The Movies Best of The Best: Top Box Office Female Stars From 1932 – Present

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Emanuel Levy Cinema
Movie Stars: Women Top Box-Office Stars, 1932 to Present
By Emanuel Levy
May 19, 2021

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The subject of my new book is The Democratic Elite: America’s Movie Stars. Over the next several weeks, we will run articles about movie stardom as a social-cultural-political phenom as well as profiles of individual stars, from the beginning of the sound era to the present.

Top Female Movie Stars: Women (in alphabetical order, by name and year of popularity)

Photo: Julia Roberts, one of Hollywood’s most durable and popular movie stars

Allyson, June (1955)

Andrews, Julie (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)

Ann-Margret (1964)

Bardot, Brigitte (1958); only foreign (French) on the list

Bergman, Ingrid (1946, 1947, 1948)

Bullock, Sandra (1995, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2011)

Cher (1987)

Clayburgh, Jill (1979)

Close, Glenn (1987)

10. Colbert, Claudette (1935, 1936, 1947)

Crawford, Joan (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936)

Davis, Bette (1939, 1940, 1941, 1944)

Day, Doris (1951, 1952, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966)

Dee, Sandra (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963)

Derek, Bo (1981)

Diaz, Cameron (1998)

Dressler. Marie (1932, 1933, 1934)

Fanning, Dakota (2006)

Faye, Alice (1938, 1939)

20. Field, Sally (1980, 1984)

Fonda, Jane (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)

Foster, Jodie (1991, 1994)

Garbo, Greta (1932)

Garland, Judy (1940, 1941, 1944, 1945)

Garson, Greer (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946)

Gaynor, Janet (1932, 1933, 1934)

Goldberg, Whoopi (1986, 1992, 1993)

Grable, Bette (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951)

Harlow, Jean (1933)

30. Hathaway, Anne (2010)

Hawn, Goldie (1972, 1981)

Hayward, Susan (1952, 1953, 1959)

Hepburn, Katharine (1969)

Henie, Sonja (1937, 1938, 1939)

Johansson, Scarlett

Jolie, Angelina (2005, 2008, 2010)

Keaton, Diane (1977, 1978)

Kelly, Grace (1955)

Kidman, Nicole (2001, 2002, 2003)

40. Loy, Myrna (1937, 1938)

McGraw, Ali (1971)

MacDonald, Jeanette (1936)

MacLaine, Shirley (1964)

Midler, Bette (1986, 1988)

Monroe, Marilyn (1953, 1954, 1956)

Moore, Demi (1980)

Novak, Kim (1956)

O’Brien, Margaret (1944, 1946)

O’Neal, Tatum (1976)

50. Parton, Dolly (1981, 1982)

Paltrow, Gwyneth

Pfeiffer, Michelle (1996)

Reynolds, Debbie (1959, 1960)

Roberts, Julia (1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)

Rogers, Ginger (with Fred Astaire) (1935, 1936, 1937)

Ryan, Meg (1998, 1999)

Shearer, Norma (1932, 1933, 1934)

Spacek, Sissy (1980)

Streep, Meryl (1984, 1985, 2009, 2011)

60. Streisand, Barbra (1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980)

Taylor, Elizabeth (1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)

Temple, Shirley (1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939)

Turner, Kathleen (1986, 1989)

West, Mae (1933, 1934)

Williams, Esther (1949, 1950)

Withers, Jane (1937, 1938)

Witherspoon, Reese (2002, 2005, 2008)

Wyman, Jane (1954)

Zellweger, Rene (2002)

70. Zeta-Jones, Catherine (2002)