Meryl Streep started the decade with huge momentum("The Deer Hunter" and "Kramer vs. Kramer" both won Best Picture) and quickly became an unstoppable acting force. Is she the GOAT? Well, "Sophie's Choice" may be the finest performance ever given by a woman, and the Best Actress Oscar was a foregone conclusion. I don't want to make this all about awards, but Streep got six nominations(1981,1982,1983,1985,1987,1988) in seven years. Mention that the next time you hear about Magic Johnson and Wayne Gretsky. "Silkwood" is a movie you should seek out, and "Out of Africa" is Sydney Pollack's
Michelle Pfeiffer's career almost ended before it started when "Grease 2" bombed in '82(it's since been reclaimed as a cult classic). Fortunately, Al Pacino and Brian De Palma weren't paying attention, and one of the greatest female stars of all time was born. Elvira Hancock was a coked-up hottie, but there was barely a trace of the iconic character in her underrated follow-up, the John Landis comedy "Into the Night". Pfeiffer was further prepped for the A-list with "The Witches of Eastwick", one of the ten biggest hits of 1987. No actress ever had a better year than Pfeiffer did in '88- "Married to the Mob", Tequila Sunrise", and Dangerous Liasons" all showed a different side of her talent and were popular with critics AND audiences. To borrow a line from Tony Montana, the world was hers as the decade came to a close. "The Fabulous Baker Boys" had Roger Ebert comparing her to Marilyn Monroe, and her piano-top rendition of "Makin' Whoopie" remains one of the sexiest movie moments.
Kathleen Turner made one of the great debuts at age 27 as cheating Florida housewife Matty Walker in Lawrence Kasdan's "Body Heat". Which makes it almost shocking that her leading lady run was over a decade later. But we're hear to talk about the Reagan era, which included "Romancing the Stone" and it's sequel "The Jewel of the Nile", a popular two-fer that positioned Michael Douglas for movie stardom("The War of the Roses" made in an unofficial trilogy in '89). Turner went to work for Frances Ford Coppola and John Huston at her peak, and her sexy voice was immortalized in the Bob Zemeckis era-defining blockbuster "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
This Georgia model overcame her shyness to start an acting career in '70s television, before breaking out as a Bond Girl opposite an aging Sean Connery in 1983. But unlike most of the lovely ladies in that franchise, Kim Basinger was just getting started. From 1984-87, she worked with Robert Redford("The Natural"), got a priceless confidence boost from Robert Altman and Sam Shepherd("Fool for Love"), became a sex goddess in "9 1/2 Weeks", as was just as good as Jeff Bridges in "Nadine". Then came the third biggest movie of the decade. Basinger will always be best known as brave photographer Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's "Batman". The '90s were not as kind, but she weathered a string of flops to win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "L.A. Confidential".
Is Alex Forrest the single greatest female character of the '80s?
The former TV star lived up to her late '70s promise with two Best Actress trophies in five years. We like her.
She gave her best performance in Warren Beatty's "Reds", and "Baby Boom" was a late '80s cable classic.
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The '80s were good to Goldie, thanks to "Private Benjamin", "Seems Like Old Times", and "Overboard".
Daryl Hannah- Today's kids will never understand how famous she was. "Blade Runner", "Splash", "Roxanne", and "Wall Street" are all rewatchables.
The queen of the '70s worked a lot less with Reagan in office(exercise tapes aside). She still produced "On Golden Pond", 1981's second-biggest hit.
Remember when Cher was an actress? The 1987 Academy Awards do.
"Urban Cowboy", "An Officer and a Gentleman", and "Terms of Endearment" had this talented brunette looking like Meryl Streep's biggest threat. Then...(crickets).
Critics dismissed the former model in 1976's "King Kong". Less than twenty years later, she had six Oscar nominations(and two wins).
She broke out big with "Raising Arizona" and "Broadcast News", and peaked with a 1993 Best Actress win for "The Piano".
She blew Kelly McGillis off the screen(in a much smaller role) in "Top Gun". Three years later, we all had what she was having.
From "The Karate Kid" to "Back to the Future Part II", the amiable Shue was at the forefront of under-30 actresses.
Marty McFly's Mom had all the right moves, and was kind of wonderful. I hear "Howard the Duck" is a cult film.
Ted Danson's future wife won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1980's "Melvin and Howard" and went on to become an all-time character actress.
One of the decade's signature young stars, and she owes it all to John Hughes.
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