Ranking 15 Famous Old Hollywood Actresses from 1920 to 1960

Our first Old Hollywood actress is Mary Frances “Debbie” Reynolds, who was an actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years, and some of her accolades include Golden Globe nominations, a National Board of Review award, and a Screen Actors Guild award.

After her acting career started slowing down she ventured into the business world, opening her own dance studio and purchasing a hotel, though she had to declare bankruptcy a few years later.

–Notable Appearances: Singin’ in the Rain, Halloweentown

RELATED: 14 Best 60s Movies and Where to Stream Them

Next is Natalie Wood, an American actress that started her acting career at age four, and had a co-starring role at eight in Miracle on 34th Street. After landing several roles in her youth, she continued to act well into adulthood, earning praise for her performances in films such as Splendor in the Grass, Love with the Proper Stranger, and Rebel Without a Cause.

Tragically in November 1981, Wood drowned in the Pacific Ocean during a break from filming. The death was considered a “drowning with other undetermined factors” and as of 2018 the investigation was ongoing.

–Notable Appearances: West Side Story, Miracle on 34th Street

Our first British and American actress is Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who began her career as a child actress and was one of the most popular actresses in the 1950s. Her career peaked in the 1950s and 60s, as she became the highest-paid movie star. In the late 1960s her career started to decline, but this didn’t push Taylor out of the limelight.

She continued to take roles until the mid-1970s and also focused on supporting her sixth husband U.S. Senator John Warner, while dabbling in philantropy herself. Co-founding the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, she received several accolades for her work, including the Presidential Citizens Medal.

–Notable Appearances: Little Women, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

CHECK OUT: 15 Iconic Old Movies That Dip Your Toes into the 40s and 50s

Though her acting career did not last long, Grace Kelly still has an everlasting impact on the Old Hollywood scene. Starting her career in 1951 and ending in 1955, Kelly earned an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. One of the main reasons why Kelly decided to retire at age 26 was to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco and begin her duties as the Princess of Monaco.

Kelly dived into charity work, which often centered around young children and the arts, one of them being the Princess Grace Foundation. Kelly unfortunately died at the age of 52 due to injuries sustained in a car crash, but her impact lived on as her son created the Princess Grace Awards in her honor.

–Notable Appearances: To Catch a Thief, High Society

ALSO READ: 20 Best 40s Movies and Where to Stream Them

Our eleventh old Hollywood actress was Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis, who acted in film, television, and theater. Noted as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was known for her willingness to play sardonic characters across a range of film genres. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, and was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.

While she was prolific on screen, her success was often impeded by her abrasive personality, though she still appeared in more than 100 films, TV, and theater roles before she succumbed to breast cancer.

–Notable Appearances: All About Eve, Jezebell

Maureen O’Hara was an Irish-born naturalized American actress and singer who dominated the Hollywood scene from the 1940s to the 1960s. O’Hara was known for playing passionate but sensible heroines often in Westerns and adventure films, working with director John Ford and long-time friend John Wayne in several projects.

After getting her break with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, she went on to have a highly successful career, even earning the nickname “the Queen of Technicolor.” O’Hara lived to be 95 and died peacefully at her home in Boise, Idaho in 2015.

–Notable Appearances: Miracle on 34th Street, The Parent Trap

CHECK OUT: 15 Best Christmas Movies That Will Get You in the Festive Mood

Hailing from Sweden, our ninth actress Ingrid Bergman had an acting career that spanned five decades. Often seen as one of the most influential screen figures in cinematic history, she won several awards for her work. These include three Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, four Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Volpi Cup.

As her acting career dwindled, Bergman realized she was suffering from breast cancer in 1974. She continued to work though until shortly before her death in 1982 on her birthday. One of her most incredible feats was Bergman could speak five languages (Swedish, English, German, Italian, and French) and acted in each of them.

–Notable Appearances: Casablanca, Murder on the Orient Express

READ MORE: 20 Best War Movies on Max

Hedy Lamarr had an incredible acting career, but many forget about her other strengths, particularly in the scientific field. The Austrian-born American actress started her acting career in Czechoslovakia before fleeing her husband to Paris and later landed a spot in Hollywood with her performance in Algiers. Lamarr’s most notable film was Samson and Delilah in 1949, and she later received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

One of the more surprising things about Lamarr was her intelligence, utilized in World War II. At the beginning of the war, Lamarr helped co-invent a radio guidance system for Allied torpedos, and though the technology was never adopted, it laid the groundwork for our modern Wi-Fi.

–Notable Appearances: Ecstasy, The Strong Woman

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland‘s major cinematic works spanned from 1935 to 1988 including 49 feature films, making her one of the most prolific actresses of her time. The British and American actress died at the age of 104 in 2020, becoming the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner.

De Havilland was also considered to be the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and she and her sister (Joan Fontaine) remain the only siblings to have won major acting Academy Awards. In addition to film, de Havilland dabbled in other mediums, appearing three times on Broadway and one a couple of television series. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

–Notable Appearances: Gone With the Wind, Adventures of Robin Hood

CHECK OUT: 15 Movies Like Gone with the Wind

Probably the most recognizable Old Hollywood actress on our list, Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, model, and singer. Known for her “blonde bombshell” persona, Monroe became a popular symbol in the 1950s and early 1960s because of her body type. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, with her films grossing $200 million by the time of her death in 1962.

To this day there is a large following for Monroe, and she remains a pop culture icon. Tragically her life ended in 1962 due to an overdose of barbiturates, ruled as a probable suicide. Monroe had struggled for years with addiction and mood disorders, and a tumultuous private life compounded matters.

–Notable Appearances: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like it Hot

ALSO READ: 15 Best Historical Movies on Netflix

Known more for her childhood acting appearances rather than adulthood, Shirley Temple was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who became Hollywood’s number-one box office headline from 1934 to 1938. Temple started her career at three years old in 1931, but she is most well-known for her appearance in Bright Eyes, which premiered in 1934.

As she grew older, Temple’s films became less popular until her last performance in A Kiss for Corliss in 1949. After her film career Temple began her diplomatic one in 1969, appointed to represent the U.S. at a session of the United Nations General Assembly. In addition to being the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol, she was a U.S. Ambassador for both Ghana and Czechoslovakia during her lifetime.

–Notable Appearances: The Little Princess, Curly Top

Another recognizable face is Audrey Hepburn, a British actress who was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from Classical Hollywood cinema. Hepburn starred in several successful films like Sabrina, Funny Face, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and M Fair Lady. Her last performance was in the 1990 documentary television series Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, for which she earned a posthumous Grammy Award.

Hepburn is one of the few entertainers in the world who has won an Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award. After her acting career, Hepburn devoted a lot of her time to UNICEF and received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 for her work. She died of appendiceal cancer in her home in Switzerland at 63 years old.

–Notable Appearances: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady

CHECK OUT: Ranking the Best Audrey Hepburn Movies from Musicals to Thrillers

Not only is Dame Julie Andrews an actress, but a singer and author too. Her career spans over seven decades, earning her accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards. Receiving several Life Achievement Awards, Andrews was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

Andrews started as a child actress, making her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend in 1954. Her feature film debut came later in 1964 as she played the title character in Disney’s Mary Poppins and won an Academy Award for Best Actress. That following year she starred in The Sound of Music, cementing her presence in the film world as well as in musicals.

–Notable Appearances: The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins

READ MORE: 15 Movies with the Most Oscar Nominations in History

Our second-best old Hollywood actress is none other than Lucille Ball, the American actress, comedian, producer, and studio executive. Ball was recognized in Time in 2020 for being one of the most influential women in the 20th century for her work in all four areas and was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five. Ball’s career began as a model in 1929 but shortly thereafter she landed her first role on Broadway and continued appearing in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Her big break came when she met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz, who helped her create the sitcom I Love Lucy, probably her most notable achievement. Though Ball and Arnaz divorced, their sitcom is still watched today. After a brief acting stint in the 1980s, Ball completely left the acting world, later dying in 1989 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm and heart disease.

–Notable Appearances: Yours, Mine and Ours, I Love Lucy

Last but certainly not least on our old Hollywood actress list is Judy Garland who earned international stardom and critical acclaim for both her acting performances and her recordings as a musical artist. Along with receiving a Golden Globe and Special Tony Award, Garland was one of twelve in history to receive an Academy Juvenile Award. All through her acting career Garland recorded several songs, including “Over the Rainbow,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and “It’s a Great Day for the Irish.”

Even though she is most known for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, her most critically acclaimed roles were in A Star is Born and Judgment at Nuremberg. Though Garland had large successes, she struggled in her personal life from an early age. With both mental health and financial struggles, she later turned to substance abuse involving both drugs and alcohol, and later died from an accidental barbiturate overdose in 1969.

–Notable Appearances: The Wizard of Oz, A Star is Born

READ NEXT: 10 Great Family Movies on HBO Max