The Many Lives of Elizabeth I

With her performance in “Elizabeth,” Cate Blanchett joins the ranks of Sarah Bernhardt, Glenda Jackson and Bette Davis as actresses who have reigned on screen as Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Here’s a look at some of the actresses who have played Elizabeth over the years. Those films on video are noted.

The legendary Bernhardt was a tad too long in the tooth--she was 69!--when she starred in the 1912 British costume picture “Queen Elizabeth.” The receipts from the film’s distribution in the United States provided Adolph Zukor with the funds to begin Paramount studios.

American actress Florence Eldridge, who was best known as the wife of Fredric March, played Elizabeth to Katharine Hepburn’s “Mary of Scotland” (Turner) in John Ford’s well-respected historical drama from 1936 that was based on Maxwell Anderson’s play.

British actress Flora Robson actually played Queen Elizabeth twice during her long career. She makes a grand queen in Alexander Korda’s 1937 epic “Fire Over England” (Home Vision, $30). The drama deals with the Spanish-British conflict during the 1500s. Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Raymond Massey and an unbilled James Mason star in this adventure.

Three years later, Robson came to America to once again sparkle as Elizabeth in the classic swashbuckler “The Sea Hawk” (MGM, $20.) Errol Flynn is at his dashing best as a hero based on Sir Francis Drake. His scenes with Robson are crackling good fun. Directed by Michael Curtiz, this delicious adventure also stars Brenda Marshall and the always wonderful Claude Rains. Flynn also played opposite Bette Davis’ legendary turn as Elizabeth in the 1939 production “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” (Fox). The melodrama focuses on the ill-fated love affair between Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex (Flynn). In 1955, Davis donned the corset and high-ruffled collars once again for “The Virgin Queen” (Fox, $20). Davis is in fine form in this glossy historical piece that looks at the aging queen’s heated relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh (Richard Todd). Joan Collins also stars.

Jean Simmons is perfectly cast as the young Elizabeth in MGM’s attractive 1953 period piece “Young Bess” (MGM, $20). She more than holds her own with Charles Laughton, who plays her father, Henry VIII. Laughton won an Oscar as the monarch 20 years earlier in “The Private Life of Henry VIII.” Stewart Granger, who was married to Simmons at the time, and Deborah Kerr also star.

Judith Anderson plays the aging queen and Charlton Heston is the Earl of Essex in the 1968 television presentation of “Elizabeth, the Queen” (Films for the Humanities and Sciences). The drama was directed by the venerable George Schaefer.

Perhaps the most acclaimed Elizabeth in recent memory is Glenda Jackson’s astonishing performance in the PBS “Masterpiece Theatre” series “Elizabeth R” (Fox, $100). Jackson won two Emmys for her work in the 1972 six-part series.

Jackson also starred as Elizabeth is the well-crafted 1971 costume drama “Mary, Queen of Scots” (Universal, $20). This historically fuzzy film concentrates on rivals Elizabeth and Mary (Vanessa Redgrave) and their efforts to control Tudor England. Redgrave got an Oscar nomination for best actress.