"This book presents a frank and timely narrative of the boundary-pushing winners of the Best Actress Oscar and should be on every library shelf."
- Andie MacDowell “A smart and thought-provoking journey that doesn't miss a bump or a turn in its depiction of the important role women have played in the development of American cinema.”
- Liza Minnelli “This book is a valuable contribution that illustrates the profound changes that have characterized the role of women in the film world while demonstrating – time and again – how the ability to entertain is never far from the front lines of social change.”
- Susan Sarandon "While providing a wonderful opportunity to retrace the history of the Academy Awards through the great actresses who have won its top prize, this book shines an important spotlight on the prejudices that women in the film industry have continuously battled."
- Alberto Barbera (Venice Film Festival Artistic Director) "Open Tapert’s elegant doorstopper of a coffee-table book and you’ll find yourself face to face with Frances McDormand looking as if she has a trick up her sleeve....[Tapert] presents stars the way we want to see them: in action."
(New York Times Book Review) "Everything We Know About the Controversy Over Andrea Riseborough’s Oscar Nomination" (TIME Magazine) "Author Stephen Tapert fascinates by retelling the story of the 75 women who, over the decades, have won the coveted Academy Award for their work in the main female role in a movie....Consider it the perfect early Christmas present for the film buff in your life, or for yourself."
(Yahoo! Entertainment) (Classic Movie Musts podcast) "It is quite fitting to read Stephen Tapert’s nearly 500-page history of Best Actress Academy Award winners during Oscar season, of course. But it’s a book to be read and enjoyed any time, really. While we all know the details of the careers of recent winners like Brie Larson and Frances McDormand, Tapert spends just as much time on legendary figures like Norma Shearer and Marie Dressler. The chapter about Shearer’s tragic life is especially moving."
(The Film Stage) (UChicago Magazine) "No women's history or performing arts library should be without this in-depth survey."
(Donovan's Literary Services) (Shuffle Online) (Awards Daily) "Best Actress is impeccably well researched, edited, and constructed."
(Bright Lights Film Journal) (Classic Movie Musts podcast) (True Stories of Tinseltown podcast) "Tapert’s highly engaging content allows readers to discover more about films or actresses they know a little about and to learn about less familiar ones....[An] impressively detailed and beautifully presented publication."
(Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television) (Keep It podcast) "Tapert’s highly engaging content allows readers to discover more about films or actresses they know a little about and to learn about less familiar ones. The detailed ‘notes’ section demonstrates the detailed research that has gone into each actress, including scholarly works, biographies, magazine articles and website. Furthermore, an abundance of photographs are included, many featuring the women receiving their award or performing in their Oscar-winning role. Tapert notes that many are rare and previously unpublished, thus adding another layer of exclusivity to this impressively detailed and beautifully presented publication."
(Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television) " It's a book that can be read from start to finish with grace or a book where traveling to your favorite actress in any order is in order to enjoy."
(Edge Media Network)
