I don't know if I should post this here or in the section on books. But speaking of ''supporting actresses'', I just bought a great book called ''Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces From the Thirties to the Fifties by Axel Nissen (forward by Olivia de Havilland and dedicated to Sian Phillips).
The chapters include most of the ladies on Magilla's list under the following chapter headers:
Sara Allgood: That Morgan Woman
Judith Anderson: Classic Dame
Fay Bainter: Mother of the Year
Ethel Barrymore: How the Mighty Have Fallen
Florence Bates: Not So Nice To Come Home To
Louise Beavers: Leave It To Beavers
Mary Boland: Glamour and L'Amour
Beulah Bondi: Miss Bondi Goes To Hollywood
Alice Brady: The Gay Divorcee
Billie Burke: The Professional Tweetybird
Spring Byington: Mother For Metro
Gladys Cooper: Doyenne of Dowagers
Laura Hope Crews: Aunt Pittypat
Jane Darwell: Earth Mother
Mildred Dunnock: Not So Big Mama
Gladys George: The Star That Wasn't
Elsa Lanchester: Bride of Laughton
Jessie Royce Landis: Mother Hen
Hattie McDaniel: The Magnificent Mammy
Butterfly McQueen: Butterflies are Free
Marjorie Main: Ma Kettle
Agnes Moorehead: Lavender Lady
Mildred Natwick: Blithe Spirit
Una O'Connor: A Real Scream
Edna May Oliver: A Real Nutter
Maria Ouspenskaya: Russian Gargoyle
Lee Patrick: What a Pal
Elizabeth Patterson: The Eternal Aunt
Alice Pearce: Chinless Wonder
Jessie Ralph: Duchesses and Domestics
Anne Revere: Mother Courage
Elisabeth Risdon: The Forgotten Woman
Thelma Ritter: The Last Character Actress
Flora Robson: La Belle Laide
May Robson: Star For a Day, Grandmother For a Decade
Alison Skipworth: The Duchess
Gale Sondergaard: Cat Woman
Lucile Watson: Grand Dame
May Whitty: A Real Dame
Cora Witherspoon: Libeled Lady
The book is a wonderful read about their lives and especially the films they appeared in.
100 Great Supporting Actress Performances
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Big Magilla
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Eric wrote:Is this list limited to Oscar nominees by design or coincidence?
Neither Maureen O’Hara in Only the Lonely (1991), Joan Blondell in The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Marjorie Rhodes in The Family Way (1967), Eve Arden in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960), Dame Edith Evans in The Nun’s Story (1959), Hermione Gingold in Gigi (1958), Gladys Cooper in Separate Tables (1958), Helen Hayes in Anastasia (1956), Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), Elizabeth Patterson in Intruder in the Dust (1949), Kathleen Byron in Black Narcissus (1947), Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Beulah Bondi in The Southerner (1945), Una O’Connor in This Land Is Mine (1943), Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Ginger Rogers in Stage Door (1937), Fay Bainter in Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), Mary Astor in Dodsworth (1936), Blanche Yurka in A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Edna May Oliver in David Copperfield (1935), Billie Burke in Dinner at Eight (1933), Louise Beavers in Imitation of Life (1934), Fredi Washington in Imitation of Life (1934), Joan Crawford in Grand Hotel (1932), Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), nor Marie Dressler in Anna Christie (1930) were nominated for Oscars for these roles.
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"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Personally, I'd add Joan Allen's performance in Pleasantville (1998) to my list of Great Performances by Actresses in Supporting Roles Since 1929. Having perfected the supporting, long-suffering wife role in such films as Nixon, The Crucible, The Ice Storm, Allen brought a new twist to the architypal character of Betty. Her role as the Donna Reed-esque 1950's black-and-white housewife who discovers her sexuality is the best thing about the film. She stands out in scenes such as the one where she experiences her first orgasm in the bathtub ending with the tree outside bursting into flames at her climax as well as the part when she reveals her Technicolor face to her "son", Tobey Maguire. While that year was a particularly strong one for female supporting performances, I'd definitely place her near the top of my list (alongside Lisa Kudrow's strong work in The Opposite of Sex).
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Edited By flipp525 on 1169834323
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Big Magilla
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Reza, look at the revised list. Anne Revere is number 31.
Lucile Watson was always a treat, not only in her great roles in Waterloo Bridge and Watch on the Rhine, but in smaller parts as well. Whether playing bitches as in Made for Each Other, charming old ladies as in The Women and The Razor's Edge or something in-between as in Little Women and Harriet Craig, she always made you sit up and take notice.
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Lucile Watson was always a treat, not only in her great roles in Waterloo Bridge and Watch on the Rhine, but in smaller parts as well. Whether playing bitches as in Made for Each Other, charming old ladies as in The Women and The Razor's Edge or something in-between as in Little Women and Harriet Craig, she always made you sit up and take notice.
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Reza wrote:I'm re-discovering the great Lucille Watson -so great in Watch on the Rhine (1943). I saw her just the other day in My Reputation (1945) and she is brilliant as the no-nonsense mother of Barbara Stanwyck. Playing a stern yet loving mother / grand mother, she reminds me of my grandmother!
Unforgettable in Waterloo Bridge (even if she was a Republican), although Virginia Field is the supporting actress in that picture who most deserved a nomination.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Pity you could not find room on your list for Anne Revere for either The Song of Bernadette (1943), National Velvet (1945) or Gentleman's Agreement (1947).
I'm re-discovering the great Lucille Watson -so great in Watch on the Rhine (1943). I saw her just the other day in My Reputation (1945) and she is brilliant as the no-nonsense mother of Barbara Stanwyck. Playing a stern yet loving mother / grand mother, she reminds me of my grandmother!
I'm re-discovering the great Lucille Watson -so great in Watch on the Rhine (1943). I saw her just the other day in My Reputation (1945) and she is brilliant as the no-nonsense mother of Barbara Stanwyck. Playing a stern yet loving mother / grand mother, she reminds me of my grandmother!
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Big Magilla
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Big Magilla
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- Location: Jersey Shore
100 Great Performances by Actresses in Supporting Roles Since 1929
1. Marie Dressler in Anna Christie (1930)
2. Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
3. Joan Crawford in Grand Hotel (1932)
4. Billie Burke in Dinner at Eight (1933)
5. Louise Beavers in Imitation of Life (1934)
6. Fredi Washington in Imitation of Life (1934)
7. Edna May Oliver in David Copperfield (1935)
8. Blanche Yurka in A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
9. Mary Astor in Dodsworth (1936)
10. Fay Bainter in Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
11. Ginger Rogers in Stage Door (1937)
12. Dame May Whitty in Night Must Fall (1937)
13. Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
14. Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind (1939)
15. Judith Anderson in Rebecca (1940)
16. Jane Darwell in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
17. Sara Allgood in How Green Was My Valley (1841)
18. Gladys Cooper in Now, Voyager (1942)
19. Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
20. Gladys Cooper in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
21. Una O’Connor in This Land Is Mine (1943)
22. Lucile Watson in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
23. Ethel Barrymore in None But the Lonely Heart (1944)
24. Beulah Bondi in The Southerner (1945)
25. Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
26. Angela Lansbury in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
27. Anne Baxter in The Razor’s Edge (1946)
28. Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
29. Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
30. Kathleen Byron in Black Narcissus (1947)
31. Anne Revere in Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
32. Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948)
33. Elizabeth Patterson in Intruder in the Dust (1949)
34. Celeste Holm in All About Eve (1950)
35. Thelma Ritter in All About Eve (1950)
36. Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
37. Jean Hagen in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
38. Thelma Ritter in Pickup on South Street (1943)
39. Rosalind Russell in Picnic (1955)
40. Jo Van Fleet in East of Eden (1955)
41. Helen Hayes in Anastasia (1956)
42. Elsa Lanchester in Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
43. Gladys Cooper in Separate Tables (1958)
44. Hermione Gingold in Gigi (1958)
45. Dame Edith Evans in The Nun’s Story (1959)
46. Susan Kohner in Imitation of Life (1959)
47. Juanita Moore in Imitation of Life (1959)
48. Eve Arden in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
49. Wendy Hiller in Sons and Lovers (1960)
50. Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)
51. Fay Bainter in The Children’s Hour (1961)
52. Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker (1962)
53. Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
54. Edith Evans in Tom Jones (1963)
55. Margaret Rutherford in The V.I..P.s (1963)
56. Lilia Skala in Lilies of the Field (1963)
57. Edith Evans in The Chalk Garden (1964)
58. Joan Blondell in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
59. Marjorie Rhodes in The Family Way (1967)
60. Mildred Natwick in Barefoot in the Park (1966)
61. Ruth Gordon in Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
62. Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
63. Ellen Burstyn in The Last Picture Show (1971)
64. Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show (1971)
65. Eileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
66. Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
67. Valentina Cortese in Day for Night (1973)
68. Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
69. Lily Tomlin in Nashville (1975)
70. Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver (1976)
71. Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
72. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)
73. Vanessa Redgrave in Julia (1977)
74. Geraldine Page in Interiors (1978)
75. Maggie Smith in California Suite (1978)
76. Maureen Stapleton in Interiors (1978)
77. Glenn Close in The World According to Garp (1982)
78. Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
79. Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage to India (1984)
80. Anjelica Huston in Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
81. Maggie Smith in A Room With a View (1986)
82. Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck (1987)
83. Brenda Fricker in My Left Foot (1989)
84. Maureen O’Hara in Only the Lonely (1991)
85. Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives (1992)
86. Joan Plowright in Enchanted April (1992)
87. Miranda Richardson in Damage (1992)
88. Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
89. Lauren Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)
90. Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential (1997)
91. Gloria Stuart in Titanic (1997)
92. Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters (1998)
93. Judi Dench in Chocolat (2000)
94. Julie Walters in Billy Elliott (2000)
95. Helen Mirren in Gosford Park (2001)
96. Maggie Smith in Gosford Park (2001)
97. Kathy Bates in About Schmidt (2002)
98. Laura Linney in Kinsey (2004)
99. Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener (2005)
100. Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
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1. Marie Dressler in Anna Christie (1930)
2. Miriam Hopkins in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
3. Joan Crawford in Grand Hotel (1932)
4. Billie Burke in Dinner at Eight (1933)
5. Louise Beavers in Imitation of Life (1934)
6. Fredi Washington in Imitation of Life (1934)
7. Edna May Oliver in David Copperfield (1935)
8. Blanche Yurka in A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
9. Mary Astor in Dodsworth (1936)
10. Fay Bainter in Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
11. Ginger Rogers in Stage Door (1937)
12. Dame May Whitty in Night Must Fall (1937)
13. Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939)
14. Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind (1939)
15. Judith Anderson in Rebecca (1940)
16. Jane Darwell in The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
17. Sara Allgood in How Green Was My Valley (1841)
18. Gladys Cooper in Now, Voyager (1942)
19. Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
20. Gladys Cooper in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
21. Una O’Connor in This Land Is Mine (1943)
22. Lucile Watson in Watch on the Rhine (1943)
23. Ethel Barrymore in None But the Lonely Heart (1944)
24. Beulah Bondi in The Southerner (1945)
25. Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
26. Angela Lansbury in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
27. Anne Baxter in The Razor’s Edge (1946)
28. Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
29. Teresa Wright in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
30. Kathleen Byron in Black Narcissus (1947)
31. Anne Revere in Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
32. Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948)
33. Elizabeth Patterson in Intruder in the Dust (1949)
34. Celeste Holm in All About Eve (1950)
35. Thelma Ritter in All About Eve (1950)
36. Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
37. Jean Hagen in Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
38. Thelma Ritter in Pickup on South Street (1943)
39. Rosalind Russell in Picnic (1955)
40. Jo Van Fleet in East of Eden (1955)
41. Helen Hayes in Anastasia (1956)
42. Elsa Lanchester in Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
43. Gladys Cooper in Separate Tables (1958)
44. Hermione Gingold in Gigi (1958)
45. Dame Edith Evans in The Nun’s Story (1959)
46. Susan Kohner in Imitation of Life (1959)
47. Juanita Moore in Imitation of Life (1959)
48. Eve Arden in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960)
49. Wendy Hiller in Sons and Lovers (1960)
50. Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)
51. Fay Bainter in The Children’s Hour (1961)
52. Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker (1962)
53. Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
54. Edith Evans in Tom Jones (1963)
55. Margaret Rutherford in The V.I..P.s (1963)
56. Lilia Skala in Lilies of the Field (1963)
57. Edith Evans in The Chalk Garden (1964)
58. Joan Blondell in The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
59. Marjorie Rhodes in The Family Way (1967)
60. Mildred Natwick in Barefoot in the Park (1966)
61. Ruth Gordon in Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
62. Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces (1970)
63. Ellen Burstyn in The Last Picture Show (1971)
64. Cloris Leachman in The Last Picture Show (1971)
65. Eileen Heckart in Butterflies Are Free (1972)
66. Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
67. Valentina Cortese in Day for Night (1973)
68. Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
69. Lily Tomlin in Nashville (1975)
70. Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver (1976)
71. Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
72. Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)
73. Vanessa Redgrave in Julia (1977)
74. Geraldine Page in Interiors (1978)
75. Maggie Smith in California Suite (1978)
76. Maureen Stapleton in Interiors (1978)
77. Glenn Close in The World According to Garp (1982)
78. Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)
79. Peggy Ashcroft in A Passage to India (1984)
80. Anjelica Huston in Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
81. Maggie Smith in A Room With a View (1986)
82. Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck (1987)
83. Brenda Fricker in My Left Foot (1989)
84. Maureen O’Hara in Only the Lonely (1991)
85. Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives (1992)
86. Joan Plowright in Enchanted April (1992)
87. Miranda Richardson in Damage (1992)
88. Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
89. Lauren Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)
90. Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential (1997)
91. Gloria Stuart in Titanic (1997)
92. Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters (1998)
93. Judi Dench in Chocolat (2000)
94. Julie Walters in Billy Elliott (2000)
95. Helen Mirren in Gosford Park (2001)
96. Maggie Smith in Gosford Park (2001)
97. Kathy Bates in About Schmidt (2002)
98. Laura Linney in Kinsey (2004)
99. Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener (2005)
100. Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain (2005)
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