Despite a few wince-worthy moments of weakness (“Captain… I’m frightened”), Lt. Uhura on Star Trek was pretty tough. Just ask Evil Scarred Sulu.
Counselor Troi and Dr. Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation were sometimes strong, sometimes not; sometimes independent, sometimes not.
Has Mrs. Partridge been mentioned yet?
Dr. Pulaski was strong and independent. She was also unlikable IMO, mostly because of the way she treated Data.
Preceding that: Diana Rigg in “The Avengers” 1961-69
She was also completely financially independent, the sensible, competent person in the show (and generally admired for her brain). She was also the center of the show - not a side character.
I think I have a different definition of “independent” than you.
Her pursuit of Boynton was hardly independent, and in the radio show, despite her sardonic outlook, she was not particularly competent and was just as likely to do something stupid as anyone else.
Yes, I should have mentioned her, although she appeared in only a single season. She was so consistently rude to and dismissive of Data - a shipmate, even if an android - that it really irritated me.
It felt, to me, like the producers specifically were trying to make a female version of Bones with Dr. Pulaski – feisty, cranky, emotional, distrustful of techology, more focused on the “human” side of their job. Pulaski’s dislike of Data was like Bones’ dislike of Spock, and of the transporter, all rolled into one.
And she was polite and pleasant with Moriarty, who had less claim to being a “person” than Data - which suggested that she treated people based on how humanoid they looked.
In 1957 Beverly Garland played Detective “Casey” Jones, an undercover cop, in the one-season TV series Decoy. She worked alone, didn’t even seem to have a regular commanding officer. The only mention in the entire series of a boyfriend was that he had died.
Tezuka’s Princess Knight, from 1967?