Research in Progress (May 16, 2021)
The subject of my new book is The Power Elite: America’s Movie Stars.
Over the next several weeks, we will run articles about movie stardom as a social-cultural-political phenom as well as profiles of individual stars, from the beginning of the sound era to the present.
Top Female Movie Stars: Women among the Top Ten (in alphabetical order, by name and year of popularity)
Photo: Julia Roberts, one of Hollywood’s most durable and popular movie stars
Women as Top Box-Office Stars
Of the women who functioned as top box-office stars over the past 80 years, about half were on the list for only one year or two. These are women who happened to have made popular films–mass entertainment, but have not ncessarily been durable stars with a definable screen image that the lay public can relate to.
Take, for example, Rene Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones who were on the list of chapions stars only once, as a result of appearing in the smash hit musical, Chicago, in 2002.
Star for One or Two Years (in alphabetical order)
Allyson, June (1955)
Ann-Margret (1964)
Bardot, Brigitte (1958)
Bullock, Sandra
Cher (1987)
Clayburgh, Jill (1979)
Close, Glenn (1987)
Derek, Bo (1981)
Diaz, Cameron (1998)
Fanning, Dakota (2006)
Faye, Alice (1938, 1939)
Field, Sally (1980, 1984)
Foster, Jodie (1991, 1994)
Garbo, Greta (1932)
Harlow, Jean (1933)
Hayward, Susan
Hathaway, Anne (2010)
Hawn, Goldie (1972, 1981)
Hepburn, Katharine (1969)
Johansson, Scarlett
Jolie, Angelina
Keaton, Diane (1977, 1978)
Kelly, Grace (1955)
Loy, Myrna (1937, 1938)
McGraw, Ali (1971)
MacDonald, Jeanette (1936)
MacLaine, Shirley (1964)
Midler, Bette (1986, 1988)
Moore, Demi (1980)
Novak, Kim (1956)
O’Brien, Margaret (1944, 1946)
O’Neal, Tatum (1976)
Paltrow, Gwyneth
Parton, Dolly (1981, 1982)
Pfeiffer, Michelle (1996)
Reynolds, Debbie (1959, 1960)
Ryan, Meg (1998, 1999)
Spacek, Sissy (1980)
Turner, Kathleen (1986, 1989)
West, Mae (1933, 1934)
Williams, Esther (1949, 1950)
Withers, Jane (1937, 1938)
Wyman, Jane (1954)
Zellweger, Rene (2002)
Zeta-Jones, Catherine (2002)
Star for Three or Four Years
Andrews, Julie (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)
Bergman, Ingrid (1946, 1947, 1948)
Colbert, Claudette (1935, 1936, 1947)
Crawford, Joan (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936)
Davis, Bette (1939, 1940, 1941, 1944)
Dee, Sandra (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963)
Dressler. Marie (1932, 1933, 1934)
Garland, Judy (1940, 1941, 1944, 1945)
Gaynor, Janet (1932, 1933, 1934)
Goldberg, Whoopi (1986, 1992, 1993)
Hayward, Susan (1952, 1953, 1959)
Henie, Sonja (1937, 1938, 1939)
Jolie, Angelina (2005, 2008, 2010)
Kidman, Nicole (2001, 2002, 2003)
Monroe, Marilyn (1953, 1954, 1956)
Rogers, Ginger (with Fred Astaire) (1935, 1936, 1937)
Shearer, Norma (1932, 1933, 1934)
Streep, Meryl (1984, 1985, 2009, 2011)
Witherspoon, Reese (2002, 2005, 2008)
