I nominate Agent June Stahl from Sons Of Anarchy. I just rewatched SOA Season 2 (I’ve seen Season 3, but not 4) and I was again impressed with Ally Walker’s work as Agent Stahl. It’s the weird head bobbing, like a Praying Mantis sizing up a cricket before she seizes it and bites it’s head off. Tough, smart, amoral. Loved/hated her.
The Queen from Aliens.
That was same damn good acting.
I nominate Kate from East of Eden.
Cruella Deville of 101 Dalmations.
And Georgette from The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The *Wicked Witch of the East *was pretty bad-assed.
What did Sherlock Holmes call her, “The Woman”, “The Other Woman?”
Elanore Iselin from The Manchurian Candidate
The mother of the main characters in Heroes. Ruthless, complex, and well-acted.
The Woman. Not sure she really counts as a villain, though. Villain to me is more evil than she was. But she was a good character, hence her being elevated in status in a lot of adaptations.
Isabelle de Merteuil from Dangerous Liasions. Cruel and malicious. Glenn Close played her to perfection.
Georgette (Ted’s wife) or Sue Ann Nivens, the Happy Homemaker (Betty White)? I’m not sure I can see Georgette as a villain.
How about Lucretia from Spartacus?
Played by the lovely Lucy Lawless.
Maybe not quite as villainous as some, but definitely sexy.
And, after all, I want my female villains to be sexy.
That’s just what she wants you to think!
Livia Soprano.
A lot of villains of any gender are sexy, partly because they’re often intelligent and witty, and partly because they’re not shackled by goodness as many good guys are - they have a lot of leeway to do interesting things. Being Lucy Lawless does help, I agree.
I nominate Mags Bennett from season 2 of Justified.
Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity.
Theda Bara in A Fool There Was.
Kathleen Turner in Body Heat.
Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz.
Bette Davis in The Little Foxes.
Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven.
Milady de Winter (in the original book).
The Baroness, though she’s arguably a sidekick
Poison Ivy
Catwoman
Cruella de Vil
Nurse Ratched
Umm, you may get a few votes for Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) in Misery.
Tilda Swinton as the White Witch of Narnia.
Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction.
Evil! Pure, sexy evil.