Top 100 "Characters" From 50 Years of Best Actressing
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 10:00PM 
This past summer we polled you once or twice a month about the Best Actress characters that you think of the most often from the past 50 years of the cinema taking us all the way from 1961 through to this past spring's Oscars for the films of 2010! With the new fall season of The Film Experience kicking off and the Oscar films arriving, I thought we'd take one last look back at that polling.
It was quite fun for little OCD actressexual me to peruse and "sort" and all of that in excel. If you're OCD like me and want to know how I compiled the chart, which is listed in alphabetical order below and pictured in slide show format in chronological order, there's more information after the list. I'd love to say that we'd do 100 articles to celebrate (one for each of your fav' fictionalized ladies) but that would be an insane thing to promise. But we'll use the chart for inspirational somethings! Give these characters a big round of applause for all their years of entertaining service.
By all means if you haven't seen any of the 98 films represented, make it a viewing priority.
Your 100 Most Memorable Best Actress "Characters"
50 Years | 100 Greats (1961-2010)
List presented visually (chronologically) and in text form (alphabetically) after the jump. Plus: Statistics!
THE LIST
Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) The Piano
Adele (Isabelle Adjani) The Story of Adele H.
Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron) Monster
Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) Fatal Attraction
Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alma Brown (Patricia Neal) Hud
Annie Hall (Diana Keaton) Annie Hall
Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) The Miracle Worker
Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) Misery
Aurora Greenaway (Shirley Maclaine) Terms of Endearment
Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
Barbra Covett (Judi Dench) Notes on a Scandal
Becca (Nicole Kidman) Rabbit Hole
Bess McNeill (Emily Watson) Breaking the Waves
Beth Jarrett (Mary Tyler Moore) Ordinary People
Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) Bonnie & Clyde
Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) Boys Don't Cry
Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) Klute
Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger) Bridget Jones's Diary
Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) American Beauty
Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) Carrie
Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) Far From Heaven
Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) The Color Purple
Chris MacNeill (Ellen Burstyn) The Exorcist
Christina Drayton (Katharine Hepburn) Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?
Cindy (Michelle Williams) Blue Valentine
Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) Precious
Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) Silence of the Lambs
Clementine (Kate Winslet) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Constance Miller (Julie Christie) McCabe and Mrs Miller
Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn) Secrets and Lies
Daisy Wertham (Jessica Tandy) Driving Miss Daisy
Deanie Loomis (Natalie Wood) Splendor in the Grass
Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) Network
Diana Scott (Julie Christie) Darling
Edith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) La Vie En Rose
Eleanor of Acquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) Lion in Winter
Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) Sense & Sensibility
Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) Elizabeth
Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) Aliens
Emma Greenaway (Debra Winger) Terms of Endearment
Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) Erin Brockovich
Ethel Thayer (Katharine Hepburn) On Golden Pond
Eve (Geraldine Page) Interiors
Evelyn Cross Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) Chinatown
Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand) Funny Girl
Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange) Frances
Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep) Bridges of Madison County
Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda) They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) Dead Man Walking
Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) Breakfast at Tiffany's
Jane Craig (Holly Hunter) Broadcast News
Jean Brodie (Maggie Smith) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Jenny (Carey Mulligan) An Education
Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) Private Benjamin
Juno (Ellen Page) Juno
Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) Out of Africa
Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) Silkwood
Katie Morowsky (Barbra Streisand) The Way We Were
Kym (Anne Hathaway) Rachel Getting Married
Lilly (Anjelica Huston) The Grifters
Lizzie Bennett (Keira Knightley) Pride & Prejudice
Loretta Castorini (Cher) Moonstruck
Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) Coal Miner's Daughter
Louise (Susan Sarandon) Thelma & Louise
Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) Reds
Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands) A Woman Under the Influence
Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) Million Dollar Baby
Margaret Schlegel (Emma Thompson) Howard's End
Marge (Frances McDormand) Fargo
Maria Von Trapp (Julie Andrews) The Sound of Music
Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) Dangerous Liaisons
Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) Mary Poppins
Mary Rose Foster (Bette Midler) The Rose
Mary Tyrone (Katharine Hepburn) Long Day's Journey Into Night
Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) The Devil Wears Prada
Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft) The Graduate
Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) Black Swan
Norma Rae (Sally Field) Norma Rae
Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) Volver
Rose Dewitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) Titanic
Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) Chicago
Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) Cabaret
Sammy Prescott (Laura Linney) You Can Count on Me
Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) Requiem for a Dream
Satine (Nicole Kidman) Moulin Rouge!
Sera (Elisabeth Shue) Leaving Las Vegas
Sophie Zawistowski (Meryl Streep) Sophie's Choice
Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) The Fabulous Baker Boys
Susie Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) Wait Until Dark
Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) Postcards From the Edge
Thelma (Geena Davis) Thelma & Louise
Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) What's Love Got To Do With It
Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) Vera Drake
Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) Victor/Victoria
Viola (Gwyneth Paltrow) Shakespeare in Love
Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) The Hours
Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) Pretty Woman
Some interesting statistical notes
- The best represented actress Meryl Streep who turns up with an incredible six characters. Katharine Hepburn is in runner up position with four. Faye Dunaway, Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews and Ellen Burstyn fight it out for bronze with three characters each.
- The best represented Oscar years are 1967, 1990, 1995 each with 80% of the nominated lineup making your top 100. In the case of 1967, the one nominated performance that didn't place is one you hear raves about all the time (in The Whisperers) but the film is hard to find.
- 23% are title characters... if you want to include titles like "Funny Girl" which describe or reference the woman in an obvious way than 34% of the list is title characters.
- Surprisingly 13% of the characters are either professional singers or actresses who dabble in singing.
- 36% (out of a possible 51%) are Oscar winning roles.
- "Annie" and "Mary" are the two most popular character names both showing up three times. ALL of the "Annies" won the Oscar: Hall, Sullivan, and Wilkes!
Carrie finds this list overwhelming. Do you?Let's have a confession round in the comments: How many have you seen?
Disclaimer: Coming up with a top 100 was not quite as simple as using all 10 five year groups of top 10s. There were a few too many ties so to make the decision about which women to cut I looked at the percentage of ballots upon which they appeared in their time frame and eliminated the three tenth placers which the fewest amount of actual votes from you (i.e. some 11th and even 12th place finishers in other decades may have had more votes than these.) So the three women that just missed this list are Sophia Loren's "Cesira" from Two Women (1961), Talia Shire's "Adrian" from Rocky (1976) and Ali McGraw's "Jennifer Cavalerri" from Love Story (1970).
Reader Comments (64)
I'm a litlle surprised Kate Croy (Helena Bonham Carter, The Wings of the Dove) and Queen Victoria (Judi Dench, Mrs. Brown) didn't make the list.
For some reason, Reese Witherspoon's June Carter Cash randomly popped into my mind and I'm surprised she didn't make the list.
Tyler -- i was very disappointed about Kate Croy's absence. but i couldn't get my way all the time One of the craziest misses I think is Alexandra del Lago (Geraldine Page) from Sweet Bird of Youth.
I think I'm doing OK with 55. I should really see Moonstruck and Silkwood. So much Cher I'm missing!
I'd also like to be sold on Sophie's Choice. I love Meryl, but knowing as little about it as a film lover can know, that movie looks bo-ring. (But I have faith it can be sold to me in this comments section.)
I haven't seen quite a lot of these films.....*bows head in shame*
Squasher88 -- perfect ideas for the rental queue then!
Mike -- i actually prefer Meryl in Sillkwood i think (to Sophie's Choice) which I believe is probably heresy but I think Silkwood is one of her most indelible and totally lived-in creations. It almost doesn't feel like acting it's so natural... and such a 180 from Sophie too. what a time period that was with her gift.
I've only seen 53 of these films....so many movies, so little time!
Ooh, 86. Not bad, Me. If I can ever finish my Best Picture screening project, maybe this is the next list to finish.
I've seen 89. And I actually own Woman Under The Influence but I haven't watched it yet. I think I am afraid of it somehow because I know it is going to be emotional and I keep waiting for the "right mood."
I'm actually surprised about myself, but I've actually seen 96 of those, and the four I have yet to catch are all from the last thee years ('Rabbit Hole', 'Blue Valentine', 'An Education', 'Rachel Getting Married').
I may spend too much of my life watching great performances in great movies. If that is possible.
I'm very smugly pleased with myself for having seen 80 of these incredible performance. A few of my favorites are conspicuously missing, but I'm going to dive into those I haven't seen immediately.
Wow, cool write up Nat :) I thought I was doing good with 69/100... I need a weeks vacation to catch up to some of you! Looking forward to "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and "Interiors".
Were there any years not represented at all? Unless I missed someone, I don't spot any from 1994. I always thought that was a weak year (in the actress category), now maybe I have something to back that up. Though I did really enjoy Reggie Love.
As a Film Experience reader, I'm ashamed. Only 33! And one of those, by chance, was tonight! I just watched Requiem for a Dream for the first time. I'll need at least a week to recover and watch another.
I am constantly ashamed by growing lack of attention in my 30s which mostly sees me fall asleep at the 40 minute mark on any films watched on DVD and TV.... that said, I have managed to see 58 of these performances in their entirety. There may be hope for me yet.
OMG, I've seen 98 :O go me! Agreed about Kate Croy's unfortunate absence.
At age 49, on their 5th and final nominations, both Shirley Maclaine and Susan Sarandon won their Oscars over fellow nominee Meryl Streep.
Vivien Leigh won best actress twice from two career nominations. Playing southern belles for both wins. What isn't given much attention is that everytime she won so did her female co-stars in the supporting category.
8 actresses share the distinction of having Meryl Streep as their fellow nominee twice. Kathy Bates is the only one to be nominated with Streep in both the lead and supporting categories.
Musical performer and best actress winner Cher has two career nominations. None of them are for musicals.
Bette Midler's double nominations are both musical in nature. Streisand and Minnelli both won for their sole musical nods, while having non-musical follow-up nominations.
Sad to see Dian Fossey didn't make the list, that's one of my favorite performances. But I think I'm pretty alone in that one, at list when it comes to lists like this.
I'm only at 55/100, but I'm a relatively new Oscarphile so I'm okay with that.
I think I caounted 49 and around 15 that I have seen only partly. Better than what I thought!
People really need to see more performances from 1927 to 1960. I can say at least 20 or more performances from those years that are more deserving than the 85% of this list.
And Katharine Hepburn for GWCTD? LMAO.
Ups! My mistake the list is only from 1961 to 2010, lol, sorry.
Go Nicole Kidman!! Three noms and all three made it in. A true sign of her greatness
Very glad about Ellen Burstyn's three characters (and about Raimunda's inclusion too!)
By the way, OT, here are the three films preselected by the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration:
- Pa negre, Agustí Villaronga
- La piel que habito, Pedro Almodóvar
- La voz dormida, Benito Zambrano
46! I think it's prtty good for a 20 years old boy.
79, with a copy of Hud in my bedroom and a failed attempt to get through Out Of Africa in my recent past.
I'll take May-Alice Culhane's absence as a sign of the film being under seen. I watched it after I fell in love with Mary McDonnell in BSG and I adore the film itself. One of my favourites.
Bruno -- i'd say that's excellent yes.
Tim B -- gah. HUD is *so* good. One of the best films of the 1960s for sure. It's so good in fact that Patricia Neal isn't even the first or second thing I think about when i think about it.
96 !
How did Gloria Swenson from GLORIA miss out?
75/100, passing, but could be better. :)
About 60. I'm OK with that, since I'm 22 and became a REALLY obsessed cinephile quite recently :)
Edith Evans in The Whisperers is legendary with good reason, even if the film itself has some problems. Her reaction when she discovers the money hidden in her apartment might be one of my favorite moments in movies ever, it just has to be seen.
A bit surprised but really glad that Eve from Interiors made it in. I love both the film and Page's performance. I'm not that crazy about her in Sweet Bird of Youth, but she was the only reason I could sit through that movie.
wow, I've seen 73 of those, much more than I expected :D
by the way, it was your lists and pools and actress-sexuality* than made me watch more of these films and go back in time! Cheers for that!
Is Marsha Mason the actress with the most "contenders" that didn't make the list? Four films, and not a one of them makes the memorable list. She needs a renaissance or something.
@Julien That's always the trouble with Gena. People didn't see her movies.
I've seen 91. I agree Nathaniel - I think SILKWOOD is Streep's most natural performance. It hardly seems like her.
I've seen 71, and almost all of those I've really liked, which is a cheerful thought. The comments make me interested in seeing "The Whisperers".
Only 54 for me.
Fail.
Wonderful list and very fond memories! Actually I've seen all 100 performances. The thing is, they were all Oscar nominated, and I've see every female performance (lead or supporting) ever nominated for an Oscar in all of the Award's history, with the sole exception of Betty Compson's in The Barker (1928). As to male performances, I am missing 4 from the late 1920s. I've been extremely fortunate and thankful for this "accomplishment" (By the way, I'm 57 years old, which might explain why I made it! LOL)
Yeah, I'm just really bitter that Mrs. Walker from Tommy didn't even come close.
Marcos -- that is a real accomplishment. I am nowhere close. I wish The Barker was easier to get. I so want to see it!
Thank you Nathaniel! You know I'm a big fan!
Actually, I made a mistake. There is one more female performance I have not seen and only 3 male ones. So, in addition to Betty Compson's the ones I have not seen are:
Gloria Swanson in The Trespasser (1929)
Richard Barthelmess in The Noose (1928)
The other two are considered to be "Lost films," though there is a trailer I've seen of Rogue Song:
Lewis Stone in The Patriot (1928), and
Lawrence Tibbett in The Rogue Song (1930)
I was able to see another Lost Film (The Way of All Flesh, 1927, with Emil Jannings) 40 years ago in my country -- Argentina. They showed it during a Film Appreciation Seminar. I was 17! Guess it got lost afterwards! Or, who knows. They might find a copy here as they did with the missing footage of Metropolis. After all, the imdb gives the Spanish title as "El destino de la carne" but in Argentina the film was released as "De carne somos." Maybe it is catalogued with only that Spanish title.
Have seen only 59. MASSIVE fail. And what's worse is - that's still much better than I expected to do.
I have seen 67 ! Im impressed by myself.
timothy : Me too. And Opening Night as well
Agree with Streep in Silkwood. Her most natural performance yet and Sophie´s Choice her best technical perf yet. Its a wonder she did not win for Silkwood. So powerful.
oh my I’ve only seen 40 of them. I’ve been distracted from watching films since there’s a lot of catching up with a lot of TV series.
77 performances seen. Mike in Canada, do yourself a favor and watch Sophie's Choice, even if it's just for Streep's acting. I doubt you've seen a better performance. It rates as one of the very best ever captured on film.
Have seen 81. Not bad but could be better although I'll never get to 100% since the list contains a couple of actresses I can't abide so those films are out. Still a few to add to my Nexflix queue.
joel6 -- now i'm totally curious: which actresses can't you stand that made the list?
I've seen them all!
haha not even 30. I'm okay with that tho. I'll watch the ones I wanna watch eventually, I guess.
46.
Well it's more than I expected ...