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Stars Playing the First Lady

23 photos
Aug 04, 2017 6:55 PM
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Ginger Rodgers, Magnificent Doll
1/23
Universal Pictures

Ginger Rogers as Dolley Madison

In 1946, the Hollywood icon starred as the fourth president James Madison's wife in Magnificent Doll. 


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2/23
HBO

Cynthia Nixon as Eleanor Roosevelt

Chronicling President Franlin D. Roosevelt's struggles with polio, the 2005 TV film Warm Springs displayed the Sex and the City star as FLOTUS. 


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3/23

Greer Garson as Eleanor Roosevelt

The Academy Award winner portrayed the famous First Lady in the 1960 biographical drama Sunrise at Campobello, alongside Ralph Bellamy as FDR. 


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4/23

Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush

On her role as the wife of George W. Bush in W., the Hunger Games actress said, "I just want to honor her voice, her stillness and her hairstyle." 


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5/23
Get Lifted Film Company

Tika Sumpter as Michelle Obama

The first African-American First Lady was portrayed by the Ride Along actress in Southside with You, a romantic drama about the future POTUS and FLOTUS's first date. 


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6/23
MGM/UA

Patty Duke as Martha Washington

In the 1984 CBS biopic miniseries George Washington, which went onto receive six Emmy nominations, the late actress portrayed America's first First Lady. 


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7/23
Asylum Entertainment

Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Kennedy

Greg Kinnear played JFK in the 2011 miniseries The Kennedys with the Dawson's Creek star playing his wife. 


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8/23

Gena Rowlands as Betty Ford

The acclaimed actress was awarded with an Emmy for her work as Gerald Ford's wife in the 1987 TV film The Betty Ford Story.


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9/23
DreamWorks

Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln

The 12-time Academy Award nominated Lincoln put the Forrest Gump actress as the wife of Daniel Day-Lewis's Abraham Lincoln. 


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10/23
NBC

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Jacqueline Kennedy

The Emmy-award winning 1991 miniseries, A Woman Named Jackie, was divided into three parts to chronicle the life of the iconic First Lady, with the I Know What You Did Last Summer star playing a young Jackie Onassis. 


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11/23
NBC

Roma Downey as Jacqueline Kennedy

And the Touched By an Angel star played an adult Mrs. Kennedy. 


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12/23
KentEanes/HBO

Laura Linney as Abigail Adams

The 2008 HBO miniseries on the second President of the United States, John Adams, put the Big C actress as the First Lady, opposite Paul Giamatti as the title character. 


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13/23
Buena Vista Pictures

Joan Allen as Pat Nixon

The Oliver Stone-directed Nixon saw the Crucible actress as the First Lady, for which she received an Oscar nomination, with Anthony Hopkins playing POTUS. 


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14/23
Fox

Jacqueline Bisset as Jacqueline Kennedy

Jackie O.'s motherhood was at the forefront in her portrayal by the Murder on the Orient Express actress in the TV film America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story. 


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15/23

Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush

The Exorcist actress starred alongside Banks as W.'s mother. 


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16/23
Peter Stranks/HBO

Jeanne Tripplehorn as Jacqueline Kennedy

The Kennedy wife was a supporting character in the 2009 HBO film Grey Gardens, depicting the lives of some of Jackie's eccentric relatives, though the actress still received an Emmy nomination for her First Lady portrayal. 


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17/23
The Weinstein Company

Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan

2013's The Butler saw a number of stars bring historic American figures to screen, including Alan Rickman as 40th president Ronald Reagan and the iconic actress as his wife. 


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18/23
The Weinstein Company

Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy

The film also saw the Friday Night Lights star as the wife to James Marsden's John F. Kennedy. 


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19/23
NBC

Cecily Strong as Melania Trump

The SNL cast member nailed her impression of the current FLOTUS in a number of sketches, down to her Slovenian accent. 


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20/23
Kent Eanes/National Geographic Channel

Ginnifer Goodwin as Jacqueline Kennedy

Depicting JFK's assassination, Killing Kennedy put the Big Love star as FLOTUS and Rob Lowe as her husband.


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21/23
SNL

Sasheer Zamata as Michelle Obama

Who did it better? The comedian portrays Mrs. Obama to argue with Hillary Clinton (Vanessa Bayer) about who was the better First Lady on Saturday Night Live. 


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22/23
Protozoa Pictures

Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy

The First Lady was front and center in the 2016 biopic Jackie, with the Star Wars star as the title character, earning her a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards. 


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23/23
Alex Schaefer/NBC

Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton

Though she was playing Hillary, the presidential candidate and not Hillary, the First Lady, the comedian's impersonation on Saturday Night Live is too iconic not to include. 


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