Top 10 Women on Broadway

[bholas]

Ah, the theater on Broadway. With so many memorable performances, this list of the top women on Broadway was difficult. So many tough choices, and many quality actresses were left out, but throughout Broadway’s illustrious theater history there have been many female stars who shone a little brighter than anyone else. Here is the cream of the crop.
10. Elaine Stritch


Elaine, known for her gritty voice and her signature performance of The Ladies Who Lunch from Company, started out on Broadway in 1946 with Angel in the Wings. Since then she has made a name for herself with roles in Pal Joey, On Your Toes, Goldilocks, Sail Away, Company, Show Boat, A Delicate Balance, Endgame and The Full Monty as well as creating a one-woman show entitled Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which earned her a Tony for best Special Theatrical Event. Stritch is no stranger to Hollywood either, and has been a part of more than 30 films including The Scarlet Hour, September, Cocoon: The Return, Cadillac Man, Out to Sea, Krippendorf’s Tribe, Monster-in-Law and Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age.

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9. Bernadette Peters


A born performer, Bernadette made her Broadway debut in Most Happy Fella when she was only eleven years old, but her breakthrough performance came in 1968 in the off-Broadway musical Dames at Sea. She went on to be a part of George M! , On the Town, Mack and Mabel, Sally and Marsha, Sunday in the Park with George, Song and Dance, Into the Woods, The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun, and Gypsy. She has also garnered film roles in The Longest Yard, W.C. Fields and Me, The Jerk, Pennies from Heaven, Annie, Slaves of New York, Pink Cadillac, Alice, Anastasia, Let It Snow and It Runs in the Family as well as doing guests spots on The Carol Burnett Show, Maude, All in the Family, The Muppet Show, Saturday Night Live, The Larry Sanders Show, The Closer, Frasier, Ally McBeal, Will & Grace, Law and Order: SVU, Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty. The second most Tony-nominated actress (with six), she has only ever won two, for Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun.

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8. Julie Andrews


An all-around artist, Julie Andrews has been delighting audiences for decades. Born in 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, she began entertaining at an early age as a part of her mother and stepfather’s vaudeville show. Her professional debut came at the London Hippodrome in the 1947 performance of a revue called Starlight Roof. By the next year she was asked to perform at the Royal Command Variety Performance, making her youngest solo performer to do so. After several other performances in England, she made her Broadway debut in 1954 playing Polly Browne in The Boy Friend.Since then she has played such outstanding roles as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Queen Guinevere in Camelot, Amy in Putting It Together and Victor/ Victoria in the play of the same name. Her impeccable voice caught the ear of Walt Disney and she made her film debut in Mary Poppins. This was followed by stunning performances in such films as The Sound of Music, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 10, S.O.B., Victor/ Victoria, Trail of the Pink Panther and the Princess Diaries as well as lending her voice to Enchanted and the last three Shrek films.

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7. Angela Lansbury


Five time Tony award winner, Lansbury has left a legacy of more than seven decades worth of versatile stage and screen performances. She got her big break when she was introduced to Mel Ballerino who cast her in the 1944 film Gaslight which earned her first Oscar nomination. Over her impressive career she has had many film roles, most notably The Picture of Dorian Grey, Samson and Delilah, Blue Hawaii, The Manchurian Candidate, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Death on the Nile, Beauty and the Beast, Anastasia, and most recently Nanny McPhee. She found the Broadway stage in 1957 in Hotel Paradiso and followed it up with the hits Anyone Can Whistle, Mame, Gypsy, The King and I, Sweeny Todd, Deuce and Blithe Spirit, a career that has won her 4 Tony Awards, more than any other actress. She has also won the hearts of millions through her small screen portrayal of mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher in ******, She Wrote. In 1994 she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

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6. Liza Minnelli


The daughter of Judy Garland and film director Vincent Minnelli, you could say that performing is in Liza’s blood. She attended New York’s High School for the Performing Arts but before she could graduate she moved to New York City to pursue a career as a stage actress. Her first show, Best Foot Forward in 1963 was followed by The Fantastics, Carnival, Flora the Red Menace, Chicago, The Act, The Rink and Victor/ Victoria. An all-around entertainer, she acted in the films Cabaret, That’s Entertainment, Journey Back to Oz, New York, New York, Arthur, Rent-A-Cop, Stepping Out and Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age. She also became a recording artist, releasing more than 30 albums.