In 1987 the United States began nationally celebrating Women’s History month after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project. Thirty-six years later, every March, we celebrate the amazing strides women have made throughout history. Here’s a list of a bunch of badass, inspirational women who have changed the film and entertainment industry.
Alice Guy-Blaché
Alice (1873-1968) was a french filmmaker credited with being the first female director to direct a narrative film. For a time, she was thought to be the only female director in the world.
Harriette Underhill
Harriette (1877-1928) is considered to be one of the first female film critics. She worked for the New York Herald Tribune and is considered one of the most prominent female critics of the Silent Film Era. (Unfortunately, there are few images of her, but I want to celebrate the great females who WRITE about film!)
Dorothy Arzner
Dorothy (1897-1979) was a female director during the “Golde Age” of Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s. She was the only woman directing feature-length studio films in Hollywood during the 1930s. Some of her most prominent films include Christopher Strong (1933) and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). She also invented the boom mic.
Mary Pickford
Mary (1892-1979) is considered one of the first “movie stars” with a career that spanned over fifty years. She was one of the thirty-six founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and formed the United Artists company with Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, and Charles Chaplin. She was the first actress to earn a percentage of a film’s earnings (!!!) and won the Best Actress Oscar for Coquette (1929) (her first talkie film).
Marion E. Wong
Marion (1895-1969) was a Chinese American director from Oakland. She founded the Mandarin Film Company in 1916, where she created her first and only silent film, The Curse of Quon Gwon: When Far East Mingles With The West. This was the first and only film made by an all-Chinese cast and an all-Chinese company.
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie (1893-1952) is the first African-American to win an Oscar for her role in Gone With the Wind (1939). Hattie was also successful as a vocalist and has two stars on the Hollywood walk of fame, one for radio and one for film. She was also known to offer black actors and actresses a decent place to stay in Los Angeles by inviting them to her home.
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine (1907-2003) won four Oscars for Best Actress, and her career spanned over sixty years. She is considered one of the greatest movie stars of all time and was known to not “sugarcoat” her personality or play “the Hollywood game” during her career.
Rita Moreno
Rita (1931-) is an actress, dancer, and singer. She is the first Latina woman to win an Oscar for her supporting role in West Side Story (1961) and the first Latina to earn an EGOT.
Sacheen Littlefeather
Sacheen (1946-2022) was an actress, model, and activist for Native American civil rights. She is known for The Trial of Billy Jack (1974), Counselor at Crime (1973), and Johnny Firecloud (1975). She is infamously known for accepting Marlon Brando’s Oscar and standing up for human dignity during the 1973 Oscars. At the time, she was booed off the stage and faced a boycott over protesting the treatment of Native Americans. Below is a video of her 1973 speech.
Susan Sontag
Susan (1933-2004) is a film critic, political activist, and essay writer. She is most known for her essay “Notes on Camp” and is one of the greatest minds in the realm of film theory.
Edith Head
Edith (1897-1981) was a costume designer and is the most celebrated woman in the Academy. She has received thirty-five Oscar nominations and won eight for costume design. She is considered to be the greatest and most influential costume designer in film history. She is featured in the following short film entitled “The Costume Designer” from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences.
Barbara Streisand
Although Barbara (1942-) is known by most as a legendary singer, the star was the first woman ever to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for her film Yentl (1983).
Agnès Varda
Agnès (1928-2019) was a french film director considered to be one of the greatest directors of all time. Her work was influential to the French New Wave movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and she is the first woman to receive an Academy Honorary Award.
Marlee Beth Matlin
Marlee (1965-) is an actress and activist who was the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Children of a Lesser God (1986).
Halle Berry
Halle (1966-) is the first and only black woman to win Best Actress for her role in Monster’s Ball (2001). She is also an advocate for raising awareness about domestic abuse. You can watch her emotional Oscar acceptance speech below:
Sherry Lansing
Sherry (1944-) is a retired film executive who served as the Chairwoman of the Universal Music Group, the CEO of Paramount Pictures, and President of Production at 20th Century Fox. She was the first woman to head a major studio when she took control of 20th Century Fox in 1980.
Meryl Streep
Meryl (1949-) is considered one of the greatest working actors of all time and has the most Oscar nominations out of any performer. The GOAT, as you will. WatchMojo ranks her top ten roles below…do you agree?
Leigh Brackett
Leigh (1946-1977), or “The Queen of Space Opera,” was a screenwriter best known for her work on The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The following video discusses Leigh’s role in one of the most film franchises in history.
Janet Mock
Janet (1983-) is an American writer, television host, director, producer, and transgender rights activist. In 2019 she signed a three-year, multi-million-dollar production deal with Netflix making her the first Black transgender woman to land a production deal at a major studio.
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn (1951) is the first female to win the Directors Guild of America Award for directing a feature film, as well as the first woman to win the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Director for her film, The Hurt Locker (2008). Her unique style is considered to be very influential in contemporary Hollywood with her use of slow motion during action sequences and first-person points of view.
Rachel Morrison
Rachel (1978-) is a cinematographer known for her work in Mudbound (2017) and Black Panther (2018). She is the first female to be nominated for cinematography. The following video takes a closer look at her career and work so far.
Ariana DeBose
Ariana (1991-) made history as the first Queer black actress to win Best Supporting Actress for her role in West Side Story (2021). She and Rita Moreno, both of whom played Anita in West Side Story, are the only two Latinas to win Best Supporting Actress.
Ruth E. Carter
Ruth (1960-) is a costume designer known for her work on both Black Panther films. She is not only the first black costume designer to win an Oscar, but she is also the first black woman to win two Oscars.
Zoe Saldana
Zoe (1978-) is known for her blockbuster roles in the Marvel and Avatar franchises. She is the only performer to have appeared in four films that have all grossed over 2 billion dollars. She is also the only performer to have appeared in the top three highest-grossing films of all time. A total science-fiction badass!
Michelle Yeoh
Michelle (1962-) is a Malaysian actress who got her start by starring in Hong Kong action films. In the 80s, she retired and returned to acting to star in more western action films during the late 90s and 2000s. She recently made history as the first actress of South Asian descent to win Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).
It goes without saying there are a lot of amazing women in the industry! Let us know in the comments either amazing women in film! Happy Women’s History Month!
Article Courtesy of Sara Ciplickas
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