Here are all eight Catwoman actresses ranked.
We’re only including live-action performances, but including all Batman and Catwoman TV shows and films.
So here we go. But first…
A Catveat
To our way of thinking, there are no bad Catwoman actresses. But we have enjoyed some versions of the iconic character — first introduced as “The Cat” in Batman #1 in 1940 — more than others.
Catwoman has always been different than most Batman villains in that she’s more of an antihero — or even a hero who went astray. There’s a delicate dance between her and Batman in which she sometimes tries to pull him into a life of crime, and he always tries to pull her into the light.
What’s consistent in most versions of the character is that while Bruce Wayne/Batman comes from immense wealth, Catwoman has always been self-made, and forced to compromise in ways the Dark Knight isn’t. That makes her, in many ways, a more compelling character than Batman. And his most intriguing adversary.
And now, here we go with the Catwoman actresses ranked from good to great.
8 – Camren Bicondova in Gotham (2014-2019)
We have no issues with Camren Bicondova’s performance on the show — but the entire Gotham enterprise seems misbegotten to us. It’s a show about the early years of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) and a cast of characters that includes Bicondova’s young Selina Kyle.
We just don’t like the “young Batman” concept, or the conceit that Batman and Catwoman have known each other since they were kids. We vastly prefer the traditional take in which Batman is an established crimefighter who finds his convenient presumptions about criminals complicated by the sympathetic presence of Catwoman, a character who has to steal to survive.
Bicondova does a perfectly fine job in her role. It’s the whole concept of Gotham that we don’t love.
7 – Zoë Kravitz in The Batman (2022)
Again, no issues with Kravitz’ performance. But her performance makes us think of the catchphrase from Heath Ledger’s Joker: Why so serious?
The Batman shares a view of Catwoman that’s very similar to the one in Frank Miller’s masterful series Batman: Year One, in which Kyle is an up-from-the-gutter thief who becomes a masked criminal as an alternative to sex work.
The Batman doesn’t take the character to the same extremes as the Year One, but does make clear that Kyle has few options in life. She’s very much a counterpoint to the billionaire Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson).
The only issue with the film’s characterization, as we see it, is that The Batman‘s conception of Catwoman has none of the character’s trademark wit. One of the things that makes Catwoman so appealing is her dark sense of humor even as she deals with incredible adversity. Her cynically funny outlook adds to her appeal.
6 – Halle Berry in Catwoman (2004)
Halle Berry is the only actress to play Catwoman in a standalone movie, and in a twist of movie fate, ended up getting a Razzie for Worst Actress just a couple of years after she earned a Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball.
You know what? We don’t like the Razzies. They consistently miss the point of big, all-in performances, and that was the case with Catwoman. Berry played the character as if she were an actual cat — all instinct and reaction — and the problem with the movie is its very 2000s quick cuts and flash, not Berry’s acting.
Anyway, the iconic actress displayed a Catwoman-like level of gumption — and a great sense of humor — when she showed up to accept her Razzie in person.
5 – Eartha Kitt in the Batman TV Show (1967-68)
Eartha Kitt’s version of Catwoman feels more like a cartoon than a person, but boy, Kitt sells it. Her total commitment is intoxicating.
Perhaps more than any all the other Catwomen, the singer-actress understood the raw charisma of Catwoman. She grasped that it might actually be fun to dress up in a mask and catsuit and steal diamonds. Kitt brought more vamp and camp to the role than any other Catwoman actress and we adore her for it. She’s pictured above with one of our favorite Joker actors.
Kitt took over the role in the third season of the Batman TV show, replacing the next Catwoman actress on our list.
4 – Julie Newmar in the Batman TV Show (1966-1967)
Julie Newmar originated the live-action, swinging ’60s version of Catwoman, and deserves plenty of credit for creating the template for all future Catwoman actresses.
Her alluring take on the role made her one of the most seductive of all Catwoman actresses: Her version of the character wanted to entice Batman (Adam West) to join her in a life of crime, and we all would have understood if he’d succumbed.
We also enjoyed her interplay with Pussycat (Lesley Gore), who was kind of like Catwoman’s Robin — and of course had a more innocent will-they-or-won’t they dynamic with Burt Ward’s Robin. It was all very silly and fun.
3- Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns (1992)
Director Tim Burton encouraged Pfeiffer to go similarly all-in with this sequel to his 1989 blockbuster Batman, and Pfeiffer delivered.
While her Selina Kyle is maybe too mousy before her transformation, once she becomes Catwoman, she’s irresistible.
Kyle’s goth take on Catwoman — deadpan, at time ghastly pale — makes her the most winning character in a movie packed with over-the-top performances. Her arch take on the word “meow” is one of the all-time best single-word line readings.
2 – Lee Meriweather in Batman (1966)
Julie Newmar was very much in demand in the mid-60s, which meant scheduling conflicts kept her from doing the Batman movie. Lee Meriweather stepped in and absolutely nailed it.
Playing both Catwoman and her alter-ego, Kitka, Meriwether is funny, vulnerable, bold, and somehow — in a movie notable for its off-the-charts campiness — believable.
The Batman movie is one of the most fun-for-the-whole family movies we’ve ever seen: Kids will take it seriously, adults less so, and everyone will have a blast.
Much of its success hinges on Meriwether’s performance, echoes of which can be found in the best and final performance on our list…
1 – Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Hathaway played Selina Kyle as a classic noir femme fatale, combining dark wit with magnetism and verve. But she also brought more athleticism and power to the role than any of the Catwoman actresses before or since. And she played it all completely real, as is the rule with the Christopher Nolan Batman movies.
Her speech, murmured to Bruce Wayne as they dance, captures the essence of Catwoman: “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you’re all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.”
The usual Batman-Catwoman dance is very much in play in The Dark Knight Rises, and it’s tremendously satisfying to see the dreamy way it resolves. We look forward to Hathaway and Nolan reuniting this summer for The Odyssey.
If you liked this list of Catwoman actresses ranked, you may also like our list of All 7 Batman Actors Ranked.
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Main image: Lee Meriwether in Batman. 20th Century Fox
