Seriously Underappreciated Actresses

1. Nancy Allen

Nancy Anne Allen was born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, the youngest of three children. Her father, Eugene Allen, was a New York police lieutenant. At a young age, she trained for a dancing career at the High School of Performing Arts, and then attended Jose Quintano's School ...

RoboCop's Officer Anne Lewis should arrest Chris Hargensen (from Carrie). For what? For being a perpetual bitch! :P

2. Morjana Alaoui

Actress | Martyrs

Morjana Alaoui (born November 30, 1982) is a Moroccan-French actress. She appeared in Marock (2005) and Pascal Laugier's horror film Martyrs (2008).

Alaoui spent her early life in the Arfa neighborhood of Casablanca, Morocco, and studied at the Casablanca American School. At 18, Alaoui moved to ...

Martyrs

3. Jane Alexander

Actress | Kramer vs. Kramer

Angular in features, reserved in demeanor and more-or-less plaintive in appearance, actress Jane Alexander has played down the glamour card for the most part. Her true brilliance has come from the remarkable range and depth of her talent. Heralded as one of the finest 70s actresses to arrive in ...

Kramer vs. Kramer

4. Bibi Andersson

Actress | Persona

Her artistic dreams came early in life and were further supported by her older sister Gerd Andersson who became a ballet dancer at the Royal Opera and made her acting debut in 1951. Bibi, on the other side, had to make do with bit parts and commercials. She debuted in Dum-Bom (1953), playing ...

Persona Scenes from a Marriage The Seventh Seal Wild Strawberries

5. Stéphane Audran

Actress | Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie

Stéphane Audran was born on November 8, 1932 in Versailles, Seine-et-Oise [now Yvelines], France as Colette Suzanne Jeannine Dacheville. She was an actress, known for Der diskrete Charme der Bourgeoisie (1972), Babettes Fest (1987) and Der Schlachter (1970). She was married to Claude Chabrol and ...

Babette's Feast Les biches La femme infidèle Le boucher Mortelle randonée

6. Kathy Baker

Actress | Picket Fences

For someone who has made an award-winning impact in all three mediums (stage, film and TV), actress Kathy Baker has been strangely denied all-out stardom, yet continues to demonstrate her versatility in whatever material comes her way.

The comely blonde was born Katherine Whitton Baker in Midland, ...

Street Smart

7. Christine Baranski

Actress | Mamma Mia!

Christine Baranski is an American actress from Buffalo, New York. She has had a relatively lengthy career in both film and television. She has been nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, winning once. One of her most popular roles was that of neuroscientist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom " The Big ...

The Good Wife

8. Ellen Barkin

Actress | The Fan

Offbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born on April 16, 1954 in the Bronx, New York, to Evelyn (Rozin), a hospital administrator, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Her parents were both from Russian Jewish families. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New ...

Drop Dead Gorgeous Sea of Love This Boy's Life

9. Angela Bassett

Actress | Strange Days

Captivating, gifted, and sensational, Angela Bassett's presence has been felt in theaters and on stages and television screens throughout the world. Angela Evelyn Bassett was born on August 16, 1958 in New York City, to Betty Jane (Gilbert), a social worker, and Daniel Benjamin Bassett, a ...

Strange Days Malcolm X What's Love Got to Do With It

10. Kathy Bates

Actress | Misery

Multi-talented, multi-award-winning actress Kathleen (Doyle) Bates was born on June 28, 1948, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the youngest of three girls born to Bertye Kathleen (Talbot), a homemaker, and Langdon Doyle Bates, a mechanical engineer. Her grandfather was author Finis L. Bates...

Misery Dolores Claiborne Fried Green Tomatoes

11. Troian Bellisario

Actress | Pretty Little Liars

Troian Bellisario, daughter of producers Donald P. Bellisario and Deborah Pratt, made her film debut at the age of 3 in Last Rites (1988). She made several TV and movie appearances in her teens (most of the TV appearances were in shows produced by her father) before attending the University of ...

Lauren

12. Stephanie Berry

Actress | The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

Stephanie Berry is known for The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), No Reservations (2007) and The Invasion (2007).

Finding Forrester The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love

13. Angela Bettis

Actress | May

Angela Bettis is an American film and stage actress, film producer, and director best known for her lead roles in the 2002 TV adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie, the title character in May (2002), and in Girl, Interrupted.

In addition to her work in film, Bettis also starred in two Broadway...

May Girl, Interrupted

14. Eleanor Bron

Actress | A Little Princess

There is one strange, mesmerizing film scene that easily sums up the disturbing fascination Eleanor Bron brought to her characters on stage, TV and in the cinema. This is the classic fig-eating scene which she shares with Alan Bates in the Oscar-winning drama Women in Love (1969). It is not to be ...

A Little Princess Women in Love

15. Ellen Burstyn

Actress | Requiem for a Dream

Ellen Burstyn was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Correine Marie (Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly. She is of Irish, French/French-Canadian, Pennsylvania Dutch (German), and Native American ancestry.. She worked a number of jobs before she became an actress. At 14, she was a short-order cook at a ...

The Exorcist Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Requiem for a Dream

16. Akosua Busia

Actress | The Color Purple

Akosua Busia was born on December 30, 1966 in Accra, Ghana. She is an actress and director, known for The Color Purple (1985), Tears of the Sun (2003) and Low Blow (1986). She was previously married to John Singleton.

The Color Purple

17. Lizzy Caplan

Actress | Hot Tub Time Machine

Actress Elizabeth Anne "Lizzy" Caplan was born in Los Angeles, California, to Barbara (Bragman), a political aide, and Richard Caplan, a lawyer. She has two older siblings, Julie and Benjamin, and was raised in a Jewish household. Her mother was a cousin of publicist Howard Bragman. Caplan was ...

Mean Girls

18. Veronica Cartwright

Actress | Alien

Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as William Wyler's The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such,...

The Children's Hour Invasion of the Body Snatchers Alien

19. Elaine Cassidy

Actress | Disco Pigs

Elaine Cassidy was born on December 31, 1979 in Kilcoole, County Wicklow, Ireland. She is an actress and producer, known for Disco Pigs (2001), Felicia's Journey (1999) and The Wonder (2022). She has been married to Stephen Lord since December 31, 2007. They have two children.

Fingersmith Uncle Adolf Felicia's Journey Disco Pigs

20. Geraldine Chaplin

Actress | Hable con ella

Geraldine Leigh Chaplin was born in Santa Monica, California, to Oona Chaplin (née O'Neill) and legendary entertainer Charles Chaplin (A.K.A. Charlie Chaplin). She is a granddaughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and a great-granddaughter of stage actor James O'Neill. She attended the Royal Ballet ...

Remember My Name Le voyage en douce Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor Nashville Peppermint Frappe

21. Patricia Clarkson

Actress | The Station Agent

This remarkable, one-of-a-kind actress has, since the early 1990s, intrigued film and TV audiences with her glowing, yet careworn eccentricity and old world-styled glamour. Very much in demand these days as a character player, Patricia Clarkson nevertheless continues to avoid the temptation of ...

All the King's Men Dogville Good Night, and Good Luck.

22. Beverly D'Angelo

Actress | National Lampoon's Vacation

Intriguing, inspiring, and never less than interesting -- key adjectives in describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has well passed the four-decade mark. Perhaps deserving better movies than she generally found herself in, she nevertheless was always an object of fascination and the one to...

"I'm ashamed that you came out of my body!" - Doris Vinyard

American History X

23. Judy Davis

Actress | Husbands and Wives

Davis was educated at Loreto Convent and the Western Institute of Technology and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1977. She found international success with the role of Adela Quested in A Passage to India (1984). Her performance was nominated an Academy Award for Best...

"This, Madame, is Versailles." - Comtesse de Noailles

Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows Marie Antoinette A Passage to India Barton Fink

24. Maria de Medeiros

Actress | Pulp Fiction

Maria de Medeiros is the oldest of three daughters by the pianist, maestro and composer António Vitorino D'Almeida and Maria Armanda Esteves. Her sisters are Inês de Medeiros, stage actress and film and stage director and Ana Medeiros, violinist, composer, and music teacher.

Studied at Lycée ...

Henry & June My Life Without Me Pulp Fiction Shelter Me

25. Rebecca De Mornay

Actress | The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Rebecca De Mornay was born 1959 as Rebecca Jane Pearch, in Santa Rosa, CA, to Wally George and Julie Eager. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her mother moved to Pasadena and married Richard De Mornay, who adopted her. After her stepfather's untimely death in 1962, Rebecca's mother moved...

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Risky Business

26. Judi Dench

Actress | Skyfall

Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the ...

Notes on a Scandal Iris

27. Émilie Dequenne

Actress | Rosetta

Émilie Dequenne was born on August 29, 1981 in Beloeil, Wallonia, Belgium. She is an actress, known for Rosetta (1999), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) and Our Children (2012). She has been married to Michel Ferracci since October 11, 2014.

Rosetta

28. Loretta Devine

Actress | Crash

Equally at home on stage and on screen, award-winning actress Loretta Devine has created some of the most memorable roles in theatre, film and television.

Devine first captured national attention in the role of Lorrell, one of the three original "Dreamgirls" in Michael Bennett's classic ...

Crash

29. Jenna Dewan

Actress | Step Up

Jenna Dewan is an actress, former model, and dancer. She was born on December 3, 1980 in Hartford, Connecticut, to Nancy (Bursch) and Darryll Dewan. Her father is of half Syrian Lebanese and half Polish descent, and her mother has German, English, and Cornish ancestry. Jenna grew up in Grapevine, ...

Tamara Step Up

30. Melinda Dillon

Actress | Magnolia

Melinda Dillon came to prominence with the role of Jillian Guiler, a mother whose child is abducted by aliens in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Dillon's performance in the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. A few years later, Dillon ...

Magnolia Absence of Malice Close Encounters of the Third Kind A Christmas Story

31. Shelley Duvall

Actress | The Shining

Shelley Alexis Duvall was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the first child to Bobbie Ruth (Massengale, 1929-2020), a real estate broker, and Robert Richardson Duvall (1919-1994), a lawyer. At the time of her birth, her mother was visiting her grandmother in Fort Worth, though Duvall was raised in Houston...

3 Women The Shining

32. Maria Falconetti

Actress | La passion de Jeanne d'Arc

Renée Jeanne or Maria Falconetti, born in Pantin (not in Sermano, Corsica, as many film dictionaries wrongly attest) on July 21, 1892 and died in Buenos Aires on December 12, 1946, is a French actress of theater and cinema. Joining the troupe of the Odeon theater in 1916, she made her debut in "...

The Passion of Joan of Arc

33. Siobhan Fallon Hogan

Actress | Rushed

Siobhan Fallon Hogan has been seen in several blockbusters over the past twenty five years. Her many film and television credits include "Men In Black," "Forrest Gump," "SNL," "Seinfeld, "Holes", "Eileen," "New In Town," and "Wayward Pines." She has done several foreign films including three with ...

Dancer in the Dark Forrest Gump Men in Black

34. Sherilyn Fenn

Actress | Of Mice and Men

The sultry, versatile, petite (5' 4") beauty Sherilyn Fenn was born Sheryl Ann Fenn in Detroit, Michigan, into a family of musicians. The youngest of three children, her mother, Arlene Quatro, played keyboard in rock bands, her aunt is rock-star Suzi Quatro, and her grandfather, Art Quatro, was a ...

Rude Awakening Twin Peaks Boxing Helena

35. Jodelle Ferland

Actress | Case 39

Jodelle Micah Ferland has built up an impressive resume filled with roles in film, television and, at the beginning of her career, commercials. Born on October 9, 1994, she got her start in an episode of CTV's Cold Squad (1998), before landing the lead role in her first film, Mermaid (2000) at an ...

Pictures of Hollis Woods Tideland Case 39

36. Pam Ferris

Actress | Matilda

Pam Ferris was born on May 11, 1948 in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress, known for Matilda (1996), Children of Men (2006) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). She has been married to Roger Frost since August 1986.

Matilda

37. Frances Fisher

Actress | Titanic

Frances Fisher began by apprenticing at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She spent 14 years based in New York City, playing leads in over 30 productions of plays by such noted writers as John Arden, Noël Coward, Emily Mann, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard, William Shakespeare, Jean-Claude van ...

Unforgiven Titanic

38. Dawn French

Actress | French and Saunders

Dawn was educated at a weekly boarding school in Plymouth and spent the weekends with her grandparents who lived nearby She never felt at home at the school as it was too posh. She met Jennifer Saunders while training to be a teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama and became flat mates ...

French and Saunders

39. Gina Gershon

Actress | Bound

Since making her uncredited debut as a dancer in Beatlemania (1981), Gina Gershon has established herself as a character actress and one of the leading icons of American camp. For it was fourteen years after her movie debut that Gina made movie history as the predatory bisexual who was the leading ...

Who would've thought that the very butch Corky ("Bound") and the bitchy Cristal ("Showgirls") were played the same actress?

40. Annabeth Gish

Actress | Mystic Pizza

A versatile actress, Annabeth Gish weathered the transition from child actor to adult, with a variety of dramatic and comedic roles on film and television.

Anne Elizabeth Gish was born on March 13, 1971 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and moved with her family to Cedar Falls, at the age of two. Her ...

Double Jeopardy Wyatt Earp Mystic Pizza

41. Paulette Goddard

Actress | The Ghost Breakers

Paulette Goddard was a child model who debuted in "The Ziegfeld Follies" at the age of 13. She gained fame with the show as the girl on the crescent moon, and was married to a wealthy man, Edgar James, by the time she was 17. After her divorce she went to Hollywood in 1931, where she appeared in ...

The Great Dictator Modern Times

42. Aimee Graham

Actress | Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth

Aimee Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and Jackie Brown (1997).

Brokedown Palace Timecode

43. Lee Grant

Actress | In the Heat of the Night

Academy Award-winner Lee Grant was born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal on October 31, 1925 in Manhattan, New York City, to Witia (Haskell), a teacher and model, and Abraham Rosenthal, an educator and realtor. Her father was of Romanian Jewish descent, and her mother was a Russian Jewish immigrant. Lee ...

Shampoo In the Heat of the Night Mulholland Dr. Voyage of the Damned

44. Pam Grier

Actress | Jackie Brown

Pam Grier was born in Winston-Salem, NC, one of four children of Gwendolyn Sylvia (Samuels), a nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier Jr., an Air Force mechanic. Pam has been a major African-American star from the early 1970s. Her career started in 1971, when Roger Corman of New World Pictures launched ...

Jackie Brown Foxy Brown The L Word

45. Jean Hagen

Actress | Singin' in the Rain

Jean Shirley Verhagen (later shortened to Hagen) was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 1923. Her father was a Dutch immigrant. Hagen and her family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was twelve; she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School. Afterwards, she graduated from Northwestern ...

"Well, I can't make love to a bush!" - Lina Lamont

Singin' in the Rain

46. LisaGay Hamilton

Actress | The Practice

Lisa's mother, Tina, is a retired social worker. Her late father, Ira, worked as an engineer and then went into business as a general contractor. A sister, Heidi, is a lawyer. Lisa started acting as a child and played Flip Wilson in a 3rd grade performance. During junior high, she started traveling...

The Practice True Crime Jackie Brown (quite a scene stealer as Sheronda) The Truth About Charlie

47. Marcia Gay Harden

Actress | Mystic River

Marcia Gay Harden was born on August 14, 1959, in La Jolla, California, the third of five children. Her mother, Beverly (Bushfield), was a homemaker, and her father, Thad Harold Harden, was in the military. The family relocated often -- she first became interested in the theatre when the family was...

Canvas Mystic River The Mist

48. Corinna Harfouch

Actress | Der Untergang

Growing up as the daughter of the teacher Wolfgang Meffert and his wife Marianne née Kleber, she attended school in Großenhain from 1961 to 1973. She completed her Abitur at the extended high school. After training as a nurse, she began studying textile engineering at the TU Dresden in 1976. From ...

Downfall

49. Elizabeth Hartman

Actress | A Patch of Blue

A slender, striking, red-haired, freckle-faced American leading lady, Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born in Boardman, Ohio on December 23, 1943, as the middle of three children born to building contractor Bill C. Hartman (May 7, 1914, Ohio - October 26, 1964, Youngstown, Ohio) and housewife Claire ...

A Patch of Blue

50. Sally Hawkins

Actress | The Shape of Water

Sally Cecilia Hawkins was born in 1976 in Lewisham hospital, London, England, to Jacqui and Colin Hawkins, authors and illustrators of children's books. She is of English and Irish descent. Hawkins was brought up in Greenwich, in southeast London. She attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich...

Happy-Go-Lucky Fingersmith Made in Dagenham

51. Barbara Hershey

Actress | Black Swan

Barbara Hershey was born Barbara Lynn Herzstein in Hollywood, California, to Melrose (Moore) and Arnold Nathan Herzstein, a horse racing columnist. Her father, born in Manhattan, was from a Jewish family (from Hungary and Russia), and her mother, originally from Arkansas, had English and ...

A World Apart Black Swan The Last Temptation of Christ

52. Laurel Holloman

Actress | The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

Laurel Holloman was born on May 23, 1971 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. She is an actress, known for The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995), The L Word (2004) and Boogie Nights (1997). She was previously married to Paul Macherey.

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love The Myth of Fingerprints The L Word

53. Jennifer Hudson

Soundtrack | Dreamgirls

Jennifer Kate Hudson was born on September 12, 1981 in Chicago, Illinois to Darnell Donerson (née Hudson) & Samuel Simpson. She is an Academy Award-winning actress, Grammy Award-winning recording artist and best-selling author. This bright, beautiful and booming-voiced talent is a perfect example ...

Dreamgirls The Secret Life of Bees

54. Holly Hunter

Actress | Broadcast News

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged her talent at an early age, and her first...

The Piano

55. Kim Hunter

Actress | A Streetcar Named Desire

Her father, Donald Cole, was a consulting engineer, and died in 1926 when Kim was only three years old. Her mother, Grace Lind, once performed as a concert pianist. She had one brother who was eight years older than she, and she was educated at Miami Beach High.

According to an in-depth article on ...

A Streetcar Named Desire Planet of the Apes

56. 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...

The Piano Teacher La Cérémonie 8 femmes White Material Violette

...the list goes on.

57. 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 ...

Women in Love Hedda A Touch of Class

58. 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 ...

Drop Dead Gorgeous American Beauty

59. Madeline Kahn

Actress | Paper Moon

Madeline Kahn was born Madeline Gail Wolfson of Russian Jewish descent on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Freda Goldberg (later known as Paula Kahn), who was still in her teens, and Bernard B. Wolfson, a garment manufacturer. She began her acting career in high school and went on to...

Blazing Saddles Clue Young Frankenstein History of the World: Part I

60. 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 ...

Capote Being John Malkovich

61. Mia Kirshner

Actress | Not Another Teen Movie

Mia Kirshner was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Etti, a teacher, and Sheldon Kirshner, a journalist. Her father is of Polish Jewish descent and her mother is a Bulgarian Jewish immigrant. Mia had a middle class upbringing and graduated from McGill University with a degree in English Literature. She ...

The L Word New Best Friend The Crow: City of Angels

62. 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 ...

Carrie Children of a Lesser God The Dead Girl

63. Cloris Leachman

Actress | The Last Picture Show

The legendary actress set a record when at age 82, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005). Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman and the former Cloris Wallace. Her father's family owned a lumber company, Leachman Lumber Co. She ...

The Last Picture Show History of the World: Part I

64. 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 ...

Dolores Claiborne Single White Female

65. Brigitte Lin

Actress | Ging chaat goo si

Brigitte Lin is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. Lin was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. She was scouted in 1972 on the streets of Taipei by a film producer after she finished women's high ...

Ashes of Time Chungking Express

66. Gunnel Lindblom

Actress | Jungfrukällan

After acting studies at the Gothenburg City Theatre from 1950-52, she made her breakthrough debut in Gustaf Molander's Kärlek (1952). When Ingmar Bergman became head of the Malmö City Theatre he asked her to join him there and with him as a director she played the role of Margareta in Goethe's...

The Seventh Seal The Virgin Spring The Silence

67. Mona Lisa

Actress | Insiang

Mona Lisa was born on June 22, 1922 in Manila, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Insiang (1976), Cain at Abel (1982) and Bayan Ko (1984). She was married to Abelardo Guinto. She died on August 25, 2019 in Manila, Philippines.

Insiang Cain at Abel

68. Virna Lisi

Actress | La reine Margot

Stunning Italian actress Virna Lisi, a brief but lovely Hollywood import in the 1960's, was merely one of a plethora of European movie beauties who proved over the course of their long careers, that they were capable of more than just visual performances.

Born Virna Lisa Pieralisi on November 8, ...

She stole the show from Isabelle Adjani in La reine Margot.

69. Barbara Loden

Actress | Wanda

A one-time pin-up beauty and magazine story model, Barbara Loden studied acting in New York in the early 50s and was on the Broadway boards within the decade. She was discovered for films by legendary producer/director Elia Kazan who was impressed with what she did in a small role as Montgomery ...

Wanda Splendor in the Grass

70. Alexandra Lydon

Actress | Prison Break

Alexandra is originally from Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts. Alexandra moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting when she was 17. She graduated with honors from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a dual degree in Drama and Psychology and studied at the Stella Adler ...

24

71. Melanie Lynskey

Actress | Togetherness

At sixteen years of age, Melanie Lynskey captivated filmgoers with an astonishing debut in Peter Jackson's revered psychological crime picture, Heavenly Creatures (1994). Her electrifying portrait of the real-life Pauline Parker - a teenage outcast whose fierce rapport with her only friend (a ...

Heavenly Creatures Ever After: A Cinderella Story

72. Roma Maffia

Actress | Disclosure

From a hit television drama to a medley of feature films, Roma Maffia graces the entertainment mediums with her trademark sophistication and charismatic appeal.

Roma portrays the smart, no-nonsense anesthesiologist, 'Dr. Liz Cruz,' on the hit FX drama, "Nip/Tuck." 'Liz' has earned the respect of her ...

Nip/Tuck Nick of Time

73. 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. ...

Rome, Open City Mamma Roma The Rose Tattoo

74. Tina Majorino

Actress | Napoleon Dynamite

Tina Majorino has been charming audiences on the silver screen from a young age. In 1994, she made her feature film debut in Touchstone's When A Man Loves a Woman playing Meg Ryan & Andy Garcia's daughter, followed quickly that same year by New Line's Corrina, Corinna (opposite Whoopi Goldberg and ...

Waterworld When a Man Loves a Woman Napoleon Dynamite

75. Jena Malone

Actress | The Neon Demon

Jena Malone was born in Reno, Nevada, raised in Sparks, Nevada; two cities that have merged together over time, to Deborah Malone and Edward Berge. Her grandfather owned a casino, Karl's Silver Club, in Reno. She was raised by her mother and her mother's partner. Beginning as a child actress, and ...

Stepmom Donnie Darko Ellen Foster

76. Miriam Margolyes

Actress | The Age of Innocence

A veteran of stage and screen, award-winning actress Miriam Margolyes has achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. Winner of the BAFTA Best Supporting Actress award in 1993 for The Age of Innocence (1993), she received Best Supporting Actress at the 1989 LA Critics Circle Awards for her role...

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet Magnolia The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Most people know the face, but not the name.

77. 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 ...

Nights of Cabiria La strada

78. Mary Stuart Masterson

Actress | Benny & Joon

Mary Stuart Masterson started acting before the age of ten, when she appeared in The Stepford Wives (1975) in 1975 with her father. Afterwards, at the direction of her parents, Mary Stuart led a life outside of the limelight, attending school in New York. She appeared in a few productions at New ...

Fried Green Tomatoes Benny and Joon

79. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Actress | The Abyss

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was born in Lombard, Illinois, to Mary D. (Pagone) and Frank A. Mastrantonio, who ran a bronze foundry. Her parents were of Italian descent. She was raised in Oak Park, IL, and began her career in school plays as a teenager. Mary attended the University of Illinois and ...

Scarface

80. Jodhi May

Actress | The Last of the Mohicans

Jodhi was born in 1975. She was born and brought up in London, England, UK. She went to Wadham College, Oxford University 1994-1997. She studied and received a Masters in English. During her time at Wadham she read a lot of literature. She has been acting since she was twelve.

A World Apart The Last of the Mohicans Sister My Sister Tipping the Velvet

Remarkably heartbreaking during her final scene in The Last of the Mohicans.

81. Vera Miles

Actress | The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Born in Boise City, Oklahoma, Vera Miles attended school in Pratt, Kansas and Wichita, Kansas. The patrician beauty of Miss Miles won her the title of "Miss Kansas" in 1948, leading soon to small roles in Hollywood films and television series. Fame came to the forthright, spirited Miles when she ...

Psycho The Searchers The Wrong Man 5 Branded Women

82. 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).

Séraphine Micmacs Mammuth

83. Maia Morgenstern

Actress | The Passion of the Christ

Maia Morgenstern is a Romanian film and stage actress, described by Florin Mitu of AMOS News as "a symbol of Romanian theater and film." In the English-speaking world, she is probably best known for the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In Romania, she ...

The Passion of the Christ

84. Cathy Moriarty

Actress | Raging Bull

Bronx-born character actress Cathy Moriarty was just 18 years old, fresh out of high school and had no idea that her life was about to change. Joe Pesci discovered her competing in a bathing-beauty contest at a bar. He invited her to audition for the part of Vikki LaMotta, second wife to champion ...

"Flipper got more money than me!" - Carrigan Crittenden

Casper Raging Bull Cop Land

85. Linda Mvusi

Actress | A World Apart

Linda Mvusi was born in 1955 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. She is an actress, known for A World Apart (1988).

A World Apart

86. Maureen O'Hara

Actress | The Quiet Man

In America, the early performing arts accomplishments of young Maureen FitzSimons (who we know as Maureen O'Hara) would definitely have put her in the child prodigy category. However, for a child of Irish heritage surrounded by gifted parents and family, these were very natural traits. Maureen made...

How Green Was My Valley Miracle on 34th Street

87. Gina Pareño

Actress | Kasal, kasali, kasalo

Geraldine Acthley was born in 1950 to Patricia Dory Ocura of Bacolod, a ticket taker at the Mayfair Theater in Avenida, Manila, and to Bouffard Acthley, a German-American who didn't stay long after Geraldine's birth. Geraldine grew up in the rough neighborhood of Gagalangin, Tondo, accompanying her...

The Bet Collector Serbis

88. 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...

Nikita

89. Sarah Peirse

Actress | Heavenly Creatures

Sarah Peirse is known for Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).

Heavenly Creatures

90. Marie-France Pisier

Actress | Cousin cousine

Marie-France first came to the fore as an actress of the Nouvelle Vague movement in the 1960's. She had spent her early childhood in French Indochina, where her father was employed as colonial governor, but the family moved to Paris when she was twelve. Just five years later, she was spotted by a ...

The Other Side of Midnight The Brontë Sisters Love on the Run

91. Joan Plowright

Actress | The Spiderwick Chronicles

Dame Joan Ann Plowright, the Baroness Olivier, is one of the most distinguished actors of her generation. She may be best remembered as the third wife and widow of Laurence Olivier, generally considered the greatest anglophone actor of the 20th Century, but she had a distinguished career of her own...

Drowning by Numbers Bringing Down the House

92. Natalie Press

Actress | My Summer of Love

Natalie Press was born on August 15, 1973 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for My Summer of Love (2004), Suffragette (2015) and Red Road (2006).

My Summer of Love

93. Kathleen Quinlan

Actress | Apollo 13

Kathleen Quinlan was born in Pasadena, California, the only child of Josephine (Zachry), a military-supply supervisor, and Robert Quinlan, a television sports director. She grew up in Mill Valley, Ca, and got her break in acting when George Lucas came to her high school to cast for his movie ...

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Apollo 13 Event Horizon

94. Lynn Redgrave

Actress | Gods and Monsters

Actress of both the English and American stage and screen, Lynn Redgrave was born in Marylebone, London, England, into one of the world's most famous acting dynasties. As the daughter of Rachel Kempson and Sir Michael Redgrave, sister of Vanessa Redgrave and Corin Redgrave, and granddaughter of Roy...

Gods and Monsters

95. 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, ...

Isadora The Bostonians If These Walls Could Talk 2 The Devils Julia Howards End

96. Kate Reid

Actress | The Andromeda Strain

The brilliant and versatile London-born stage, radio and TV actress Kate Reid was actually born Daphne Kate Reid in 1930 to Canadian parents, Walter Clarke Reid and Helen Isabel Moore. The family moved back to Ontario before she was a year old. An introverted child of delicate health, Kate sought ...

This Property is Condemned

97. Joely Richardson

Actress | Nip/Tuck

For Joely, the theatre must be in her genes. Born in Marylebone, London, England, she is the daughter of director Tony Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave, granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, niece of Lynn Redgrave, and sister of Natasha Richardson, all actors. Former husband Tim ...

Sister My Sister The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

98. Miranda Richardson

Actress | The Crying Game

Miranda Richardson was born in Southport, Lancashire, England on March 3, 1958, to Marian Georgina (Townsend) and William Alan Richardson, a marketing executive. She has one sister, eight years her senior. Her parents and sister are not involved in the performing arts. At an early age she performed...

The Crying Game Tom & Viv Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do (TV Movie)

99. Natasha Richardson

Actress | The Parent Trap

Natasha Jane Richardson was born in Marylebone, London, England, to director and producer Tony Richardson and actress Vanessa Redgrave. She was the sister of actress Joely Richardson, the niece of actors Corin Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave, and the granddaughter of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel ...

Nell The Parent Trap Maid in Manhattan

100. Lolita Rodriguez

Actress | Ina ka ng anak mo

Lolita Rodriguez, Dolores Clark in real life, was born on January 29, 1935 in Urdaneta Pangasinan. In 1953, at the age of 18, she entered the movies. She was given walk-on roles. As an extra, she used to earn 5 pesos per appearance. Her first movie was Ating Pag-ibig, followed by Gorio at Tekla, El...

Weighed But Found Wanting Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa Tubog sa Ginto

One of the most respected actresses in the Philippines, Rodriguez is known for her soulful, haunting performances in director Lino Brocka's finest films.