I would say Meryl Streep has indeed done enough stage work to count, she not only got her start in the 70s as a prominent stage actress (from the time she was at Yale) to her constant returns to the New York stage for the Public Theatre. Not sure if she's necessarily the best living stage actress (definitely the best living film actress), but she's definitely in the top five.
Donna Murphy with her chameleon-like ability and her breath-taking stage presence (try getting your eyes off her when she's on stage...you can't) should be on the list.
Now, Close? Never seen her on stage but she shouldn't be on there over the likes of Zoe Caldwell and Lansbury.
I think Lansbury should have the top title, with Caldwell, Harris, Maggie Smith, and Meryl Streep rounding up the top five. I'd say Donna Murphy, Bernadette Peters, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones, and maybe Cynthia Nixon (or a legend like Dench or Redgrave) should round up the top 10--in no specific order.
I think Anika Noni Rose is close to getting there, she just hasn't done enough stage work to put her in the same list as the rest of the actresses mentioned on here.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Updated On: 3/16/08 at 04:25 AM