The definitive biography of movie executive and philanthropist Sherry Lansing traces her groundbreaking journey to become the first female head of a major motion picture studio, sharing behind-the-scenes tales from movie sets and Hollywood boardrooms. When Sherry Lansing became the first woman ever to be named president of a major studio, the news ricocheted around the world. That was just the beginning of an extraordinary run that saw her head two studios, make hundreds of films, produce classic pictures such as Fatal Attraction  and rule for twenty-five years as the most powerful woman Hollywood has ever known. Award-winning writer Stephen Galloway takes us behind the scenes of Lansing's epic journey—inside the battles; up close with the stars; and into the heart of a creative world populated by the likes of Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Jane Fonda, Angelina Jolie and Tom Cruise. He shows us the velvet touch that masked the iron hand, and the roller-coaster drama behind such movies as Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan . Above all, he takes us into the mind of Lansing, creating a revealing portrait of a dynamic, driven woman who overcame unimaginable odds, pushed boundaries and left Hollywood at the peak of her power to achieve the life she wanted. “With great insight and exceptional research, this biography shows just what made [Sherry] so special, what allowed her to break every glass ceiling and become one of the most brilliant and talented producers and executives Hollywood has ever known.” — Michael Douglas   “This book, drawing on hundreds of interviews with Sherry and the people who know her best, takes us inside her thinking, into the heart of Hollywood, and on to her groundbreaking work in health and education.” — President Jimmy Carter “This is a must-read for movie lovers. Sherry Lansing, the first woman to run a film studio, divulges a trove of insider stories about the making of  Titanic ,  Braveheart ,  Forrest Gump  and many other modern classics. The bio also looks at how much Hollywood has and has not changed since 1970, when Lansing appeared in Rio Lobo with John Wayne.” — AARP “Sexism is just one interesting facet of the life and career that biographer Stephen Galloway explores in Leading Lady . He presents a fully realized portrait of a professional woman breaking glass ceilings. But more important, The Hollywood Reporter journalist shows us the person who endures failure as often as she savors triumph. Her strength of spirit, personally and professionally, is what underlies Galloway’s title.”  —The Washington Post "Galloway has created a colorful page-turner chronicling Lansing’s legacy as both a filmmaker and a philanthropist." — Publishers Weekly “An energetic and entertaining story, filled with divas, tantrums, and abundant Hollywood gossip …[Leading Lady] is a brisk, breezy look at the turbulent world of moviemaking.”  — Kirkus Reviews “Galloway has crafted a sharp-eyed, captivating look at a brilliant pioneer who broke through the glass ceiling.” — Booklist   STEPHEN GALLOWAY  is an award-winning writer who was named Entertainment Journalist of the Year in 2013 and has served for many years as the executive features editor of The Hollywood Reporter . He lives in Los Angeles. Chapter 1 On January 23, 2003, a black sedan pulled out of Paramount Pictures’ historic sixty-five-acre lot at the southern edge of Hollywood and eased into the clogged traffic, heading toward Los Angeles International Airport. For the security guards who manned the studio’s Melrose Avenue gate, this was nothing new: taxis and limousines went back and forth dozens of times each hour, ferrying everyone who was anyone, from Tom Cruise to Mel Gibson to Angelina Jolie. The guards knew them well, and all their follies and foibles. Some were liked, some loathed; few were as revered as the woman sitting inside the car now, her blue eyes brilliant against her raven hair. At fifty-eight years old, Sherry Lansing was Hollywood royalty. Tall and elegant in one of her trademark Armani suits, she had been chairman of Paramount’s movie division since 1992 and had ruled it with an iron fist hidden inside the most velvet of gloves. With her regal presence and commanding five-foot-ten frame, she would have intimidated the guards if not for her palpable warmth; she liked to be liked, needed it even, and unsheathed the steel within only when absolutely necessary. For a quarter century she had reigned as the most powerful woman in film, overseeing two separate studios at different stages of her career and producing such high-profile pictures as Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal in between. She had weathered hits and misses, victories and defeats, enemies who masqueraded as friends, and friends who might as well have been enemies. She was as much a part of the entertainment landscape as the Hollywood sign, one of a rare breed of executives known by their first names