Over the centuries, women have struggled to find space in industries that underestimated and overlooked them. But through every hurdle, these trailblazers broke new trails, shattered glass ceilings, and created their own spaces that still reverberate today. Here are 15 women whose creativity and vision eternally altered the stage and screen.
15. Ethel Merman – The Voice of Broadway
When powerhouse Broadway singers are mentioned, Ethel Merman is at the top of the list. With her powerful voice and biting comedic timing, she established the benchmark for musical theater performance. She originated such irreplaceable roles as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun and Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, collaborating with great composers who wrote songs written specifically for her voice. Merman’s impact can be seen in every belter since.
14. Alice Guy-Blaché – Cinema’s Forgotten Pioneer
In 1896, Alice Guy-Blaché directed her first film in France, becoming the world’s first female filmmaker. She pushed the boundaries of early cinema with experiments in synchronized sound and color, later founding Solax, one of the largest studios in pre-Hollywood America. Despite directing and producing hundreds of films, her legacy was nearly erased—yet her pioneering spirit shaped the foundation of film as we know it.
13. Dorothy Arzner – Breaking Barriers in Hollywood
In Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dorothy Arzner was one of only a handful of women directors. Between the 1920s and 1940s, she directed more than 20 films, including Dance, Girl, Dance starring Lucille Ball. Arzner was also among the earliest openly gay filmmakers in the studio system, breaking rules and making room for the voices of women in a man’s world.
12. Ida Lupino – Independent Film Champion
Ida Lupino started on screen, frequently cast in hard, multifaceted women’s roles, but her real distinction came in the behind-the-scenes work. She made movies that addressed forbidden topics Hollywood wouldn’t touch, such as assault and social injustice. Through films such as The Hitch-Hiker and The Bigamist, Lupino demonstrated that women could create bold, socially conscious films years before women’s work was de rigueur in Hollywood.
11. Susan Seidelman – Redefining Women on Screen in the ’80s
With Desperately Seeking Susan, Susan Seidelman not only catapulted Madonna into superstardom but also remade what the female-led narrative could be like during the 1980s. Her movies celebrated messy, multi-dimensional women—sometimes even anti-heroines—at a moment when Hollywood tended to reduce females to stereotypes.
10. Kathryn Bigelow – First Woman of Action
Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to take home the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. A master of tense action and war movies, Bigelow broke into genres dominated by men for decades. Bigelow blends breakneck spectacle with thoughtful examinations of power, morality, and human toll.
9. Ava DuVernay – Storyteller for Justice
Few have leveraged their platform as effectively as Ava DuVernay. With movies such as Selma and the documentary 13th, she has called attention to racial injustice and systemic inequality, igniting cultural dialogue far beyond the cinema screen. DuVernay continues to fight for inclusivity in Hollywood, demonstrating that storytelling can be a powerful force for change.
8. Greta Gerwig – A New Kind of Auteur
Greta Gerwig transitioned from indie sweetheart to blockbuster director, writing pictures such as Lady Bird and Little Women that illuminate the depth of women’s relationships. Barbie showed women can direct large, culture-defining smashes without sacrificing their distinctive voice. Gerwig’s blend of intimacy and magnitude makes her one of the defining directors of her era.
7. Chloé Zhao – Combining Realism with Myth
Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman to take home the Best Director award for Nomadland. Her films draw the boundaries between reality and fiction, speaking for the marginalized people in poetic realism. The flexibility to transition from close portraits to grander-than-life genres displays how groundbreaking and adaptable her vision is.
6. Jane Campion – Master of Complexity
Jane Campion has constructed her career on narratives that delve deep into psychology and human relationships. From The Piano to Top of the Lake, she has often been focused on complex, multi-faceted women who blur expectations. With her unflinching narrative, Campion has paved the way for unvarnished, uncomfortable truths on both stage and screen.
5. Lorraine Hansberry – A Voice for Justice on Broadway
At only 29, Lorraine Hansberry was the first Black female to have a play produced on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun. Her search for themes of race, family, and identity in America resonated with generations. Hansberry wasn’t only a playwright but also a fiery activist, employing her art and voice for social justice.
4. Julie Taymor – Theatrical Visionary
Julie Taymor revolutionized what Broadway would be like with her innovative work on The Lion King. Her innovative use of puppetry and design combined international influences into something new, for which she was awarded the Tony for Best Direction of a Musical—the first female to do so. Taymor’s fearlessness in storytelling continues to shape the stage and screen.
3. Rita Moreno – The Ultimate Trailblazer
Rita Moreno broke barriers playing Anita in West Side Story (1961), the first Latina to ever win an Academy Award. An EGOT-winning anomaly, she has succeeded in all aspects of entertainment. In addition to her classic roles, Moreno has been an advocate for Latinx visibility in Hollywood, educating future generations of artists about what longevity and power look like.
2. Sara Bareilles – A New Broadway Voice
Most famously at first for singles such as “Love Song” and “Brave,” Sara Bareilles transferred her songwriting skills to the stage with Waitress. She was among the first few women to write a full Broadway score and even took on the lead part herself. Bareilles has gone on to influence theatre through her efforts on Into the Woods and Girls5eva, introducing a new generation of female composers.
1. Audra McDonald – Broadway Royalty
Audra McDonald has the most Tony Awards of anyone—six—and is the sole performer to have won in all four acting categories. Spanning musicals such as Ragtime to dramas such as Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, McDonald has shown her unparalleled versatility. Offstage, she speaks out for diversity and equity in the arts, solidifying her position as both a performer and a leader.
These women not only achieved success in film and theater—they revolutionized them. Their voices, vision, and courage opened doors long closed, leaving behind legacies that continue to influence the stories we witness on stage and screen today.