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:
“I have always rebelled against the unadorned, the unbefitting, the unawakened, the unresisting, the undesirable, the unplanned, the unshapely, the uncommitted, the unattempted—all leading to the unintended. I believe in the unsubmissive, the unfaltering, the unassailable, the irresistible, the unbelievable—in other words, in an art of life.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)
“They say the lady is fair; ‘tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving me. By my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)