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:
“The leading rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence. Leave nothing for to-morrow which can be done to-day.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“I have heard with admiring submission the experience of the lady who declared that the sense of being perfectly well dressed gives a feeling of inward tranquility which religion is powerless to bestow.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)