In Misery, Bates gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "number-one fan" as the deranged devotee of a romance-novel writer (James Caan). Obsessed with his creation to the point of forcing the injured Caan to rewrite his protagonist's fate, Bates eventually has to "hobble" the person she admires most with a sledgehammer to the legs, so he won't escape. It's her version of "tough love."

Misery, Kathy Bates and James Caan, 1990. © Columbia. Photo courtesy of the Everett Collection.