Dona Flor, a character who appeared in 1966, was an equally beloved heroine from Bahia in a novel also praised for its rollicking and lusty qualities.

Up-and-comer Lynn Collins, who was Portia in the recent film of "The Merchant of Venice," plays one of Shakespeare's most beloved heroines, Rosalind, in Mark Lamos's production in Shakespeare in the Park.

In Misery, a bestselling novelist winds up strapped to a bed by an obsessed fan, furious at him for killing off a beloved fictional heroine (the eponymous Misery), who finally shatters his legs with a hammer.

E3 OBITUARIES A18-19 Katharine Hepburn The actress whose independent life and strong-willed movie characters made her a role model for generations of women and a beloved heroine to filmgoers for more than 60 years, she was 96.

An elegant mansion that was home to Mexico's most beloved heroine is now used as the central offices of the state government.

It was surely a sign of the passion felt here that President Fidel V. Ramos said on Saturday that Mrs. Contemplacion, who was convicted of killing a 4-year-old child, was a "beloved" national heroine whose death would "not be in vain."

Die-hard fans of Patrica Cornwell are none too pleased that Angelina Jolie will be playing her beloved heroine Kay Scarpetta.

Whenever I eat a tomato sandwich, which is as often as possible, I think of Eleanor's tall, thin body and her wide, kind face, and of my grandmother smoking, but also of my first beloved literary heroine, Harriet the Spy.

This month, she swans through her first leading role, in "Emma," based on the Jane Austen classic, making it look easy to be an American passing as England's most beloved heroine in a film overflowing with acclaimed British actors.