Your Fav' Eighties Ladies!
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 3:00PM Over the past couple of months we've been holding "Best Character" polls for Oscar's Best Actress category history. We asked not who should win the Oscar but which characters own real estate in your memory. Previously you selected Miranda Priestley, Clarice Starling and other iconic bitches as your favorites from the Nineties and the Aughts.
But what of the 1980s? Here are the results. *asterisks indicate Oscar winning performances.
Three unarguably iconic characters: Sophie, Celie and Aurora
1981-1985
- *SOPHIE ZAWISTOWSKI (Meryl Streep) from Sophie's Choice
- CELIE (Whoopi Goldberg) from The Color Purple
- *AURORA GREENWAY (Shirley Maclaine) from Terms of Endearment
- KAREN SILKWOOD (Meryl Streep) from Silkwood
- VICTORIA GRANT (Julie Andrews) from Victor/Victoria
Diane Keaton's wondrous performance in REDS (1981) has not been forgotten.Runners Up: To complete the top ten you'd need (in descending order) a third Streep with KAREN BLIXEN from Out of Africa, Debra Winger's EMMA GREENWAY from Terms..., Jessica Lange's rendition of troubled movie star Frances, and with nearly a tie for tenth place Katharine Hepburn's *ETHEL THAYER from On Golden Pond and Diane Keaton's LOUISE BRYANT from Reds.
Observations: The Streepster's reascendance in the Aughts has obviously polished her earlier work to a healthy shine which would partially explain her tremendous lead as "Sophie" (well, that and the performance itself) and Karen Blixen's near top five placement, despite being hardly as memorable as Sophie or the other Streep/Karen.
Weakest Showing: While Jessica Lange was an Oscar favorite in the 1980s, her JEWEL IVY in Country received 0 votes. But then Oscar's oft-derided "Year of the Farm Wives" fared terribly, with all three of the farm women failing to muster much enthusiasm. And to think they could have had Kathleen Turner's fiction writer Joan Wilder from Romancing the Stone in there. (She would've hit the top five most memorable characters, don'cha think?)
1986-1990
Dangerous Ladies ruled the Late Eighties
- LT ELLEN RIPLEY (Sigourney Weaver) in Aliens
- ALEX FORREST (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction
- *ANNIE WILKES (Kathy Bates) in Misery
- SUSIE DIAMOND (Michelle Pfeiffer) in The Fabulous Baker Boys
- MARQUISE DE MERTEUIL (Glenn Close) in Dangerous Liaisons
Runners Up: Completing the top ten in descending order are Julia Robert's Pretty Woman VIVIAN WARD (who initially looked like a top three threat but kept fading throughout the course of voting), Cher's *LORETTA CASTORINI in Moonstruck, Streep's SUZANNE VALE (AKA CARRIE FISHER) in Postcards from the Edge, Anjelica Huston's hard as diamonds LILLY in The Grifters and in a tie for tenth place Holly Hunter's JANE CRAIG from Broadcast News and Jessica Tandy's *MISS DAISY the one who who drove right over the Pfeiffer/Oscar dream. Damn you, Oscar voters!
Observations: Looking back it looks like Meryl Streep owned the first half of the 1980s while Glenn Close threatened her dominance in the decade's second half. And to think they might go at it again this year?!? This poll was the most contentious of the six polls we've held with very small differences in rank between the winners and much in the way of surges and drops. A certain formidable alien fighting woman was always out front but Alex Forrest refused to be ignored and wouldn't allow her a huge lead. Spots 3 through 10 shifted repeatedly with my beloved Kathleen Turner's PEGGY SUE just missing the top ten. [Sniffle]
Fonda and Bridges in THE MORNING AFTER (1986)Weakest Showing: Jane Fonda's ALEX from The Morning After (which Nick and I tried to recall on the "1986" podcast) received 0 votes from the nearly 800 cast. Of Fonda's seven nominations it's her last and (obviously) her least remembered. It's currently available on Netflix's Instant Watch. Sadly Sally Kirkland's ANNA only barely registered. Kirkland is best known to today's audiences as that crazy-dressing lady who sometimes shows up at the Oscars but that surprise nomination for 1987 was hard-earned. Don't believe me? Watch the movie on Netflix Instant Watch.
Should we do the 1970s?
What do you make of these 80s polls? Did your fellow TFE readers choose well or would you like to stalk them with Alex Forrest's butcher knife, Ripley's flame-thrower or Annie's hobblin' hammer and right the wrongs they done?
Reader Comments (26)
"I WILL NOT BE *IGNORED* DAN" haha
best line reading EVER!
Yes, please! The 70's would be bananas.
And Joan Wilder is a terrific 80's character. Love her Thelma-ish arc from meh to arch.
Well done!
Fun fact from IMDB.com:
RE: FATAL ATTRACTION...
***Glenn Close still has the knife she used in the movie hanging in her kitchen.***
hahah Gotta love Glenn Close =)
I love these choices! And let's keep going back further, please!! :D I'm such an actressexual ;P
It's Meryl Streep's fault that Glenn Close's movie career floundered. I knew I had good reason to hate that bitch besides overratedness. But in all seriousness the return of Close is reason alone to celebrate this year's Best Actress race. Close not only needs the win but needs the second look. Americans truly don't appreciate our home grown gems (Close, Sarandon, Pfeiffer, Weaver, Bates*How did she get in there?*) -- I love these polls and please don't forget about their supporting sisters. I want to talk about Sandy Dennis and Tilda.
How sad that of the 1986-1990 top 5 only Bates won when actually all 5 deserved to...
Ooooooh please do the 70's!
One of the things I found most interesting when you put up the original polls was that I was generally more familiar with the '80's performances (or at least, familiar with more of the choices) than I was of the Aughts. And most of the top choices of the readers of the Aughts were not my own choices, whereas this list of '80's ladies strikes me as pretty solid (the only perf of this top ten I've not seen is Kathy Bates in Misery).
Truthfully, I only want to do the seventies because I REALLY want to do the sixties, and I know you're just too meticulous to skip a decade.
I'm glad that Louise Bryant made the top ten, but I'm sort of miffed she's so low. Katharine Hepburn has my heart like crazy (and Ethel Thayer is just adorable) but I LOVE Diane Keaton in REDS. Hell, I love everybody in REDS. I've never found Jack Nicholson as riveting elsewhere.
And 80s Streep is my favourite, I'm not that big on her now but she was impeccable int the 80s. Glenn wins it all for me, though.
Janice, I won't place unrealistic expectations for you on the performance except to say that if she were a man they'd be no debate about the merits of her win.
I'm loving the series. Please do a 70s one too, but what are the chances that Annie Hall doesn't come first?
Or maybe Nurse Ratched is a threat? Or Mabel Longhetti? Or Sally Bowles? Or Evelyn Cross?
OMG Sooo many memorable characters.
Please do 70s!
@3rtfu11: I wasn't aware there was any debate - I had the impression (from what I read) that it's a well-loved performance. (We are talking about Kathy, aren't we?)
Nathaniel, yes, please do a 70's poll - and yes a '60's one as Andrew mentions.
Janice, Anjel in The Grifters is many, at least online, preferred winner.
However, you're right the people's champ is Kathy Bates.
oh, I was bemoaning you missing Thelma and Louise, but that was 1991. Some how i put that in the 80s.
Meryl Streep easily dominated the entire 1980s. Not surprised at all.
Interestingly enough, I view Dunaway's nomination for Chinatown as category fraud (does the Academy not understand that "the client" in PI fiction is a supporting role?) that split the vote and gave the win to Burstyn prematurely (a win she'd almost certainly have gotten 26 years later if she didn't already have one). If there was 100% honesty, Rowlands' and Dunaway would have taken their honest category placements in landslides.
ooh yes, more please! These polls are fun.
Someone mentioned Sally Bowles....!!!
You should do supporting actress after leading actress is over!!! ;D
Pllleeeaaassseee do the 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s as well! I really like this poll!
Im pleased that the other readers voted similar to me. I mean Sophie, Karen, Vivian, Celie, Alex, Ripley, Marquise and Susie are bombastic characters
@3rtfu11: Now I understand, thanks. (As a matter of fact, Huston's perf in the Grifters was one of the ones I voted for. I recall my mother at the time hating it - I'd insisted on us watching it because I'd read so many good critical reviews. I guess that was one of the films that marked me out as the one in the family who liked "weird, dark films".)
Janice, the crazy thing is I would've voted for her performance too if she weren't competing against Kathy Bates in Misery.
Jewel Ivy was my sixth choice! I actually had her checked until I realized I was blocked from picking one of my other five (Frances Farmer, Karen Silkwood, Louise Bryant, Olive Chancellor, and Celie), so I had to drop her. Extra sad because she would have at least gotten one vote, and because my seventh choice would have been Patsy Cline. I totally got un'Langed. I did her wrong.
Ilike the 84 farm ladies and would have nominated all 43
You really have to do the 70s. I probably spend more time thinking of those roles than any other decade. There were some mighty thin years there where you'd have to look to Europe and obscure movies, but women's lives were changing and it really started to make an impact. I don't see how Diane/Annie won't be number one, but I often think about Jane/Bree and Barbra/Katie among others.
You should also do supporting actress after this!!! :D Some of my favorite performances have been supporting performances (i.e. MoNique in Precious, Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom, etc.)