Since television began, women have been an important part of its history. This is a list of many of the groundbreaking women who have made their mark not only for themselves but for all women in the industry. Women like Lucille Ball, Barbara Walters, Mary Tyler Moore, and many more.
Lucille Ball
I Love Lucy has been one of the most enduring hits in the history of television. It's been on TV both in the first run when it first aired in 1951 and in reruns ever since. Almost the entire time TV has been in people's homes. Of course, that's all because of the brilliant Lucille Ball's performance as Lucy. She's a one-of-kind legend we're unlikely to see the likes of again.
Roxie Roker
Over the course of her incredible career, Roxie Roker broke new ground everywhere she acted, whether it be on the big screen, the Broadway stage, or, as Helen Willis on The Jeffersons, on television. The most important thing Roker did on TV seems so antiquated now that it's hard to believe, but when she was on a hit CBS show, she was actually the first Black actress to appear on a TV show in a relationship with a white man. It was a huge deal.
Carol Burnett
Not only is Carol Burnett one of the funniest women in TV history, but she's at or near the top of the list of the funniest people, period. Her eponymous show was a groundbreaking sketch comedy show and she not only paved the way for more female comedians to have their own show, she paved the way for enduring sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live
Betty White
There are few actors more beloved than Betty White. When she died just shy of her 100th birthday in 2021, the outpouring of grief from fans was incredible. It wasn't just for her roles on legendary shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls, but for her whole career in television back to its earliest days.
Shonda Rhimes
Many of the women on this list are here for what they've done in front of the camera. Shonda Rhimes is here for what she does behind the scenes as one of the most prolific show creators of all time. Not only is she one of the first women to be so successful as a TV producer, but she's one of the first Black women to do it, making it doubly important and groundbreaking.
Ellen DeGeneres
It's obvious why Ellen DeGeneres is on this list, but that doesn't mean we should overlook the obvious. When DeGeneres came out as a lesbian on her sitcom in 1997 it was actually earthshattering. It shouldn't have been and today, something like that would hardly be blinked at and that's all because she had the guts to do it when she did.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag does something that few shows have done before it - it's an unflinching look at the life of a single woman and by doing that it, it automatically less of the cultural taboo it's been for far too long. It's weird that it's taken so long for something like this be a cultural stone, but at least we're here now.
Barbara Walters
In the TV news business, there is no more groundbreaking figure than the legendary Barbara Walters. As a news broadcaster, reporter, interviewer, and panel host, Walters did many things no woman before her had ever done. It's hard to downplay just how much of a trailblazer Walters was during her amazing career.
Marta Kauffman
As the producer and co-creator of Friends, Marta Kauffman showed the world that a woman could create what was, at the time, the biggest show in the world. It wasn't a show "for women," Friends was a show for everyone and few shows have seen the kind of popularity Friends had - and continues to have today with its endless life on streaming.
Mary Tyler Moore
Without The Mary Tyler Moore show, we might not have had other trailblazing shows like Murphy Brown, or Ellen, or Fleabag. Mary Tyler Moore did it first and, for many, still did it best. Before he blazed a trail on her own, she was also an early hero on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She truly made it on her own on TV.
Jane Curtain, Lorraine Newman, And Gilda Radner
It had to be hard for the three women in the original "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live, Jane Curtain, Lorraine Newman, And Gilda Radner. The show felt like a frat house at times and there they were, consistently as funny or funnier than the frat bros that made up the rest of the amazing cast. Talk about groundbreaking.
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson's first television role came in 1961 and her final appearance came just before her death in 2020. In between she starred in literally 100s of episodes of television and often was the first and only Black woman on those shows and episodes. There aren't enough words to explain how important she was for every Black woman who came after her on TV.
Peggy Charren
Activist Peggy Charren is different than most on this list. She wasn't an actress, nor did she even work in the television industry. Instead, she was an advocate for the children at home watching. It's because of the work of Charren that kids had the option to watch informative and educational TV, and not just corporate drivel made to sell more sugary cereal to them. Anyone who grew up loving Sesame Street or The Electric Company has Charren to thank, at least in large part.
Katie Couric
It's hard to believe that it took until 2006 for a major network to have a female lead anchor, but it's true. That woman was, of course, Katie Couric and for that alone, she should forever be remembered as a groundbreaker. She's done so much more as well, so it's not the only thing she'll be remembered and appreciated for.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus' career has been nothing short of spectacular. She is one of very few people, much less women, to have won more than 10 Emmy Awards, for her work on not one, not two, but three hit shows. Seinfeld, The Old Adventures of New Christine, and Veep have all been great in large part due to her talent and hard work.
Irna Phillips
On her Wikipedia page, Irna Phillips is described as a scriptwriter, screenwriter, casting agent, and actress. In reality, she kind of invented the entire genre of the soap opera in the 1940s, first on radio and later on TV. She was the first to really pinpoint women as a target audience and write and create shows geared towards them. Daytime TV would be very different if not for Phillips.
Diahann Carroll
Diahann Carroll isn't the most famous person on this list and that's kind of weird because her contribution to TV is huge. Her groundbreaking role as the lead in Julia showed that Black actors, especially Black women, could be a whole more than just maids or other stereotypical roles they typically played before Julia debuted in 1968.
Candice Bergen
Even before she blazed a new trail in Murphy Brown as the first woman on TV to express the desire to raise a child as a single mom, Candice Bergen was breaking ground on TV. She was the first female member of the SNL Five-Timers Club, for example. As the lead on Murphy Brown, she won so many Emmys (five) that she started declining invitations to give others a chance at the career boost a win provided.
Bea Arthur
Like her cast mates on Golden Girls, Bea Arthur was a true trailblazer. For starters, she is one of few women in Hollywood who served in the active military during World War II as a marine. Once she got to Hollywood, she played by her own rules which eventually landed her a recurring role on All In The Family in the early '70s, tackling some of the biggest issues of the day. That led to the spinoff Maude where she was unflinching in her pursuit of bringing women's liberation issues to the forefront on prime-time TV, including such political hot topics as sensitive as abortion in the early '70s.
Oprah Winfrey
Of all the entries on this list, the one who might need the least introduction is Oprah Winfrey. Starting with a small locally-produced talk show on TV called AM Chicago and later simply The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey built a massive media empire and became one of the biggest moguls in television. Her empire reaches across all forms of media these days and she's among the richest people in the world. And then there are all the cars she's given away...
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols was the sole woman in the original Star Trek cast and she more than held her own. Not only was she an equal member of the Enterprise crew, she was an equal member of the cast. On the show, Nichols' character Uhura shared an on-screen with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) which was one of the first, and most famous example of an interracial kiss on network television. It seems simple, but it was incredibly groundbreaking at the time.
Donna Reed
There were plenty of family-focused sitcoms on 1950s television. What set The Donna Reed Show apart is evident by its name. It was one of the first shows that focused on the mother, played by Donna Reed, as the primary character of the show. This wasn't Father's Knows Best or My Three Sons. Reed was the star and the main character. Additionally, she was no mere wallflower. She was a strong, independent-minded mother and wife who had a full life as a homemaker and mother and audiences saw it all, not just June Cleaver doing the dishes while wearing her pearls.
Laverne Cox
Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox wasn't the first transgender woman on TV, but she was one of the most visible as part of such a huge hit. Cox, and her character were remarkable not only because she was was transgender but because her character Sophia dealt with problems that weren't just because she was transgender, but because she was also human locked up in prison. Sophia wasn't simply a one dimensional character, she was much more than her gender. That was, and still is, rare.
Jodie Whittaker
If she does nothing else in her career (and that is unlikely), Jodie Whittaker will forever be known for being the first female Doctor on Doctor Who. That alone makes her incredibly groundbreaking and worthy of inclusion on this list. There was even a time when critics and fans thought that such a thing would be impossible. Whittaker has been remarkably popular and has proven all the doubters wrong.
Marlo Thomas
Like many instances on this list, it's hard to believe that there was ever a time when it was shocking to even consider an entire television show focused on an unmarried woman. Of course, there was a time when that was true, but that was before Marlo Thomas starred in That Girl starting in 1968. The show, which was actually a little controversial at the time was all about Thomas' character moving to New York to try to make it in show business.
Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen is probably best known as the star of the TV version of Fame (and a small role as the same character in the movie), as well as a judge of So You Think You Can Dance. But Allen's accomplishments run so much deeper than that. She is one of the most prolific TV directors of the last few decades and was the choreographer for the Oscars for a decade. She's had an amazing career on both sides of the camera.
Kerry Washington
It's really hard to wrap one's head around the fact that between Julia, starring Diahann Carroll, which ended in 1971, and Scandal when it started in 2012 (created by Shonda Rhimes), there were no TV shows with a Black female lead. Kerry Washington changed all that when Scandal became a huge hit and ran for six seasons on ABC.
Lynda Carter
Who says girls can't be superheroes? Well, today we know all too well that women can not only be superheroes, but they can lead franchises as such. Back in the late '70s, that was an open question that was answered by Lynda Carter who helped turn Wonder Woman into a hit show that ran for three seasons and then became a staple of syndication for years after.
Sandra Oh
It seems like Sandra Oh has been around forever. She got her big break as part of the cast of Arliss on HBO, then found more fame as a member of the cast of Grey's Anatomy. Her groundbreaking moment came in the titular character in Killing Eve. When she did, she became the first woman of Asian descent to lead a show in the United States. Remarkably it took until 2018 for that to happen. Like all the other women on this is, she proved there are still trails to be blazed.
Pauline Frederick
Pauline Frederick was a groundbreaking female reporter with ABC and NBC during her career. She covered major events like World War II and the Vietnam War, first on radio and then as one of the first female reporters on TV.
Mary Kay Stearns
Like the TV network it was first broadcast on, The DuMont Network, Mary Kay Stearns, and her sitcom Mary Kay And Johnny has mostly been lost to time. Few people remember the show or the network and that's too bad, because both were groundbreaking. In fact, Mary Kay And Johnny was the very first sitcom ever aired on broadcast TV when it debuted in 1948. Mary Kay Stearns starred with her real-life husband Johnny Stearns and not only was it the first sitcom, but it was the first show to feature a pregnant woman and the first to show a married couple sleeping in the same bed.
Viola Davis
As an EGOT winner, Viola Davis has proven over and over what a powerhouse actor she is, no matter where it is. Whether on stage, in film, or on television, she is one of the best to ever do it.
