1) Classic actresses | Who Else

“We will all be forgotten — but not Judy.”

— Frank Sinatra

2) Classic actresses | Katharine Hepburn

“She talks at you as though you were a microphone. She lectured the hell out of me on temperance and the evils of drink. She doesn’t give a damn how she looks. I don’t think she tries to be a character. I think she is one.”

— Humphrey Bogart

3) Classic actresses | Barbara Stanwyck

“She is one of the finest actresses in show business. A lot of young actors and actresses could have profited then and now from a few ‘seminars’ with Missy on their professional attitudes — their regard for the business of being an actor on their on-stage and off-stage deportment as it were — because I doubt that there ever has been, or ever will be, a greater ‘pro’ than Barbara.”

— Robert Taylor

4) Classic actresses | Bette Davis

“Even when I was carrying a gun, she scared the be-jesus out of me.”

— Humphrey Bogart

5) Classic actresses | Lauren Bacall

“Lauren Bacall has cinema personality to burn. She has a javelin-like vitality, a born dancer’s eloquence of movement, a fierce female shrewdness, and a special sweet-sourness. With these faculties, plus a stone-crushing self-confidence and a trombone voice, she manages to get across the toughest girl Hollywood has dreamed of in a long, long while.”

— James Agee

6) Classic actresses | Ginger Rogers

“Ginger was brilliantly effective. She made everything work for her. Actually she made things very fine for both of us and she deserves most of the credit for our success.”

— Fred Astaire

7) Classic actresses | Viven Leigh

“Apart from her looks, which were magical, she possessed beautiful poise; her neck looked almost too fragile to support her head and bore with it a sense of surprise, and something of the pride of the master juggler who can make a brilliant maneuver appear almost accidental. She also had something else: an attraction of the most perturbing nature I had ever encountered.”

— Laurence Olivier

8) Classic actresses | Elizabeth Taylor

“Her stunning looks often let the critics overlook her powerful performances and underrate her acting ability, but she has won over her detractors with tenacity and dedication to her craft. She was always striving to push herself to the limit.”

— Paul Newman

9) Classic actresses | Lucille Ball

“Joy requires no translation. God wanted the world to laugh, and he invented you, Lucy. Many are called, but you were chosen.”

— Sammy Davis Jr.

10) Classic actresses | Shirley MacLaine

“She says she’d rather be a long star than a big star, and she’ll get it too. She’s a tough one. Don’t let that sweet, angelic face fool you into thinking she can’t stand on her own two feet, because she can and if she has to she’ll do it longer than anyone else in the room, and I always admired her for that. She’s one heck of a girl.”

— Jack Lemmon