Honoring Women Trailblazers in TV and Film | Part 1 of 3

In honor of Women’s History Month, Broadway Stages is highlighting the accomplishments of several women with historic and impactful careers, in front of the camera and behind it. We begin our three part series with a few pioneers who appeared in front of the camera.

Beloved Betty White passed away in December 2021, less than a month shy of her 100th birthday. The “First Lady of Television” spent more than seven decades entertaining the world, earning her a Guinness World Record for “Longest TV Career by an Entertainer (Female).” She also won five Primetime Emmy Awards (out of 21 nominations), three Screen Actors Guild Awards (including a Life Achievement Award), and even a Grammy for best spoken word album in 2011. In 1995, she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. She is also recognized as the first woman to produce a sitcom, “Life with Elizabeth,” which ran for two seasons from 1953 to 1955. She was beloved by fans for her award-winning roles on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls,” and “Hot in Cleveland.”

Last year we also lost Cicely Tyson, who died in January 2021 at the age of 96. Her accolades speak for themselves: Three Primetime Emmy Awards (out of 16 nominations), a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Tony Award, an honorary Academy Award, and a Peabody Award. She was also a Kennedy Center honoree, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Television Hall of Fame inductee. For TV viewers, she is probably best remembered for her role as Binta in the 1977 miniseries “Roots” and for her recurring appearances as Ophelia Harkness on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder.” In film, she portrayed Rebecca in 1970’s “Sounder” and played a key, heartbreaking role in 2011’s “The Help.”

Lucille Ball paved the way for women in front of and behind the camera. Not only was she the first woman inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, but also was the only woman in the seven-member inaugural class of 1984. She was the first woman to head a TV production company (Desilu, formed with her husband Desi Arnaz), and the first to appear on a major network while pregnant, which was unheard of in the 1950s. Ball used her influence to change the rules regarding women on television, and we are all better off for it.

Another pioneer who changed the image of women on television was Mary Tyler Moore. She first gained fame playing a housewife on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the early ‘60s, but in the ‘70s she starred in her own show that took her out of the house and into the workforce. Moore played Mary Richards, an unmarried woman focused on her career as associate producer of a news program in Minneapolis. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” ran for seven seasons during the height of second-wave feminism. It was also immensely popular, winning 29 Primetime Emmy Awards and spurring three spin-offs. Mary Richards (and the actress who portrayed her) inspired generations of women to follow their dreams and the mantra “You’re gonna make it after all!”

A true legend both in front of and behind the camera, Oprah Winfrey needs no introduction (and no last name). Oprah hosted her nationally syndicated eponymous talk show for 25 years, launching a media empire in the process. In 1986 she founded her own production company, Harpo Productions. She has produced countless plays, films, and television series. In 2000 she founded her own magazine called “O,” which was published for 20 years. In 2008 she formed the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The living legend’s list of accomplishments is tremendous, and she is not slowing down. Her 2021 interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was one of the most-talked-about events of the year. She still runs her popular Book Club and also hosts a streaming series on Apple TV+ in which she interviews celebrities.

Thank you to all the trailblazers who opened doors for the women who are dominating the airwaves today. Next week, we will celebrate the accomplishments of women behind the camera in the film and television industry.