Who's Your Favorite Female Actor?

I love Rachel McAdams! She is great in everything I've seen her in.

Cicely Tyson, Lena Horne, Hattie MCDaniels, Diahnn Carroll, Alfre Woodard, Maya Angelou, Esther Rolle, Lonetta McGee, Pam Grier and countless other Black women who are never ever mentioned in polls.

Julie Andrews

Judi Dench -- she's a fabulous actress, very versatile.

Helena Bonham Carter - hands down. To me, she's the female equivalent of Johnny Depp. All of her characters are memorable, and she has a frighteningly honest approach to acting.

I appreciate her intensity and complete commitment to her roles, as well as the fact that she has a rich and well-rounded resume - from the Queen of England ("The King's Speech) to tragic, Shakespearean heroine ("Hamlet") to dastardly witch (the "Harry Potter" series).

She's done voice work ("Carnivale" and "Corpse Bride") as well as a musical ("Sweeney Todd"). She's quirky and has her own, definitive style - no one looks like her (or she doesn't look like anyone else? :-). I could go on and go, but suffice it to say I think she's fabulous!

(Natalie Portman, Elizabeth Taylor, Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, and Charlize Theron are others that stand out to me as well.)

I like Anne Hathaway. I think she has a long career ahead of her and makes a real range of movies.

Elizabeth Taylor would be my favorite actress, ever since I was a child. I saw her in person once, she was promoting her "White Diamond's" perfume at Macy's. She had her dog "Sugar" on her lap.

Susan Sarandon

I like Annette Bening quite a bit. And Emma Thompson.

Betty Davis

Sometimes it's easier to make this choice by dividing the list into "classic" and "current". For legendary I would have to pick Katharine Hepburn, who is always riveting on screen...from The Rainmaker (where she acted with the electrifying Burt Lancaster as Starbuck) to The African Queen (John Huston's masterpiece with Humphrey Bogart) and the more recent On Golden Pond, where she played opposite Henry Fonda. Has any actress ever had a more stellar posse of leading men? For current up and coming young actors, I think Claire Danes is on her way to becoming a super nova. I wish she would get more great parts on the big screen. I think she is amazing.

This must be a young crowd voting. Marilyn Monroe was a terrific actress who could sing, dance and act. Men wanted her, and women either wanted to be her or kill her. She studied acting, politics, and anything else she could get her hands on. What made her such a phenomenon was that she had to act even when she wasn't on the big screen. She always had to be someone else. Not too many actresses today would be able to take the workload on and off camera.

Meryl Streep seems to transcend all the people she has portrayed in the movies...she brings a warm glow to each part which is a joy to behold.