Actors who are Dames

is this a gulag vote?

haha, i fully expected the first post to be yours, c!

grammar q: should it be

Knights Commander or holders of the Grand Cross in the Orders of Chivalry.

or Knight Commanders or holders of the Grand Cross in the Orders of Chivalry.

?

Going through the filmography of these actresses I realize only Mirren has been in 3 films that I fondly remember the performance of, regardless of the quality of the film. Those films are The Cook, etc, Excalibur and the Queen. The rest of the list, I might forget one, has been a bit hit or miss. Then again, I've never see any of them in plays which I'm certain has been a big criteria for those inductions.

Of those that passed away, and of which I've seen several films of, Celia Johnson would easily get my vote.

Of those who are not dames, my favorites would be Deborah Kerr.

That de Havilland is still alive is cause for celebration.

I have not seen enough KST films.

agreed on De Hav, she's quite a force!

of the deceased ones, it has to be Thora Hird.

I assume Vannessa Redgrave has declined?

i saw that Thompson was damed; someone has to make those movies for blue-haired ladies when Dench kicks.

The tradition must live Morbs.

June Whitfield, Penelope Wilton and Barbara Windsor have to be the least good of the ones I know of. No idea who Sian Phillips is.

Livia in I, Claudius

also a Mrs Peter O'Toole

ahhh

since Lansbury is a socialist and we have a mutual friend, there we go

Janet Suzmann is rarely in films (she's very good in The Draughtsman's Contract) so I guess it's mainly for her life's work in theatre.

Maggie Smith probly my fave actor among em tho

she's on my list for the top but mainly as a highly camp and sarcastic cultural presence.

I didn't know Rigg was from Doncaster, she must have had numerous electrocution elocution sessions!

Sian Phillips, maybe Diana Rigg idk

I'd say Olivia de Hav, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith and Julie Walters are my top four.

Emma Thompson has done so much drivel, and particularly in the 90's seemed like a smug no-talent arsehole to me. Maybe I'm being harsh?

i saw that Thompson was damed; someone has to make those movies for blue-haired ladies when Dench kicks.

I'm edging toward Emma T because of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6kPvR33yc4

Has to be Dame Hyacinth Bucket - she's actually great in everything she's ever been in btw.

Cal, you're right though, she did so much drivel in the John Sessions/ Fry and Laurie years and then even more of it in the Kenneth Branagh years but she's definitely not "no-talent".

and she seems like a good person.

she's on my list for the top but mainly as a highly camp and sarcastic cultural presence.

then i think you need to watch a lot of things besides that Downton bullshit.

btw, Nothing Like A Dame, which is the thing that made me make this poll, is on iplayer now for UK people

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b5y3xn/nothing-like-a-dame?suggid=b0b5y3xn

what was v interesting in that doc. is an interview with Maggie Smith where she talks about how influenced she was by Kenneth Williams (who she played with when KW was "serious actor" and you can see that KW's influence on her extends not just to her performances but to her general persona and delivery irl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYpNiDveM0

It's a shame we never had Dame Kenneth Williams, really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7v2QJ_7nX8

Top of the avoidance pile has to be that dames reminiscing in the countryside film, looks pretty insufferable

― scotti pruitti (wins), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 16:41 (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Has to be Dame Hyacinth Bucket - she's actually great in everything she's ever been in btw.

I've never heard of her but that's an amazing name, almost Pynchonian.

I misread this is Danes.

Hyacinth Bucket is a fictional character played by Patricia Routledge in a TV sitcom. She's an insufferable snob and insists that Bucket is pronounced Bouquet.

until things go wrong and she says "chuck it in the bucket"

That show is where I got off the Brit-com train on the local PBS channel growing up.

Angela Lansbury is a socialist, she gets my vote.

Still, Patricia Routledge is a fantastic actress.

sometimes I think I prefer outright villainous Tory wankers from the acting sector, than the ones that pay lip service to the Labour party, hang on a sec - just trying to remember if there actually is a difference!

Helen mirren

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

was trying to remember how I knew Siân Phillips and realized it was from uh Clash of the Titans and Dune

I voted for Julie Walters because I love her the most.

carla gugino

Kristin Scott Thomas <3

Carla gugino rules

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I was certain Mirren would win!

No Edna wtf

Has only done one film since receiving her Damehood tbf