50 of the most inspiring leading ladies in film history

Famous Leading Ladies I

1. Leia Organa... The Star Wars Series (1977–2019)... played by actress Carrie Fisher
2. Holly Golightly... Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)... Audrey Hepburn
3. Scarlett O' Hara... Gone With the Wind (1939)... Vivien Leigh
4. Vivian Ward... Pretty Woman (1990)... Julia Roberts








5. Katniss Everdeen... The Hunger Games Series (2012–2015)... Jennifer Lawrence
6. Clarice Starling... The Silence of the Lambs (1991)... Jodie Foster
7. Celie Harris Johnson... The Color Purple (1985)... Whoopi Goldberg
8. Rose DeWitt Bukater... Titanic (1997)... Kate Winslet
9. Mrs. Robinson... The Graduate (1967)... Anne Bancroft
10. Alex Forrest... Fatal Attraction (1987)... Glenn Close
11. Frances "Baby" Houseman... Dirty Dancing (1987)... Jennifer Grey
12. Sarah Connor... The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2 (1991)
13. Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo... Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)... Uma Thurman
14. Maggie Fitzgerald... Million Dollar Baby (2004)... Hilary Swank
15. Ellen Ripley... Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)... Sigourney Weaver
16. Dorothy Gale... The Wizard of Oz (1939)... Judie Garland
17. Thelma Dickinson and Louise Sawyer... Thelma & Louise (1991)... Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise
18. Marge Gunderson... Fargo (1996)... Frances McDormand
19. Mrs. Danvers... Rebecca (1940)... Judith Anderson
20. Ilsa Lund... Casablanca (1942)... Ingrid Bergman
21. Hermione Granger... The Harry Potter Series (2001–2011)... Emma Watson
22. Annie Wilkes... Misery (1980)... Kathy Bates
23. Sally Bowles... Cabaret (1972)... Liza Minnelli
24. Effie White... Dreamgirls (2006)... Jennifer Hudson
25. Lara... Doctor Zhivago (1965)... Julie Christie

Famous Leading Ladies II

26. Elizabeth Bennet... Pride and Prejudice (2005)... Keira Knightley
27. Miranda Priestley... The Devil Wears Prada (2006)... Meryl Streep
28. Sugar Kane Kowalczyk... Some Like it Hot (1959)... Marilyn Monroe
29. Maria Von Trapp... The Sound of Music (1965)... Julie Andrews
30. Lara Croft... Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)... Angelina Jolie
31. Catherine Tramell... Basic Instinct (1992)... Sharon Stone
32. Mia Wallace... Pulp Fiction (1994)... Uma Thurman
33. Nurse Ratched... One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)... Louise Fletcher
34. Rose Sayer... The African Queen (1951)... Katharine Hepburn
35. ‘Baby’ Jane Hudson... Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)... Bette Davis
36. Cher Horowitz... Clueless (1995)... Alicia Silverstone
37. Muriel Heslop... Muriel’s Wedding (1994)... Toni Collette
38. Velvet Brown... National Velvet (1944)... Elizabeth Taylor
39. Christina Drayton... Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)... Katharine Hepburn
40. Kay Miniver... Mrs. Miniver (1942)... Greer Garson
41. Gudrun Brangwen... Women in Love (1969)... Glenda Jackson
42. Bree Daniels... Klute (1971)... Jane Fonda
43. Loretta Lynn... Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)... Sissy Spacek
44. Margaret Schlegel... Howards End (1992)... Emma Thompson
45. Virginia Woolf... The Hours (2002)... Nicole Kidman
46. Aileen Wuornos... Monster (2003)... Charlize Theron
47. Hanna Schmitz... The Reader (2008)... Kate Winslet
48. Nina Sayers/Odette... Black Swan (2010)... Natalie Portman
49. Anna Leonowens... The King and I (1956)... Deborah Kerr
50. Fran Kubelik... The Apartment (1960)... Shirley MacLaine