They may never receive top billing or even utter a
lick of dialogue, but make no mistake, their screen presence is definitely felt. Ever comely, often badass, yet woefully underappreciated, these "scream queens" are the hard-working actresses who, perhaps through a twist of typecasting and poor choices, have never attained A-list status. Among the familiar B-listers are a foxy
Pam Grier, one bodacious
Mistress of the Dark, a magic-lasso wielding
Amazon, and Charlie's hottest angel,
Tanya Roberts. International favorites include
Chelo Alonso,
Asia Argento,
Kumi Mizuno, and
Laura Gemser. Sure, some of their roles were regrettable, and it's hard to be taken seriously when your most
bankable asset is often gratuitously, and rarely tastefully, revealed. Yet despite the odds, some ex-scream queens have broken rank. Thanks to an
Oscar win and
X-Men fame, you'll never wonder again,
Hu's that girl?