A leading lady can also be an actress of renown. For example, Lynn Fontanne and Helen Hayes were both referred to as the 'leading lady of the theatre' in their time. Similarly, Mary Pickford was called the 'leading lady' of the cinema.
The epithet has been applied to an actress who is often associated with one particular actor, for example, Olivia de Havilland was Errol Flynn's leading lady in several films, Katharine Hepburn had a similar association with Spencer Tracy, and Lauren Bacall with Humphrey Bogart and Maureen O'Hara with John Wayne. A leading lady is also an actress who is typecast in romantic supporting roles.
The term is also used collectively, as in 'Hollywood's leading ladies' to refer to a group of notable, famous or popular actresses.
Famous quotes containing the words leading and/or lady:
“Our leading men are not of much account and never have been, but the average of the people is immense, beyond all history. Sometimes I think in all departments, literature and art included, that will be the way our superiority will exhibit itself. We will not have great individuals or great leaders, but a great average bulk, unprecedentedly great.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“In proceeding to the dining-room, the gentleman gives one arm to the lady he escorts—it is unusual to offer both.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)