noun

• The actress playing the principal female part in a film or play.

  ‘Nowhere is his focus on fun better represented, however, than in his choice of leading ladies and character actors.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘1926 saw her first major success and one that confirmed her status as a leading lady.’
  • ‘Days away from the opening night of the end of term musical, the leading lady is knocked unconscious.’
  • ‘There are two stars in the latest production - the leading lady and the scenery designer!’
  • ‘Film bosses panicked when Billie, who is the leading lady in the film, disappeared for three hours in Romania but later returned.’
  • ‘He had a much easier time with his leading lady in the film version of Evita.’
  • ‘The leading ladies of the film all do a fine job of throwing their arms over their face while screeching like banshees when trouble arrives.’
  • ‘It won a Tony Award for Best Musical, and its leading lady took home the award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.’
  • ‘There is only one thing seriously wrong with the show: the leading lady.’
  • ‘If you can't quite see the actors who are in deep shadow, and you can't quite make out what the leading lady is saying, the evening becomes a bit of an uphill climb.’
  • ‘He does so superbly with a knowing and crisp delivery and with a different leading lady for almost every number.’
  • ‘It first came to my notice in the middle 1960s when it was on Broadway and had a dull leading lady.’
  • ‘She helped transform Broadway leading ladies from demure innocents to tough and knowing broads.’
  • ‘I wouldn't have even been enrolled in the academy if it weren't for one of the two leading ladies in that unofficial off-stage drama.’
  • ‘It is a worthy evening, full of humour and close to naughtiness, and provides both its leading ladies with a vehicle which they relish, and consequently, so do we.’
  • ‘The leading ladies only share a handful of songs including I'm Having A Good Time and I've Got A Mind to Ramble.’
  • ‘For this dazzling 90-minute retrospective of his career to date, a magnificent round of British leading ladies join him.’
  • ‘Where the show tends to weaken is in its leading ladies.’
  • ‘She had graciously accepted the fact she wasn't a leading lady anymore and worked hard to become a fine character actress.’
  • ‘Her roles - typically a virtuous leading lady pursued by a hero who is thwarted at every turn by a cast of villains - have gripped audiences.’

  Synonyms

  leading role, star role, starring role, star part, title role, principal part