Strong Women On-Screen Part I - The Pioneers
By Jay de Leon

Originally Published in WorldBlackBelt, 2004

     When I was a youngster in the Philippines, I watched my usual share of martial arts movies, especially those made in Hong Kong, sometimes called the “chop fuey” or “kung-phooey” movies. I remember watching the very first Bruce Lee movie, called The Big Boss in Asia, on the big screen. I knew Bruce Lee would be a big star then.

Bruce Lee in a fight scene in “The Big Boss”

     But it might interest you to know that Bruce Lee was not my favorite martial arts actor then. It was an actor named Meng Fei, another kung-fu practitioner. Close on his heels as a favorite was a Japanese stylist named Shoji Karada aka Shoji Kurata, probably because at that time I was training in shorin-ryu karate, a hard Okinawan style.

Kung-fu action star Meng Fei

Japanese action star Shoji Kurata

     I also knew that the martial arts genre would eventually make it big in Hollywood and attract mainstream audiences. But what I did not foresee was the phenomenon of women in martial arts making it just as big in the big screen, as well as the small screen (TV series).
     Of course the phenomenon did not happen overnight. As early as the 60’s, there were strong women in both the big and small screen that laid the ground work for the success of female action figures today.
     Here are some of the female action stars I remember and enjoyed watching in the early 60’s through the 90’s. Of course they were attractive and strong, with that happy balance of brains and beauty, and of course, very strong sex appeal.
While some of you may be too young to remember most of these ladies, you may still catch reruns of their movies or shows on cable, on video or DVD or just some late night classic hour on TV.

DIANA RIGG

Diana Rigg (right) with Patrick MacNee in “The Avengers”

     This was one of my favorite shows in the late 60’s for two reasons—Diana Rigg as the redoubtable Emma Peel, and martial arts, or the miniscule glimmer of it. The show was campy, Diana Rigg could be vampy, and the martial arts miserably skimpy, usually taking place towards the end of the show as Diana Rigg polished off the bad guys. But the combination of Diana Rigg’s angelic face, British accent, high fashion and martial arts skill ensured I would be back for the next weekly show. After quitting the show, Diana Rigg has had an illustrious stage, film and TV career, culminating in the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire conferred by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.

NORA MIAO

Nora Miao (left) with Bruce Lee

     If you are a Bruce Lee fan or a Hong Kong kung-fu movies aficionado, you would know Nora Miao, or at least recognize her. Nora Miao was in three of the Bruce Lee movies, including the first one, The Big Boss as it was called in Asia, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon. She also starred in numerous Hong Kong kung-fu movies. During the 70’s, she was one of the decade’s Asian leading actresses, filming Taiwanese dramas back to back with Hong Kong swordplay and martial arts films. Current stars like Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh who are riding the crest of success of the now respectable kung-fu movies have Nora Miao and the other early stars of Hong Kong movies to thank for blazing the way in this genre.

PAM GRIER

Movie poster for “Foxy Brown" starring Pam Grier

Quentin Tarantino was not alone growing up with, uh, fantasies about Pam Grier.  In the 70’s, Pam Grier shot to stardom as the gorgeous but hard-as-nails heroine of blaxploitation classics like Foxy Brown and Coffy.   Twenty years later, after his directorial triumph in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino cast her in the title role of his film Jackie Brown.  She was not idle during the interlude, however, with occasional work in theater and screen roles in movies like Fort Apache the Bronx with Paul Newman,  Escape from L.A. with Kurt Russell,  and Above the Law with Steven Seagal.

PETA WILSON

Peta Wilson in the title role of the TV series “La Femme Nikita.”

     Okay, the premise is a wee bit over the top. In the TV series La Femme Nikita, Peta Wilson plays Nikita, a cold blooded operative blackmailed by a clandestine anti-terrorist organization to work for them. Peta Wilson was formerly an athlete and a model born in Australia who had lived all over the world before moving to Los Angeles to seek cinematic fame and fortune. She trained for a couple of months learning shooting, karate, tai chi and close quarter combat for this series. You probably saw her last in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Sean Connery.

URSULA ANDRESS

Ursula Andress as “Honey Ryder” in the first James Bond film “Dr. No.”

     This scene from the first James Bond film Dr. No (1962) features Ursula Andress emerging from the sea as Honey Ryder in a white swimsuit with a knife at her waist, dripping tantalizingly wet. This iconic image has been often been mentioned as the sexiest screen moment of all time, insuring Andress’s place in cinematic history. Not bad for a Swiss actress whose accent then was so thick her voice was dubbed over, and whose character was supposed to have a broken nose. Either way, Andress set the bar for generations of Bond girls to follow—gorgeous yet slightly wounded, strong yet extremely vulnerable, but always alluring and irresistible.

CYNTHIA ROTHROCK

Cynthia Rothrock in one of her movies, “Rage and Honor.”

     Cynthia Rothrock was an incredibly accomplished martial artist who eventually became one of the greatest martial arts and action stars in the world, earning her such titles as “Queen of Martial Arts Films,” “Kung-fu Video Queen,” and the like. She spent many years in Hong Kong starring in Asian produced motion pictures for Golden Harvest and other Asian film companies, eventually starring in domestic action films as well. Currently, she has teamed up with my friend and kung-fu legend Eric Lee, the “King of Kata,” to form an organization helping others break into the “action-adventure martial arts” film industry. I often see this duo at WorldBlackBelt events, as they are Founding Members of the organization.

ANGIE DICKINSON

Angie Dickinson in “Police Woman” with co-starEarl Holliman.

     During the 60’s and 70’s, there was a glut of cop shows—Starsky and Hutch, Mannix, The Mod Squad, SWAT, The Rookies, etc. But my favorite cop shows were Police Story and its spin-off Police Woman starring Angie Dickinson as Sgt. Suzanne “Pepper” Anderson. Her co-stars included veteran actors Earl Holliman and Charles Dierkop. The running joke was that Earl Holliman was hired to say the same line every episode, “Be careful, Pepper.” To me, Angie Dickinson has always had that smoldering sex appeal. Her movies include the original Ocean’s Eleven with Frank Sinatra, Rio Bravo with John Wayne, and Cast a Giant Shadow with Kirk Douglas.

LINDA HAMILTON

Linda Hamilton in the first “Terminator” movie

     Linda Hamilton will of course be forever identified with Sarah Connor, who gets to battle Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Terminator as well as Terminator 2: Judgment Day. When she realized that the tough, ferocious and buffed character she had developed in the Terminator movies was getting her typecast, she turned down the recurring role in Terminator 3. She also won another battle of sorts divorcing her third husband, director James Cameron, whom she caught having an affair during the filming of the epic Titanic. Her divorce from him is considered one the costliest Hollywood divorces, amounting to close to $50 million.

JULIE NEWMAR

Julie Newmar as she should be viewed  in all her 5’ 11” glory.

Julie Newmar as “Catwoman” in the  TV series“Batman.”

     I remember Julie Newmar for her Playboy spread and for being Catwoman in the original Batman TV series starring Adam West. But of course she was more than that. She was the epitome of brains and beauty, and was a dancer, model, and stage, TV and movie star. As Catwoman, she established the stereotype of the female super-villain with her lithe 5’ 11” curvy body radiating sexuality in a black vinyl catsuit (a look imitated by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns in 1992). While none of her movies were blockbusters, she achieved cult immortality with the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar in 1995, where she made a brief appearance.

To be continued in Part II.