American women television directors

Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress and filmmaker. Foster started her career as a child actor before establishing herself as a leading actress in film. As a performer, she is known for her versatility. She has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the Honorary Palme d'Or.

Diane Keaton Hall was an American actress. Her career spanned more than five decades, during which she rose to prominence in the New Hollywood movement. She collaborated frequently with Woody Allen, appearing in eight of his films. Keaton's accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, along with nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award. She was honored with the Film at Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 2007 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2017.

American actress and singer-songwriter

American film actress and director

Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she gained popularity for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (2001–2003). Her breakthrough role as Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives (2004–2012) earned her two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe nomination. She has appeared in the films The Sentinel (2006), Over Her Dead Body (2008), For Greater Glory (2012), Frontera (2014), Lowriders (2016), and Overboard (2018), winning an Imagen Award for the latter. She guest-starred on the Hulu mystery comedy-drama series Only Murders in the Building (2024), earning her a third Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

American actress

Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American filmmaker. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

American actress and singer

Robin Gayle Wright is an American actress, producer and director. She has received accolades including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards.

American actress

Kerry Marisa Washington is an American actress. She has received several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two Tony Awards. She was included in Time's 100 list of most influential people in 2014, and Forbes named her the eighth highest-paid television actress in 2018.

Carole Penelope Marshall was an American actress, film director, and producer. She starred as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley from 1976 to 1983, and received three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.

American actress (1971–2024)

American actress and filmmaker

British actress and filmmaker (1918–1995)

Anne Celeste Heche was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy.

American actress

American actress

American actress and director (born 1971)

Lena Dunham is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series Girls (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe Awards. Dunham also directed several episodes of Girls and became the first woman to win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series. She started her career writing, directing, and starring in her semi-autobiographical independent film Tiny Furniture (2010), for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. She has since written and directed the 2022 films Sharp Stick and Catherine Called Birdy. In 2025, she created the Netflix series Too Much starring Megan Stalter.

Mariska Magdolna Hargitay is an American actress, philanthropist, producer, and director. Hargitay has played Olivia Benson on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999; Benson is the longest-running character of all time in an American primetime drama. Hargitay has won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Benson.

American actress and politician

American actress

American actress and comedian

American actress, writer, and comedian

American comedian and actress (born 1981)

American actress

American actress, director and screenwriter (born 1979)

American actress (born 1979)

British-American actress, comedian, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer and director

American actress, producer, and director

American actress and director

American actress (1944–2018)

Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress. Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous commercials and guest-starring roles on television. From 1974 to 1983, she starred as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the second-oldest daughter of Charles Ingalls on the NBC series Little House on the Prairie. During the run of Little House, Gilbert appeared in several television films, including The Diary of Anne Frank (1980) and The Miracle Worker (1979). As an adult, she continued her career mainly in television films. From 2009 to 2010, Gilbert appeared as Caroline "Ma" Ingalls in the touring production of Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. In 2012, she was a contestant on season fourteen of the reality dance competition show Dancing with the Stars on ABC.

American actress

Pamela Adlon is an American actress, writer, and director. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series King of the Hill, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in Jungle Cubs (1996–1998), the title role in the Pajama Sam video game series (1996–2001), Lucky in 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997–1998), Margaret "Moose" Pearson in Pepper Ann (1997–2001), Ashley Spinelli in Recess (1997–2001), Otto Osworth in Time Squad (2001–2003), Vidia in the Tinker Bell franchise and Brigette Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law (2016–2019), among numerous others.

American film director

American actress, choreographer, television director, television producer, singer, and dancer (born 1950)

American film director

American actress

American actress

American actress, comedian and director (born 1958)

Canadian actress and director

American actress

American actress and television director

American actress

American actor and film director

American actress and director

American director and screenwriter

American actress and director (born 1967)

American animator, writer, voice director, and storyboard artist

American film director, producer, and writer (born 1952)

American actress (1922–1992)

American actress

Danielle Christine Fishel Karp is an American actress and director. Her career started in community theater, and she made her screen debut with guest roles on shows such as Full House (1992–1993) and Harry and the Hendersons (1993). Fishel's breakthrough came with the role of Topanga Lawrence on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000), which she later reprised in its successor, Girl Meets World (2014–2017), on Disney Channel. For the role, she received a YoungStar Award in 1998.

American actress (1944–2013)

American actress and director (born 1953)

American actress and director (born 1947)

American actress, author, aviator (1932-1990)

American actress and director