A great book giving information on 40 character actresses. However, my definition of a character actor somewhat differs as I feel if they have won an Oscar, then they move up to the supporting actress category and leave those who were never nominated and certainly those who have never won as the real character actresses. This would have left folks like Hattie McDaniel (the best black character actress), Anne Revere, and Jane Darwell out. There were several I wish the author had covered (which is mentioned in passing but did not profile). These include Ruth Gordon, Adeline deWalt Reynolds, Nydia Westman, Louise Closser Hale, Una Merkle, Selena Royle, and Helen Broderick. There were some errors though: Page 66 in talking about 1940's Rebecca says regarding Alfred Hitchcock that it "would prove the only film for which he would receive an Academy Award for Best Picture". Technically, the Best Picture award in those days went to the Producer, David O. Selznick; page 140 says "RKO's (The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (H.C. Potter, 1939) was the "final collaboration of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers". - actually their final collaboration was 1949's The Barkleys of Broadway; and on page 163 he describes Frank Morgan as an Irish American actor. While Morgan was a member of the famed Irish Mafia (Cagney, O'Brien, McHugh) he was actually of German/Spanish ancestry. And then I can't believe the author in his discussion of Mildred Dunnock neglected to mention one of her most remembered roles, in 1947's Kiss of Death, where Richard Widmark ties her to her wheelchair and pushes her down the steps. Overall, I thought this was a fantastic book as I learned more about these actresses than I could find on wikipedia or other sources. The author did a good job of telling us about their lives and major films. It would have been nice to have a complete filmography for each actress but this was made up with some fantastic photographs. And in many cases, these "character" actresses stole the film from the main stars. I hope the author would consider a similar volume on the male character actors. ( )