More than 500 people lined Mass. Ave. yesterday afternoon to watch actress Whoopi Goldberg in the 41st annual Hasty Pudding Theatricals' Woman of the Year parade.

Goldberg, who has won numerous awards for her work in film, television and theater, became the 145th Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.

Standing in front of a purple curtain on the Hasty Pudding stage, President Jake Kaufmann '93 and Vice President of the Cast Adam S. Geyer '93 presented Goldberg with the traditional Pudding Pot and a bouquet of flowers.

But before Kaufmann and Geyer would hand over the award, they asked Goldberg to display some of her special talents for the sold-out crowd which packed the Pudding theater.

The pair eventually got Goldberg to sing a few lines from one of her songs in the motion picture "Sister Act." Cheering from the crowd, however, drowned out much of the ac- tress's "performance."

"This is very cool," Goldberg said as she accepted the award. "It's really something to come from the projects to the hallowed halls of Harvard."

The actress said she was surprised to find herself at Harvard, as she had always thought of the University as "a bastion of Caucasian-ness."

Goldberg made her motion picture debut in Stephen Spielberg's film version of Alice Walker's The Color Purple, for which she received an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award.

In 1992, Goldberg won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Ota May Brown in "Ghost."

Past Woman of the Year winners include Lucille Ball (1988), Kathleen Turner (1989) and Jodie Foster (1992). "That's a stellar list," Goldberg said of the previous recipients.

At a press conference following the award presentation, Goldberg confirmed that she would become the highest-paid actress in history for her role in "Sister Act II," the sequel to her box-office hit of last year.

When asked what advice she would pass on to Harvard students, Goldberg replied, "I haven't got a clue."

The Harvard-Radcliffe Marching Band joined in the parade, which lasted for half an hour and circumnavigated Harvard Square, culminating in front of the Hasty Pudding Theater