The Latest Numbers (And a Correction)

I have now posted 405 different women on this blog.

Things have been a little hectic for me recently, and I'm also considering another special month devoted to women in the same profession - likely dance - for December. So rather than start a new A-Z series of random subjects, I'm most likely going to take things easy in November and revisit women I've already featured on this blog. So if you have any old favorites among the 405 women I've already paid tribute to here, stay tuned - you just might be rewarded with a reprise!

Heck, I'll even take requests. Please feel free to contact me at vwgolfman2000@comcast.net if there's a woman you'd like to see here again, and I'll see what I can do. But don't pester me.

Note: In August 2009 I featured actress Kathleen Turner and referred to her movie Body Heat (1980) as being directed by Brian DePalma. It was, in fact, directed by Lawrence Kasdan. I confused that movie with Body Double (1984) which was directed by Brian DePalma: I have since corrected the error on my original post. Thanks to the anonymous party who caught that mistake.

Political commentator Joan Walsh

Joan Walsh is the editor-in-chief at Salon.com, a politically liberal Web site based in San Francisco covering culture and public affairs.

She joined Salon.com as its first full-time news editor in 1998, and she became managing editor six years later.

Joan Walsh has been a ubiquitous presence on cable television, especially on MSNBC and CNN.

Actress Lea Thompson

The classic time travel movie Back To the Future found Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) going thirty years back in time from the date of Saturday, October 26, 1985 (the movie actually came out a few months earlier than that date). Twenty-five years to the day after that date, the cast of that movie re-united on television - including Lea Thompson, who played Lorraine McFly, Marty's mother, at both the ages of 17 and 47. (Thompson was 24 at the time.)

So, who do you think I'm going to feature today? :-)

The Minnesota-born Thompson aspired to be a ballet dancer but became an actress when, studying under Mikhail Baryshnikov, was told by the great Russian dancer she didn't have the right build for ballet. She then became an actress and distinguished herself in her first big film - 1983's All The Right Moves, in which she played the girlfriend of a high school student (Tom Cruise) vying for a football scholarship. She played Marty McFly's mother and great-grandmother in sequels to Back To The Future, as well as appearing in the Howard Deutch movie Some Kind of Wonderful. She married Deutch in 1989.

Lea Thompson also played a cartoonist in the late-nineties TV series "Caroline In the City."

TV newswoman Susan Roesgen

Susan Roesgen is an intrepid television reporter and anchorwoman who has worked at several television stations, from WABC-TV in New York and WDSU-TV in New Orleans to KFMB-TV in San Diego.

In 2005 she joined CNN and reported on Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans before moving to CNN's Chicago bureau in 2007. Her career took an unexpected and unfortunate turn when she interviewed angry people at a Tea Party rally in downtown Chicago in April 2009 and posed some piercing questions, only to get roughed up by the demonstrators. CNN later announced that it would not renew her contract after Tea Party activists complained about her.

This was completely unfair. I saw that report, and Ms. Roesgen was not to blame for what happened. She became a heorine of mine after her valiant efforts to reveal the Tea Party for what they are.

Model/artist Wanakee Pugh

Wanakee Pugh (pronounced "pew," like church seating) is one of the most recognizable faces from the 1980s, as one of the biggest black fashion models of the time . . . and one of the biggest models of that time regardless of race.

Wanakee (she went only by her first name as a model), who's originally from the Midwest, took an interest in paintings and spent much of her free time going to art museums. By the time she retired from modeling in 1999, her choice for a new career was obvious.

She now spends a great deal of time in Illinois and Wisconsin, painting pictures of various styles and looking for new ways to create different kinds of art.

Click here for her Web site. :-)

And by the way, today's her birthday! :-D

Actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Gugulethu "Gugu" Mbatha-Raw is a British actress who has recently made the transition to American television.

Having appeared in two U.K. series - she played Jenny in the fifth season of "Spooks" and Tish Jones in the third series of the new version of "Doctor Who" - Gugu Mbatha-Raw now plays Samantha Bloom in the drama "Undercovers," an NBC series about married spies, airing on Wednesday nights at 8 PM Eastern.

Don't expect a discussion about it at the water cooler on Thursday mornings, though; the series has been struggling in the ratings. So if you've been watching "Undercovers" and like what you see - especially if you like Ms. Mbatha-Raw - watch it while you can.

Model Laurel Lee

Laurel Lee is a model who was primarily active in the late seventies and in the eighties.


Her luxuriously long hair is undoubtedly her best feature. :-)


She was represented by the Wilhelmina agency at the height of her career.

Model Maria Johnson

Maria Johnson is a model who was primarily active in the 1980s.

She modeled for Elite in that decade, and she was represented by four of that agency's regional offices in three different countries.

Actress Christina Hendricks

Christina Hendricks has appeared in many movies and television shows, but she's best known - actually, she's simply known - for her role as Joan Holloway in the AMC drama series "Mad Men."

Joan is the office manager at the Sterling Cooper Draper Price agency who mentors women in the advertising business on how to deal with the sexist behavior of advertsing men.

The series concludes its fourth season tonight (October 17, 2010).

Television actress Peri Gilpin

Peri Gilpin is best known, of course, for playing the impetuous radio producer Roz Doyle in the long-running NBC sitcom "Frasier."

Since "Frasier" ended its run in 2004, she's kept busy with guest appearances on many shows and running a production company with fellow "Frasier" alumna Jane Leeves. Peri Gilpin is also a leading advocate for cancer research.

TV weatherwoman Elise Finch

Elise Finch is a well-known presence to viewers of the WCBS-TV newscast in New York, as she reports the weather forecasts there.

She has also been a weatherwoman on TV stations in Phoenix and in Youngstown, Ohio, and she's also appeared on MSNBC.

Crystal Egger of the Weather Channel

The Weather Channel has a new evening on-camera host: Crystal Egger, who joined the cable channel in September 2010.

Crystal Egger comes from a broadcasting background involving several television stations in the West. She was the lead weather anchor for KIFI-TV in Idaho Falls and worked in writing and producing news and weather reports for stations in San Diego.

Prior to coming to the Weather Channel, she was the morning on-camera meteorologist at KDVR-TV in Denver.

Eighties model Nancy DeWeir

Nancy DeWeir was discovered on a commuter railroad as a teenager. Soon she was a model of the highest profile, appearing in cosmetics ads for Cover Girl, Revlon, Clairol, and Max Factor's Maxi line.

She also appeared on the covers of too many magazines to list. Her print career was so prolific that she never had to do runway work.

Today Nancy DeWeir Geaney - yes, she's married - runs Dark Horse Farm Designs, a firm that designs equestrian apparel, as well as quilts and pillows. She is a big fan of horses and equestrian culture. Check out her site here.

TV newswoman Mary Calvi

Mary Calvi is an anchor and correspondent for WCBS-TV in New York City. She had also worked at a News 12 outlet in Westchester County, New York.

She's won five local Emmy Awards, including one for her coverage of airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger's daring emergency landing of a jetliner on the Hudson River in January 2009.

CNBC anchorwoman Julia Boorstin

Julia Boorstin has become a fixture on the Consumer News and Business Channel.

Ms. Booorstin appears on CNBC during its regular weekday program and also on "On the Money," daily at 7 PM Eastern, which includes reports on media and technology and how they relate to business.

She also anchors market briefings for MSNBC.

Actress/singer Nancy Anderson

Off we go into another A-Z round of beautiful women, starting with the musical performer Nancy Anderson.

Nancy Anderson made her on Broaway as Mona in A Class Act, and she also played the parts of Helen and Eileen in the Broadway revival of Wonderful Town. Productions of Kiss Me, Kate and South Pacific featuring Ms. Anderson have been aired on PBS's "Great Performances" series.

She recently completed a run of Peter Pan, in which she played the title role, at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.

She has also performed as a singer in jazz clubs, and she recently released an album, Ten Cents a Dance.