by Ted Sherman

Created on: January 05, 2007   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

To determine the really best TV actresses of all times, it would be best to go back to the early days of TV. It isn't only the talent on the screen that made them great, but also the fact that they were working when TV equipment was crude. Lights were burning hot, sets were cheaply made, and TV cameras were big bulky monsters that made movement difficult. Worse yet, many of the early programs were shot live and uninterrupted, requiring actors and actresses to work as much as an hour straight without a break for retakes or rest.

Those early TV productions were a combination acting on a live stage and trying to say your lines in the middle of a boiler room. Here are some heroines who not only survived, but made places for themselves in American entertainment history:

1. Lucille Ball: She was the earliest TV superstar, and has the most staying power. Because she had the smarts to put her shows on film when most others were lost, Lucy is still seen daily on screens throughout the world. She made the transitition from screen glamor girl to hilariously funny and creative comedienne.

2. Marlo Thomas: That girl broke through the required image of early TV's wives to show that a single career woman could show her intelligence and independence.

3. Carol Burnett: She was TV's most talented comedienne, dancer, singer and just plain all-around genius in getting laughs. She also put together a wonderful supporting cast of funny pals and brought the variety show to TV excellence.

4. Mary Tyler Moore: She did showed her terrific versatility in two very different TV shows. First, as the ever faithful, stay-at-home wife of Dick Van Dyke, she portrayed both mother and lover perfectly. Then, with her own show, Mary Tyler Moore broke the glass ceiling as a TV producer who could be both tough and vulnerable.

5. Audrey Meadows: She had to do her acting in the big, very big shadow of Jackie Gleason. While he chewed up the set and stomped around, Audrey would always come up with the great deflating or loving line to calm the beast in Ralph Cramden. I don't think many people ever believed such an elegant lady could be living in a two-room Brooklyn walk-up, but Audrey's perfect timing helped carry it off.

6. Judy Dench is now an honored, award-winning movie actress, but she did wonderful early TV work. In "As Time Goes By", she was a widow who ran an employment agency. When she linked up with an old love again, the relationship was both funny and endearing. One glance, angry,

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