Leading Ladies

June Allyson was a popular, pert actress. She met and married singer-actor-director Dick Powell in 1944.

Jean Arthur, a brilliant comedienne with a high, mouselike voice, always played the All-American girl, never a refined woman. On screen she was lively; off screen, shy. “If people don’t like your work, all the still pictures in the world can’t help you; and nothing written about you, even oceans of it, will make you popular,” she admitted.

Lauren Bacall met future husband Humphrey Bogart in 1944 when she was eighteen; they married the next year. Her real name was Betty Joan Perske.

Of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, The New York Times said she had “shining talent.” Another critic observed she had “poetic grace.”

Born in Paris, Claudette Colbert would be remembered by a reporter as “a grand lady.”

It is said that Summer Storm (1944) was one of the best pictures of Linda Darnell’s career.

Hailed as “First Lady of the Screen”, Bette Davis had a passion for acting, and by 1948 was the highest paid star ($365,000). In 1962, she published a book about her career entitled The Lonely Life.

Of Olivia DeHavilland, her sister declared, “Hollywood owes Olivia a great deal.” She often starred in costume pictures, and later on in a few comedies.

Irene Dunne was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She was a singer as well as an actress. Notable films include Penny Serenade (1941), Anna and the King of Siam (1946), and I Remember Mama (1948). “I know definitely that the status I have achieved has been achieved through tears,” she said.

Joan Fontaine, a sweet and dainty actress, was the younger sister of Olivia DeHavilland.

Greer Garson was an elegant British actress, and a highly successful leading lady. She is regarded by some as the next-best film actress, after Bette Davis.

“She wasn’t just pretty,” Charlie Chaplin, Jr. would write of Paulette Goddard. “She was warm and enthusiastic about everything.”

In the 1940s, her name was a household word. Betty Grable admitted she couldn’t dance like Ginger Rogers or sing like Doris Day, yet she believed she had “warmth and sincerity.” Miss Grable would say, “All I want to do is please the public.”

“It can be frankly said that Hepburn has not grown up to Hollywood. Hollywood has grown up to her,” director George Cukor said of headstrong actress Katherine Hepburn.

“I am a cross between Judy Garland and Greta Garbo,” Hedy Lamarr declared. However, others contend that besides her pretty face, Miss Lamarr had little acting talent.

Dorothy Lamour sang and danced through many Bob Hope and Bing Crosby films.

Myrna Loy was an opinionated actress who preferred “exciting” roles in pictures. She was clever and charming, and the perfect screen wife.

A strong-minded Irish actress, Maureen O’Hara was often a leading lady in swash-bucklers. Called the “Queen of Technicolor”, she said her childhood was “joyous” and “the happiest time of my life.”

Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath) was famous for her many films with Fred Astaire. Later in life, Miss Rogers would say that “the quality I can give is fun and joy and happiness.”

The poised Rosalind Russell was born in Connecticut. She recalled, “I played—I think it was 23—career women. . . . My wardrobe had a set pattern: a tan suit, a gray suit, a beige suit.”

Ann Sheridan was born in Texas. After winning a beauty contest, she was sent to Hollywood. “Always a pleasure to watch” one newspaper claimed.

Barbara Stanwyck was a hard-working, professional actress. “She is one of the best thought-of and most respected performers in all the industry,” recalled a fellow actor.

Usually cast as a “cold beauty”, Gene Tierney played opposite many famous leading men of the forties, including Tyrone Power, Don Ameche, and Dana Andrews.

As one of the more unsung actresses of the time, it is usually forgotten that Teresa Wright received an Oscar as the Best Supporting Actress in Mrs. Miniver.

Loretta Young was a spirited actress, and was once labeled “a steel butterfly.” She later wrote a book, The Things I Had to Learn.

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In the 1940s, an ideal leading lady was fashionable, but not outlandish; she was sweet and dainty, but not prone to swoon; she could be opinionated, but never distastefully bold. She had poise, perfect posture, and was of immaculate hair and dress.

Many actresses of the 1940s had started their careers in the previous decade. Some easily became popular, their names transformed into household words (Betty Grable, for one). One source credits Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Greer Garson, Hedy Lamar, and Maureen O’Hara as being the most popular leading women of the time.

There were many acceptable categories of actresses in the forties. There were the standard glamor girls whose best recommendation was a pretty face (Hedy Lamar and Rita Hayworth). There were headstrong women (Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis). There were the comediennes of the likes of Jean Arthur and Claudette Colbert. There were the supportive wives (June Allyson and Myrna Loy), whose screen portrayals of the wife had much influence on the American public. While the hard-to-get roles were tossed to Ann Sheridan or Gene Tierney, the best career woman was always Rosalind Russell.

It was a decade when the last of the truly talented leading ladies emerged. Although many others could be added to this gallery, this collection showcases some of the most recognizable actresses of the era.

Photograph Credits- ALLYSON, FONTAINE: oldtimeradiodownloads; ARTHUR, DARNELL, DAVIS, DUNNE, GRABLE, LAMARR, LOY, ROGERS, RUSSELL, TIERNEY: Jack's Movie Mania; BACALL, O’ HARA, WRIGHT: vintag.es; BERGMAN, HEPBURN : pickpik; COLBERT, GARSON, GODDARD: Wikipedia; DEHAVILLAND: camtrader.ca; LAMOUR: glamourdaze; SHERIDAN: reddit.com; STANWYCK: oneredsf1; YOUNG: chatterblossom.blogspot