS OUT (1972), and finally, UNDER MILK WOOD (also 1972), in which Taylor was the lead and Burton was the narrator. In her later years, Taylor focused her career on TV appearances on GENERAL HOSPITAL (1981), ALL MY CHILDREN (1983), and NORTH AND SOUTH (1985, mini-series). She briefly returned to films with the 1988 Italian soap YOUNG TOSCANINI, opposite John Rhys-Davies, Philippe Noirot, and Jean-Pierre Cassel. In 1992, she made her voice-over debut voicing Maggie Simpson’s first word on an episode of THE SIMPSONS, and in 1994 made her final film, the live-action cartoon THE FLINTSTONES, for which she unfortunately earned a Razzie nod for Worst Supporting Actress, a category vacated by Kathy Bates (NORTH), Sean Young (EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES), Lesley Ann Warren (COLOR OF NIGHT) and FLINTSTONES co-star Rosie O’Donnell (THE FLINTSTONES, EXIT TO EDEN, CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU?), the eventual winner. Ms. Taylor reemerged from retirement to star opposite Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, and Joan Collins in the 2001 telefilm THESE OLD BROADS, co-written and executive produced by Reynolds’ daughter, Carrie Fisher. Ms. Taylor’s leading men include Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Rex Harrison, Spencer Tracy, Dana Andrews, Robert Taylor, Edmund Gwenn, Peter Lawford, Mickey Rooney, James Dean, Rock Hudson, Eddie Fisher, Laurence Harvey, Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis, and John Goodman.

Judy Garland (1922 – ?)
Debut Performance: 1936’s EVERY SUNDAY
Final Performance: 1963’s I COULD GO ON SINGING
Feature Film Career Span: 27 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: A STAR IS BORN (1954), THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961), MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), THE CLOCK (1945)

Biography: Born Frances Gumm on June 10, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, Ms. Judy Garland ranks among Leslie Caron, Julie Andrews, and Ginger Rogers as some of the greatest talent in musical film…ever! From very early on, her parents Frank and Ethel Gumm, of whom were vaudeville performers, exposed her to musical theatre and made sure she was to have a career in entertainment as well. At just two years old, in 1924, she was paired with sisters Mary Jane and Virginia to become a dance act entitled ‘The Gumm Sisters’. Not long after, the Gumm family moved to Lancaster, CA, after discovering their father’s homosexuality and sexual advances on teenage boys. At the age of 13, in 1935, Ms. Gumm signed a contract with movie mogul Louis B. Mayer and MGM after her musical audition proved successful. Due to her name’s lack of glamour, MGM sooned changed her name to Judy Garland, for film critic Robert Garland and the popular song ‘Judy’. With no projects yet coming her way, MGM gave her roles in radio plays to make a name for herself. Sadly while performing these productions, her father Frank died of meningitis in 1935. When Deanna Durbin suddenly came out of nowhere in 1935, Judy nearly lost her career when she and Deanna started competing for some prime roles. The two made a combo screen test in 1935 entitled EVERY SUNDAY, a project to determine which of the two ladies to keep under contract. With much negotiation, Deanna was released without having made a single MGM film, only to be signed by Universal shortly after. Judy’s first film was a supporting role in 1936’s PIGSKIN PARADE, in which she starred opposite Patsy Kelly, Betty Grable, and Stuart Erwin, who earned an Oscar nomination for his performance. Her next film was the 1937 sequel BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938, opposite Robert Taylor and Eleanor Powell. Shortly after, she was introduced to fellow MGM child star Mickey Rooney, with whom she first starred with in THOROUGHBREADS DON’T CRY (1937). They next starred together in LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), and BABES IN ARMS (1939), which earned Rooney his first official Oscar nomination. It was in between filming ANDY HARDY and BABES IN ARMS that Ms. Garland first found out, at her birthday, that she had been cast in the leading role in the latest adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s populist novel THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939). She earned one of the first juvenile Oscars for her performance; the film was her masterpiece and her signature film. Her first post-WIZARD OF OZ film was the ANDY HARDY SEQUEL, ANDY HARDY MEETS DEBUTANTE (1940), as well as STRIKE UP THE BAND and LITTLE NELLIE KELLY. Throughout the 1940s, she became a musical essential, most notably in husband Vincente Minnelli’s (father to Liza) 1944 classic, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about her career was about to come; in 1945, she signed on to star opposite Robert Walker and Oscar-nominee James Gleason in husband Vincente Minnelli’s 1945 film THE CLOCK, which was the first of three non-musical films to star Judy Garland. Shortly after filming this film, she began taking, under MGM’s orders, amphetamines to keep her energy level up and her weight down. She soon couldn’t live without these “wonder drugs”. In 1951, at the height of her drug problem and low point in her career (she took a 3-year hiatus from film between 1950 and 1953, she divorced Vincente Minnelli after a 6-year marriage and then married [for the third time] to producer Sidney Luft, father to her daughter Lorna Luft, who also went on to become an actress and producer. In 1954, Luft and Minnelli made their first and only film together, the musical remake to the 1937 Frederic March-Janet Gaynor classic A STAR IS BORN, in which her character’s husband eerily reflected HER life. The film won Garland a Golden Globe and her first official Oscar nomination. In fact, she was so sure she was going to win, that at her bedside (an illness prevented her from attending the 1955 Oscar ceremony) she told the off-hand cameraman and reporter so. However, she sadly lost to Grace Kelly for THE COUNTRY GIRL, an event that made her angry enough to temporarily quit making movies. She returned to films for the non-musical drama JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961), for which she earned her second and final Oscar nomination, as Best Supporting Actress. This time, she lost to Rita Moreno for WEST SIDE STORY. Her next film project was the 1962 animated musical GAY PUR-EE, with Red Buttons, Robert Goulet, Hermione Gingold, voice artists Paul Frees and Mel Blanc, and DICK VAN DYKE regular Morey Amsterdam rounding out the voice cast. In 1963, she made her two swan song films, the non-musical A CHILD IS WAITING for director John Cassavetes and JUDGMENT writer Abby Mann, and I COULD GO ON SINGING for director Ronald Neame. However, in 1967, she decided to come out of retirement as she was cast opposite Sharon Tate and Patty Duke, among others in the 1967 Jacqueline SUsann adaptation, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS. However, she was soon fired due to her tumultuous personal life and replaced by Susan Hayward. In the last two years of her tragic life, she never again came out of retirement, instead deciding to fuel her drugs habits, resulting in her 1969 accidental overdose. Her leading men include Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Mickey Rooney, Burt Lancaster, Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew, James Mason, James Stewart, Gene Kelly, Stuart Erwin, and character actor George Murphy.

Olivia de Havilland (1916 – )
Debut Performance: 1935’s ALIBI IKE
Final Film Performance: 1979’s THE FIFTH MUSKETEER
Feature Film Career Span: 45 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: THE HEIRESS (1949), THE SNAKE PIT (1948), GONE WITH THE WIND (1939), TO EACH HIS OWN (1946), CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935)

Biography: Born to a British patent attorney and his wife, stage actress Lillian Fontaine, in 1916’s Tokyo, Japan, Ms. De Havilland is the sister to fellow Oscar-winner Joan Fontaine of REBECCA and SUSPICION fame. When she was just three years old, her parents divorced and she moved with her father to Los Angeles where she fell in love with acting just shortly after graduating high school. One of her first theatrical performances was in a 1931 Oakland, CA production of A MIDNIGHT SUMMER’S DREAM, where she was spotted by renowned German theatre director Max Reinhardt, who had also directed a few German short films in the mid-1910s. Reinhardt was so impressed by the aspiring starlet that he cast her in his 1930s stage version of the play and then the 1935 feature film, which Reinhardt directed with the assistance of fellow German filmmaker William Dieterle, who went on to direct such classics as THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937), earning an Oscar nod, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939). While making this film, de Havilland signed a contract with Warner Bros. and made time to also appear in ALIBI IKE, THE IRISH IN US (with her MIDSUMMER NIGHT co-star, James Cagney), and CAPTAIN BLOOD, which is often credited as her breakthrough performance. The latter of these films marked her first (of eight) pairings with swash buckler Errol Flynn. Her first film after 1935 was the 1936 classic ANTHONY ADVERSE, which, like CAPTAIN BLOOD and MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, was a Best Picture contender, losing ultimately to THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, which starred William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank Morgan, and Luise Rainer, also the Best Actress of 1936. After making her name as a leading actress in such other fare as THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936) and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), de Havilland was loaned out to MGM to make the epic Civil War classic GONE WITH THE WIND. As was usually the case with studio contracts, studios could occasionally loan out stars to make money for a rival studio. This film was the film that really made her career soar, although it was a supporting role, a far cry from her leading lady status. The role went on to earn de Havilland her first of five Oscar nominations, an award she ultimately lost to GWTW co-star Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar. Although receiving quite a bundle of success from the film, de Havilland faithfully returned to Warner Bros. to churn out some more films, including the 1940 classic THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE, which reteamed Olivia with Jimmy Cagney for the third and final time. Working with Warner Brothers finally paid off for de Havilland in 1941 when she teamed with Charles Boyer and Paulette Goddard for the melodrama HOLD BACK THE DAWN, which earned de Havilland her second Oscar nomination, and her first as a Leading Actress. Yet again, she lost, this time to sister Joan Fontaine for the Alfred Hitchcock thriller SUSPICION. After that strong showing, Olivia now demanded better, more substantial roles than the "sweet young thing" slot into which Warner Brothers had been fitting her. The studio responded by placing her on a six-month suspension, all of the studios at the time operating under the policy that players were nothing more than property to do with as they saw fit. If that wasn't bad enough, when her contract with Warner Brothers was up, she was told that she would have to make up the lost time because of the suspension. Irate, she sued the studio, and over the length of the court battle she didn't appear in a single film. The result, however, was worth the wait. In a landmark decision, the courts said that not only did Olivia not have to make up the time, but all performers were to be limited to a seven-year contract which would include any suspensions handed down. This became known as the "De Havilland Law". Now studios couldn't treat their performers as mere cattle. Returning to screen in 1946, Olivia made up for lost time by appearing in four films, and it was one of those (TO EACH HIS OWN) that finally won her the Oscar that had so long eluded her. Olivia was the strongest performer in Hollywood for the balance of the 1940s. In 1948 she turned in another strong showing in THE SNAKE PIT (1948) as Virginia Cunningham, a woman suffering a mental breakdown. The end result was another Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but she lost to Jane Wyman in JOHNNY BELINDA (1948). As in the two previous years, she made only one film in 1949, but again won a nomination and the Academy Award for Best Actress in THE HERIESS (1949). After a three-year hiatus, Olivia returned to star In MY COUSIN RACHEL (1952). From that point on she made few appearances on the screen, but was seen on Broadway and some television shows. Her last screen appearance was THE LAST MUSKETEER (1979), and her last career appearance was in the TV movie THE WOMAN HE LOVED (1988), which earned Emmy and Golden Globes nods for Julie Harris and Jane Seymour, respectively. During the hoopla surrounding the 50th anniversary of GWTW in 1989, she graciously declined requests for all interviews as the only surviving member of the four main stars. Today she enjoys a quiet retirement in Paris, France. In 1987, de Havilland won a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for her performance as the Dowager Empress in the 1987 telefilm ANASTASIA: THE MYSTERY OF ANNA. She also turned briefly to episodic television for a 1981 cameo on an episode of THE LOVE BOAT, which reteamed her with the legendary Joseph Cotten, in his final screen appearance, and introduced her to Don Ameche, who had also come out of retirement to make his appearance. Some of Olivia de Havilland’s leading men included James Cagney, Erroll Flynn, Clark Gable, Ronald Reagan, Henry Fonda, Montgomery Clift, Richard Burton, John Forsythe, Dirk Bogarde, Alan Ladd, Joseph Cotten, Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, Leslie Howard, James Caan, Claude Rains, George Brent, Robert Cummings, Joe E. Brown, Jack Lemmon, Michael Caine, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain, Mark Stevens, Paul Henreid, and David Carradine.

Jennifer Jones (1919 – ?)
Debut Performance: 1939’s NEW FRONTIER (alias: Phyllis Isley)
Final Performance: 1974’s THE TOWERING INFERNO
Feature Film Career Span: 35 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (1943), LOVE IS A MANY- SPLENDORED THING (1955), DUEL IN THE SUN (1946), THE MAN IN THE GREY FLANNEL SUIT (1957), THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)

Biography: Born Phyllis Isley on March the 2nd, 1919, Ms. Jones was born to be a star. She moved out to Hollywood from the sultry Midwestern farms of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1939, at about the same time as GONE WITH THE WIND was being released. In fact, she had been one of thousands of starlets and unknowns that had been rejected in favor of the British actress Vivien Leigh for the lead role in that very film. Ironically, she later met, fell in love with, and married that film’s producer, David O Selznick, who was 17 years her senior. In 1938, shortly before marrying the actor Robert Walker, with whom she made 1944’s SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, she made her screen debuts in the 1939 John Wayne western NEW FRONTIER, which was to be followed by the serial DICKY TRACY’S G-MEN, both films credited her with her birth name of Phyllis Isley. However, after she and husband Robert Walker, who had only scored a few parts as an extra, failed a screen test, they decided to return to New York. While Robert Walker found steady work on radio programs, Jones worked part-time modeling hats while looking for possible acting jobs. The two actors had two children together. When she learned of auditions for the lead role of Claudia in Rose Franken’s hit play of the same name, she presented herself to David O. Selznick’s New York office, but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading. Selznick, however, overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview, she was signed to a seven-year contract. She was carefully groomed for stardom and given her new name -- Jennie Jones. Director Henry King was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous for THE SONG OF BERNADETTE and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. In 1944, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as St. Bernadette. That year, Jones' friend, Ingrid Bergman was also a Best Actress nominee for her work in FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. Jones apologized to Bergman, who replied, "No, Jennifer, your Bernadette was better than my Maria." Jones presented the Best Actress Oscar the following year to Bergman for GASLIGHT. At about this time, Jones’ marriage to Walker was falling apart despite having two children together. They divorced later in 1944 and not long after, Jones started dating Selznick, whom she married in 1949 until his ultimate 1965 death. Throughout the 1940s, Jones became an instant star, appearing in such fare as SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (1944), which not only earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination but teamed her with future ex-husband Walker for the first and only time, LOVE LETTERS (1945), and DUEL IN THE SUN (1946), each of which earned her Best Actress nominations. After making DUEL IN THE SUN, an epic of GONE WITH THE WIND proportions, Jones took two years off, only to return with the 1948 Selznick film PORTRAIT OF JENNIE, which teamed her for the fourth time with CITIZEN KANE star Joseph Cotten. She rounded out the 1940s with the 1949 films WE WERE STRANGERS and MADAME BOVARY. Shortly after, she starred in the 1950 melodrama GONE TO EARTH, for legendary European filmmakers Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell. After making this film, she again took some time off, again returning 2 years later with three brand new films: THE WILD HEART (again for Powell and Pressburger), CARRIE, and RUBY GENTRY. She earned her fifth and final Oscar nod in 1956 for the 1955 melodrama LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING. She would go on to appear in THE MAN WITH THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT (1956) and A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957) before going into retirement. She managed to make just four more films before officially throwing in the hat with the 1974 disaster thriller THE TOWERING INFERNO, which earned Jones a Golden Globe nod as Best Supporting Actress. In her 35-year career, Jones made just 25 films, 2 of which under her birth name. Some of Jennifer Jones’ leading men include Joseph Cotten, William Holden, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, James Mason, Frederic March, Laurence Olivier, Charles Boyer, Humphrey Bogart, Robert Stack, Gregory Peck, John Gielgud, John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Jason Robards, Roddy McDowell, and Rock Hudson.

Norma Shearer (1902 – 1983)
Debut Performance: 1920’s THE STEALERS
Final Performance: 1942’s HER CARDBOARD LOVER
Feature Film Career Span: 22 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: MARIE ANTOINETTE (1938), THE DIVORCEE (1930), ROMEO AND JULIET (1936), THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1934), A FREE SOUL (1931)

Biography: Born Edith Norma Shearer in 1902 in Quebec, Canada, Ms. Shearer was a portrait of natural beauty. In 1916, at the age of 14, Ms. Shearer won a beauty contest and in 1920, Shearer’s mother Edith took her and her sister, Athole, the future wife of Howard Hawks, to New York where she was rejected by Florenz Ziegfeld as one of his “follies” but she, her sister, and their mother managed to get work as extras on a few movie sets. Her first credited role came in a supporting role in the 1920 silent film THE STEALERS, a role she followed up with a few more forgettable films, all in 1922. Then, out of the blue, she was first discovered by Irving Thalberg and not long after was signed on for a five-year contract by Louis B. Mayer in 1923. In 1927, Thalberg and Shearer were married. After which, he tried to convince her to retire allowing him to bring home the money, but she demanded bigger and showier parts anyway. Her first talkie film was the 1929 CHICAGO-esque THE TRIAL OF MARY DUGAN. Soon after, her career skyrocketed with the 1929 films THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (an Oscar nominee for its script) and THEIR OWN DESIRE. In 1930, she starred in THE DIVORCEE as well as the lesser known melodrama LET US BE GAY. The year after, Shearer earned duel Oscar nods for her work in THEIR OWN DESIRE and THE DIVORCEE, winning for the latter of the two films. That same year, she starred in the Robert Montgomery films STRANGERS MAY KISS (1931) and PRIVATE LIVES as well as the melodrama A FREE SOUL (1931), earning Shearer her third Oscar nomination. In 1932, Shearer played duel roles in the Sidney Franklin WWI drama SMILIN’ THROUGH, which was nominated as the Best Picture of that Year. While appearing in that film, she also starred in the Eugene O’Neill adaptation, STRANGE INTERLUDE. She took the next year and a half off, returning to the screen in 1934’s RIPTIDE, a low-budget drama, and THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET, as the lovelorn daughter of a patriarchal tyrant. This film earned Shearer her fourth Oscar nomination and third loss, this time losing to Claudette Colbert for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT. She took another year off before returning to make her signature performance, as Shakespeare’s lovelorn Juliet in the 1936 Thalberg production of ROMEO AND JULIET. After earning her fifth Oscar nomination (losing ironically to Luise Rainer for her performance in the Ziegfeld biopic, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD). She took another year off to finalize her 1936 divorce from Thalberg before returning to the screen temporarily in the 1938 epic romance MARIE ANTOINETTE, which was also financed by Thalberg. This film earned Shearer her sixth and final Oscar nomination, losing this time to Bette Davis for JEZEBEL. The film won her a Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival. The remaining five years of her screen career was a low-point, with the modest exception of the ensemble romantic comedy classic THE WOMEN (1939), which paired her with future Oscar winners Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine, and Rosalind Russell as well as character actress Mary Boyland, stage actress Phyllis Povah, and future Oscar nominees Ruth Hussey, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main, and Rosalind Russell. Her last two films were the 1942 B-films WE WERE DANCING and HER CARDBOARD LOVER, roles which she selected over MRS. MINIVER, which would have won Shearer her second Oscar and seventh nomination. Shortly after making these films, she shunned the limelight and married ski instructor Martin Arrouge, who was twenty years her junior. During her career, she discovered actress Janet Leigh (born Jeannette Morrison) and actor-turned producer Robert Evans, who went on to play her former husband, Irving Thalberg, in his the 1957 screen debut, THE MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, a bio-pic of horror legend Lon Chaney. She and sound-designer brother Douglas were the first Oscar-winning brother and sister combo. Some of Norma Shearer’s leading men include Melvyn Douglas, Robert Montgomery, Chester Morris, Lionel Barrymore, Leslie Howard, Frederic March, Charles Laughton, John Barrymore, Tyrone Power, Clark Gable, Basil Rathbone, and Robert Taylor.

Shirley MacLaine (1934 – ?)
Debut Performance: 1955’s THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Most Recent Performance: 2007’s CLOSING THE RING
Feature Film Career Span: 52 years
Five Greatest Performances: THE APARTMENT (1960), TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983), IRMA LA DOUCE (1963), STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989), THE TURNING POINT (1977)

Biography: Named after child star Shirley Temple, Known as the girl with big red curls and weak ankles, Shirley MacLaine was born as Shirley MacLean Beaty on April 24, 1934, to Virginia native Ira Owens Beaty and his wife, Kathlyn. Ira and Kathlyn gave up their dreams to raise their family. Before Shirley was three years old, her brother and rival Warren Beatty was born on March 30 or 31, 1937. Shirley was the tallest in her ballet classes at the Washington School of Ballet. She had an excellent batting average in baseball but, as she discovered, it wasn't a good thing for a girl to do, so she tossed aside her cleats for a pair of pom-poms and joined the cheer leading squad in her high school, Washington-Lee. As soon as she graduated, she packed her bags and headed for New York. While auditioning for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s "Me and Juliet", she had a problem with the producer, who kept mispronouncing her name. He asked, "Okay, Beaty. Do you have another name, kid?" She then changed her name from Shirley MacLean Beaty to Shirley MacLaine. She later joined another play called "The Pajama Game". With her high-octane performance, she won a part and the role as an understudy to Carol Haney, perhaps best known on screen playing opposite Gene Kelly in 1956’s INVITATION TO THE DANCE and opposite Doris Day in 1957’s THE PAJAMA GAME. Unfortunately, Haney was known for never having missed a performance in her life. A few months into the play, Shirley was going to ditch "The Pajama Game" and take the lead role in another Broadway hit, "Can-Can". She left for the theatre after being 15 minutes late because the train broke down. She then heard that Carol had broken her ankle and she was to go on in her place. Despite making many mistakes, she endeared herself to the audience. She replaced Carol again three months later following another injury. Shirley knew her lines this time and knocked them dead. Hal B. Wallis was in the audience that night with a five-year contract and signed her to Paramount Pictures. She agreed to the contract, and, three months later, she was off to shoot the movie THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955). She then took roles in HOT SPELL (1958) and AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS (1956), completed not too long before her daughter Stephanie ‘Sachie’ Parker was born. With Shirley's career on track, she played one of her most challenging roles: "Ginny Moorhead" in SOME CAME RUNNING (1958), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She went on to do THE SHEEPMEN and THE MATCHMAKER (both 1958). In 1960, she got her second Academy Award nomination for director Billy Wilder’s THE APARTMENT (1960). Three years later, she received a third nomination for Wilder’s production of the Tony-winning Alexandre Breffort play, IRMA LA DOUCE (1963). In 1969, she brought her friend Bob Fosse from Broadway to direct her in SWEET CHARITY (1969), which gave her the hit trademark "If My Friends Could See Me Now". After a three-year to five-year hiatus, Shirley made a documentary on China called THE OTHER HALF OF THE SKY: A CHINA MEMOIR (1975), for which she received an Oscr nomination for Best Documentary. In 1977, she got her fourth Best Actress Oscar nomination for THE TURNING POINT (1977). In 1979, she worked with Peter Sellers in BEING THERE (1979) shortly before his 1980 death. After 20 years in the film industry, she finally took home the Oscar for Best Actress in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983), playing a loose-cannon single mother. Her next film was the 1984 Burt Reynolds flop, CANNONBALL RUN II, for which she received her first (and only) Razzie nomination as Worst Leading Actress. After a four-year hiatus, Shirley made MADAME SOUSATZKA (1988), a critical and financial hit which took top prize at the Venice Film Festival. It was also the only time a Golden Globe Best Actress in a Drama winner did not take home an Oscar nod (she tied the GG with Jodie Foster for THE ACCUSED and Sigourney Weaver for GORILLAS IN THE MIST). In 1989 she starred with Dolly Parton, Sally Field, Olympia Dukakis, Darryl Hannah, and Julia Roberts in the melodrama STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989). She received rave reviews playing Meryl Streep's mother in POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990) and for GUARDING TESS (1994). In 1996, she reprised her role from TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983) as "Aurora Greenway" in THE EVENING STAR (1996), which didn't repeat its predecessor's success at the box office. In mid-1998, she made her feature directorial debut, BRUNO (2000) in which she starred with child star Alex D. Linz as well as fellow Oscar nominees Gary Sinise, Jennifer Tilly Kathy Bates and the late great Gwen Verdon in her final screen appearance before her late-2000 death. In February 2001, Shirley worked with close friends once again in THESE OLD BROADS (2001) (TV), and co-starred with Kirstie Alley in SALEM WITCH TRIALS (2002) (TV), and with Julia Stiles in CAROLINA (2003/I). She created her own website, www.shirleymaclaine.com, in June, 2000, which includes her own radio show and interviews, the Encounter Board, and Independent Expression, a members only portion of the site. In the past few years, Shirley did a CBS miniseries on the life of cosmetics queen "Mary Kay Ash" in HELL ON HEELS: THE BATTLE OF MARY KAY (2002) (TV), and wrote two more books, "The Camino" in 2001, and "Out On A Leash" in 2003. After taking a slight hiatus from motion pictures, Shirley returned with roles in 3 movies that were small, but wonderfully scene-stealing last year: BEWITCHED (2005) with Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman, IN HER SHOES (2005), with Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette, in which Shirley was nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actress category, and RUMOR HAS IT… (2005) with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner. She's currently completing filming of CLOSING THE RING (2007), directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, due for theatres in 2007 and working on her next book, the working title of which is "Saging (sage-ing) and Aging". Shirley MacLaine’s leading men include Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, David Niven, Cantinflas, John Forsythe, Anthony Quinn, Glenn Ford, Will Ferrell, Anthony Perkins, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, James Garner, Jerry Lewis, Michael Caine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, Rex Harrison, Peter Sellers, Kevin Costner, Richard Attenborough, Peter Ustinov, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Marcello Mastroianni, Nicolas Cage, Richard Harris, Robert Duvall, and Tony-nominated actor John McMartin.

Ginger Rogers (1911 – 1995)
Debut Performance: 1930’s YOUNG MAN OF MANHATTAN
Final Film Performance: 1965’s HARLOW
Feature Film Career Span: 35 years
Five Greatest Performances, in order: THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934), TOP HAT (1935), SWING TIME (1936), KITTY FOYLE (1940), MONKEY BUSINESS (1952)

Biography: Born Virginia Katherine McMath in 1911’s Missouri, she moved still as a toddler to Texas because her father had found a job there. Not long after, Ginger’s parents separated and she moved into a hotel room with her mother, during which she was kidnapped by her father twice. He received very little in visitation rights and Ginger only saw him sporadically thereafter. He died when she was 11 years old. She, then, moved with her mother to her grandparents in Kansas City, Missouri where Mrs. McMath managed to get Ginger in some advertising films. Now she was developing a taste for the cinema. Ginger's mother left her child in the care of her parents while she went in search of a job as a scriptwriter in Hollywood and later to New York City. Mrs. McMath found herself with an income good enough to where she could send for Ginger. Later, the two packed up and moved to Fort Worth, Texas where Ginger attended high school and appeared in the school productions, while her mother remarried. The theater became Ginger's passion. At the age of 14, she was also appearing in vaudeville acts which she did until she was 17. Now she had discovered true acting. She went to New York where she appeared in the Broadway production of "Top Speed." She did a superb job, which began to encourage her to seek work in feature films. A screen test turned out well and she was off to the movies. Her first film was the 1929 musical short film A NIGHT IN A DORMITORY. It was a bit part, but it was a start. Later that year, Ginger appeared, briefly in two more short films, A DAY OF A MAN OF AFFAIRS (1929) and CAMPUS SWEETHEARTS (1929). The next year, she made her feature film debut in 1930’s YOUNG MAN OF MANHATTAN, opposite fellow future Oscar winner, Claudette Colbert. But the movies that enamored her to the public was GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 and 42ND STREET (both 1933). She did not have top billing on either film but her beauty and voice was enough to have the public want more. One song she popularized in the film was the now famous, "We're in the Money". In 1934, she starred in TWENTY MILLION SWEETHEARTS (1934). It was a well-received film about the popularity of radio. Ginger's real stardom occurred when she was teamed with Fred Astaire where they were one of the best cinematic couples ever to hit the silver screen. This is where she achieved real stardom. They were first paired in 1933's FLYING DOWN TO RIO and later in THE GAY DIVORCEE (1934), ROBERTA and TOP HAT (both 1935), FOLLOW THE FLEET and SWING TIME (both 1936), SHALL WE DANCE (1937), and CAREFREE (1938). Ginger also made time to star in some very good comedies such as BACHELOR MOTHER (1939) and 5TH AVE GIRL (both 1939). Also that year she appeared with Astaire in THE STORY OF VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE (1939). The film made money but was not anywhere successful as they had hoped. After that studio executives at RKO wanted Ginger to strike out on her own. She made several dramatic pictures, starting with STAGE DOOR (1937) with Lucille Ball and Katharine Hepburn, but it was 1940's KITTY FOYLE: THE NATURAL HISTORY OF A WOMAN (1940) that allowed her to shine. Playing a young lady from the wrong side of the tracks, she played the lead role well, so well in fact, that she won an Academy Award for her portrayal, beating out former Oscar winners Bette Davis (THE LETTER) and Katharine Hepburn (THE PHILADELPHIA STORY) as well as Oscar newbies Joan Fontaine (REBECCA) and Martha Scott (OUR TOWN). Ginger followed that project with the delightful comedy, TOM DICK AND HARRY (1941) the following year. It's a story where she has to choose which of three men she wants to marry. In 1942, she starred as Roxie Hart in the “Chicago Adaptation” named after her character. Through the rest of the 1940's and early 1950's she continued to make movies but not near the caliber before World War II. Her biggest claim to fame in the 1950s was the 1952 science fiction romp MONKEY BUSINESS, in which she starred opposite Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe and Charles Coburn. The film, although having earned mixed reviews, earned Ms. Rogers her first Golden Globe nomination, an award she lost to Susan Hayward for WITH A SONG IN MY HEART. After 1957’s OH, MEN! OH, WOMEN!, which reteamed her with ROXIE HART writer-producer Nunnally Johnson (THE GRAPES OF WRATH), Ginger didn't appear on the silver screen for seven years. Instead, she opted out for theatre and episodic television. She returned to the silver screen in the 1964 ensemble adventure flick THE CONFESSION. The next year, she starred as the cruel mother in HARLOW (1965), a biopic of legendary blonde bombshell Jean Harlow. Afterward, she appeared on Broadway and other stage plays traveling in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, retiring almost permanently from the screen, with the slight exception of guest appearances on the TV shows THE LOVE BOAT (1979) and HOTEL (1987). In 1984, she met with TV mogul Aaron Spelling and agreed to star opposite Martin Balsam in his 1984 series GLITTER, which was unfortunately not picked up for the second half of the first season. After her 1987 HOTEL appearance, she fully retired from performing and wrote an autobiography in 1991 entitled, "Ginger, My Story" which is a very good book. On April 25, 1995, Ginger died of natural causes in Rancho Mirage, California. She was 83. Some of Ginger Rogers’ leading men include Dick Powell, Fred Astaire, Adolphe Menjou, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea, Joseph Cotten, Ray Milland, and David Niven.

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