Top 250 Performances of All-Time by Actresses in a Leading Role
by Aunt-Peg | created - 12 Mar 2011 | updated - 19 Jan 2013 | PublicThese are the 250 top actresses and their performances listed alphabetically. To be included in this list an actress must have had a notable leading role. Notable supporting performances are also included.
101. Isabelle Huppert
Actress | Elle
Isabelle Huppert was born March 16, 1953, in Paris, France, but spent her childhood in Ville d'Avray. Encouraged by her mother Annick Huppert (who was a teacher of English), she followed the Conservatory of Versailles and won an acting prize for her work in Alfred de Musset's "Un caprice". She then...
Violette Noziere, Loulou, Passion, Cactus, Apres l'amour, Story of Women, La Ceremonie, School of Flesh, Pas de Scandale, Les Destinees Sentimentaies, The Piano Teacher, White Material, Home
102. Anjelica Huston
Actress | The Grifters
Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951 to director and actor John Huston and Russian prima ballerina Enrica 'Ricki' Soma. Huston spent most of her childhood overseas, in Ireland and England, and in 1968 first dipped her toe into the world of show business, taking on the lead role of her father's ...
The Grifters, The Witches
103. Amy Irving
Actress | Traffic
Naturally brunette/blue-eyed beauty Amy Davis Irving was born in Palo Alto, California. She is the youngest of three children, and the daughter of influential theatrical/television director and producer Jules Irving, and actress Priscilla Pointer. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent, and her ...
Carried Away, Bosa Nova
104. Glenda Jackson
Actress | Women in Love
Few in modern British history have come as far or achieved as much from humble beginnings as Glenda Jackson did. From acclaimed actress to respected MP (Member of Parliament), she was known for her high intelligence and meticulous approach to her work. She was born to a working-class household in ...
Negatives, Women in Love, The Music Lovers, The Boyfriend, Mary Queen of Scots, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Maids, The Romantic Englishwoman, Stevie, Health
105. Irène Jacob
Actress | La double vie de Véronique
This beautiful, dark-haired French actress made a hit with a supporting role in her first film, as the piano teacher in Louis Malle's "Au revoir, les enfants" (1987). Educated in London and Geneva, and a Paris resident since the age of 18, Jacob became a promising starlet with her Malle success and...
The Double Life of Veronika, Three Colors: Red
106. Allison Janney
Actress | The Help
Allison Janney is an award-winning actress who has earned a solid reputation in stage productions and in many supporting roles on screen, and who more recently has become prominent by portraying one of the major characters in the popular TV series The West Wing (1999).
Entertainment Weekly magazine ...
Life During Wartime, The Help
107. Julia Jentsch
Actress | Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage
After school, Jentsch turned to acting. She attended the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Jentsch then began her acting career in the theater. In 2001 she joined the ensemble of the Munich Kammerspiele, where she masterfully interpreted Desdemona in Shakespeare's "Othello", Sophocles...
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
108. Jeon Do-yeon
Actress | Hanyo
Jeon Do-yeon spent five years starring in television dramas before achieving instant star status with her film debut opposite Han Seok-gyu in The Contact. She has since gone on to take a wide variety of roles, from her performance as a schoolgirl in Harmonium in My Memory to that of a wife having ...
Secret Sunshine, The Housemaid
109. Cecilia Johnson
Actress | The Shield
Cecilia Johnson is known for The Shield (2002), Breaking Symmetry (2001) and Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam (1985).
Brief Encounter
110. Jennifer Jones
Actress | The Towering Inferno
One of the world's most underrated Academy Award-winning actresses, Jennifer Jones was born Phylis Lee Isley on 2 March 1919 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Flora Mae (Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley, who ran a travelling stage show. As a young aspiring actress, she met and fell for young, handsome, aspiring ...
The Song of Bernadette
111. Ashley Judd
Actress | Double Jeopardy
American actress and political activist Ashley Judd was born Ashley Tyler Ciminella on April 19, 1968, in Granada Hills, California. She grew up in a family of successful performing artists as the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd and the sister of Wynonna Judd. While she is best known ...
Ruby in Paradise
112. Ida Kaminska
Actress | Obchod na korze
Ida Kaminska was born on September 4, 1899 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for The Shop on Main Street (1965), Tkies khaf (1924) and On a heym (1939). She was married to Marian Melman and Zygmunt Turkow. She died on May 21, 1980 in New York ...
The Shop on Main Street
113. Anna Karina
Actress | Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux
Born in Denmark, she came to Paris at 18. She met Coco Chanel and Pierre Cardin and started as a top model. She met Jean-Luc Godard about a cameo in Breathless (1960), but she had to be naked and she refused to play in the movie. One year later, they wed and she became famous with the "Nouvelle ...
My Life to Live, Pierrot le fou, The Nun
114. Diane Keaton
Actress | Annie Hall
Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Deanne (Keaton), an amateur photographer, and John Newton Ignatius "Jack" Hall, a civil engineer and real estate broker. She studied Drama at Santa Ana College, before dropping out in favor of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New ...
Annie Hall, Looking for Mr Goodbar, Reds, Crimes of the Heart, The Good Mother, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Something's Gotta Give
115. Catherine Keener
Actress | Being John Malkovich
Catherine Keener is an American actress, Oscar-nominated for her roles in the independent films Being John Malkovich (1999) and Capote (2005). Acclaimed in her community for her quirky roles in independent film and mainstream such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Keener got her start as a casting ...
Synecdoche New York, Please Give
116. Deborah Kerr
Actress | The King and I
Deborah Jane Trimmer was born on 30 September 1921 in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Captain Arthur Kerr Trimmer. She was educated at Northumberland House, Clifton, Bristol. She first performed at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London. She subsequently performed with the Oxford ...
Black Narcissus, From Here to Eternity, Tea and Sympathy, An Affair to Remember, The Sundowners, Heavens Knows Mr Allison, Bonjour Tristesse, The Innocents
117. Kim Hye-ja
Actress | Madeo
Kim Hye Ja is a South Korean actress. Best known for playing the archetypal Korean mother, Kim Hye Ja has established herself as an iconic actor in the Korean entertainment industry. Kim made her acting debut at age 29 while studying at Ewha Woman's University. In the 1981 movie 'Late Autumn', she ...
Mother
118. Kyôko Kishida
Actress | Suna no onna
Kyôko Kishida was born on April 29, 1930 in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. She was an actress and writer, known for Woman in the Dunes (1964), An Autumn Afternoon (1962) and Ninja, a Band of Assassins (1962). She was married to Noboru Nakaya. She died on December 17, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan.
Woman of the Dunes
119. Christine Lahti
Actress | Chicago Hope
Christine Lahti was born April 4, 1950 in Birmingham, Michigan, to Elizabeth Margaret (Tabar), a painter and nurse, and Paul Theodore Lahti, a surgeon. She is of half Finnish and half Austro-Hungarian descent. She studied fine arts at Florida State University and received a bachelors degree in ...
Housekeeping
120. Diane Lane
Actress | Unfaithful
Diane Lane was born on January 22, 1965, in New York. She is the daughter of acting coach Burton Eugene "Burt" Lane and nightclub singer/centerfold Colleen Farrington. Her parents' families were both from the state of Georgia. Diane was acting from a very young age and made her stage debut at the ...
Unfaithful
121. Jessica Lange
Actress | Tootsie
Jessica Lange was born in 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota, USA, where her father worked as a traveling salesman. She obtained a scholarship to study art at the University of Minnesota, but instead went to Paris to study drama. She moved to New York, working as a model, until producer Dino De Laurentiis...
Sweet Dreams, Crimes of the Heart, Men Don't Leave, Blue Sky, Titus, Broken Flowers
122. Piper Laurie
Actress | The Hustler
Piper Laurie was a three-time Oscar nominee, nominated by BAFTA as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best performance by an actress in 'The Hustler' with Paul Newman.
Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan, to Charlotte Sadie (Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a ...
Has Anybody Seen My Gal?, The Hustler, Carrie, The Grass Harp
123. Jennifer Jason Leigh
Actress | The Hateful Eight
Jennifer Jason Leigh was born Jennifer Lee Morrow in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of writer Barbara Turner and actor Vic Morrow. Her father was of Russian Jewish descent and her mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry. She is the sister of Carrie Ann Morrow and half-sister of actress Mina ...
Rush, Georgia, Miami Blues, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Short Cuts, Synecdoche New York
124. Vivien Leigh
Actress | A Streetcar Named Desire
If a film were made of the life of Vivien Leigh, it would open in India just before World War I, where a successful British businessman could live like a prince. In the mountains above Calcutta, a little princess is born. Because of the outbreak of World War I, she is six years old the first time ...
Gone With The Wind, Waterloo Bridge, That Hamilton Woman, Caesar and Cleopatra, A Streetcar Named Desire
125. Laura Linney
Actress | The Big C
Laura Leggett Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964, into a theatre family. Her father was prominent playwright Romulus Linney, whose own great-grandfather was a congressman from North Carolina. Her mother, Miriam Anderson (Leggett), is a nurse. Although she did not live in her ...
You Can Count on Me, Kinsey, The Savages
126. Jennifer Lopez
Producer | Hustlers
Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969 in The Bronx, New York City, New York to teacher Lupe López and computer specialist David López. The two Puerto Ricans were brought to the continental United States during their childhoods and eventually met while living in New York City. Their ...
Out of Sight
127. Sophia Loren
Actress | La ciociara
Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome on September 20, 1934. Her father Riccardo was married to another woman and refused to marry her mother Romilda Villani, despite the fact that she was the mother of his two children (Sophia and her younger sister ...
Two Women
128. Myrna Loy
Actress | The Thin Man
Myrna Williams, later to become Myrna Loy, was born on August 2, 1905 in Helena, Montana. Her father was the youngest person ever elected to the Montana State legislature. Later on her family moved to Radersburg where she spent her youth on a cattle ranch. At the age of 13, Myrna's father died of ...
The Thin Man, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Red Pony
129. Shirley MacLaine
Actress | Terms of Endearment
Shirley MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother, Kathlyn Corinne (MacLean), was a drama teacher from Nova Scotia, Canada, and her father, Ira Owens Beaty, a professor of psychology and real estate agent, was from Virginia. Her brother, Warren Beatty, was born on ...
Some Came Running, The Children's Hour, The Apartment, Terms of Endearment
130. Anna Magnani
Actress | Roma città aperta
Anna Magnani was born in Rome, Italy (not in Egypt, as some biographies claim), on March 7, 1908. She was the child of Marina Magnani and an unknown father often said to be from Alexandria, Egypt, but whom Anna herself claimed was from the Calabria region of Italy although she never knew his name. ...
Bellissima, The Rose Tattoo, Mama Roma
131. Anamaria Marinca
Actress | 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile
Anamaria Marinca was born on April 1, 1978 in Iasi, Romania. She is an actress, known for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Europa Report (2013) and Fury (2014).
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Storm
132. Giulietta Masina
Actress | Le notti di Cabiria
Born in San Giorgio di Piano, Giulietta Masina spent part of her teenage years living with a widowed aunt in Rome, where she cultivated a passion for the theater and studied for a degree in Philosophy. She began her career on the radio with the program "Terzoglio" (1942), about the adventures of ...
La Strada, Nights of Caribia
133. Marsha Mason
Actress | The Goodbye Girl
Marsha Mason has a wonderful, extremely engaging "feel good" quality about her, an innate warmth that makes you root for her whether she's playing a stubborn single mom, brittle prostitute, or strung-out alcoholic. She was a resoundingly respected and popular film actress of the 1970s and 1980s ...
Promises in the Dark, Only When I Laugh
134. Heather Matarazzo
Actress | Welcome to the Dollhouse
Heather Matarazzo was born November 10, 1982, in Oyster Bay, New York. She was adopted by Camille and Ray Matarazzo, an Italian-American couple although she is of Irish descent biologically. Heather attended both Oyster Bay High School and Long Island High School for the Arts. In 1997, she made her...
Welcome to the Dollhouse
135. Carmen Maura
Actress | Mujeres al borde de un ataque de "nervios"
Descendant of the conservative Spanish politician Antonio Maura, Carmen lead an art gallery and appeared in various roles in night- clubs. With Tigres de papel (1977) she had her first successful appearance on the movie screen and thereafter she worked at the theatre, the movies and in TV ...
Law of Desire, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver
136. Dorothy McGuire
Actress | Gentleman's Agreement
A genuine model of sincerity, practicality and dignity in most of the roles she inhabited, actress Dorothy McGuire offered Tinseltown more talent than it probably knew what to do with. A quiet, passive beauty, she had a soothing quality to her open-faced looks and voice. She was a natural when he ...
Gentleman's Agreement, The Enchanted Cottage
137. Bette Midler
Soundtrack | Beaches
Multi Grammy Award-winning singer/comedienne/author Bette Midler has also proven herself to be a very capable actress in a string of both dramatic and comedic roles. Midler was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 1, 1945. She is the daughter of Ruth (Schindel), a seamstress, and Fred Midler, a ...
The Rose, Outrageous Fortune
138. Sylvia Miles
Actress | Midnight Cowboy
Sylvia Miles was an American actress, born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, without ever winning the Award.
Miles was born under the name "Sylvia Scheinwald". Her parents were furniture maker Reuben Scheinwald ...
Heat
139. Liza Minnelli
Soundtrack | Cabaret
Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. She was practically raised at MGM studios while her parents worked long hours there and she made her film debut at fourteen months of age in the movie In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her ...
Cabaret
140. Brigitte Mira
Actress | Angst essen Seele auf
Brigitte Mira was born on April 20, 1910 in Hamburg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975) and Chinese Roulette (1976). She was married to Frank Guerente, Paul Cornelius, Peter Schütte, Horst Fabian and Reinhold Tabatt. She died ...
Fear Eats the Soul, Chinese Roulette
141. Helen Mirren
Actress | The Queen
Dame Helen Mirren was born in Queen Charlotte's Hospital in West London. Her mother, Kathleen Alexandrina Eva Matilda (Rogers), was from a working-class English family, and her father, Vasiliy Petrovich Mironov, was a Russian-born civil servant, from Kuryanovo, whose own father was a diplomat. ...
The Queen, Last Orders, Gosford Park
142. Mitsuko Miura
Actress | Genroku chûshingura
Mitsuko Miura was born on January 17, 1917 in Ushigome, Tokyo, Japan. She was an actress, known for The 47 Ronin (1941), The Seven Vows (1956) and Lightning (1952). She died on June 14, 1969 in Japan.
Ugetsu Monogatairi
143. Gretchen Mol
Actress | The Thirteenth Floor
Gretchen Mol was born November 8, 1972, in Deep River, Connecticut, the daughter of a school principal, James Mol, and his artist wife, Janet. Deep River is a small community located on the Chester Bowles Highway (Rt. 9), nine miles northwest of Old Saybrook (home of the legendary Katharine Hepburn...
The Notorious Bettie Page
144. Fernanda Montenegro
Actress | Central do Brasil
Arlette Pinheiro Esteves da Silva was born on 16th October 1929 in Rio de Janeiro. She adopted the name "Fernanda" because she thought it sounded good. "Montenegro" came after her family doctor.
In late 40s she was translating and adapting famous theater plays to radio. She begun her artistic life ...
Central Station, House of Sand, A Dog's Will
145. Julianne Moore
Actress | Far from Heaven
Julianne Moore was born Julie Anne Smith in Fort Bragg, North Carolina on December 3, 1960, the daughter of Anne (Love), a social worker, and Peter Moore Smith, a paratrooper, colonel, and later military judge. Her mother moved to the U.S. in 1951, from Greenock, Scotland. Her father, from ...
Short Cuts, Safe, Boogie Nights, The End of the Affair, Blindness
146. Jeanne Moreau
Actress | Jules et Jim
When people gave Louis Malle credit for making a star of Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows (1958) immediately followed by The Lovers (1958), he would point out that Moreau by that time had already been "recognized as the prime stage actress of her generation." She had made it to the Comédie ...
Jules and Jim, Bay of Angels, La Notte, Mademoislle, The Bride Wore Black
147. Yolande Moreau
Actress | Quand la mer monte...
Yolande Moreau was born on February 27, 1953 in Brussels, Belgium. She is an actress and director, known for When the Sea Rises (2004), Amélie (2001) and Seraphine (2008).
Seraphine, Mammuth
148. Helen Morgan
Actress | Show Boat
Before the tragic legacies of songbird icons Édith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland took hold, there was the one...the original...lady who sang the blues and started the whole "bawl" rolling. Like her successors, Helen Morgan lived the sad songs she sang...and more.
She started her life ...
Applause
149. Judy Morris
Writer | Happy Feet
Judy Morris was born in 1947 in Queensland, Australia. She is an actress and writer, known for Happy Feet (2006), The Picture Show Man (1977) and The Eye of the Storm (2011).
In Search of Anna
150. Samantha Morton
Actress | Minority Report
Samantha Morton has established herself as one of the finest actors of her generation, winning Oscar nominations for her turns in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Jim Sheridan's In America (2002). She has the talent to become one of the major performers in the cinema of this young century.
...
Under the Skin, Synecdoche New York, The Messenger
151. Lisbeth Movin
Actress | Støt står den danske sømand
Lisbeth Movin was born on August 25, 1917 in Odense, Denmark. She was an actress and director, known for The Viking Watch of the Danish Seaman (1948), Det gælder os alle (1949) and Min kone fra Paris (1961). She was married to Lau Lauritzen. She died on November 7, 2011 in Hillerød, ...
Day of Wrath
152. Madhavi Mukherjee
Actress | Diba Ratrir Kabya
Madhavi Mukherjee was born on February 10, 1942 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. She is an actress and director, known for Diba Ratrir Kabya (1970), The Coward (1965) and Charulata (1964). She is married to Nirmal Kumar Chakraborty. They have two children.
The Big City
153. Carey Mulligan
Actress | Never Let Me Go
Carey Hannah Mulligan is a British actress. She was born May 28, 1985, in Westminster, London, England, to Nano (Booth), a university lecturer, and Stephen Mulligan, a hotel manager. Her mother is from Llandeilo, Wales, and Carey also has Irish and English ancestry.
Her first major appearance was ...
An Education, Never Let Me Go
154. Sophia Myles
Actress | Tristan + Isolde
Sophia Jane Myles was born on March 18, 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England. She has a younger brother, Oliver. Her parents are Jane and Peter Myles, who is a vicar, a priest in the Anglican Church who is in charge of a parish and receives a salary, but not the tithes of the church. Her mother ...
Hallam Foe
155. Anna Neagle
Actress | The Courtneys of Curzon Street
Dame Anna Neagle, the endearingly popular British star during WWII, was born Florence Marjorie Robertson and began dancing as a professional in chorus lines at age 14. She starred with actor Jack Buchanan in the musical "Stand Up and Sing" in the West End and earned her big break when producer/...
Nell Gwyn, Victoria The Great, Nurse Edith Cavell, The Lady With The Lamp
156. Patricia Neal
Actress | Hud
Patricia Neal, the Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress, was born Patsy Louise Neal in Packard, Kentucky, where her father managed a coal mine and her mother was the daughter of the town doctor. She grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended high school. She was first bit by the acting bug...
The Fountainhead, A Face in the Crowd, Hud
157. Kate Nelligan
Actress | Frankie and Johnny
Cando-American actress Kate Nelligan has had a successful acting career in her native Canada, in Britain and in the United States. Born Patricia Colleen Nelligan on March 16, 1950 in London, Ontario, Kate was the daughter of blue collar-worker Patrick Nelligan and his wife Josephine (née Deir), a ...
Eye of the Needle
158. Nadine Nortier
Actress | Mouchette
Nadine Nortier is a French actress born in 1948 and best remembered for her only film performance as the title character in Robert Bresson's classic Mouchette (1967). As the innocent country house girl who tries to survive in a harsh world of abuse from her family, Nadine (a non professional ...
Mouchette
159. Kim Novak
Actress | Vertigo
Kim Novak was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 13, 1933 with the birth name of Marilyn Pauline Novak. She was the daughter of a former teacher turned transit clerk and his wife, also a former teacher. Throughout elementary and high school, Kim did not get along well with teachers. She even ...
Vertigo
160. Nobuko Otowa
Actress | Bokutô kidan
Nobuko Otowa was born on October 1, 1924 in Tottori, Japan. She was an actress, known for The Strange Tale of Oyuki (1992), Onibaba (1964) and Epitome (1953). She was married to Kaneto Shindô. She died on December 22, 1994.
Onibaba
161. Geraldine Page
Actress | Sweet Bird of Youth
Considered by many to be one of the greatest American actresses of all time, Geraldine Page was a master craftswoman who seemed to bring out the most inner detail of the character she was playing. Her dedication to her craft has earned her the respect of many of today's great actors including Meryl...
Hondo, Summer and Smoke, Sweet Bird of Youth, Interiors
162. Vera Pap
Actress | Angi Vera
Vera Pap was born on January 27, 1956 in Budapest, Hungary. She was an actress, known for Angi Vera (1978), Dögkeselyü (1982) and Illatszertár (1987). She died on April 9, 2015 in Budapest, Hungary.
Angi Vera
163. Marisa Paredes
Actress | Todo sobre mi madre
Marisa Paredes was born on April 3, 1946 in Madrid, Madrid, Spain. She is an actress, known for All About My Mother (1999), The Skin I Live In (2011) and High Heels (1991).
The Flower of My Secret, All About My Mother, Savages, The Devil's Backbone
164. Anne Parillaud
Actress | Nikita
Anne Parillaud was born in Paris, France on May 6, 1960 and even though all her travels took her to many lands, is still a Paris resident. Anne studied ballet in school, and her first appearance was in the film Un amour de sable (1977) where she played "La jeune fille avec un petit chat" ("The girl...
Sex is Comedy
165. Eleanor Parker
Actress | The Sound of Music
Eleanor Jean Parker was born on June 26, 1922, in Cedarville, Ohio, the last of three children born to a mathematics teacher and his wife. Eleanor caught the acting bug early and began performing in school plays. She was was so serious about becoming an actor, that she attended the Rice Summer ...
Caged
166. Mirella Pascual
Actress | Whisky
Mirella Pascual is known for Whisky (2004), A Twelve-Year Night (2018) and El último verano de la Boyita (2009).
Whiskey
167. Valerie Perrine
Actress | Superman
Valerie Ritchie Perrine is an American actress and model. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film Lenny, she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her ...
Lenny
168. Michelle Pfeiffer
Actress | The Fabulous Baker Boys
Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California to Dick and Donna Pfeiffer. She has an older brother and two younger sisters - Dedee Pfeiffer, and Lori Pfeiffer, who both dabbled in acting and modeling but decided against making it their lives' work. She graduated from Fountain Valley High ...
The Fabulous Baker Boys, Love Field
169. Mary Pickford
Actress | Coquette
Mary Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Elsie Charlotte (Hennessy) and John Charles Smith. She was of English and Irish descent. Pickford began in the theater at age seven. Then known as "Baby Gladys Smith", she toured with her family in a number of theater ...
My Best Gal, Sparrows
170. Angela Punch McGregor
Actress | The Island
Angela Punch McGregor was born on January 21, 1953 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is an actress and director, known for The Island (1980), A Test of Love (1984) and Newsfront (1978).
We of the Never Never
171. Charlotte Rampling
Actress | 45 Years
Tessa Charlotte Rampling was born 5 February 1946 in Sturmer, England, to Isabel Anne (Gurteen), a painter, and Godfrey Lionel Rampling, an Olympic gold medalist, army officer, and colonel, who became a NATO commander. She was educated at Jeanne d'Arc Académie pour Jeunes Filles in Versailles, ...
The Night Porter, Under the Sand, Swimming Pool, Never Let Me Go
172. Vanessa Redgrave
Actress | Coriolanus
On January 30, 1937, renowned theatre actor Michael Redgrave was performing in a production of Hamlet in London. During the curtain call, the show's lead, Laurence Olivier, announced to the audience: "tonight a great actress was born". This was in reference to his co-star's newborn daughter, ...
Blow Up, Morgan, The Devils, Julia, Yanks, The Bostonians, Wetherby, Prick Up Your Ears, Letters from Juliette
173. Beryl Reid
Actress | The Killing of Sister George
Beryl Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in industrial Manchester, England. She left home at the age of 16 to go and work in a shop. She lasted 6 weeks. She applied for and was accepted in a revue in the Summer season in Bridlington. She had no formal training but joined the ...
The Killing of Sister George, Entertaining Mr Sloane
174. Thelma Ritter
Actress | Rear Window
Thelma Ritter appeared in high school plays and was trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In the 1940s she worked in radio. Her movie career was started with a bit part in the 1946 Miracle on 34th Street (1947). In the movie she played a weary Xmas shopper. Her performance in the short ...
The Model and the Marriage Broker, All About Eve, The Mating Season
175. Emmanuelle Riva
Actress | Hiroshima mon amour
An only child, Emmanuelle was born Paulette Germaine Riva in Cheniménil, but eventually grew up in Remiremont. Her mother, Jeanne Fernande Nourdin, was a seamstress. Her father, René Alfred "Alfredo" Riva, was a sign writer. Her paternal grandfather was Italian. She dreamed of becoming an actress ...
Hiroshima Mon Amour, Therese Desqueyroux, Amour
176. Julia Roberts
Actress | Pretty Woman
Julia Fiona Roberts never dreamed she would become the most popular actress in America. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty Lou (Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights, and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. As a child, due to her ...
Erin Brockovich
177. Rachel Roberts
Actress | Murder on the Orient Express
Beautiful, swift and tough-tongued British character actress Rachel Roberts gained notice for her roles on the English stage, before she hit it largely in films. Born in Wales and married to actor Rex Harrison in 1962, Roberts made her film debut in a key role in J. Lee Thompson's Young and Willing...
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, This Sporting Life, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Yanks, Foul Play
178. Crissy Rock
Actress | Ladybird Ladybird
Crissy Rock was born on September 23, 1958 in Liverpool, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Ladybird Ladybird (1994), Cotton Wool (2017) and Benidorm (2007).
Ladybird Ladybird
179. Ginger Rogers
Actress | Kitty Foyle
Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911, the daughter of Lela E. Rogers (née Lela Emogene Owens) and William Eddins McMath. Her mother went to Independence to have Ginger away from her husband. She had a baby earlier in their marriage and he ...
Vivacious Lady, The Major and the Minor
180. Katharine Ross
Actress | The Graduate
Katharine Juliet Ross was born January 29, 1940, in Hollywood, CA, to Katherine (née Mullen) and Dudley Tying Ross. Her father, who had also worked as a reporter for the Associated Press, was a commander in the US Navy when she was born. His navy career shuttled the family around to Virginia, then ...
The Stepford Wives
181. Cecilia Roth
Actress | Todo sobre mi madre
She moved to Spain with her father and her brother, Ariel Rot, in 1976 and started acting. Her first major role was in Iván Zulueta's Arrebato (1979). After appearing in Pedro Almodóvar's debut feature _Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980)_ she kept working with him in Labyrinth of ...
All About My Mother
182. Brigitte Roüan
Actress | Outremer
Brigitte Roüan was born on September 28, 1946 in Toulon, Var, France. She is an actress and director, known for Overseas (1990), After Sex (1997) and Grosse (1985).
Post Cotium, Olivier Olivier
183. Gena Rowlands
Actress | The Notebook
Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands is an American film, stage, and television actress, whose career in the entertainment industry has spanned over six decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes ...
A Woman Under the Influence, Opening Night, Lovestreams, Another Woman
184. Lucy Russell
Actress | A Spy Among Friends
Lucy Russell started acting in her late twenties, having tried too many other jobs to count and having got a degree in Italian and Business at UCL in London. Her first feature was also Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas's first film, Following. After a couple of years of drama school, she played the...
The Lady and the Duke
185. Rosalind Russell
Actress | Auntie Mame
The middle of seven children, she was named, not for the heroine of "As You Like It" but for the S.S. Rosalind on which her parents had sailed, at the suggestion of her father, a successful lawyer.
After receiving a Catholic school education, she went to the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New ...
Craig's Wife, His Girl Friday
186. Theresa Russell
Actress | Spider-Man 3
Theresa Russell, named one of the "100 sexiest stars in film history" (Empire Magazine), was born in San Diego, California. She was discovered by a photographer at the age of 12, and made her film debut in Elia Kazan's The Last Tycoon (1976), opposite Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson and Robert ...
Bad Timing, Eureka, Insignificance, Black Widow, Track 29, Wild Things
187. Meg Ryan
Actress | When Harry Met Sally...
Blonde-haired, blue-eyed with an effervescent personality, Meg Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Susan (Duggan), an English teacher and one-time actress, and Harry Hyra, a math teacher. She is of Ruthenian, Polish, Irish, and German ancestry ("Hyra" is a ...
When Harry Met Sally, In The Cut
188. Sumiko Sakamoto
Actress | Erogotoshi-tachi yori: Jinruigaku nyûmon
Sumiko Sakamoto was born on November 25, 1936 in Osaka, Japan. She was an actress, known for The Pornographers (1966), The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and Watashi wa makenai (1966). She was married to Keijiro Ishii. She died on January 23, 2021 in Kumamoto City, Japan.
The Ballad of Narayama
189. Susan Sarandon
Actress | Thelma & Louise
It was after the 1968 Democratic convention and there was a casting call for a film with several roles for the kind of young people who had disrupted the convention. Two recent graduates of Catholic University in Washington DC, went to the audition in New York for Joe (1970). Chris Sarandon, who ...
Pretty Baby, Atlantic City, Bull Durham, White Palace, Thelma and Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, Dead Man Walking
190. Hanna Schygulla
Actress | Die Ehe der Maria Braun
Lead icon of the influential New German Cinema of the 70's & 80's, Schygulla's natural blonde beauty and amazing versatility keep her among the world's top actresses. She won best actress at Cannes in 1983 for The Story of Piera (1983) (aka "The Story of Piera"), an Italian/German co-production. The...
The Marriage of Maria Braun, Sheer Madness
191. Kristin Scott Thomas
Actress | Gosford Park
The acclaimed Cornish actress Dame Kristin Scott Thomas was born in Redruth, Cornwall, to Deborah (Hurlbatt) and Lieutenant Commander Simon Scott Thomas. Her father was a pilot for the British Royal Navy and died in a flying accident in 1964. Her stepfather, Lt. Cdr Simon Idiens, was also a pilot, ...
I've Loved You So Long, Leaving
192. Jean Seberg
Actress | À bout de souffle
Jean Dorothy Seberg was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, to substitute teacher Dorothy Arline (Benson) and pharmacist Edward Waldemar Seberg. Her father was of Swedish descent and her mother was of English and German ancestry.
One month before her 18th birthday, Jean landed the title role in Otto ...
Breathless, Bonjour Tristesse
193. Delphine Seyrig
Actress | The Day of the Jackal
Delphine was born in Beirut on the 10th April 1932 into an intellectual Protestant family. Her Alsatian father, Henri Seyrig, was the director of the Archaeological Institute and later France's cultural attaché in New York during World War Two. Her Swiss mother, Hermine De Saussure, was an adept of...
Muriel, Jeanne Dielman 23 Quai du Commerce 1080 Brusselles
194. Ann Sheridan
Actress | Kings Row
Ann Sheridan won the "Search for Beauty" contest which carried with it a Paramount screen test. Signed to a contract at 18, she was put into a number of small roles under her real name of Clara Lou Sheridan. As she got better, her name was changed to Ann. In 1936, after two dozen films, she went to...
Nora Prentiss
195. Elisabeth Shue
Actress | Leaving Las Vegas
Elisabeth Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware, to Anne Brewster (Wells), who worked for the Chemical Banking Corporation, and James William Shue, a lawyer and real estate developer. She is of German and English ancestry, including descent from Mayflower passengers. Shue's parents divorced while ...
Leaving Las Vegas
196. Sylvia Sidney
Actress | Beetlejuice
Sylvia Sidney was born in The Bronx, New York City, on August 8, 1910 as Sophia Kosow to Jewish parents. Her father was born in Russia and her mother was born in Romania. They divorced not long after her birth. Her mother subsequently remarried and young Sophia was adopted by her stepfather, ...
An American Tragedy, You Only Live Once
197. Simone Signoret
Actress | Les diaboliques
The face of Simone Signoret on the Paris Metro movie posters in March 1982 looked even older than her 61 years. She was still a box-office draw, but the film L'étoile du Nord (1982) would be her last theatrical release; she played the landlady. Signoret had a long film apprenticeship during ...
Les Diaboliques, Room at the Top, Casque d'or, Madame Rosa
198. Jean Simmons
Actress | Guys and Dolls
Demure British beauty Jean Simmons was born January 31, 1929, in Crouch End, London. As a 14-year-old dance student, she was plucked from her school to play Margaret Lockwood's precocious sister in Give Us the Moon (1944). She had a small part as a harpist in the high-profile Caesar and Cleopatra (...
Hamlet, The Happy Ending, Spartacus, Elmer Gentry, Home Before Dark
199. Simone Simon
Actress | Cat People
Diminutive, fiery-tempered Simone Simon was born in France, but spent much of her early childhood in Madagascar, where her father managed a graphite mine. Her schooling was somewhat unsettled, her family moving from city to city (Berlin, Budapest, Turin) before finally establishing themselves in ...
La Bete Humaine, Cat People
200. Maggie Smith
Actress | Gosford Park
One of the world's most famous and distinguished actresses, Dame Maggie Smith was born Margaret Natalie Smith in Essex. Her Scottish mother, Margaret (Hutton), worked as a secretary, and her English father, Nathaniel Smith, was a teacher at Oxford University. Smith has been married twice: to actor ...
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Love Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, Travels With My Aunt, The Honey Pot, A Private Function, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, A Room with a View, The Secret Garden, Gosford Park
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