Forgotten Women of Genre

Wendy Carlos

Electronic music is a mainstay of modern nightclubs. The once experimental genre has broken through to the pop scene and thrived with festivals like Tomorrowland or the Electric Daisy Carnival. But much of the contemporary success of the form owes credit to decades of sonic tinkering, emerging technologies, and artists taking risks with an untested form. One such herald of electronica is Wendy Carlos. · · · Script written and read by: Riley Silverman You can find the script of ...

Anne Gwynne

The iconic trope of the scream queen has changed greatly over the past century of film, moving away from the token damsel-in-distress type to a more empowered figure who subverts the expectations of her audience. However, to truly understand the scream queen and what she represents, we must return to the beginning and to one of the women who helped to pioneer the concept. She may have been sadly forgotten by history, but horror owes so much to Anne Gwynne. · · · Script written b...

June Tyson

June Tyson was the first female member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra, but there is precious little information available about her. Despite her long tenure with the band, she’s often short-changed when it comes to discussing the Arkestra. But she was far more than just a moon in Sun Ra’s orbit. This is the story of June Tyson. · · · Script written by: Clare McBride Script read by: Cher Martinetti You can find the script of this episode and so much more at SYFYFANGRRLS.com. Follow us on...

Lois Maxwell

The role of James Bond has changed a lot of hands over the years, and so has the role of Moneypenny, but out of a total of 25 films under the Eon Productions banner, only one woman has brought Moneypenny to life a record number of times. Her name was Lois Maxwell, and on today's episode of Forgotten Women of Genre, we're going to tell you all about the actress whose presence in the Bond movies wasn't just memorable, but downright iconic. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priv...

Rose O'Neil

Magazine illustrations, fantastical yet grotesque creatures, and the smiling faces of a massively popular cherub-like doll. And behind it all, an immensely talented woman who lived life to the fullest and always strived to make the world better for everyone around her. This is the story of Rose O’Neill. · · · Script written by: Riley Silverman Script read by: Alyssa Fikse You can find the script of this episode and so much more at SYFYFANGRRLS.com. Follow us on Twitter and Ins...

Vonetta McGee

Jane Arden

She was a cinematic innovator who pioneered feminist film and theater in Britain during the 1960s. Her radical approach to storytelling helped to pave the way for generations of female directors and writers. She made waves on television, forced audiences to confront the reality of mental illness, and became one of the first women to direct a science-fiction film. Sadly, you've probably never heard of her until today. This is the story of Jane Arden. · · · Script written by: Kayl...

Julie Harris

She paved the way with all of the contributions she made to art through her lengthy and storied career, and it’s because of every role she inhabited so memorably that she will never truly be forgotten. Today we’re talking about the late, great Julie Harris, often referred to as “the first lady of the American theater.” · · · Script written by: Carly Lane Script read by: Courtney Enlow You can find the script of this episode and so much more at SYFYFANGRRLS.com. Follow us on T...

Katharine Burdekin aka Murray Constantine

Time travel, dystopian visions of enduring fascism, and grasping for a world without the constraints of gender roles. Meanwhile, through it all, an alter ego, the mystery of which would remain unsolved for 50 years.A true pioneer in her field, we once knew her under the pseudonym of Murray Constantine. But today we remember her as who she actually was, Katharine Burdekin. · · · Script written by: Riley Silverman Script read by: Alyssa Fikse You can find the script of this epis...

Leota Toombs Thomas

If you’ve ever dared to enter Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, you’ve been a guest at the seance table of the mysterious Madame Leota. Despite only existing as a floating head in a crystal ball, there would be no ride without her. It's Madame Leota who calls forth the happy haunts of the house, allowing us to join in the spooky fun. Every visitor to the Haunted Mansion knows Leota’s face. She’s become a cult figure, with devoted theme park fans, her own Funko Pop, and appearances in th...

Vernon Lee

Today’s subject is a writer, an academic, an activist, and a pioneer who wrote political ghost stories, queer supernatural romance, and anti-war dramas featuring Death as the ultimate choreographer. History may have tried to erase her efforts but we’re here to bring her back under the spotlight where she belongs. This is the story of Vernon Lee. · · · Script written by: Kayleigh Donaldson Script read by: Courtney Enlow You can find the script of this episode and so much more a...

Paula Maxa

When we talk about genre, we’re not just talking about science fiction and fantasy. There are other realms the term “genre” represents. Genre also includes horror — and women have had a presence in that world since its inception. Today, we’re going to take you down a lesser-known path of horror history to tell you about Paula Maxa, once referred to as The Most Assassinated Woman in the World. · · · Script written by: Carly Lane Script read by: Cher Martinetti You can find the ...

Women in Disney Animation

Outside of the vitally important Ink and Paint Department—the artistic equivalent of Ginger Rogers having to do everything Fred Astaire does, but backwards and in heels—women were barred from every other department at the Studio. According to a 1946 interview with the Associated Press, Disney believed women lacked the talent and sense of humor to be animators. Two women—Disney’s first female animator, Retta Scott, and Disney’s favorite female artist, Mary Blair—would put the truth t...

Francis Harper

Frances Harper was an innovator of utopian fiction, a strident campaigner for civil rights and women’s suffrage, and a near-legendary figure in the fight for black women’s rights during and after the American Civil War. · · · Script written by: Kayleigh Donaldson Script read by: Stephanie Williams You can find the script of this episode and so much more at SYFYFANGRRLS.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at SYFYFANGRRLS. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy an...

DC Fontana

From the very beginning, women have been creating and shaping some of the most well-known characters in science fiction history. DC Fontana contributed to many of the most iconic genre shows airing in the ‘70s. But perhaps her greatest legacy is her influence on early Star Trek, where she is credited with further fleshing out the character of the Vulcan science officer known simply as Spock. · · · Script written by: Carly Lane Script read by: Cher Martinetti You can find the s...

Verity Lambert

In the summer of 2017, in a special clip created to air during the Wimbledon tournament, Jodie Whittaker was announced as the newest actor, and the first woman, to take over the iconic role of The Doctor on the long-running British science fiction series, Doctor Who. But while debates raged across the internet about whether or not a woman should play the Doctor, and whether or not women’s voices were important to the long-running series, the thing many people lost sight of is that a...

Mercedes McCambridge

Orson Welles once called her the “world’s greatest living radio actress.” The director William Friedkin once said that The Exorcist would not work without the contribution of the woman who gave voice to the demon Pazuzu. But Mercedes McCambridge, award-winning actress of radio, stage, and screen, initially went uncredited for what should have been her most famous role. An actress who specialized in playing tough women and a ferocious advocate for those struggling with addiction to a...

Wendy Froud

Wendy Froud grew up creating her very own fairy gardens. Little could she have known then that she would be building fairy gardens for the rest of her life, and like her literary namesake, would sculpt the imaginations of generations of children, young and old, with her extravagant, whimsical creations. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Women of Bram Stoker's Dracula

Few books have had as seismic an impact on literature and pop culture at large as Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. But some of Stoker’s key inspirations for Dracula came from notable, misunderstood, and overlooked women. From the infamous countess smeared by history to the social reformer fighting a devastating epidemic to the traveler who documented Transylvanian folklore: Bram Stoker's Dracula owes a substantial unpaid debt to the lives and work of forgotten female pioneers. Coun...

Countess d'Aulnoy

Once upon a time, there lived a badass lady in 17th-century France. Her name was Marie-Catherine, Countess d’Aulnoy, and she’s the one we have to thank for telling the stories that led to the fairy tales we all know and love today. She also led a life full of intrigue, betrayal, and deception. In some ways, the Countess d’Aulnoy was a fairy tale all her own, the source of just as much myth as true fact, and if you ask us, it makes for a really thrilling story. See Privacy Policy at...

Nina Wilcox Putnam

From her very first published story at age 11 through her decades-long career, writer Nina Wilcox Putnam showed that she could write almost anything. From short stories to film adaptions to tax forms to children’s novels to a syndicated humor column, Putnam was the very definition of prolific. But her most surprising legacy is her role in the original canon of horror films, as the person who began to tell the story of Universal’s The Mummy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/p...

Peggy Webling

James Whale's Frankenstein is one of the greatest movies ever made, shaping the horror film genre as we know it, and it owes everything to a woman. Actually, two. We all know and adore Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. But that wasn’t the direct adaptation Whale sought out to make. Whale’s film was an adaptation of the play Frankenstein, an Adventure in the Macabre by Peggy Webling, the first woman to adapt Frankenstein for the stage. Se...

Lois Duncan

When you think of I Know What You Did Last Summer, you probably think of the 1997 slasher. What you might not think of is Lois Duncan, who wrote the book that inspired the film, and hated every second of the movie that made her creation a bestseller two decades after its publication.But Duncan was far more than this one title. Her work was filled with suspense, and her life was beset by tragedy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https...

Sonya Levein

An immigrant Russian Jewish activist turned Hollywood screenwriter, Sonya Levien was one of cinema’s earliest and most accomplished female screenwriters, bringing her perspective and passion for her people to the screen. It was her screenplay for the 1939 adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame that earned her an often forgotten place in the horror canon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info...

Coming Soon: Forgotten Women of Horror

From werewolves and monsters to the modern day slasher, horror fiction has captivated people since Ancient Greece. But so many of the genre’s most famous and terrifying stories were created, written or developed by women whose names you might not have ever learned. Until now. Tune in every day the week of Halloween to hear your favorite Fangrrls talk about their favorite forgotten women of Horror See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at htt...

Sally Menke

Quentin Tarantino is hailed as one of the most distinctive storytellers of his generation thanks to his nonlinear style and aesthetic. But everything that gave a Tarantino movie its trademark edge was thanks to his long-time editor, the late Sally Menke. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sarah Halley Finn

Casting is one of the film industry's most misunderstood processes, and it also happens to be a field dominated by women — but one woman, Sarah Halley Finn, gave us the MCU as we know it (and a plethora of hotties named Chris). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shirley Walker

--- See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tarpe Mills

Tarpé Mills gave the world more than its first female superhero written and drawn by a woman — she gave girls and women a character who defied societal expectations and gender norms, who owned her sexuality and turned misogynistic tropes on their head. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Vera West

Vera West worked to no credit and died under very mysterious circumstances, but her costuming work on Bride of Frankenstein helped craft the aesthetic of women in the golden age of horror. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Victoria Alonso

You've definitely heard of Kevin Feige and maybe Louis D'Esposito, but did you know there's a third partner in the MCU triumvirate? Her name is Victoria Alonso, and she's a kickass producer who's been part of Marvel Studios since the beginning with over 20 blockbusters under her bel See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Milicent Patrick

Creature from the Black Lagoon is a science fiction classic and its iconic Gill-Man one of the most recognizable and famous monsters ever created. It should have marked the beginning of a long film career for creator Milicent Patrick. But thanks to an egomaniacal boss, it would be her last film before fading to obscurity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carol Clover and The Final Girl

The final girl trope has become synonymous with the horror genre. We take a closer look at the trope and the woman who coined the phrase, Carol Clover See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Debra Hill

Debra Hill was a producer, screenwriter and the "godmother of indie filmmaking,” whose successes in Hollywood opened the door for future generations to follow in her footsteps. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Delia Derbyshire

Despite not being credited for it in her lifetime, Delia Derbyshire wrote the Doctor Who theme song and contributed a great deal of work to British TV and film through the late '60s. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dorothy Woolfolk

As an editor at DC, Dorothy Woolfolk faced relentless criticism and misogyny, her impact diminished and dismissed at every turn by the men annoyed and threatened by her, but she's more than a footnote or cautionary tale of harassment — in fact, Woolfolk brought Kryptonite to the Superman comics. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Eiko Ishioka

From her breathtaking work on Bram Stoker's Dracula to the boundary pushing baroque madness of her collaborations with director Tarsem Singh, Japanese production and costume designer Eiko Ishioka created some of the most striking and revolutionary clothes ever seen on film. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ellen Beeman

Professor Ellen Beeman's career in the games industry, which began back in the early '90s on the popular Wing Commander franchise and has since spanned over 40 different titles, continues to have a major impact on the next generation of rising female game developers, writers, and producers. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gertrude Barrows Bennett

Living in a society beleaguered by the horrors reported from the frontlines of WWI, Gertrude Barrows Bennett — under the pen name Francis Stevens — created dark fiction the likes of which the world had never before seen. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hannah Beachler

In Black Panther, production designer Hannah Beachler created a world we all wanted to visit in Wakanda, and won an Academy Award for it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Helen Gibson

Helen Gibson was a vaudeville and rodeo performer who earned the esteemed credit of being the first stunt double in film history. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jackie Ormes

Jackie Ormes was the first Black woman to become a professional cartoonist. Her illustrations depicted Black girls and women in ways most of society refused to portray them at the time — glamourous, educated, opinionated, snarky, and with political awareness and social justice slant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Leigh Brackett

Leigh Brackett, who wrote the very first script draft of The Empire Strikes Back, but long before she lent her talents toward shaping what would eventually become the second ever Star Wars movie, Brackett was a young girl with a love of science fiction and romance who knew early on what she wanted to do for a living — even if it meant facing down opposition and sexism at every turn. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...

Lois Weber

As a silent-era director, Lois Weber created some early works of genre that still hold up surprisingly well by today's standards. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lotte Reiniger

With the release of Snow White, Walt Disney became an international success story, patenting his famous multiplane camera and reinventing animation into a viable format for a feature-length film, except someone else did it first and her name was Lotte Reiniger. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Maddie Blaustein

From writing comics to voicing Meowth on Pokémon for eight seasons, Maddie Blaustein made a huge impact in her short life — and gave trans and intersex kids someone to look up to. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marcia Lucas

1977's Star Wars is one of the biggest movies of all time. It changed the film industry and pop culture forever. But if it weren't for creator George Lucas' ex-wife and partner Marcia Lucas, the world may have never known the epic saga that took place in a galaxy far, far away. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Margaret Cavendish

The Duchess of Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, was a poet, a philosopher, a scientist, a philanthropist, a socialite, and a pioneering sci-fi author who helped to create the literary genre we adore so much to this day. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Margaret Sixel

On today's episode of Forgotten Women of Genre, we turn our attention to the woman who made action movie history with her editing on Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marie Severin

She co-created Spider-Woman and is in the Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame. Marie Severin worked as a colorist on so many Marvel and EC titles, it would take hours to discuss them all. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.