Musicians
She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Aretha Franklin
She was the first woman to co-anchor a news show.
Barbara Walters
She was the first Black actress in 40 years to star as the lead of a drama. She also won a BET award for best actress in this role.
Kerry Washington
She is a novelist, screenwriter, and producer. Her books went on to become some of the bestselling books in history and were adapted for the screen.
JK Rowling
She is the first African American to become a principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre in 2015.
Misty Copeland
She was a singer and actress nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with over 200 million records sold worldwide
Whitney Houston
She is a television host, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and media personality. She’s called “America’s Most Powerful Woman”.
Oprah Winfrey
She was an actress, comedian, author and advocate for the welfare and health of animals. Her career that spanned more than 75 years and received many awards in various categories.
Betty White
She was memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and TV shows spanning over 50 years.
Maya Angelou
She is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black. She is the only woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for drama twice.
Lynn Nottage
She is a singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her decades-long career in country music. She has 110 career-charted singles.
Dolly Parton
She is a comedian, television host, actress, writer, producer, and LGBT activist. Her former talk show was awarded 64 Daytime Emmys for Daytime talk show.
Ellen DeGeneres
She was hailed for defying stereotypes. She became the first Latina to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress. In 2007 she was listed on Time’s 100 Most Influential People.
America Ferrera
She’s a poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and environmental activist. She is best known for her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). The success of this book spawned an award-winning television series and a sequel novel in 2019.
Margaret Atwood
She is an actress who gained fame for her work on the TV series as Clair Huxtable. She's had a distinguished acting career on television, stage, and film. She is the first African American woman to win a Tony Award for best actress. In 2016 she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
Phylicia Rashad
She is a singer-songwriter and actress. She was the lead singer of the R&B group in the late 90s and now has a successful solo career. She won a record-setting 32 Grammy Awards.
Beyoncé
She is a broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She is a main co-anchor of a News morning show. She formerly served as a correspondent for Dateline.
Hoda Kotb
She has won an Emmy, Tony, and Academy Award. She is the first African American actress to earn the “Triple Crown of Acting.” She’s also an outspoken feminist and social justice advocate, and she has worked on campaigns to combat childhood hunger and poverty.
Viola Davis
She is an activist and a legend. Her most famous novel, The Color Purple (1982), highlights the power of strength and independence in black women. The Color Purple was turned into an Oscar-nominated film in 1985, a Broadway musical in 2005, and will get a second film adaptation in 2023.
Alice Walker
She is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Best known for her stage adaptation of The Lion King. She received Tony Awards for Best Director and Costume Designer. She was also a 2015 inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater.
Julie Taymor
She is a singer/actress and the only artist to earn an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, a Cable Ace Award, a Peabody Award, and the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Honor.
Barbra Streisand
She is a television personality, author, and broadcast journalist for CBS News. She is also an editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine. She was named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People of 2019.
Gayle King
She is an actress, author, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and director known for her offbeat humor. Time magazine named her the top 100 most influential people in the world. She is described as a pioneer, as there are not yet very many Indian American women on television.
Mindy Kaling
She is an author who primarily writes novels in the romance and young adult fiction genres. She is best known for her 2016 romance novel It Ends with Us. She has sold about 20 million books as of October 2022.
Colleen Hoover
She founded WP as the Women’s Project Theater, dedicated to combating the under-representation of women artists working in the American theatre. Her mission has remained constant: develop, produce, and promote the work of women artists at every stage in their careers.
Julia Miles