Quotes from Ray Hagen

So here they are, a gaggle of highly skilled and utterly unique actresses whose pre-feminist strength and independence were awesome to behold. Whether with gags, glares or gats, they railed, they ranted, they raved, they rode roughshod. They ruled.

I regret the passing of the studio system," Lucille Ball once said. "I was very appreciative of it because I had no talent. Believe me. What could I do? I couldn't dance. I couldn't sing. I could talk. I could barely walk. I had no flair. I wasn't a beauty, that's for sure.

Lucille Ball]'s such a TV icon it's hard for some to separate the two Lucys—the gorgeous, snappy actress of film and the wacky, slapstick queen of television. On TV she was a middle-aged housewife, on film she was a dazzling beauty. The difficulty with her movie career wasn't that she was bad or not up to the roles. Quite the contrary: They were rarely up to her.

Yes, she was probably the most blatantly carnal vixen ever filmed. And yes, she led a private life of considerable vitality and color. But let it not be forgotten that she was a stage-trained actress of greater power and range than moviegoers saw. Under all the Hollywood frou-frou, and her own misguided insecurities, Gloria Grahame was one killer tomato.