One night, while not finding anything to watch on TV, I started working on this list. The Top 40 Sitcom Actresses (U.S.) - In Chronological Order Actress ………………….. Show ……………………………………………. Current Show Lucille Ball …………….. I Love Lucy …………………………………… *** Audrey Meadows …. The Honeymooners ……………………..... *** Betty White ………….. Life with Elizabeth ………………………... Hot in Cleveland Eve Arden …………….. Our Miss Brooks …………………………... *** Jane Wyatt …………… Father Knows Best ………………………... *** Donna Reed …………. The Donna Reed Show ………………..... *** Elizabeth Montgomery .. Bewitched ……………………………….... *** Mary Tyler Moore …. The Mary Tyler Moore Show …………... --- Valerie Harper ………. The Mary Tyler Moore Show …………... --- Suzanne Pleshette … The Bob Newhart Show ………………...... *** Loretta Swit ……........ M*A*S*H …………………………………….... --- Isabel Sanford ……….. The Jeffersons ……………………………….. *** Marla Gibbs ………….. The Jeffersons ………………………………... --- Bonnie Franklin …….. One Day at a Time ……………………….... *** Joyce DeWitt …........ Three’s Company ………………………….... --- Meredith Baxter …… Family Ties ……………………………………... --- Marilu Henner …...... Taxi ………………………………………………... --- Shelley Long …………. Cheers ………………………………………….... --- Phylicia Rashad …….. The Cosby Show ………………………….... --- Susan Saint James … Kate and Allie ………………………………... --- Jane Curtin ……......... Kate and Allie ……………………………….. Unforgettable Judith Light …………… Who’s the Boss? …………………………..... Transparent Bea Arthur ……………. The Golden Girls ………………………….... *** Dixie Carter ………….. Designing Women ……………………….... *** Katey Sagal …………… Married with Children ………………….... Sons of Anarchy Laurie Metcalf ………. Roseanne …………………………………….... Getting On Candice Bergen …….. Murphy Brown …………………………….... --- Shelley Fabares …….. Coach ………………………………………….... --- Julia Louis-Dreyfus … Seinfeld ……………………………………….... Veep Patricia Richardson .. Home Improvement ……………………... --- Peri Gilpin ………........ Frasier ………………………………………….. Mr. Robinson Jane Leeves ………….. Frasier …………………………………………... Hot in Cleveland Erika Alexander …….. Living Single …………………………………. Last Man Standing Jenifer Aniston ……… Friends …………………………………………... --- Christine Baranski …. Cybill …………………………………………….. The Good Wife Patricia Heaton …..... Everybody Loves Raymond …………... The Middle Laura San Giacomo .. Just Shoot Me! ……………………………... --- Felicity Huffman ……. Sports Night ………………………………..... American Crime Debra Messing ……… Will and Grace ……………………………..... The Mysteries of Laura Kaley Cuoco ………….. The Big Bang Theory ……………………... The Big Bang Theory One actress from this list played a significant role in the Star Trek franchise. Can you identify that actress?
Some possible additions: Joan Davis (I Married Joan) Harriet Nelson (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) Barbara Billingsley (Leave it to Beaver) Dawn Wells, Natalie Schaefer, Tina Louise (Gilligan's Island) Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) Marion Ross (Happy Days) Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams (Laverne and Shirley) Sarah Chalke (Roseanne, Scrubs) Jean Stapleton (All in the Family) [an unforgivable oversight IMHO ] Suzanne Somers (Three's Company)
Jane Leeves goes back farther than Frazier. I first saw her as a regular on a 1986 show called "Throb" about a record company.
Thanks for the great responses. Gul and Faceman are both correct. I was thinking of Jane Wyatt, who played Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother, in "Return to Babel", (TOS Season 2), and in "The Voyage Home". I was aware of the Lucille Ball connection to Star Trek, but I wasn't thinking of it when I posted. Life with Elizabeth, starring Betty White, premiered in 1952.
Also, Bea Arther's first successful series was Maude. She created the character on All in the Family and it spun off.
