I was watching John Water’s Crybaby with Johnny Depp on VH1 last night and I caught myself doing something. I simply cannot take my eyes off that female actress who played the character Hatchetface. This poor woman has got to be seen to be believed. I mean HOLY COW is she homely! I have never seen her before or since…which is a good thing. I know she was played up to look ugly but man oh man…it’s downright scary!
This got me thinking that this would be a good thread for the SDMB. How about it? For your money, who is the ugliest actress ever put on film?
Liza Minelli and Shelley Duvall are good choices, but for my money the ugliest woman ever to appear in a major motion-picture is without a doubt Sandra Bernhard. If she were a dog she’d still be considered ugly. The woman who played the psychologist in An Unmarried Woman deserves to be nominated as well.
Patsy Byrne (playing Nursie in Blackadder comes to mind, as well as Megan Cavanagh in her role in A League of their Own. However, at least in the latter case I’ve seen the actress in question in other roles where she was not too bad looking. IMHO actresses ‘play’ ugly when they are asked to do it, by changing posture and facial expression. You can try it yourself by looking in the mirror and hunching and making foul faces. The whole thing is therefore more an act than real pre-existing physical uglyness.
Though for some, it does come more naturally
(pity that it’s only about actresses; I would nominate Kiefer Sutherland in Freeway, after he’s released from the hospital: “Look who’s been beaten with ugly stick!” (
Reese Witherspoon as Vanessa Lutz))
Hatchface is exactly who came to my mind when I read the title of the OP. A friend and I were just talking about the movie last night. Too funny… she is very scary - would be interesting to see what she looks like without the makeup.
Edna Mae Oliver. A frequent charicature in 1940s WB cartoons. Imagine Lily Tomlin’s “Operator Ernestine” but with a face twice as long.
The first time I ever saw a photo of her, I immediately tied her with the cartoon. Until then, I had no clue that that was a charicature. I thought it was just another stock character.
Yes, poor Margaret Hamilton made a living being ugly–she was a walking punchline. I always marveled that she was such a well-adjusted, cheerful woman; I’d have slit my wrists.
Sad to see most people still look at B. S. as the icon of beauty. Margaret Hamilton, Edna Oliver, are beauty in the classic sense as were most of the great women in history. I’m not too sure about Anne Ramsey as I can’t picture her otherwise than what we’ve seen. These women can play these roles and evidently did their job as they convinced most people.