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Remembering the greatest 1940s actresses

award won for a Hitchcock film with Suspicion. Fontaine continued with well-received films until she retired from the big screen with her last appearance in 1966 with The Witches. She made various television appearances in the 80's and 90's, one being Ryan's Hope (daytime soap opera) earning her a daytime emmy nomination. Today, she makes appearances every now and then on stage and the lecture circuit.

Maureen O'Hara (original name Maureen Fitzsimmons) made a name for herself in 1939's Hunchback of Notre Dame. She continued her promising career with many well-known classics such as How Green Was My Valley, Miracle on 34th Street, and The Parent Trap. She made two to three movies a year. O'Hara never received an Academy Award nomination for her work, but remains one of the most familiar faces in history. She worked with many great actors such as Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, and John Wayne. Probably the best known scene between Maureen and Wayne was in the film The Quiet Man where "the Duke" grabs O'Hara as the wind blows through the doorway and he kisses her. A scene so simple remains a classic. Maureen continued acting on the big screen until the early 60's. Today, she periodically appears in television movies.

Natalie Wood was born to Russian parents. Her original name was Natalia Zakharenko. She began her career in the mid-forties. Her first well-known film was when she was only nine years old in the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street. She continued to act in about six more films in the 40's. Not all of her movies were box-office hits, but it didn't hurt her career. She moved on to work with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Warren Beatty in Splendor in the Grass. Natalie died in 1981 while she was out on a boat with her husband Robert Wagner and friend Christopher Walken. Her last film, Brainstorm in which she co-starred with Walken was released in 1983. She starred in over 50 movies on the big and small screens. Wood was nominated for three Academy Awards, but never won.

Donna Reed (original last name Mullenger) starred in several movies through the early 40's with second billing. She claimed a starring role in The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1945. A year later she starred with Jimmy Stewart in the timeless classic It's A Wonderful Life. With her innocent looks she was mostly type-cast in the girl next door roles. She continued starring in an average of one to two films a year. She earned only one Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the highly


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Remembering the greatest 1940s actresses

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    by Laura Hageman

    Throughout the decade of the forties there were many talented and extraordinary actresses. Many actresses of today idolize

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    Greatest actresses of the 40s

    1. Bette Davis has to be among the top ten on anyone's list. Although she had a hundred varieties

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    by Ticia

    Wow what an era the 1940's were as we remember the super performances from women in films such as "Kitty Foyle" which earned

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    by Felicia Arnold

    The movies of the 1940s! I guess I enjoy this period in film history best of all. We survived the Depression, WW1, only

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