The Golden Age of Hollywood lasted for roughly 40 years after the transition toward “talkies” in the 1920s and cinema became one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Movies became larger than life thanks to intricate musical sequences, sweeping dramas, and laugh-out-loud hijinks. Many of the stars who rose to prominence during that time period are seen as the best of the best, even by modern standards.

Many old Hollywood stars were pigeonholed into specific roles. If an actress had a certain look, there was a good chance she would be playing femme fatales for a large part of her career. If she could sing, dance, and act all at the same time, she would be thrown into one musical after the other. Actors were treated as property by studios trying to sell a product. These actresses rose above all of the hardship to allow their talent to shine through and leave a lasting legacy on screen.

25 Sophia Loren

Known For It Started In Naples, Two Women, And Marriage Italian Style

Sophia Loren is actually one of the last surviving actresses active during Hollywood’s golden era. She got her start in the 1950s in her native Italy after competing in beauty pageants, and she has been active in both Italy and the US throughout her career.

In her early career, Loren often appeared in bit parts as young women in peril or dancers in the background of scenes. As she gained more experience in the industry and became better at her craft, she began fighting for the roles she wanted. For Two Women, the studio originally wanted to cast her as the daughter, but she fought to play the mother in the movie who is trying to get her daughter out of war-torn Italy. She won the role and an Oscar for her work.

She’s known for her tenacity and her commitment to the work. Loren has gone on to record albums and write books as well.

24 Angela Lansbury

Known For Gaslight, Harvey Girls, And The Manchurian Candidate

Angela Lansbury became known for her roles in the ‘90s as an older woman, like Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast and Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. Long before she was the sweet older woman solving crimes, however, she was an acclaimed actress in the Golden Age.

Her first screen role was just at the age of 17 as a maid in the movie Gaslight, and right out of the gate she earned an Oscar nomination for her work. For a lot of her early career, she was placed into smaller character roles, but she kept up the hard work and has become one of the most critically lauded actresses of the era.

Lansbury transitioned from the screen to the stage during her career, and she was equally at home there. She won six Golden Globes and five Tonys during her career as well as being nominated for three Oscars.

23 Rita Moreno

Known For Singin’ In The Rain, West Side Story, And The Deerslayer

Today, Rita Moreno is a national treasure who is great at sinking her teeth into comedic roles. During Hollywood’s golden years, she was often relegated to ing roles instead of allowing to play any leads. So many smaller parts, however, built up into an impressive profile of character work that led to Gene Kelly requesting her to appear as a silent film star in Singin’ In The Rain.

Her breakout role is easily that of Anita in West Side Story. Moreno won an Oscar for the role - and was the first Latina to do so. She has not slowed down in the acting world since that 1961 win and she’s been paving the way for Latin actors ever since, striving to play roles that are not stereotypes on the screen or the stage.

In her career, she has won that Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Tony, a Grammy, and two Emmys. She’s one of the few actors to have an EGOT.

22 Lillian Gish

Known For Broken Blossoms, Birth Of A Nation, And Duel In The Sun

Lillian Gish got her start in the silent era of movie-making. Most of the actresses who rose to prominence during Hollywood’s Golden Age did so as silent film stars were phased out. Gish, however, did not let that happen to her. Her career in movies spanned more than seven decades from 1912 to 1987.

Gish’s best-known movies of the silent film era were made under the direction of D.W. Griffiths. She liked working with him so much that she only broke up their partnership when MGM offered her a six-movie deal and more creative control over her projects. Of course, that partnership with Griffiths also made way for one of her most-ed films and one of the most controversial of all time, Birth of a Nation.

Despite that, Gish was honored with numerous awards during her time as an actress on screen and stage, including the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.

21 Rita Hayworth

Known For Only Angels Have Wings, Circus World, And Gilda

Rita Hayworth was one of the first “bombshells” of American cinema. She rose to popularity during the 1940s and became a popular pinup girl for American soldiers stationed in Europe during World War II. Her face was even painted on bombs, which is rumored to have disturbed her, though the military men who did it meant to flatter her.

Hayworth is often known for her looks. Even Madonna’s “Vogue” features a line saying, “Rita Hayworth gave good face.” Hayworth, however, was more than just a pretty face. She made an astonishing 61 films in just 37 years while also making public appearances and modeling. She was one of the hardest-working women in show business at the time.

Hayworth was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers in the 1980s. Her being open about her diagnosis with the public led to more awareness of the illness. The Rita Hayworth Gala has been held annually since 1985 to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association.

20 Hattie McDaniel

Known For Gone With The Wind, Song of the South, And Since You Went Away

Hattie McDaniel was a powerhouse of a performer who did not get enough recognition in her lifetime. She was a comedian, a radio performer, a singer, and a writer. Segregation and ever-prevalent racism during her career prevented her from truly breaking into Hollywood the way that lighter-skinned women could.

McDaniel did not let that stop her though. She became the first Black woman to sing on the radio in the United States and the first African-American to win an Oscar when she won for her ing role in Gone With The Wind.

Though historians have estimated that McDaniel appeared in over 300 films during her lifetime, she is only credited for her work in 83 of them. She has left a lasting Hollywood legacy behind her with many Black actresses crediting McDaniel with paving the way for them. Mo’Nique even thanked McDaniel in her Oscar acceptance speech when she won for Precious.

19 Clara Bow

Known For Dancing Mothers, Mantrap, And It

Though the term “it girl” existed before Clara Bow, it become more widely used as a result of her acting career. Clara Bow become known as “the it girl” of Hollywood after appearing in the movie It and successfully transitioning from silent films to talkies. She was one of the few actresses able to do so, and she was a huge box office draw at the time. In the Turner Classic Movies documentary Discovering the It Girl, film historian Leonard Maltin makes the remark:

You think of Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, all these great names, great actresses. Clara Bow was more popular in of box-office dollars, in of consistently bringing audiences into the theaters. She was right on top.

Of course, today, people might be digging more into who Clara Bow was thanks to Taylor Swift referencing her in the song named for the actress. Swift sings about how people in the entertainment industry are constantly comparing women to those who came before them, tracing a time line from Bow’s career to her own.

18 Elizabeth Taylor

Known For Suddenly Last Summer, Cleopatra, And Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Elizabeth Taylor started her career in the movie industry at just seven years old in minor roles. She grew into a solid performer and a woman who could hold her own on screen against some of the best dramatic actors of the era.

While her work is sometimes overshadowed by scandal, like her affair with Richard Burton, she exemplified the grace and glamor of Hollywood during her heyday. She is really the world’s first movie star on an international scale. Audiences all over the world were interested in her personal life as much as they were in seeing her on screen.

Taylor won two Oscars during her career. Beyond acting, she also founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, committed to helping people afflicted with a disease that many others in Hollywood wanted to sweep under the rug.

17 Marilyn Monroe

Known For Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Some Like It Hot, And The Seven Year Itch

If Rita Hayworth was the first woman to see bombshell get prolific use alongside her name, Marilyn Monroe was the next. Known as the “blonde bombshell” for her roles that combined her talent with her sex appeal, Marilyn Monroe has been one of the most heavily scrutinized stars of all time.

Much like Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe’s personal life has been one that has fueled gossip even long after her death. It’s unfortunate for her legacy because she has also become one of the most often subjects of modern biopics (or making an appearance in someone else’s). That means her personal life has been dissected and debated time and again instead of audiences focusing on how great her comedy chops were.

Monroe, beyond her movie appearances, has become one of the most popular pop culture figures of all time. Her name and her image have been licensed for use by various brands long after her death. Her home in Los Angeles has even been named a historical monument.

16 Lauren Bacall

Known For: To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, And How To Marry A Millionaire

Lauren Bacall got her start in the industry as a model. It was at 20 that she transitioned to film roles with To Have And Have Not opposite Humphrey Bogart. Bacall and Bogart’s chemistry was a big part of what propelled her into stardom as the two were magical on screen together, but he was not the only reason she was a great actress. She trained to make her voice deeper and learned to recite Shakespeare, taking her foray into acting very seriously (via The New Yorker).

Her famous “Look” in which she tilted her chin down and looked up at the camera through her hair was actually born from her first screen test out of nerves. She was trying to get herself to stop shaking (via Harper’s Bazaar). Simple choices like that, made to make her more comfortable on camera, were worked into her screen persona and allowed her to forge a path in noir films at the time. It was hard for her to transition from noir to comedy, but she did.

Bacall was nominated for three Emmys and an Oscar and won two Golden Globes. She was also awarded an honorary Oscar in 2010.