Women’s History Month has begun and it’s important that we recognize actresses that have been captivating audiences with their talent.
Quinta Brunson | December 21. 1989 –
Quinta Brunson has made some pretty large leaps in her career over the past few years. She got her start with fame in 2014 as a producer, writer and on-screen personality with the company Buzzfeed.
While at Buzzfeed, she created her first successful video series called The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date. She also created videos on what it was like to be the only black woman in the room at her job with BuzzFeed.
In 2018, Quinta left BuzzFeed and embarked on various other projects, playing minor one-time roles in different shows such as New Girl.
In 2019, she began starring and writing for one of her largest acting roles, A Black Lady Sketch Show. In 2021, Brunson published her first book, She Memes Well. This is the same year that Brunson’s show, Abbott Elementary, was picked up by ABC Network.
Her well-known comedic show about elementary school teachers’ lives has won Best Comedy Series from multiple award shows, including Golden Globe Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards.
Betty White | January 17, 1922 – December 31, 2021
Betty White is a household name for most people. She began her career by being a personality on different radio shows. She moved to on-screen television as the first woman to appear on television in an experimental broadcast in 1939.
She produced and starred in Life with Elizabeth from 1952 to 1955. Betty was the first woman to star in a sitcom, the first woman to produce a national television show and the first woman to be nominated for an Emmy.
She starred in the popular show, Golden Girls, as a ditzy old woman named Rose Nylund. She was one of the main characters in the show for the full run time, from 1985 to 1992. After Golden Girls, she acted in various roles in different shows such as Hot in Cleveland and To Tell the Truth. Betty white passed away at the age of 99 on Dec. 31, 2021.
Mindy Kaling | June 24, 1979 –
Mindy Kaling has been known to break stereotypical rumors during her entire career. She is known for telling different journalists that if they are looking for a story on Indian parents not being supportive of her going into a creative field, they need to look somewhere else.
Mindy has made her way in Hollywood, but of course, it took a lot of time. She is well known for her role as Kelly Kapoor and being one of the writers for the NBC sitcom, The Office.
Since The Office, Kaling has been an on-screen actress and a voice actress. In the 2015 animated film Inside Out, Kaling voiced the character Disgust. During this time, she was also writing and starring in a show that she created called The Mindy Project. It aired from 2012 to 2017.
Kaling has received many awards for her work, such as Outstanding Comedy Series in 2011 for production work on The Office and the National Medal of Arts award presented to her by former President Joe Biden.
Reese Witherspoon | March 22, 1976 –
Reese Witherspoon started her career at a very young age. She was first a model and appeared in a few local television commercials. In 2001, she got her breakthrough role as Elle Woods in the film Legally Blonde. This put Witherspoon on the map to get more major roles such as the one in Walk the Line.
She began her producing career in 2003 with Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. In 2012, she founded Pacific Standard, a production company with a focus on women-led stories. She is also the founder of the production company, Hello Sunshine. In 2021, she sold a majority of the stakes in Hello Sunshine.
In 2023, Forbes named Witherspoon as one of the richest self-made women in America. Reese Witherspoon has also written several books, including a children’s book series titled Busy Betty.
Julie Andrews | October 1, 1935 –
Born Julia Elizabeth Wells, she has always had a heart for performing. When she was a child, her mother and stepfather realized she had a remarkable singing voice. They had her performing in music throughout her childhood.
In 1954, Andrews went to Broadway with her skills. In 1957, she had her breakthrough role on Broadway as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. She started her on-screen career with her role in Cinderella in the same year.
Her breakthrough film was with Walt Disney. She was cast in Mary Poppins as Ms. Mary Poppins. Just a year later after Mary Poppins, in 1965, she was cast as Baronin Maria von Trapp.
Since then, Julie Andrews has starred in a lot of our childhood favorites. Movies such as The Princess Diaries, Despicable Me, and Eloise at Christmastime. Julie Andrews has won 67 awards and has been nominated for 135.
