List of female theater actors

This is an alphabetical list of notable female theater actors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. The list includes also female actors from other countries who have played leading or co-leading roles in well-known theaters of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Actors who have become famous playing leading or co-leading parts in musicals are also listed. Further, a certain number of theater actors included in this list are known as movie actors, too.

See also: Actors and List of male theater actors.

A

*Maude Adams
*Debbie Allen
*Joan Anderson
*Judith Anderson
*Mary Anderson
*Pamela Anderson
*Julie Andrews
*Maya Angelou
*Margaret Anglin
*Francesca Annis
*Peggy Ashcroft
*Elizabeth Ashley
*Jeanne Aubert

B

*Jaya Bachchan
*Josephine Baker
*Anne Bancroft
*Tallulah Bankhead
*Christine Baranski
*Ethel Barrymore
*Nora Bayes
*Shoshana Bean
*Jodi Benson
*Sarah Bernhardt
*Eve Best
*Stephanie J. Block
*Joan Blondell
*Clara Bloodgood
*Claire Bloom
*Lara Flynn Boyle
*Mrs. D. P. Bowers
*Fanny Brice
*Sarah Brightman
*Georgia Brown
*Betty Buckley
*Billie Burke

C

*Marie Cahill
*Mrs Patrick Campbell
*Mrs. Leslie Carter
*Nell Carter
*Carol Channing
*Stockard Channing
*Kristen Chenoweth
*Marguerite Clark
*Petula Clark
*Kate Claxton
*Catherine Clive
*Glenn Close
*Claudette Colbert
*Constance Collier
*Fay Compton
*Gladys Cooper
*Katherine Cornell
*Jane Cowl
*Lotta Crabtree
*Laura Hope Crews
*Charlotte Cushman

D

*Blythe Danner
*Fanny Davenport
*Judi Dench
*Colleen Dewhurst
*Marlene Dietrich
*Paola Dionisotti
*Hayley Doyle
*Ruth Draper
*Marie Dressler
*Mrs. John Drew
*Lindsay Duncan
*Sandy Duncan
*Marguerite Durand
*Eleonora Duse

E

*Jeanne Eagels
*Lee Eddy
*Carmen Electra
*Maxine Elliott
*Eden Espinosa
*Peg Entwistle
*Ruth Etting
*Edith Evans

F

*Lotta Faust
*Elsie Ferguson
*Minnie Maddern Fiske
*Lynn Fontanne
*Brigitte Fossey
*Clare Foster
*Sutton Foster
*Kristine Fraelich
*Elizabeth Franz

G

*Gina Gershon
*Mrs. Ann Gilbert
*Hermione Gingold
*Annie Girardo
*Dorothy Gish
*Lillian Gish
*Jane Green
*Tamsin Greig
*Tammy Grimes

H

*Uta Hagen
*Victoria Hamilton
*Amanda Harris
*Julie Harris
*Dolores Hart
*Helen Hayes
*Anna Held
*Bijou Heron
*Clare Higgins
*Wendy Hiller
*Megan Hilty
*Lena Horne
*Kathryn Hunter

I

*May Irwin
*Kim Ismay
*Dana Ivey

J

*Glenda Jackson
*Annalee Jefferies
*Peggy Hopkins Joyce

K

*Judy Kaye
*Lainie Kazan
*Laura Keene
*Diane Keaton
*Fanny Kemble
*Madge Kemble
*Rachel Kempson
*Véra Korène
*Jane Krakowski
*Judy Kuhn
*Swoosie Kurtz

L

*Jessica Lange
*Eva Le Gallienne
*Lillie Langtry
*Angela Lansbury
*Michelle Latimer
*Linda Lavin
*Carol Lawrence
*Gertrude Lawrence
*Gypsy Rose Lee
*Vivien Leigh
*Lotte Lenya
*Beatrice Lillie
*Patti LuPone

M

*Jeanette MacDonald
*Shirley MacLaine
*Dinah Manoff
*Julia Marlowe
*Andrea Martin
*Mary Martin
*Jessie Matthews
*Mercedes McCambridge
*Audra McDonald
*Mary McDonnell
*Nellie McKay
*Siobhan McKenna
*Sally McLean
*Janet McTeer
*Idina Menzel
*Ethel Merman
*Penelope Ann Miller
*Juliet Mills
*Carmen Miranda
*Helen Mirren
*Helena Modjeska
*Debra Monk
*Rita Moreno
*Clara Morris
*Anna Cora Mowatt
*Lara Mulcahy
*Julia Murney

N

*Alla Nazimova
*Anna Neagle
*Patricia Neal
*Adelaide Neilson
*Kate Nelligan
*Bebe Neuwirth
*Julie Newmar
*Michelle Nicastro

O

*Paige O'Hara
*Julia Ormond

P

*Elaine Paige
*Vivien Parry
*Estelle Parsons
*Bernadette Peters
*Olga Petrova
*Mary Pickford
*Louise Pitre
*Joan Plowright
*Amanda Plummer
*Josephine Premice
*Yvonne Printemps

Q-R

*Valerie Querns
*Sophia Ragavelas
*Gabrielle Ray
*Lynn Redgrave
*Vanessa Redgrave
*Ada Rehan
*Madeleine Renaud
*Diana Rigg
*Chita Rivera
*Jana Robbins
*Flora Robson
*Roxie Roker
*Philippine de Rothschild
*Mercedes Ruehl
*Margaret Rutherford

S

*Lea Salonga
*Christina Sergeant
*Fiona Shaw
*Carole Shelley
*Sarah Siddons
*Alexis Smith
*Anna Nicole Smith
*Maggie Smith
*Maureen Stapleton
*Frances Sternhagen
*Meryl Streep
*Barbra Streisand
*Elaine Stritch
*Jeanne Stuart

T

*Jessica Tandy
*Fay Templeton
*Ellen Terry
*Lynne Thigpen
*Jennifer Laura Thompson
*Sophie Thompson
*Sybil Thorndike
*Margaret Tyzack

U

*Mary Ure

V

*Joan Van Ark
*Gwen Verdon

W

*Zoe Wanamaker
*Ethel Waters
*Sigourney Weaver
*Mae West

X-Y-Z