Femme Noir - Bad Girls of Film

by milam_ogden | created - 27 Oct 2017 | updated - 27 Nov 2017 | Public

This book from author Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is identical to one she recently wrote on the Bad Boys of Film Noir. I created a list of those actors in August of this year. They contained 95 actors listed in alphabetical order. I will follow the same format for this list. A list of their film noir credits will appear after the actresses career notes.

The best part of this book is reading an extensive biography of each actress that covers their entire career and personal life. There are a total of 49 actresses that appear in the book.

I highly recommending this book for your film noir collection.

1. Lauren Bacall

Actress | To Have and Have Not

Lauren Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske on September 16, 1924, in New York City. She was the daughter of Natalie Weinstein-Bacal, a Romanian Jewish immigrant, and William Perske, who was born in New Jersey, to Polish Jewish parents. Her family was middle-class, with her father working as a ...

Ms Bacall appeared in three film noir classic films.

Film Noir Filmography

The Big Sleep (1946) Dark Passage (1947) Key Largo (1948)

I created my own list of the top 10 actresses in the fall of 2011. Ms. Bacall did not make that list

2. Joan Bennett

Actress | Suspiria

Joan Geraldine Bennett was born on February 27, 1910, in Palisades, New Jersey. Her parents were both successful stage actors, especially her father, Richard Bennett, and often toured the country for weeks at a time. In fact, Joan came from a long line of actors, dating back to the 18th century. ...

Ms Bennett appeared in four highly acclaimed film noirs:

Film Noir Filmography The Woman in the Window (1945) Scarlet Street (1946) The Scar (1948) Reckless Moment (1949)

Again, Ms Benett did not appear on my top ten list. I particularly like her performances in Scarlet Street and Reckless Moment.

3. Ann Blyth

Actress | Mildred Pierce

The dark, petulant beauty of this petite American film and musical star worked to her advantage, especially in her early dramatic career. Anne Marie Blythe was born of Irish stock to Harry and Annie (nee Lynch) Blythe on August 16, 1928 in Mt. Kisco, New York. Her parents split while she was young ...

This beautiful actress appeared in only two outstanding film noir films.

Film Noir Filmography Brute Force (1947) Mildred Pierce (1945)

Although she was fantastic in Mildred Pierce, Blyth did not appear in my top ten film noir actresses.

4. Peggie Castle

Actress | I, the Jury

Tall, sultry, green-eyed blonde Peggie Castle was actually spotted by a talent scout while she was lunching in a Beverly Hills restaurant. In her films she was usually somebody's "woman" rather than a girlfriend, and her career was confined to mostly "B"-grade action pictures, dramas or westerns: ...

This beautiful and sexy actress appeared in three film noir movies.

I, the Jury (1953) 99 River Street (1953) The Long Wait (1954)

Again, she is not on my top 10 list.

5. Jeanne Crain

Actress | Pinky

Jeanne Crain was born in Barstow, California, on May 25, 1925. The daughter of a high school English teacher and his wife, Jeanne was moved to Los Angeles not long after her birth after her father got another teaching position in that city. While in junior high school, Jeanne played the lead in a ...

This talented and beautiful actress appeared in three film noir movies.

Leave Her in Heaven (1945) Vicki (1953) The Tattered Dress (1947)

By far, her best performance was in Leave Her in Heaven.

6. Joan Crawford

Actress | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1906, in San Antonio, Texas, to Anna Belle (Johnson) and Thomas E. LeSueur, a laundry laborer. By the time she was born, her parents had separated, and by the time she was a teenager, she'd had three stepfathers. It wasn't an easy life; ...

Film Noir Filmography Mildred Pierce (1945) Possessed (1947) Damned Don't Cry (1950) Sudden Fear (1952)

Ms. Crawford's best film noir was Mildred Pierce. I am not a big fan of hers, however, because of her film noir movies, she is rated 10th on my list.

7. Peggy Cummins

Actress | Gun Crazy

Peggy Cummins was an Irish actress, appearing in several films between 1940 and 1961. Her best known role was that of trigger-happy bank robber Annie Laurie Starr in the film "Gun Crazy".

In December, 1925, Cummins was born under the name of "Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller" in Prestatyn, Denbighshire...

Film Noir Filmography Gun Crazy (1950)

One of the great film noir femme fetale ever created. Peggy Cummins steals this movie from the rest of the cast - a remarkable performance. This is her only film noir credit, therefore, she does not make my top 10 list.

8. Rosemary DeCamp

Actress | The Bob Cummings Show

RoseMary De Camp was the quintessential small-town American mother, a calming and steadying presence in scores of films in the 1940s and 1950s. She came to Hollywood after a successful career on the stage and in radio, making her film debut in 1941. Though she worked for many studios, she was most ...

Film Noir Filmography Danger Signal (1945) Nora Prentiss (1947) Scandal Street (1952)

Does not make my list because of only three appearances.

9. Yvonne De Carlo

Actress | The Ten Commandments

Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton on September 1, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was three when her father abandoned the family. Her mother turned to waitressing in a restaurant to make ends meet--a rough beginning for an actress who would, one day, be one of ...

Film Noir Filmography Brute Force (1947) Criss Cross (1949)

Both these performances were outstanding in two excellent film noir classic films. Too bad she was not used more often. Made a lot of westerns where she was very good.

10. Faye Emerson

Actress | Between Two Worlds

Synonymous with chic, the ever-fashionable Faye Emerson certainly qualified as one of the "first ladies" of TV glamour. Bedecked in sweeping, rather low-cut gowns and expensive, dangling jewelry, she was a highly poised and stylish presence on the small screen during its exciting "Golden Age". An ...

Film Noir Filmography The Mask of Dimitrios (1945) Nobody Lives Forever (1946) Guilty Bystander (1950)

I never have thought of Emerson being a film noir star. Two out of three films are worth watching.

11. Hope Emerson

Actress | Caged

Although there may have been "bigger" actresses in Hollywood's history, there were few larger than Hope Emerson. She notably appeared as a witness for the defense in "Adam's Rib". At 6' 2" and 230 pounds, she towered over many of her male co-stars, and her size, brusque voice and stern demeanor ...

Film Noir Filmography Caged (1950) City of the City (1948) Thieves' Highway (1949) House of Strangers (1949)

Ms. Emerson was a very good character actress in the film noir genre.

12. Rhonda Fleming

Actress | Out of the Past

A native-born Californian, Rhonda Fleming attended Beverly Hills public and private schools. Her father was Harold Cheverton Louis (1896-1951). Her mother, Effie Olivia Graham (1891-1985), was a famous model and actress in New York. She has a son (Kent Lane), two granddaughters (Kimberly and Kelly)...

Film Noir Filmography Out of the Past (1947) Cry Danger (1951) The Killer is Loose (1956) Slightly Scarlet (1956) While the City Sleeps (1956)

Although Fleming did not make my top ten, she appeared in some very good film noir movies.

13. Nina Foch

Actress | The Ten Commandments

A leading lady of the 1940s, the tall and blonde Foch usually played cool, aloof and often foreign, women of sophistication. As film roles became harder to find, Foch proved to be versatile in many areas. She was a panelist on several TV quiz shows, worked as George Stevens' assistant director for ...

Film Noir Filmography My Name is Julia Ross (1945) Johnny O'clock (1947) The Dark Past (1949) The Undercover Man (1949)

14. Sally Forrest

Actress | While the City Sleeps

Sally's parents were both amateur ballroom dancers, so it was no surprise when Sally developed an interest in dancing. She entered dance classes by the first grade and was signed by MGM upon her graduation from high school. In 1945, she moved with her parents to Hollywood, where Sally worked on the...

Film Noir Filmography

Mystery Street (1950) The Strip (1951) While the City Sleeps (1956)

15. Ava Gardner

Actress | The Night of the Iguana

Ava Lavina Gardner was born on December 24, 1922 in Grabtown, North Carolina, to Mary Elizabeth (née Baker) and Jonas Bailey Gardner. Born on a tobacco farm, where she got her lifelong love of earthy language and going barefoot, Ava grew up in the rural South. At age 18, her picture in the window ...

Film Noir Filmography The Killers (1946)

Although Ava Gardner appeared in only one film noir, it is a classic film noir movie and Gardner was fantastic in this movie.

16. Gloria Grahame

Actress | In a Lonely Place

Gloria Grahame Hallward, an acting pupil of her mother (stage actress and teacher Jean Grahame), acted professionally while still in high school. In 1944 Louis B. Mayer saw her on Broadway and gave her an MGM contract under the name Gloria Grahame. Her debut in the title role of Blonde Fever (1944)...

Film Noir Filmography Crossfire (1947) In a Lonely Place (1950) Macao (1952) Sudden Fear (1952) The Big Heat (1953) Human Desire (1954) Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Grahame is # 6 on my top ten list, she is an excellent film noir actress.

17. Coleen Gray

Actress | The Killing

Coleen Gray was born in Staplehurst, Nebraska, in 1922. After graduating from high school she studied dramatics at Hamline University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She then decided to see America and traveled to California, stopping off at La Jolla where she worked as a waitress. ...

Film Noir Filmography Kiss of Death (1947) Nightmare Alley (1947) The Sleeping City (1950) Kansas City Confidential (1952) The Killing (1956)

Coleen is # 8 on my top ten list. My favorite Gray noir films are: Nightmare Alley and The Killing.

18. Jane Greer

Actress | Out of the Past

As a baby, she was winning beauty contests; as a teenager, with good looks and an attractive contralto voice, she was singing with big bands (most notably Enric Madriguera's orchestra in Latin Club Del Rio in Washington, D.C.. She met Rudy Vallee, her first husband, on the radio where she also ...

Film Noir Filmography They Won't Believe Me (1947) Out of the Past (1947)

Jane is # 2 on my list

19. Jean Hagen

Actress | Singin' in the Rain

Jean Shirley Verhagen (later shortened to Hagen) was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 1923. Her father was a Dutch immigrant. Hagen and her family moved to Elkhart, Indiana when she was twelve; she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School. Afterwards, she graduated from Northwestern ...

Film Noir Filmography The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Side Street (1950) The Big Knife (1955)

Did not make my list but was outstanding in The Asphalt Jungle.

20. Dorothy Hart

Actress | Tarzan's Savage Fury

A former model, the luminously beautiful Dorothy Hart was signed to a contract by Universal Pictures after having made only one film, Columbia's Gunfighters (1947). After that she did westerns, costume dramas, prison sagas, Tarzan movies, and the cult classic I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)...

Film Noir Filmography The Naked City (1948) I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951) Loan Shark (1952)

21. Signe Hasso

Actress | Heaven Can Wait

Young Signe Larsson was only 12 when she started to work as a child extra at The Royal Dramatic Theater and was the youngest ever enrolled for acting studies there at 16. She quickly got leading roles in movies and always received very good reviews. In 1940 she went to Hollywood and signed a ...

Film Noir Filmography The House on 92nd Street (1945) Johnny Angel (1945) Strange Triangle (1946) A Double Life (1947)

22. Susan Hayward

Actress | With a Song in My Heart

Susan Hayward was born Edythe Marrener in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1917. Her father was a transportation worker, and Susan lived a fairly comfortable life as a child, but the precocious little redhead had no idea of the life that awaited her. She attended public school in Brooklyn, where she...

Film Noir Filmography Among the Living (1941) Deadline at Dawn (1946) They Won't Believe Me (1947) House of Strangers (1949)

23. Rita Hayworth

Actress | Gilda

Rita Hayworth was born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, into a family of dancers. Her father, Eduardo Cansino Reina, was a dancer as was his father before him. He emigrated from Spain in 1913. Rita's American mother, Volga Margaret (Hayworth), who was of mostly ...

Film Noir Filmography Gilda (1946) The Lady From Shangahi (1948) Affair in Trinidad (1952)

24. Virginia Huston

Actress | Out of the Past

Virginia Huston was born on April 24, 1925 in Wisner, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for Out of the Past (1947), Tarzan's Peril (1951) and Flamingo Road (1949). She was married to Manus Paul Clinton II. She died on February 28, 1981 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

Film Noir Filmography Nocturne (1947) Out of the Past (1947) The Racket (1951) Sudden Fear (1952)

25. Adele Jergens

Actress | Armored Car Robbery

Fewer dames were tougher on the 40s and 50s screen than leggy (5'9") "B" star Adele Jergens, the tough-talking, plump-cheeked peroxide blonde who gave her fair share of tawdry trouble in backstage dramas, film noir, crime potboilers, and adventure yarns. She was just as headstrong at trying to bust...

Film Noir Filmography The Dark Past (1948) Side Street (1950) Armored Car Robbery (1950) Try and Get Me (1950)

26. Evelyn Keyes

Actress | The Seven Year Itch

No shrinking violet this one, but despite her talent, vivacity and sheer drive, lovely and alluring blonde Evelyn Keyes would remain for the most part typed as a "B" girl on the silver screen. In spite of her ripe contributions to such superior pictures as Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), The Jolson ...

Film Noir Filmography Johnny O'clock (1947) The Killer Stalks New York (1950) The Prowler (1951) 99 River Street (1953)

27. Veronica Lake

Actress | Sullivan's Travels

Veronica Lake was born as Constance Frances Marie Ockleman on November 14, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the daughter of Constance Charlotta (Trimble) and Harry Eugene Ockelman, who worked for an oil company as a ship employee. Her father was of half German and half Irish descent, and her ...

Film Noir Filmography This Gun for Hire (1942) The Glass Key (1942) The Blue Dahlia (1946)

28. Ida Lupino

Actress | High Sierra

Ida was born in London to a show business family. In 1932, her mother took Ida with her to an audition and Ida got the part her mother wanted. The picture was Her First Affaire (1932). Ida, a bleached blonde, went to Hollywood in 1934 playing small, insignificant parts. Peter Ibbetson (1935) was ...

Film Noir Filmography High Sierra (1941) Road House (1948) On Dangerous Ground (1951) Beware, My Lovely (1952) Private Hell 36 (1954) The Big Knife (1955) While the City Sleeps (1956)

29. Dorothy Malone

Actress | Written on the Wind

The blonde, sultry, dreamy-eyed beauty of Dorothy Malone, who was born Mary Maloney in Chicago on January 29, 1924, took some time before it made an impact with American film-going audiences. But once she did, she played it for all it was worth in her one chance Academy Award-winning "bad girl" ...

Film Noir Filmography The Big Sleep (1946) Convicted (1950) The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) Loophole (1954) Pushover (1954) Private Hell 36 (1954)

30. Marilyn Monroe

Actress | Some Like It Hot

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, comedienne, singer, and model. Monroe is of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent. She became one of the world's most enduring iconic figures and is remembered both for her winsome embodiment of the Hollywood sex symbol and her tragic personal and ...

Film Noir Filmography The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Clash by Night (1952) Don't Knock to Knock (1952) Niagara (1953)

31. Agnes Moorehead

Actress | The Magnificent Ambersons

Agnes was born of Anglo-Irish ancestry near Boston, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister (her mother was a mezzo-soprano) who encouraged her to perform in church pageants. Aged three, she sang 'The Lord is my Shepherd' on a public stage and seven years later joined the St. Louis Municipal Opera ...

Film Noir Filmography Journey into Fear (1942) Dark Passage (1947) Caged (1950)

32. Cathy O'Donnell

Actress | The Best Years of Our Lives

Born and raised in Alabama as Ann Steely, O'Donnell attended high school and college in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, then worked as a stenographer to finance a trip to Hollywood, where she was spotted by a talent scout, leading to her being signed to a contract by producer Samuel Goldwyn.

Recognizing ...

Film Noir Filmography They Lie by Night (1949) Side Street (1950) Detective Story (1951)

33. Dorothy Patrick

Actress | Come to the Stable

Dorothy Patrick was born on June 3, 1921 in St-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. She was an actress, known for Come to the Stable (1949), Tarnished (1950) and Destination Big House (1950). She was married to Harold Hammerman, J. Hugh Davis and Joseph Lynn Patrick. She died on May 31, 1987 in Los Angeles,...

Film Noir Filmography The High Wall (1947) Follow Me Quietly (1949) 711 Ocean Drive (1950)

34. Jean Peters

Actress | Pickup on South Street

Green-eyed beauty Jean Elizabeth Peters flashed across the screen as a bright star during her relatively brief tenure in Hollywood. After just seven years under contract to 20th Century-Fox (1947-54), she joined in the reclusive lifestyle of her eccentric billionaire husband, Howard Hughes, and all...

Film Noir Filmography Niagara (1953) Pickup on South Street (1953) Vicki (1953)

35. Ella Raines

Actress | Phantom Lady

Ella Raines was born in Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, in 1920. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at the University of Washington as a drama student and participated in many plays. Following graduation, she traveled to New York and the lights of Broadway. She was eventually signed by ...

Film Noir Filmography Phantom Lady (1944) Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945) Brute Force (1947) Impact (1949)

36. Ruth Roman

Actress | Strangers on a Train

Ruth Roman was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the youngest of three daughters of Lithuanian-Jewish parents Mary Pauline (Gold) and Abraham Roman. Her father, a carnival barker, died when she was a small child, forcing her mother to support the family by working as a waitress and cleaning woman. Ruth ...

Film Noir Filmography The Window (1949) Beyond the Forest (1949) Strangers on a Train (1951)

37. Gail Russell

Actress | The Uninvited

Gail Russell was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 21, 1924. She remained in the Windy City, going to school until her parents moved to California when she was 14. She was an above-average student in school and upon graduation from Santa Monica High School was signed by Paramount Studios.

...

Film Noir Filmography Calcutta (1947) Moonrise (1948) Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) The Tattered Dress (1957)

38. Jane Russell

Actress | Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell was born on June 21, 1921, in Bemidji, Minnesota. Her father was a United States Army lieutenant and her mother had been a student of drama and an actress with a traveling troupe. Once Mr. Russell was mustered out of the service, the family took up residence in ...

Film Noir Filmography His Kind of Woman (1951) The Las Vegas Story (1952) Macao (1952)

39. Lizabeth Scott

Actress | Too Late for Tears

Lizabeth Scott was born Emma Matzo on September 29, 1922 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the oldest of six children of Mary (Pennock) and John Matzo, who were Slovak immigrants. Scott attended Marywood Seminary and the Alvienne School of the Theatre in New York City, where she adopted the stage name of ...

Film Noir Filmography Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946) Dead Reckoning (1946) I Walk Alone (1947) Pitfall (1948) Too Late for Tears (1949) Dark City (1950) The Racket (1951)

Ms. Scott is # 5 on my list and appears in a variety of film noir classic.

40. Barbara Stanwyck

Actress | Double Indemnity

Today Barbara Stanwyck is remembered primarily as the matriarch of the family known as the Barkleys on the TV western The Big Valley (1965), wherein she played Victoria, and from the hit drama The Colbys (1985). But she was known to millions of other fans for her movie career, which spanned the ...

Film Noir Filmography Double Indemnity (1944) Strange Loves of Martha Ivers (1946) Sorry, Wrong Number (1948) The File of Thelma Jordon (1949) Clash by Night (1952) Witness to Murder (1954) Crime of Passion (1957)

Barbara is # 1 on my list - lots of film noir classics

41. Jan Sterling

Actress | Ace in the Hole

One of Hollywood's more talented and watchable stars on screen was sullen and thin 50s actress Jan Sterling who didn't quite reach the top echelon of stardom but certainly ensured audiences of a real good time with her sexy pout and flashy style in soaps, film noir and saucy comedy.

Jan was born ...

Film Noir Caged (1950) Mystery Street (1950) Union Station (1950) Appointment with Danger (1951) The Big Carnival (1951) The Harder They Fall (1956)

42. Gene Tierney

Actress | Laura

With prominent cheekbones, luminous skin and the most crystalline green eyes of her day, Gene Tierney's striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Her acting ...

Film Noir Filmography The Shanghai Gesture (1941) Laura (1944) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Night and the City (1950) Where the Sidewalk Never Ends (1950)

# 3 on my top 10 list

43. Audrey Totter

Actress | The Unsuspected

One is certainly hard-pressed to think of another true "bad girl" representative so closely identifiable with film noir than hard-looking blonde actress Audrey Totter. While she remained a "B"-tier actress for most her career, she was an "A" quality actress and one of filmdom's most intriguing ...

Film Noir Filmography The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) Lady in the Lake (1946) The Unsuspected (1947) The High Wall (1947) The Set-Up (1949) Tension (1949)

No. 4 on my top 10 list

44. Claire Trevor

Actress | Key Largo

Claire Trevor was born Claire Wemlinger in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fifth Avenue merchant-tailor Noel Wemlinger, an immigrant Frenchman from Paris who lost his business during the Depression, and his Belfast-born wife, Benjamina, known as "Betty". Young ...

Film Noir Filmography Street of Chance (1942) Murder, My Sweet (1944) Johnny Angel (1945) Crack-Up (1946) Born to Kill (1947) Raw Deal (1948) Key Largo (1948)

Claire is # 7 on my list

45. Lana Turner

Actress | Madame X

Lana Turner had an acting ability that belied the "Sweater Girl" image MGM thrust upon her, and even many of her directors admitted that they knew she was capable of greatness (check out The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)). Unfortunately, her private life sometimes overshadowed her professional ...

Film Noir Filmography Johnny Eager (1942) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

46. Helen Walker

Actress | Brewster's Millions

Helen Walker was a beautiful and bright actress whose career never reached its full potential, in spite of her evident talent. She was a successful actress on Broadway, and in 1942 her performance in the play "Jason" was so impressive that she was signed up to act in films. She immediately earned ...

Film Noir Filmography Nightmare Alley (1947) Call Northside 777 (1948) Impact (1949) The Big Combo (1955)

47. Marie Windsor

Actress | The Killing

Marie Windsor (born Emily Marie Bertelsen) was born in Marysvale, Utah, and attended Brigham Young University. She trained for the stage under Maria Ouspenskaya before she began playing leading roles in B pictures in the late 1940s. So many B films in fact, that she garnered the title of 'Queen of ...

Film Noir Filmography Force of Evil (1948) The Narrow Margin (1952) The Sniper (1952) City That Never Sleeps (1953) The Killing (1956)

Marie is # 9 on my list

48. Shelley Winters

Actress | The Poseidon Adventure

Shelley Winters was born Shirley Schrift of very humble beginnings on August 18, 1920 (some sources list 1922) in East St. Louis, Illinois. Her mother, Rose Winter, was born in Missouri, to Austrian Jewish parents, and her father, Jonas Schrift, was an Austrian Jewish immigrant. She had one sibling...

Film Noir Filmography A Double Life (1947) Cry of the City (1948) He Ran All the Way (1951) The Big knife (1955) I Died a Thousand Times (1955) Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

I missed this one

49. Loretta Young

Actress | The Stranger

Sweet, sweeter, sweetest. No combination of terms better describes the screen persona of lovely Loretta Young. A&E's Biography (1987) has stated that Young "remains a symbol of beauty, serenity, and grace. But behind the glamour and stardom is a woman of substance whose true beauty lies in her ...

Film Noir Filmography The Stranger (1946) The Accused (1948) Cause for Alarm (1951)



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