Who is Your Favorite Black Actress?

Pearl Bailey

Damn you, OP! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!

Viola Davis

Miss Angela Bassett is ferociously talented, exquisite and one of the most beautiful women to light up the silver screen.

Viola…have a Kleenex 🤧.

Sharon Stone.

Taraji P. Henson

I noticed Halle Berry wasn’t included then I realized they were talking about anctual actresses.

No votes for you, Taraji.

The math is mathin.’

Hattie Mcdaniel.

Betty Davis

CCH Pounder

Irma P Hall

Is Cecily Tyson related to Cicely Tyson?

Whoopi

R14 = Whoopi’s lazy family she supports.

Where's Isabel Sanford, OP? Or Mabel King?

Mother Jefferson.

I would have voted for Phylicia Rashad 10 years ago, but her defense of Cosby really rubbed me the wrong way.

Diana Sands

Thandie Newton

Shirley Hemphill

Janet

Aside from the obvious ones, Lynn Thigpen and Renee Elise Goldsberry.

And Pam Grier of course.

Alfre Woodard really is in a class all by herself

Rosalind Cash

I remember seeing Out of Darkness and how Diana Ross was so into the role as a paranoid schizophrenic.

[quote] Betty Davis

Betty Davis was not an actress.

Regina King.

Watch Season 1 of American Crime.

Blactress!

Audra McDonald

Julia Roberts

R30 Audra McDonald couldn’t black her way out of a chalkboard.

If actresses still working:

Boomer: Alfre Woodard

Gen X: Octavia Spencer

Millennial: Cynthia Erivo

R28 Certainly, Regina King has quietly and consistently done some of the best work around.

It used to be GI Jane

Marianne Jean-Baptiste

I'm surprised Dorothy Dandridge doesn't have more votes!

R33, I would probably swap Lupita Nyong’o for Cynthia, but Alfre and Octavia are my top two choices overall.

Octavia might present herself as a Very Serious Thespian like Viola, but she can do comedy, drama, melodrama, camp, and always knows how to approach her roles in the right way. No one will ever accuse her of slumming or condescending to the material. And Alfre has been so good for decades that it’s amazing how under-appreciated she still seems.

Isabel Sanford

Regina King

From the list, Alfre Woodard

Is this a poll from 1980?

None of these former 1970s, or maybe ‘60s Supremes (I can’t really recall them) is my favorite.

R41 what do you mean?

I mean that half the women in that poll are dead and most of the rest are senior citizens. There are tons of younger talented Black actresses. Why is not one of them included in this poll?

R44 I kinda agree with you, especially since the OP said favorite rather than greatest. How the hell is Whoopi not in this poll. She is perhaps the most prolific black actress of all time.

Karen.

Madie Norman and Juanita Moore.

True Teacake. My late mom and all her Catholic church lady friends were huge fans of the Sister Act movies. I'd watch them again. But she had a great supporting cast too.

Cecile Tyson for Jane Pittman and Sounder alone. Not whingeing Angela

Marguerite from The Golden Girls

I absolutely love Alfre Woodard.

This will get scorn and she isn’t a great actress but my top 5 favorite includes Beyonce. She’s camp.

Beyoncé was really likable in Austin Powers. That's all I've seen her in. She's not really known as an actress R52.

R53 Right. She is always a cultural icon, popstar first. But she’s loveable on screen. She is also good in that like you said. Though the director who let it go to final cut that scene in Cadillac Records, where she is in the restaurant begging for gin because her white daddy won’t accept her, oughta to be shot. SHOT.

R45, I was about to say that Whoopi hasn’t been that prolific because she hasn’t really headlined a film in forever, but she does work a lot more than I thought.

Still, in 1996 she was just a few years away from being one of the most bankable actors in Hollywood, yet that’s when she stopped headlining feature films. Before checking her IMDb, I assumed she had a Robin Williams type career (huge in the ‘90s, then diminishing returns), but Whoopi just essentially quit being a movie star. It’s really baffling in retro spect.

Beyoncé is illiterate and can’t even read a script. She can barely play the character Beyoncé.

I don't know about that but she is showing her age. Gracefully at least. I believe she has a career changing movie role ahead of her. She could be the next Cher when it comes to feature film.

For shame, OP! You left out one of the all-time greats, Paula Kelly! A helluva actress who could also sing and dance.

R40 beat me to it.

I would’ve picked Regina had she been included, but I was happy to pick Alfre.

I also love Octavia and Angela. Oh, and Regina Hall.