Over 50 movies and TV series have featured Elizabeth I as a character and the list of women - and one man - who have played her is distinguished and diverse. They include some who, like Blanchett, have played her twice.
Sarah Bernhardt- Les Amours de la Reine Elizabeth, co-directed by Henri Desfontaines and Louis Mercanton. 1912
Florence Eldridge- Mary of Scotland, John Ford, 1936
Flora Robson- Fire Over England, William K Howard, 1937. The Sea Hawk, Michael Curtiz, 1940
Bette Davis- The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Michael Curtiz, 1939. The Virgin Queen, Henry Koster, 1955
Jean Simmons- Young Bess, George Sidney, 1953
Irene Worth- Seven Seas to Calais, Rudolph Mate/Primo Zeglio, 1962
Vivienne Bennett- The Executioners, Doctor Who (TV) 1965
Catherine Lacey- The Fighting Prince of Donegal, Michael O'Herlihy, 1966
Glenda Jackson- Elizabeth R, various directors (TV), 1971
Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles Jarrott, 1972
Hattie Jacques- Carry On Laughing! (TV) Alan Tarrant, 1975
Miranda Richardson- Blackadder, eight episodes (TV), 1986-99
Quentin Crisp- Orlando, Sally Potter, 1992
Cate Blanchett- Elizabeth, Shekhar Kapur, 1998. Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Shekhar Kapur, 2007
Judi Dench- Shakespeare in Love, John Madden, 1998
Catherine McCormack- Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, Gillies MacKinnon, (TV) 2004
Helen Mirren- Elizabeth I, Tom Hooper (TV) 2005
Anne-Marie Duff- The Virgin Queen, Coky Giedroyc (TV) 2005
Angela Pleasance- The Shakespeare Code, Doctor Who (TV) 2007,
