# Ugliest actress committed to film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403 "2003-02-16T06:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/1 "2003-02-16T06:37:26Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/2 "2003-02-16T06:58:57Z")
In term of “name” actresses, I have to go with either **Shelly Duvall** \*, or **Liza Minelli**. \*and in the spirit of “things everybody knew except you”, I just thought “Hey! She might be related to Robert Duvall somehow!” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/3 "2003-02-16T08:24:49Z")
Catherine Zeta Jones and Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![rmbnxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rmbnxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rmbnxs)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/4 "2003-02-16T08:41:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/5 "2003-02-16T08:48:41Z")
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)) ---
**Author:** ![soulburnz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@soulburnz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulburnz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/6 "2003-02-16T12:24:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/7 "2003-02-16T14:46:32Z")
Hmm. No photo of Hatchet Face on the IMDb (her name’s Kim McGuire). I’ve always thought Juliette Lewis and Ellen Barkin were kinda homely. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/8 "2003-02-16T14:58:37Z")
Sissy Spacek or Sandra Locke. It’s a toss-up. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/9 "2003-02-16T15:17:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeOnWry \* > \*\*Hmm. No photo of Hatchet Face on the IMDb (her name’s Kim McGuire). > > I’ve always thought Juliette Lewis and Ellen Barkin were kinda homely. \*\* [Small pic at bottom right - but you get the idea](http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/feature_story/0,4120,85461,00.html) She also played “Mammy Yokum” on stage. As a related topic there’s the [Celebrity whose face caused the doctor to smack it the hardest Poll](http://www.cupcakes.net/lawdog/ugliestcelebrity.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/10 "2003-02-16T15:20:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/11 "2003-02-16T15:39:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\*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. \*\* Here’s her face [Edna Mae Oliver](http://www.classicmoviemusicals.com/emo1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/12 "2003-02-16T15:41:03Z")
Kathy Bates. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/13 "2003-02-16T16:04:17Z")
Anne Ramsey – maybe best known as Momma from throw Momma from the Train ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/14 "2003-02-16T16:19:01Z")
I nominate Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West) and Mindy Sterling (Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers). ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/15 "2003-02-16T16:59:05Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/16 "2003-02-16T17:08:53Z")
Tori Spelling. Oh, no, wait, you said actress. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![dimarco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@dimarco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimarco)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/17 "2003-02-16T17:16:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/18 "2003-02-16T17:20:11Z")
Actress: Edith Massey, one of John Waters’s favorite actresses. Actor: Ernest Borgnine. Sentimental favorite: Rondo Hattan. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/19 "2003-02-16T17:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fiver \* > \*\* > > Sentimental favorite: Rondo Hattan. \*\* [Rondo Hattan](http://itsb.ucsf.edu/~vcr/rondo.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403/20 "2003-02-16T17:51:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rmbnxs \* > \*\ ***Sandra Bernhard**. If she were a dog she’d still be considered ugly. \*\* I’ll second that. What about Melissa Rivers? Does she count? She looks like a female version of Steven Tyler. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-actress-committed-to-film/155403.md?page=2)