leading ladies
Top billed actresses
Leading ladies are the principal female performers in theatrical, film, or television productions—the women who play the starring roles.
The term evokes Hollywood's golden age, when studios cultivated glamorous actresses as their leading ladies.
By extension, a leading lady can be any prominent woman in a field or situation: She was the leading lady of twentieth-century physics.
Rising young actress
- divaCelebrated female vocalist
- ingenueArtless young woman
- silver screenFilm industry metonym
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
Bollywood · screen presence · marquee name · film star · movie star · box office draw · action heroine · ensemble cast
Brave female protagonist
- main characterStory's central figure
- central figurePrimary person in focus
- title roleCharacter naming the work
- starLuminous astronomical object
focal point · anchor · principal · key player · romantic heroine · tragic heroine · action heroine · antiheroine
- Grace KellyActress turned Monegasque royalty
- golden agePeriod of peak prosperity
- classic cinemaEnduring films from earlier eras
- legendUnverified traditional tale
Audrey Hepburn · Elizabeth Taylor · Greta Garbo · Bette Davis · Judy Garland · Katharine Hepburn · Sophia Loren · Ingrid Bergman
First to explore territory
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
- first womanPrimordial female human
- role modelPerson others emulate
- trailblazerFirst to forge ahead
visionary · revolutionary · formidable · resilient · courageous · tenacious · independent · influential
starlet
Rising young actress
- divaCelebrated female vocalist
- ingenueArtless young woman
- silver screenFilm industry metonym
Hollywood · Bollywood · screen presence · marquee name · film star · movie star · box office draw · action heroine · ensemble cast · co-star
heroine
Brave female protagonist
- main characterStory's central figure
- central figurePrimary person in focus
- title roleCharacter naming the work
star · focal point · anchor · principal · key player · romantic heroine · tragic heroine · action heroine · antiheroine · character arc
Marilyn Monroe
- Grace KellyActress turned Monegasque royalty
- golden agePeriod of peak prosperity
- classic cinemaEnduring films from earlier eras
Audrey Hepburn · Elizabeth Taylor · Greta Garbo · Bette Davis · Judy Garland · Katharine Hepburn · Sophia Loren · Ingrid Bergman · Vivien Leigh · Lauren Bacall
pioneering
First to explore territory
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
- first womanPrimordial female human
- role modelPerson others emulate
trailblazer · visionary · revolutionary · formidable · resilient · courageous · tenacious · independent · influential · charismatic
- theater peopleactors, actor, directors, actresses, actress
- TV peoplenews anchor, newscaster, presenter, reporter, talk show host
- Film Biographiesbiopic, movie star, film career, filmography, movie stars
- heroeshero, heroes, heroine, heroines, superhero
- theaterplays, stage, play, onstage, acting
- actorsactor, actors, actresses, film actor, actress
leading ladiessupporting actresses
Secondary female film performers
bit players · extras · character actresses · walk-ons · spear carriers
leading, ladies, lead, leader, leaders, leadership, mislead, misleading, ladylike