by Cicely Richard

Created on: January 02, 2009

TV actresses have come and gone for more than 50 years. However, a few of them have managed to become iconic figures so unforgettable that generations of television viewers continue to be fascinated by them. Here is my list of the top ten TV actresses of all time.

Lucille Ball No television list would be complete without this fiery redhead. In addition to being the funniest woman on TV, she was the first woman to oversee a production company with her husband Desi Arnaz. Critics said no one would watch "I Love Lucy" and believe that she was married to him. However, the show became the first bona fide television hit. Incidentally, they were also the first interracial couple on television.

Estelle Getty One of the reasons to tune in to "The Golden Girls" was because of the performance of her as the wisecracking 80-something Sophia Petrillo. While I was in college, people scheduled their classes around reruns of the show on Lifetime Television. Even big football players tuned in to watch this little old lady. Only a true legend could transcend age and gender. Although she left us in 2008, her work still lives on.

Diahann Carroll Carroll was the first African-American woman to be featured in a television role other than a maid. In her 1960s sitcom "Julia," she played a widowed nurse who was raising a young son. At the time, it was groundbreaking television. In the 1980s, she joined the cast of "Dynasty" as, in her words, "the first black b- on television." Young audiences know her as Mamma Burke on "Grey's Anatomy."

Mary Tyler Moore In the 1960s, she was Laura Petrie, the cute wife of Dick Van Dyke on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." As the 1970s approached, she became the symbol of women's liberation when she "turned the world on with her smile" on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." She became the first true career woman on television when she portrayed the 30-something, single reporter Mary Richards.

Shannon Doherty Love her or hate her, she has had a long, successful television career. As a child, she was cast on three "Little House on the Prairie" television movies. In the late 1980s, she was Deidra Hall's daughter Kris on the drama "Our House." Shannon shot to stardom as good girl turned bad on Aaron Spelling's 1990s teen soap "Beverly Hills, 90210." Despite her off-camera drams, she has managed to have a steady career and ratings winner.

Heather Locklear in the 1980s, she worked simultaneously on two Aaron Spelling television series, "T.J. Hooker" and "Dynasty," as very different

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