Who are your favourite actresses?

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Who are your favourite actress/s, past or present,and why?
 
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From the past:
  • Cathleen Nesbitt, for her patrician bearing and fine voice
  • Stephane Audran, for her protean characterisation and ability to move me
  • Josette Day, for her great beauty and gentle manner
  • Anna Magnani, for her force-of-nature quality and her unparalleled, jolie-laid face
  • Gunnel Lindblom, for her quality of warm emotion and her beauty
  • Naima Wifstrand, for her unmatched skill in playing independent old ladies
  • Giulietta Masina, for her genius as the title characters of Nights of Cabiria and Juliet of the Spirits
From the present:

None. The art of acting well has vanished, perhaps never to rise again
 
Among present-day actresses, Maggie Smith, for her versatility. She does comedy and drama equally well. I particularly enjoyed her performance in Keeping Mum, a picture I’ve watched three or four times.
 
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Hayley Mills - when she was a child actress

Bette Davis

Marilyn Monroe

Claudette Colbert

Grace Kelly

Audrey Hepburn
 
What an interesting question - never thought about it before. Having considered who jumps immediately to mind I would say, In no particular order:
  • Dame Judi Dench - a British national treasure
  • Vivien Leigh - Scarlett O’Hara - no other reason necessary
  • Sandra Bullock - I just tend to enjoy her movies, especially Miss Congeniality
  • Sian Phillips - I Claudius - no other reason necessary here either
  • Rene Zellweger - I thought casting her as Bridget Jones was the daftest idea ever - I take it all back!
  • Julie Walters - annoyingly talented
  • Christina Ricci - the ultimate Wednesday Addams!
 
Rosalind Russell - she was my mother’s favorite, and reminds me a lot of my mother.
She is such fun to watch, so witty.

Also Bette Davis - she had such an attitude.

For comedy, Lucille Ball, especially anything with her and Vivian Vance together. They remind me of my mom and her relatives because Lucy was from the same area of NY as my mother’s entire family and she sounds exactly like a couple of my aunts when she talks.

I’m trying really hard to think of a modern-day actress who I enjoyed and coming up with a blank. I thought Scarlett Johanssen had an interesting and unusual beauty until she had a ton of plastic surgery, which to me ruined all that I liked about her face.
 
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Myra Loy
Irenne Dunn
Grace Kelley
Audrey Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Deborah Kerr
Ingrid Bergman
Greer Garson
Bette Davis
 
Myrna Loy
Jeanette MacDonald
Loretta Young
Ginger Rogers
Dorothy Lamour

All gone, all gorgeous, all were in my favorite films.
 
Dolores Hart who played Clare in Francis of Assisi 1961. While Hart was starring in Francis of Assisi in Rome, she met Pope John XXIII who was instrumental in her vocation. She told him “I am Dolores Hart, the actress playing Clare.” The Pontiff replied, " Tu sei Chiara! " (“No, you are Clare!” in Italian). She ended up leaving Hollywood behind, even with being compared to the likes of Grace Kelly. She took her final vows in 1970 and has been a Benedictine nun ever since.
 
So many! I’m judging based on acting abilities and nothing else like political reasons…and these lists aren’t in any order, as it would be too hard to rank…

Most of them are from years ago: Greer Garson, Audrey Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Greta Garbo, Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne, Deborah Kerr, Jane Wyman, Lauren Bacall, Joan Crawford, Doris Day, Natalie Wood, Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, Barbara Stanwyck, Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, Ida Lupino, Sylvia Sidney, Jennifer Jones, Kim Novak, Anne Bancroft, Marie Dressler, Olivia De Havilland, Joan Blondell, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Vivien Leigh, Lana Turner, Joanne Woodward, Thelma Ritter, Jean Simmons, Madeline Kahn, Jessica Tandy

of ones still working (and most have been at it for a while): Julie Andrews, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Hayley Mills, Angela Lansbury, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway, Diane Keaton, Shirley MacLaine, Jane Fonda, Sissy Spacek, Jessica Lange, Vanessa Redgrave, Barbra Streisand, Sally Field, Cicely Tyson, Kathy Bates, Goldie Hawn, Debra Winger, Julie Walters, Judy Davis, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson, Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Diane Lane, Renee Zellweger, Glenn Close, Miranda Richardson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Bette Midler, Jodie Foster, Mary Steenburgen, Alfre Woodard, Mia Farrow, Nicole Kidman, Carol Burnett
 
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Celebrities in general don’t have an impact in my life.
 
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Judy Dench
Helen Mirren
Audrey Hepburn
Nicole Kidman
Helen Hunt
Lauren Bacall
Sela Ward
Debra Winger
Monica Bellucci
 
Julie Harris.

10 time Tony nominee, 5 time Tony winner
3 Emmys
1 Grammy
1 Academy Award nomination.

I saw her in person once (Belle of Amherst)–she was so tiny!

LOVED her in Member of the Wedding (movie, her Academy Award nomination).

LOVED her in The Hiding Place. At that time, she professed to be a Christian and said that the message in the movie was very important for the world to hear.

Loved her in The Haunting.

She was born to act.
 
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Julie Harris. Loved her in The Haunting.
Click to expand...
The Haunting is one of my favorite films, mainly for Miss Harris’ contribution. Her mesmerising portrait of a lonely woman’s descent into madness is riveting and heartbreaking. In my opinion, it is equalled only by Geraldine Page’s portrayal of a slightly similar character in the film Interiors. The two characters are really only similar in their respective emotional instability, but they are sisters under the skin.
 
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I forgot Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Loretta Young and Barbara Stanwyck. Debbie Reynolds was great in comedy and musicals. I could add Judy Garland to my
list, but sometimes she was too dramatic or emotional onscreen. She had a strong
personna. Gene Tierney is another favorite!
 
Geraldine Page was amazing–that spooky soft voice. Madame Medusa is one of the best of the Disney villainesses.

The comparison with Julie Harris is really good!

Strange–I really can’t think of any current actresses that I think are any good. Meryl Streep is certainly a convincing character actress, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see her. It seems like all the actresses look alike–I can never remember their names.

I think some of the current comediennes (Kate McKinnon from SNL) are very talented in films and television, but no one can compare with greats like Imogene Coco, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, etc. But one comedic actress that I really like is America Ferraro–I think she is amazing in Superstore (television)–she has that “rubber face” that is so expressive. I think her character on the show is well-thought out and acted.
 
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