Cyndi Lauper: Which living person do you most admire, and why?

The question

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Cyndi Lauper

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Aside from my mom, my husband, and my mother-in-law, Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and RBG.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗

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Zoë Wanamaker American-born British actress

The Dalai Lama because he has peace, and we all want that.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2013 source ↗

Alison Steadman British actress

I have great hopes for Barack Obama.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗

Rose Ayling-Ellis British actress

Dolly Parton. I love how she does what she wants, and lives how she wants, keeping her life so private. Also, she helped fund Covid vaccine research.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 August 2024 source ↗

Bernadette Peters

I most admire Steve Sondheim, who is not alive anymore. But his words and music keep him alive.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2025 source ↗

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Question What is your greatest fear? Identity & self

A world where greed rules.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗

Question What is your idea of perfect happiness? Identity & self

Long walks with my husband. Being with my family. Making music, and writing when songs just fall together. And maybe a cannoli. Just one.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 3 April 2020 source ↗

Question Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? Identity & self

I cut people off a lot when I talk. It’s a terrible habit.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗

Question What most recently made you cry? Identity & self

At a function for the True Colors Fund, where formerly homeless gay and transgender kids were telling their stories. It was heartbreaking.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2014 source ↗

Question What is the trait you most deplore in others? Values & belief

Two-faced phony-baloneys.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗

Question If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Identity & self

I’ve constantly been changing myself my whole life. I am what you would call “a piece of work” in progress.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 3 April 2020 source ↗

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