The days before today’s action heroines involved women chasing crooks and throwing punches, yet it seems that most millennials have no clue these incredible stars even existed.
Anne Francis
Anne Francis wasn’t going to spend her time waiting around for somebody else to solve the case. No, in Honey West, she played the titular character, a private investigator who carried gadgets and handled criminals. Francis led the ABC series alongside Sam Bolt.
The series only ever lasted a single season, but still, Francis’s time as Honey West was something she’d be remembered for. Francis won a Golden Globe for her role and also picked up an Emmy nomination. Pretty good going for a show that only had 30 episodes.
Honor Blackman
Most baby boomers know Honor Blackman for her time as the iconic Bond girl Pussy Galore. But before she met 007, Honor Blackman became a star on British television, especially as Cathy Gale in The Avengers. No, not that Avengers.
She played a cool, self-assured partner to John Steed, one who knew judo and wasn’t afraid to use it. Then came her standout role in Goldfinger in 1964. Blackman’s character got into a physical fight with Bond, and at the age of 39, she proved to the world that there was no age limit for a Bond leading lady.
Angie Dickinson
You couldn’t exactly hide Angie Dickinson behind a desk in Police Woman. She played Sgt. Suzanne ‘Pepper’ Anderson on the show, an LAPD officer who went undercover to catch criminals. She could be infiltrating a gang one week, she could be chasing suspects the next.
It was very 1970s television in the best way. Dickinson did so well in the show that she actually won a Golden Globe for the role and earned several Emmy nominations. The show itself was great, yes, but everyone remembers Pepper the most.
Lindsay Wagner
It’s weird to think that Jaime Sommers actually started out on somebody else’s show because she seems like she was born to be center stage. Lindsay Wagner first played her on The Six Million Dollar Man. It didn’t take long for her to get her own series.
That was The Bionic Woman, and it featured Wagner running at incredible speed and jumping huge distances. She headed off on government missions as well. You know, standard action movie star stuff. The show lasted three seasons, and Wagner also won the 1977 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Tanya Roberts
Riding horses and fighting enemies, that’s how Tanya Roberts spent much of Sheena. That, and racing through the fictional African country of Tigora. She appeared in the 1984 movie right in the middle of the adventure as Sheena, a woman raised in the wild who could communicate telepathically with animals.
It wasn’t subtle, but it sure was a lot of fun. Roberts appeared opposite Roger Moore in the Bond movie A View to a Kill, a year after Sheena. It really felt like you couldn’t get enough of her for a while because she was in almost everything. For good reason, too.
Erin Gray
Buck Rogers woke up in the 25th century, and Erin Gray’s Wilma Deering was already there. She was competent and completely outranked him, making the typical sci-fi action story a bit more interesting. Gray played Colonel Deering in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
She started with the 1979 feature-length pilot, and she continued through the show’s two seasons. There was no sci-fi female icon like her. She flew spacecraft and joined missions, without needing Buck to rescue her every five minutes. What a woman.
Heather Thomas
The setup of The Fall Guy was as ridiculous as it was wonderful. It was about Hollywood stunt performers who also caught fugitives, and Heather Thomas played team member Jody Banks. She really held her own against Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers during her time on the show from 1981 until 1986.
Yes, there were plenty of car chases, and yes, there were plenty of stunts. Thomas could do it all. She actually became one of the most recognizable TV faces of the early ’80s, and returned for a cameo with Majors in the 2024 movie version. You can’t get more iconic than that.
Tamara Dobson
It’s no surprise that Tamara Dobson stood out. She was 6-foot-2, after all, but she managed to make her height work for her, and she looked completely at home chasing drug dealers around in Cleopatra Jones. The 1973 movie made her a federal agent and Shelley Winters the villain.
Dobson strode through the whole thing like she owned it. There were all sorts of fights and big cars, as well as some truly unique clothes. Dobson did it again in 1975 with Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. It’s a fact, they really don’t make action leads like that anymore.
Teresa Graves
Teresa Graves was better known for comedy and variety television before she appeared on Get Christie Love! That’s what makes her transition to undercover detective feel so unexpected, but also kind of brilliant. She played LAPD officer Christie Love in the 1974 film.
Love went after drug dealers and slipped into undercover roles to get close to suspects. It ended up being such a hit that ABC turned the movie into a weekly series for the 1974–75 season, and Graves also became the first Black woman to lead a network television drama in America. The show might’ve been brief, sure, but the character was unforgettable.
Sandahl Bergman
Sandahl Bergman’s character, Valeria, in 1982’s Conan the Barbarian wasn’t going to sit there behind Conan and look impressed. Definitely not. No, Valeria was a thief and a fighter, as well as Conan’s equal who went straight into robberies.
She fought battles with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan. You can’t get more impressive as an action star than that, really. It’s no wonder that Bergman won a Golden Globe in 1983 for her work. But that’s not all, she also switched sides to play the villain as Queen Gedren in Red Sonja. There’s nothing she couldn’t do.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
