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« Swing, Tarzan, Swing! Ch.1: Buster Crabbe's Loincloth | Main | Where My Girls At? New Roles for Jess, Charlize, and The Bening »
Sunday
May082016

12 Memorable Screen Moms for Mother's Day

A huge virtual hug and bouquet of flowers going out to every reader who is a mother, every reader's mother, and all the actresses that have played mothers over the years.

A dozen favorite random delights (from hundreds of great examples) of cinematic motherhood after the jump...

Darlene Cates as "Bonnie" in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993)Sophia Loren as "Adelina of Naples" in YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW (1963)Sally Field as "M'Lynn" in STEEL MAGNOLIAS (1989)
Pepper Labejia from the House of Labejia in PARIS IS BURNING
Vivien Leigh as (eventually) "Scarlett O'Hara Wilkes Butler" in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
Sigourney Weaver as "Ripley 8" in ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997)Mrs Jumbo in DUMBO (1941)
Piper Laurie as "Margaret White" in CARRIE (1976)
Julianne Moore as "Amber Waves" in BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)Faye Dunaway as MOMMIE DEAREST (1981)Anna Magnani as "Serafina" in THE ROSE TATTOO (1955)
Cate Blanchett as CAROL (2015)

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Reader Comments (36)

I love how you shoehorned Carol in there.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commentermark

Claude Rains' mother in Notorious
Annette Benning and Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right
Sally Field as Norma Rae
Penelope Cruz in Volver

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterDeborah Lipp

Susan Sarandon in Lorenzo's Oil!!!!!

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commenterferdi

Tallulah Bankhead in "Die! Die! My Darling!"
Olivia de Havilland in "Lady in a Cage"
Divine in "Pink Flamingos"
Angela Lansbury in "The Manchurian Candidate"
Meryl Streep in "Sophie's Choice"

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterTom Steele

Shirley MacLaine!

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJohn

The "mother" from Psycho.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMDA

Let's not forget Tilda Swinton! I nominate her "Bad Mother" trilogy: Julia, I Am Love and We Need To Talk About Kevin. Also worth mentioning... The Deep End, now that's a dedicated mother.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterRobert Muffy

@ferdi - Yes!

I've already mentioned many favorites on Facebook but I'd like to add: Moore in Savage Grace!

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJames T

Hepburn in Lion in Winter! Then Hepburn in On Golden Pond. ;)

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKyle

Meryl Streep: Kramer vs Kramer, Sophie's Choice, A Cry in the Dark, The Bridges of Madison County, One True Thing, Devil Wears Prada,

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commenterbrandz

Jessica Lange--Losing Isaiah

Faye Dunaway--Mommie Dearest

Greer Garson--Mrs Miniver

Bette Davis--Now Voyager

Julie Christie--Afterglow

Ellen Burstyn--The Exorcist

Jennifer Jones--Good Morning Miss Dove

Toni Collette--Little Miss Sunshine

Marsha Mason--Only When I Laugh

Christine Lahti--Running On Empty

Barbara Stanwyck--Stella Dallas

Luise Rainier--The Good Earth

Kathleen Turner--Serial Mom

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commenterbrookesboy

Myrna Loy, The Best Years of Our Lives.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterDeborah Lipp

You love mentioning this screen mom every chance you get and yet you forgot her this time.

Anjelica Huston in The Grifters.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commenter/3rtful

Mo'Nique in Precious
Cate Blanchett in Hanna
Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin
Michelle Pfeiffer in White Oleander
Jodie Foster in Panic Room
Glenn Glose in Damages
Sharon Stone in Casino
Gloria Foster in The Matrix

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterManuel

Nicole Kidman in The Others. Such a good portrayal of loving, strict parental anxiety veering into madness and inner rage

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterCaroline

Excelent list Brookesboy! Bette Davis' mother in Now, Voyager was Gladys Cooper.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMarcos

Gena Rowlands dancing with her kids and playing the dying swan in A Woman Under The Influence.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered Commentercal roth

Carol over Brie Larson's Ma?

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMojo

Can't believe y'all forgot Jackie Weaver in Animal Kingdom. You've done some bad things sweeties!

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterEz

Amy Poehler, Mean Girls. Surely?

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterJB

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterSuzanne

Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett in Ordinary People. A mother you really want to hate but can't quite bring yourself to. I screen the film at least once a year and every single time I see something new in her performance and learn something different about the character. Dang Sissy Spacek!

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterNewMoonSon

Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense
Mary Alice in the original Sparkle

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterTroy H.

Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom
Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce
Barbara Hershey in Black Swan
Brie Larson in Room
The mom-to-be Frances McDormand in Fargo
Sally Field in everything really

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterCraver

It's weird that Scarlett O'Hara is mentioned here I think cause a mother is the least thing you can think of her. The same thing goes to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada and Sharon Stone in Casino.

May 8, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterCraver

Frances McDormand in Almost Famous
Diane Wiest in Edward Scissorhands
Molly Weasley and Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter series
Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight
Lillian Gish in Night of the Hunter
Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered Commenteradri

Björk in DANCER IN THE DARK!

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterSean Diego

Joan Bennett in Father of the Bride
Shelley Winters in Lolita
Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven
Gladys Cooper in Now, Voyager
Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly, Last Summer
Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey Into Night
Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby
Judith Malina in Dog Day Afternoon
Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPaul Outlaw

Nathan Lane in The Birdcage

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterBilly

That's Scarlett O'Hara Hamilton Kennedy Butler Wilkes, to you.

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMike

julia roberts - erin brockovich
julia roberts - steel magnolias

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered Commentermcv

Jackie Weaver - Animal Kingdom

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPam

Rosalind Russell-Gypsy

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPam

@Craver
You really REALLY need to watch the hotel scene in DWP again. Hear how heartbreaking she talks about her daughters. And there's of course the Harry Potter unpublished script, too. How much more motherly can you get? ;)

Meryl in The River Wild and A:OC should be mentioned, too. Probably the light and dark side.

May 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterSonja

Loved the inclusion of Ellen Ripley!!!!

May 10, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterCourtney

"Mommy wants to talk to Santy Claus, too."

Immortal line from the screen debut of Thelma Ritter in "Miracle on 34th St."

May 10, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPatryk
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