TITLE    : Lesbian and Bisexual Actresses
STORYID  : lesbian-and-bisexual-actresses
SUMMARY  : Well, the title sort of says it all.
AUTHOR   : Cal Y. Pygia@lit
DATE     : 2006-07-26
CATEGORY : reviews-and-essays
FLAGS    : 
TAGS     : |lesbian|bisexual|actresses|kisses|outing|same-sex|celebrities|star|movie|television|


Although lesbian and bisexual celebrities have worked in the movie, music, sports, and other entertainment industries since these industries began, they have felt the need, because of social and political pressures, not to divulge their sexual orientations, but to remain closeted concerning their preferences for same-sex or both-sex partners. In more recent years, some such celebrities have become more open about acknowledging their true sexuality. In other cases, the sexuality of such actresses has been identified by others in the interest of a gay rights political agenda, a practice known as "outing."



Among the stars of the early years of Hollywood (1920 - 1950), the following either identified themselves as lesbian or bisexual or were so identified by others:



Film star Alla Nazimova



Film star Greta Garbo 



Film star Marlene Dietrich



Film star Tallulah Bankhead



Film director Dorothy Arzner



Film actress Eva Le Gallienne



Film actress Barbara Stanwyck



Film actress Louise Brooks



Film actress Janet Gaynor



Film actress Mary Martin



Film actress Agnes Moorehead



Film actress Dame Judith Anderson



Film actress Elsa Lanchester



Film actress Sandy Dennis



Television actress Nancy Kulp



Television actress Sheila Kuehl



Writer Mercedes de Acosta (one of Nazimova's lovers)



Stage actress Eva Le Gallienne



Comedienne Patsy Kelly



Screenwriter Salka Viertel



Writer Diana McLellan



Dolly Wilde (Oscar Wilde's niece)



Among the stars of the contemporary Hollywood (1951 - present), the following either identified themselves as lesbian or bisexual or were so identified by others:



Film actress Lily Tomlin



Film actress Anne Heche



Film actress Amanda Bearse



Film actress Drew Barrymore



Film actress Angelina Jolie



Film actress Ione Skye



Film actress Guinevere Turner



Film actress Cheryl Dunye



Film actress Rosie O'Donnell



Film actress Catherine Deneuve



Film actress Kristy McNichol



Film actress Helen Hunt



Film actress Queen Latifah



Film actress Clea DuVall



Film actress Jodie Foster



Film actress Roberta Close (transgendered)



Film actress Portia de Rossi



Film actress Cherry Jones



Film actress/singer Madonna



Comedienne Paula Poundstone



Comedienne Ellen DeGeneres



Comedienne Sandra Bernhard



Comedienne Margaret Cho



Singer Leisha Hailey (The Murmurs)



Writer Jane Wagner



Other notable lesbian entertainers and professionals who identify themselves as lesbian or bisexual or who have been identified as such include:



Singer Whitney Houston



Singer Joan Baez



Singer Melissa Etheridge



Singer Janis Ian



Singers Emily Saliers and Amy Ray (The Indigo Girls)



Singer Sinead O'Connor



Singer Linda Perry



Singer Vicki Randle



Singer Phranc



Tennis champion Billie Jean King



Tennis champion Martina Navratilova



Nickelodeon executive Kelli Carpenter (Rosie O'Donnell'slover)



Gossip columnist Liz Smith



Political activist Chastity Bono, daughter of Sonny Bono and Cher)



Model Jenny Shimizu



On-screen kisses have occurred on movie and television screens from at least 1991 to the present.



Although some of the following actresses claim to be heterosexual, they have filmed scenes in which they kiss other women in a romantic fashion. A few of those who claim to be heterosexual have, nevertheless, made comments that could be construed as being of a lesbian character.



Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair



Sarah Michelle Gellar and Lindsay Sloane



Alyson Hannigan and Amber Benson



Alyson Hannigan and Jaime Pressly



Alyson Hannigan and Iyari Limon



Pamela Anderson and unnamed actress



Calista Flockhart and Lucy Liu



Calista Flockhart and Courtney Thorne-Smith



Calista Flockhart and Jane Krakowski



Uma Thurman and Maria de Medeiros



Uma Thurman and Rain Phoenix



Tiffani-Amber Thiessen and Jaime Pressly



Eliza Dushku and Angela Featherstone



Hilary Swank and Chloë Sevigny



Laura Innes and Elizabeth Mitchell



Laura Innes and Lisa Vidal



Elizabeth Mitchell and Angelina Jolie



Anna Paquin and Bijou Phillips



Jennifer Connelly and Kristy Swanson



Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Berkley



Britney Spears and Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna



Christina Aguilera and Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna



James King and Laura Prepon



Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson



Jessica Paré and Piper Perabo



Monica Bellucci and Jada Pinkett Smith



Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson



Mia Kirshner and Kim Murphy



Naomi Watts and Laura Harring



Neve Campbell and Denise Richards



Neve Campbell and Olivia D'Abo



Heather Locklear and Denise Richards



Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynsky



Larisa Oleynik and Katherine Heigl



Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly



Alyssa Milano and Charlotte Lewis



Salma Hayek and Ashley Judd



Salma Hayek and Jeanne Tripplehorn



Chloë Sevigny and Michelle Williams



Meredith Viera and Lisa Ling



Debra Messing and Megan Mullaly



Anne Heche and Joan Chen



Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and Rie Rasmussen



Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed



Valerie Ray Miller and Tangelia Rouse



Michelle Clunie and Thea Gill



Kim Cattrall and Sonia Braga



Jennifer Aniston and Winona Ryder



Tiffany Amber Thiessen and Jaime Pressly



Sarah Jessica Parker and Alanis Morissette



Asia Argento and Selen



Neve Campbell and Rachel True



Dominique Swain and Mia Kirshner



Carla Gugino and Molly Parker



Joey Lauren Adams and Carmen Lee



Geri Halliwell and Kylie Minogue



Kate Beckinsale and Frances McDormand



Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci



Gwyneth Paltrow and Tatiana Abbey



Jane Jensen and Debbie Rochon



Ally Sheedy and Patricia Clarkson



Leila Arcieri and Susan Ward



Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon



Jisela Delgado and Lori Trespicio



Kim Director and Erica Leerhsen



Susan Lynch and Estelle Skornik



Carmen Electra and Amy Smart



Mia Kirshner and Beverly Polcyn



Alexis Bledel and Liza Weil



Michelle Green and Amanda Donohoe



Holly Marie Combs and Alexondra Lee



Roseanne and Mariel Hemingway



Alyssa Milano and Sarah Strange



Terry Farrell and Susanna Thompson



Lisa Edelstein and Kristin Datillo



Tracey Ullman and Julie Kavner



Ellen DeGeneres and Lisa Darr



Angela Dorhmann and Tamara Mark



Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor



Gina Torres and Peta Wilson



Nicole de Boer and Nana Visitor



Colleen Azar and Carol Baker



Mia Kirshner and Kim Murphy



Sonia Sohn and Melanie Nicholls-King



Evan Rachel Wood and Mischa Barton



Britany Daniels and Tinsley Grimes



Tiffany Knight and Jaime Pressly



Raechelle Lefevre and Victoria Sanchez



Jessica Psaila and Caitlin Dahl



Morena Baccarin and a ''Firefly (television series)Firefly'' councillor



Olga Sosnovska and Eden Riegel



Melissa George and Carly Thomas



Malinda Williams and Terri J. Vaughn



Kate Mara and Sophia Bush



Roma Maffia and transwoman Jonathan del Arco



Rebecca DeMornay and Vanessa Williams



Lola Gluadini and Emilie de Ravenhad



Clea Duvall and Carla Gallo



Melissa Lee and Rachael Bella



Elizabeth Hendrickson and Eden Riegel



Olga Sosnovska and Eden Riegel



Portia and Heather Alicia Sims



Kim Dickens and an unnamed actress



Brittany Daniels and an unnamed actress



Krista Kalmus and Makika Dominczky



Mena Suvari and Lauren Ambrose



Patricia Valesquez and an unnamed actress



Joely Richardson and Famke Janssen



April Matson and Danica Stewart



Kristen Kreuk and Brianna Lynn Brown



Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton



Kelly Ripa and Faith Ford



Olivia Wilde and an unnamed actress



Sharon Leal and Pamela Anderson



Daniella Alonso and Hilarie Burton



Elizabeth Hendrickson and Eden Riegel



Mischa Barton and Olivia Wilde



Kat Mara and Jessica Pare



Pamela Anderson kissed a stripper on ''The Howard Stern Show'' and said that she might have a lesbian affair in the future. Anderson also confessed that she dreams about Madonna.



Jane Wiedlin told Out.com that she and Adrienne Curry mocked a camera crew by making out while they were filming an episode of ''Surreal Life''.



Eva Longoria has admitted to exchanging erotic kisses with other women before the camera and off screen and says she could forsake men altoghether for the "right womam."



Debra Messing and Megan Mullally spent much of their time between takes in filming ''Will and Grace'' kissing and fodling one another's breasts, and, during an acceptabce speech, Messing Debra began a serious acceptance speech Messing told Mullally, "I'm sorry. I can't stop thinking about your mouth" and the two actresses agreed that there is nothing "better than making out in front of a room full of queers and half the cast of Desperate Housewives."



Eva Mendez confessed to Ask Men that she enjoyed her first on-screen kiss with another woman and that she loves women. "Guys can be yucky," she added, but "girls are sweet, soft and smell good."



Elisha Cuthbert refused to answer a ''Stardust'' interviewer's question as to whether she is interested sexually in other women, but she did admit that she likes to look at them, adding, "The female body is beautiful."



Carmen Electra told the German magazine ''Bunte'' that she'd enjoy having a three-way affair with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie and admitted that she enjoyed shooting a lesbian scene with Amy Smart in ''Starsky &amp; Hutch''.



Dolly Parton habitually sleeps in the same bed as her best friend, a female, and confided to Jay Leno on ''The Tonight Show'' that she'd be tempted to make love to Lily Tomlin.



Tara Palmer Tomkinson shared the fact with an ''FHM'' reporter that she'd had a schoolgirl crush on another female student.



To an ''Outsmart'' reporter, Valerie Rae Miller characterized herself as "equal opportunity" with regard to men and women as sexual partners.



Sarah Michelle Gellar said she'd leave her husband Freddie Prinze, Jr., for Nicole Kidman, whom Gellar described as "hot." In ''Cruel Intentions'', Gellar French kissed Selma Blair, whom she kissed again at the MTV awards show, where she and Blair won a trophy for "Best Kiss." Gellar also kissed an actress in the television series Grosse Pointe.



Natalie Portman has confessed to bisexual tendencies, asking, "Why would you close yourself off to 50-per-cent of people?"



Winona Ryder has often been seen--and photographed--holding hands with and kissing her gal pal and fellow actresss Brittany Murphy.



In an IMdb article, Julianna Marguiles said that she and fellow actress Kyra Sedgwick (Kevin Bacon's wife) visited lesbian bars to reserach their roles as lesbian lovers on ''What's Cooking?'' and enchanged lesbian kisses while fondling one another's bodies. There was no word as to what Bacon thought about his wife's infidelity.



Kristy Swanson said she enjoyed kissing Jennifer Connelly in ''Higher Learning'' and, in a Maxim magazine article, she admitted that Connelly is a good kisser. All girls are curious, Swanson added, as to what it is like to kiss another female.



According to ELMS, these actresses and other celebrities have been or are lesbian couples:



Samantha Fox and Cris Bonacci



Samantha Fox and Myra Stratton



Emma Thompson and Michaela de la Cour



Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot



Greta Garbo and Louise Brooks



Ione Skye and Jenny Shimizu



Karrie Webb and Kelly Robbins



Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels



Madonna and Jennifer Grey



Louise Glover and Leanne Carr



Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich



Helena Stenbäck and Heidi Ershult



Ellen DeGeneres and Anne Heche



Anna Nicole Smith and Sandi Powledge



Inka Grings and Martina Voss



Melissa Ann and Jenna Jameson



Portia de Rossi and Francesca Gregorini



Debbie Reynolds and Agnes Moorehead



Saffron Burrows and Fiona Shaw



Ellen DeGeneres and Alexandra Hedison



Sandra Bernhard and Patricia Velasquez



Anna Nicole Smith and Maria Antonia Cerrato



Hella von Sinnen and Cornelia Scheel



Carrie Westcott and Shae Marks



Kirsten Imrie and Helen Labdon



Alex Parks and Jill Jackson



Amelie Mauresmo and Sylvie Bourdon



Billie Jean King and Marilyn Barnett



Kelly McGillis and Madonna



Rachel Williams and Alice Temple 

