5. Claudette Colbert
There was no actress that represented the smart, sassy woman that could go toe-to-toe with any man like French native Claudette Colbert. Her crowning achievement was the Frank Capra classic, It Happened One Night, which she starred in opposite Clark Gable. Her wisecracking ways brought a new genre to the film medium, the screwball comedy. Think of all the iconic moments from this film. There is a scene in which Colbert famously pulls up her skirt to show her pantihose on the side of the road in order to get the attention of oncoming traffic. This film also garnered her with her only Academy Award for Best Actress. She made a name for herself in the screwball antics of other romantic comedies, making films with the great Preston Sturges and Ernst Lubitsch as she went on to be named the 12th greatest star of all time by the American Film Institute.