The Academy Awards have been handing out a Best Actress trophy since the very first ceremony in 1928. Janet Gaynor for a combo of “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel” and “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” was the first recipient for his leading roles. The most recent champ was Renee Zellweger for “Judy.”
Since then, only one woman has won the category four times: Katharine Hepburn for “Morning Glory,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “The Lion in Winter” and “On Golden Pond.” Next with three is Frances McDormand (“Fargo,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “Nomadland”). The ladies with two lead wins have included Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Glenda Jackson, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer, Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank. Streep holds the record of most lead nominations at 17.
The oldest winner was Jessica Tandy (“Driving Miss Daisy”) at age 80. The oldest nominee was Emmanuelle Riva (“Amour”) at age 85. The youngest winner was Marlee Matlin (“Children of a Lesser God”) at age 21. The youngest nominee was Quvenzhane Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) at age 9.
Click through our updated photo gallery of every Academy Award-winning Best Actress, from the most recent Oscar winner to the very first champion. Gallery updated March 2023.
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Michelle Yeoh
Image Credit: A24 “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022)
In A24’s hit sci-fi movie, Yeoh stars as a laundromat owner named Evelyn Quan Wang who traverses alternate universes. Despite her illustrious career in the film industry, this marked her first Oscar nomination and win.
2022 Best Actress nominees:
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) -
Jessica Chastain
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures Best Actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Best Actress nominees:
Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”)
Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)
Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”)
Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”)
Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) -
Frances McDormand
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures “Nomadland” (2020)
MdDormand nabbed a surprise 3rd Best Actress award for her role as a woman who becomes a van-dwelling nomad journeying across the Southwest after the Great Recession.
2020 Best Actress nominees:
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) -
Renee Zellweger
Image Credit: LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions “Judy” (2019)
Zellweger swept the season on her way to a second Oscar victory (her first in lead) for playing Judy Garland, who spends the last months of her life performing at a final concert tour in London.
2019 Best Actress nominee:
Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”)
Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”)
Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”)
Renee Zellweger (“Judy”) -
Olivia Colman
Image Credit: Fox Searchlight “The Favourite” (2018)
Colman won her first Oscar for playing a frail Queen Anne, who governs while two cousins (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) vie for her affections.
2018 Best Actress Nominees:
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” -
Frances McDormand
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)
McDormand earned her second Best Actress statue for her role as a grieving mother looking for vengeance following her daughter’s brutal murder in Martin McDonagh’s gritty drama about revenge and racism in America.
2017 Best Actress Nominees:
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post” -
Emma Stone
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “La La Land” (2016)
Stone plays Mia, an aspiring actress who falls in love with a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling), in this LA-based musical from Damien Chazelle. The film infamously was named Best Picture incorrectly by presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, when actually “Moonlight” had prevailed.
2016 Best Actress Nominees:
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins” -
Brie Larson
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Room” (2015)
Larson dominated the awards circuit for her portrayal of a mother who tries to shelter her son (Jacob Tremblay) from the reality that they are held captive in a tiny room.
2015 Best Actress Nominees:
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Brie Larson, “Room”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn” -
Julianne Moore
Image Credit: Sony Pictures “Still Alice” (2014)
After four previous nominations, Moore won her first Oscar for playing a professor struggling with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
2014 Best Actress Nominees:
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild” -
Cate Blanchett
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Blue Jasmine” (2013)
After winning in the supporting category for 2004’s “The Aviator,” Blanchett won her first Best Actress trophy for playing a rich socialite struggling with emotional fragility after a series of tragic events in this drama directed by Woody Allen.
2013 Best Actress Nominees:
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County” -
Jennifer Lawrence
Image Credit: The Weinstien Company “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012)
Lawrence won her Oscar for her portrayal of Tiffany, a young, mentally unstable widow who teams with a bipolar divorcee (Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper) to enter a dance competition.
2012 Best Actress Nominees:
Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible” -
Meryl Streep
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company “The Iron Lady” (2011)
Oscar’s most nominated actress won her first statue in 29 years for her role as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It was Streep’s third Oscar win overall, and her second win in this category.
2011 Best Actress Nominees:
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn” -
Natalie Portman
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection “Black Swan” (2010)
Portman’s Oscar was for her role as a young dancer who loses her identity and her sanity in her quest to play the principal role in “Swan Lake.”
2010 Best Actress Nominees:
Annette Bening, “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine” -
Sandra Bullock
Image Credit: Alcon Film Fund “The Blind Side” (2009)
Bullock won her Oscar for playing Leigh-Anne Tuohy, a southern woman who adopts an impoverished black teenager and guides him to a successful NFL career.
2009 Best Actress Nominees:
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia” -
Kate Winslet
Image Credit: The Weinstein Company “The Reader” (2008)
On her sixth nomination, Winslet won her first Oscar for playing an illiterate German woman whose actions have devastating consequences for her young suitor.
2008 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader” -
Marion Cotillard
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “La Vie en Rose” (2007)
The actress won her Oscar for her portrayal of famed French singer Edith Piaf, becoming only the second actress to win for a non-English-speaking performance.
2007 Best Actress Nominees:
Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Julie Christie, “Away from Her”
Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”
Laura Linney, “The Savages”
Ellen Page, “Juno” -
Helen Mirren
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “The Queen” (2006)
Mirren triumphed as Queen Elizabeth II, who struggles with a monarchy facing public ridicule following the death of Princess Diana. Mirren won a Tony for playing the same character on Broadway in 2015’s “The Audience.”
2006 Best Actress Nominees:
Penelope Cruz, “Vovler”
Judi Dench, “Notes on a Scandal”
Helen Mirren, “The Queen”
Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada”
Kate Winslet, “Little Children” -
Reese Witherspoon
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “Walk the Line” (2005)
Witherspoon plays June Carter Cash in this drama that chronicles the rise of legendary Country singer Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) and the beginnings of his relationship with June.
2005 Best Actress Nominees:
Judi Dench, “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
Felicity Huffman, “Transamerica”
Keira Knightly, “Pride and Prejudice”
Charlize Theron, “North Country”
Reese Witherspoon, “Walk the Line” -
Hilary Swank
Image Credit: Warner Bros “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
Swank won her second Oscar in just five years for her performance as a tenacious prizefighter facing tragedy in Clint Eastwood’s Oscar winner for Best Picture.
2004 Best Actress Nominees:
Annette Bening, “Being Julia”
Catalina Sandino Moreno, “Maria Full of Grace”
Hilary Swank, “Million Dollar Baby”
Imelda Staunton, “Vera Drake”
Kate Winslet, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” -
Charlize Theron
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Monster” (2003)
Theron’s first nomination and win came for her role as famed serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a performance that critic Roger Ebert called “one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema.”
2003 Best Actress Nominees:
Keisha Castle-Hughes, “Whale Rider”
Diane Keaton, “Something’s Gotta Give”
Samantha Morton, “In America”
Charlize Theron, “Monster”
Naomi Watts, “21 Grams” -
Nicole Kidman
Image Credit: Miramax/Paramount “The Hours” (2002)
Kidman won Oscar gold for her portrayal of writer Virginia Woolf as she struggles with mental illness while completing her novel, “Mrs. Dalloway.”
2002 Best Actress Nominees:
Salma Hayek, “Frida”
Nicole Kidman, “The Hours”
Julianne Moore, “Far from Heaven”
Diane Lane, “Unfaithful”
Renee Zellweger, “Chicago” -
Halle Berry
Image Credit: Lionsgate “Monster’s Ball” (2001)
Berry’s win for playing a poverty-stricken woman who develops a relationship with a racist prison guard was the first, and to date only, win by an African-American woman in this category.
2001 Best Actress Nominees:
Halle Berry, “Monster’s Ball”
Judi Dench, “Iris”
Nicole Kidman, “Moulin Rouge”
Sissy Spacek, “In the Bedroom”
Renee Zellweger, “Bridget Jones’s Diary” -
Julia Roberts
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Erin Brockovich” (2000)
The star of “Pretty Woman” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” won her Oscar for her portrayal of a single mom turned consumer advocate who takes on a large energy corporation that is poisoning local residents.
2000 Best Actress Nominees:
Joan Allen, “The Contender”
Juliette Binoche, “Chocolat”
Ellen Burstyn, “Requiem for a Dream”
Laura Linney, “You Can Count on Me”
Julia Roberts, “Erin Brockovich” -
Hilary Swank
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999)
Swank’s first Oscar was for her performance in the true story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who is the victim of a vicious hate crime when he moves to a small Nebraska town.
1999 Best Actress Nominees:
Annette Bening, “American Beauty”
Janet McTeer, “Tubmleweeds”
Julianne Moore, “The End of the Affair”
Meryl Streep, “Music of the Heart”
Hilary Swank, “Boys Don’t Cry” -
Gwyneth Paltrow
Image Credit: Universal Pictures “Shakespeare in Love” (1998)
Paltrow plays Lady Viola, a young British woman obsessed with poetry, love, and the words of the Bard in this Best Picture Oscar winner.
1998 Best Actress Nominees:
Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth”
Fernanda Montenegro, “Central Station”
Gwyneth Paltrow, “Shakespeare in Love”
Meryl Streep, “One True Thing”
Emily Watson, “Hillary and Jackie” -
Helen Hunt
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “As Good as It Gets” (1997)
The four-time Emmy winner won her Oscar for her portrayal of a waitress who catches the eye of an misanthropic author (Best Actor winner Jack Nicholson) in this romantic comedy.
1997 Best Actress Nominees:
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Wings of the Dove”
Julie Christie, “Afterglow”
Judi Dench, “Mrs. Brown”
Helen Hunt, “As Good as It Gets”
Kate Winslet, “Titanic”1997 Best Actor Nominees:
Matt Damon, “Good Will Hunting”
Robert Duvall, “The Apostle”
Peter Fonda, “Ulee’s Gold”
Dustin Hoffman, “Wag the Dog”
Jack Nicholson, “As Good As It Gets” -
Frances McDormand
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Fargo” (1996)
McDormand is a popular winner for her performance as a pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating a series of murders in this Coen Brothers classic.
1996 Best Actress Nominees:
Brenda Blethyn, “Secrets and Lies”
Diane Keaton, “Marvin’s Room”
Frances McDormand, “Fargo”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “The English Patient”
Emily Watson, “Breaking the Waves” -
Susan Sarandon
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Dead Man Walking” (1995)
After four previous nominations, Sarandon won for her portrayal of anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean in this drama directed by Sarandon’s then-partner, Tim Robbins.
1995 Best Actress Nominees:
Susan Sarandon, “Dead Man Walking”
Elisabeth Shue, “Leaving Las Vegas”
Sharon Stone, “Casino”
Meryl Streep, “The Bridges of Madison County”
Emma Thompson, “Sense and Sensibility” -
Jessica Lange
Image Credit: Orion “Blue Sky” (1994)
After a win for her supporting role in 1982’s “Tootsie,” Lange won for her portrayal of an outgoing, but mentally unstable military wife in this small drama, which was made in 1991, but sat in a vault for three years after the studio, Orion Pictures, went bankrupt.
1994 Best Actress Nominees:
Jodie Foster, “Nell”
Jessica Lange, “Blue Sky”
Miranda Richardson, “Tom and Viv”
Winona Ryder, “Little Women”
Susan Sarandon, “The Client” -
Holly Hunter
Image Credit: Miramax “The Piano” (1993)
Hunter won the Oscar, as well as virtually every other Best Actress prize, for her portrayal of a mute woman in an arranged marriage whose passions are awakened by a dark stranger who has possession of her beloved piano.
1993 Best Actress Nominees:
Angela Bassett, “What’s Love Got to Do with It”
Stockard Channing, “Six Degrees of Separation”
Holly Hunter, “The Piano”
Emma Thompson, “The Remains of the Day”
Debra Winger, “Shadowlands” -
Emma Thompson
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Classics “Howards End” (1992)
Thompson won her first Oscar for her portrayal of an independent and forward-thinking woman in turn-of-the-century England. Thompson later won an Oscar for her screenplay for “Sense and Sensibility,” making her the only person to win for both acting and writing.
1992 Best Actress Nominees:
Catherine Deneuve, “Indochine”
Mary McDonnell, “Passion Fish”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “Love Field”
Susan Sarandon, “Lorenzo’s Oil”
Emma Thompson, “Howards End” -
Jodie Foster
Image Credit: Orion Pictures “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
Foster won her second Oscar for her portrayal of Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee involved in tracking down a serial killer in this classic thriller, one of only three films to win Oscars for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay.
1991 Best Actress Nominees:
Geena Davis, “Thelma and Louise”
Laura Dern, “Rambling Rose”
Jodie Foster, “The Silence of the Lambs”
Bette Midler, “For the Boys”
Susan Sarandon, “Thelma and Louise” -
Kathy Bates
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures “Misery” (1990)
Bates won for her iconic performance as Annie Wilkes, a murderous nurse who kidnaps and tortures her favorite author in this adaptation of the novel by Stephen King.
1990 Best Actress Nominees:
Kathy Bates, “Misery”
Anjelica Houston, “The Grifters”
Julia Roberts, “Pretty Woman”
Meryl Streep, “Postcards from the Edge”
Joanne Woodward, “Mr. & Mrs. Bridge” -
Jessica Tandy
Image Credit: Warner Bros “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989)
At the age of 80, Tandy became the oldest performer in Oscar history to triumph in the leading category, winning for her performance as a proud southern woman forced to have a chauffeur rather than continue to drive herself.
1989 Best Actress Nominees:
Isabelle Adjani, “Camille Claudel”
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine”
Jessica Lange, “Music Box”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Fabulous Baker Boys”
Jessica Tandy, “Driving Miss Daisy” -
Jodie Foster
Image Credit: Paramount “The Accused” (1988)
Foster won her first Oscar for her portrayal of a rape victim struggling to have her attackers face justice.
1988 Best Actress Nominees:
Glenn Close, “Dangerous Liasons”
Jodie Foster, “The Accused”
Melanie Griffith, “Working Girl”
Meryl Streep, “A Cry in the Dark”
Sigourney Weaver, “Gorillas in the Mist” -
Cher
Image Credit: MGM “Moonstruck” (1987)
The veteran singer and entertainer won her Oscar for portraying an Italian-American widow who falls in love with her new fiance’s brother.
1987 Best Actress Nominees:
Cher, “Moonstruck”
Glenn Close, “Fatal Attraction”
Holly Hunter, “Broadcast News”
Sally Kirkland, “Anna”
Meryl Streep, “Ironweed” -
Marlee Matlin
Image Credit: Paramount “Children of a Lesser God” (1986)
At the age of 21, Matlin was the youngest actress to win in this category, earning her Oscar for playing a troubled deaf girl in this adaptation of the Tony-winning play.
1986 Best Actress Nominees:
Jane Fonda, “The Morning After”
Marlee Matlin, “Children of a Lesser God”
Sissy Spacek, “Crimes of the Heart”
Kathleen Turner, “Peggy Sue Got Married”
Sigourney Weaver, “Aliens” -
Geraldine Page
Image Credit: FilmDallas “The Trip to Bountiful” (1985)
After seven previous nominations, the legendary actress was the first Best Actress winner to receive a standing ovation for her performance as an elderly woman who longs to return to her childhood home.
1985 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Bancroft, “Agnes of God”
Whoopi Goldberg, “The Color Purple”
Jessica Lange, “Sweet Dreams”
Geraldine Page, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Meryl Streep, “Out of Africa” -
Sally Field
Image Credit: TriStar “Places in the Heart’ (1984)
Field won her second Oscar for playing a Depression-era widow struggling to keep her family farm afloat. Field’s acceptance speech, particularly her repeated expression of “you like me,” became a part of Hollywood lore.
1984 Best Actress Nominees:
Judy Davis, “A Passage to India”
Sally Field, “Places in the Heart”
Jessica Lange, “Country”
Vanessa Redgrave, “The Bostonians”
Sissy Spacek, “The River” -
Shirley MacLaine
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Terms of Endearment” (1983)
On her sixth nomination, MacLaine won her first Oscar for playing an extroverted and overbearing mother in this Best Picture winner.
1983 Best Actress Nominees:
Jane Alexander, “Testament”
Shirley MacLaine, “Terms of Endearment”
Meryl Streep, “Silkwood”
Julie Walters, “Educating Rita”
Debra Winger, “Terms of Endearment” -
Meryl Streep
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Sophie’s Choice” (1982)
After winning in the supporting category three years earlier, Streep won her second Oscar for her performance as a Polish-born Holocaust survivor.
1982 Best Actress Nominees:
Julie Andrews, “Victor/Victoria”
Jessica Lange, “Frances”
Sissy Spacek, “Missing”
Meryl Streep, “Sophie’s Choice”
Debra Winger, “An Officer and a Gentleman” -
Katharine Hepburn
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “On Golden Pond” (1981)
Hepburn won her fourth Oscar in this category, a record still unbroken, for her performance as the wife of a misanthropic retired professor, played by Best Actor winner Henry Fonda.
1981 Best Actress Nominees:
Katharine Hepburn, “On Golden Pond”
Diane Keaton, “Reds”
Marsha Mason, “Only When I Laugh”
Susan Sarandon, “Atlantic City”
Meryl Streep, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” -
Sissy Spacek
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980)
Spacek won for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in this drama about the legendary country singer’s rise to stardom.
1980 Best Actress Nominees:
Ellen Burstyn, “Resurrection”
Goldie Hawn, “Private Benjamin”
Mary Tyler Moore, “Ordinary People”
Gena Rowlands, “Gloria”
Sissy Spacek, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” -
Sally Field
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “Norma Rae” (1979)
Field’s first Oscar was for her role as a factory worker who fights to create a labor union at a North Carolina textile factory.
1979 Best Actress Nominees:
Jill Clayburgh, “Starting Over”
Sally Field, “Norma Rae”
Jane Fonda, “The China Syndrome”
Marsha Mason, “Chapter Two”
Bette Midler, “The Rose” -
Jane Fonda
Image Credit: United Artists “Coming Home” (1978)
Fonda’s second Oscar was for her role as a military wife who has an affair with a paralyzed veteran (Best Actor winner Jon Voight).
1978 Best Actress Nominees:
Ingrid Bergman, “Autumn Sonata”
Ellen Burstyn, “Same Time, Next Year”
Jill Clayburgh, “Starting Over”
Jane Fonda, “Coming Home”
Geraldine Page, “Interiors” -
Diane Keaton
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Annie Hall” (1977)
Keaton won for her role as the title character in Woody Allen’s Best Picture Oscar winner about the failed relationship between a comedian and an aspiring singer.
1977 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Bancroft, “The Turning Point”
Jane Fonda, “Julia”
Diane Keaton, “Annie Hall”
Shirley MacLaine, “The Turning Point”
Marsha Mason, “The Goodbye Girl” -
Faye Dunaway
Image Credit: United Artists “Network” (1976)
Dunaway won for her performance of a ruthless television executive looking for a hit show in this satire written by Paddy Chayefsky. The film also won Oscars for Lead Actor Peter Finch and Chayefsky’s screenplay.
1976 Best Actress Nominees:
Marie-Christine Barrault, “Cousin Cousine”
Faye Dunaway, “Network”
Talia Shire, “Rocky”
Sissy Spacek, “Carrie”
Liv Ullmann, “Face to Face” -
Louise Fletcher
Image Credit: United Artists “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
Fletcher won for her portrayal of the domineering Nurse Ratched in this drama, which is one of only three films to win Oscars for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay.
1975 Best Actress Nominees:
Isabelle Adjani, “The Story of Adele H.”
Louise Fletcher, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
Ann-Margaret, “Tommy”
Glenda Jackson, “Hedda”
Carol Kane, “Hester Street” -
Ellen Burstyn
Image Credit: Warner Bros. “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974)
Burstyn won her Oscar for her portrayal of a widow who travels cross-country with her young son in this drama directed by Martin Scorsese.
1974 Best Actress Nominees:
Ellen Burstyn, “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”
Diahann Carroll, “Claudine”
Faye Dunaway, “Chinatown”
Valerie Perrine, “Lenny”
Gena Rowlands, “A Woman Under the Influence” -
Glenda Jackson
Image Credit: Avco Embassy “A Touch of Class” (1973)
Jackson won her second Best Actress prize in just three years for her performance in this British comedy about a complicated love affair between two married people.
1973 Best Actress Nominees:
Ellen Burstyn, “The Exorcist”
Glenda Jackson, “A Touch of Class”
Marsha Mason, “Cinderella Liberty”
Barbra Streisand, “The Way We Were”
Joanne Woodward, “Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams” -
Liza Minnelli
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Cabaret” (1972)
The daughter of Judy Garland and Oscar-winning director Vincente Minnelli won her own trophy as Sally Bowles in this adaptation of hit Broadway musical.
1972 Best Actress Nominees:
Liza Minnelli, “Cabaret”
Diana Ross, “Lady Sings the Blues”
Maggie Smith, “Travels with My Aunt”
Cicely Tyson, “Sounder”
Liv Ullmann, “The Emigrants” -
Jane Fonda
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal Collection “Klute” (1971)
Fonda won her first Oscar playing a high-class prostitute who helps a detective solve a missing persons case.
1971 Best Actress Nominees:
Julie Christie, “McCabe & Mrs. Miller”
Jane Fonda, “Klute”
Glenda Jackson, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Mary, Queen of Scots”
Janet Suzman, “Nicholas and Alexandra” -
Glenda Jackson
Image Credit: United Artists “Women in Love” (1970)
Jackson’s first Oscar was for her role as a mercurial artist in a tormented relationship in this adaptation of the novel by D.H. Lawrence.
1970 Best Actress Nominees:
Jane Alexander, “The Great White Hope”
Glenda Jackson, “Women in Love”
Ali MacGraw “Love Story”
Sarah Miles, “Ryan’s Daughter”
Carrie Snodgrass, “Diary of a Mad Housewife” -
Maggie Smith
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1969)
Smith won her first Oscar for her portrayal of a teacher at an all-girls school whose unconventional methods put her at odds with some of her students.
1969 Best Actress Nominees:
Genevieve Bujold, “Anne of a Thousand Days”
Jane Fonda, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
Liza Minnelli, “The Sterile Cuckoo”
Jean Simmons, “The Happy Ending”
Maggie Smith, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” -
Barbra Streisand/Katherine Hepburn (Tie)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Funny Girl”/ “The Lion in Winter” (1968)
This was the only time in Oscar history that an exact tie occurred in an acting category. For her film debut, Streisand won for playing real-life entertainer Fanny Brice in this adaptation of the Broadway musical. Hepburn won her third Best Actress prize — she had also won the year before — for her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who conspires to steal the English throne from her husband.
1968 Best Actress Nominees:
Katharine Hepburn, “The Lion in Winter”
Patricia Neal, “The Subject Was Roses”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Isadora”
Barbra Streisand, “Funny Girl”
Joanne Woodward, “Rachel, Rachel” -
Katharine Hepburn
Image Credit: Columbia “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967)
Hepburn had a 34-year wait between her first and second Oscar wins. She earned this prize for playing the mother of a woman who announces that she plans to marry a black man. Hepburn starred opposite her longtime love, Spencer Tracy, who died just two weeks after filming was completed.
1967 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Bancroft, “The Graduate”
Faye Dunaway, “Bonnie and Clyde”
Edith Evans, “The Whisperers”
Audrey Hepburn, “Wait Until Dark”
Katharine Hepburn, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” -
Elizabeth Taylor
Image Credit: Warner Bros. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966)
Taylor gained over 30 pounds to play the cruel, alcohol-loving wife of a professor in this adaptation of the Edward Albee play. Taylor starred opposite then-husband, Richard Burton.
1966 Best Actress Nominees:
Anouk Aimee, “A Man and a Woman”
Ida Kaminska, “The Shop on Main Street”
Lynn Redgrave, “Georgy Girl”
Vanessa Redgrave, “Morgan!”
Elizabeth Taylor, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” -
Julie Christie
Image Credit: StudioCanal “Darling” (1965)
Christie won her Oscar for playing a self-destructive model in this British drama directed by John Schlesinger.
1965 Best Actress Nominees:
Julie Andrews, “The Sound of Music”
Julie Christie, “Darling”
Samantha Eggar, “The Collector”
Elizabeth Hartman, “A Patch of Blue”
Simone Signoret, “Ship of Fools” -
Julie Andrews
Image Credit: Disney “Mary Poppins” (1964)
Andrews won for her film debut, playing the “practically perfect” British nanny in this Walt Disney classic.
1964 Best Actress Nominees:
Julie Andrews, “Mary Poppins”
Anne Bancroft, “The Pumpkin Eater”
Sophia Loren, “Marriage Italian Style”
Debbie Reynolds, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”
Kim Stanley, “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” -
Patricia Neal
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Hud” (1963)
Neal won for her portrayal of a world-weary housekeeper opposite Paul Newman. Neal had just over 20 minutes of screen time in the film, one of the shortest performances to ever win in this category.
1963 Best Actress Nominees:
Leslie Caron, “The L-Shaped Room”
Shirley MacLaine, “Irma la Douce”
Patricia Neal, “Hud”
Rachel Roberts, “This Sporting Life”
Natalie Wood, “Love with the Proper Stranger” -
Anne Bancroft
Image Credit: United Artists “The Miracle Worker” (1962)
Bancroft won for reprising her Tony-winning role of a teacher working with a young Helen Keller in this adaptation of the hit Broadway play. Joan Crawford accepted the Oscar for an absent Bancroft as a way to spite Crawford’s “Baby Jane” co-star, Bette Davis.
1962 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Bancroft, “The Miracle Worker”
Bette Davis, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”
Katharine Hepburn, “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
Geraldine Page, “Sweet Bird of Youth”
Lee Remick, “Days of Wine and Roses” -
Sophia Loren
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Two Women” (1961)
Loren’s role as a mother trying to protect her daughter from the horrors of war was the first performance in a foreign language to win an Oscar.
1961 Best Actress Nominees:
Audrey Hepburn, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
Piper Laurie, “The Hustler”
Sophia Loren, “Two Women”
Geraldine Page, “Summer and Smoke”
Natalie Wood, “Splendor in the Grass” -
Elizabeth Taylor
Image Credit: MGM “Butterfield 8” (1960)
Taylor famously hated the film in which she played a high-class prostitute. The actress suffered a near-fatal bout with pneumonia during the voting period, which many argue is the reason she won.
1960 Best Actress Nominees:
Greer Garson, “Sunrise at Campobello”
Deobroah Kerr, “The Sundowners”
Shirey MacLaine, “The Apartment”
Melina Mercouri, “Never on Sunday”
Elizabeth Taylor, “Butterfield 8” -
Simone Signoret
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Room at the Top” (1959)
Signoret was the first French actress to claim an acting Oscar, winning for playing an older married woman who has an affair with a younger man.
1959 Best Actress Nominees:
Doris Day, “Pillow Talk”
Audrey Hepburn, “The Nun’s Story”
Katherine Hepburn, “Suddenly, Last Summer”
Simone Signoret, “Room at the Top”
Elizabeth Taylor, “Suddenly, Last Summer” -
Susan Hayward
Image Credit: United Artists “I Want to Live!” (1958)
After four previous Best Actress nominees, Hayward scored a win for her portrayal of a prostitute who faces execution for murder.
1958 Best Actress Nominees:
Susan Hayward, “I Want to Live!”
Deborah Kerr, “Separate Tables”
Shirley MacLaine, “Some Came Running”
Rosalind Russell, “Auntie Mame”
Elizabeth Taylor, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” -
Joanne Woodward
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “The Three Faces of Eve” (1957)
Woodward won for her portrayal of a young woman with multiple personalities. Woodward was relatively unknown at the time, but went on to earn three more nominations over the course of her career.
1957 Best Actress Nominees:
Deborah Kerr, “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison”
Anna Magnani, “Wild is the Wind”
Elizabeth Taylor, “Raintree County”
Lana Turner, “Peyton Place”
Joanne Woodward, “The Three Faces of Eve” -
Ingrid Bergman
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “Anastasia” (1956)
Bergman won her second Best Actress Oscar for playing an amnesiac who is mistaken for a long-lost Russian Duchess.
1956 Best Actress Nominees:
Carroll Baker, “Baby Doll”
Ingrid Bergman, “Anastasia”
Katharine Hepburn, “The Rainmaker”
Nancy Kelly, “The Bad Seed”
Deborah Kerr, “The King and I” -
Anna Magnani
Image Credit: Paramount “The Rose Tattoo” (1955)
The Italian actress won for her portrayal of a widow who discovers her late husband’s secret activities in this adaptation of the play by Tennessee Williams.
1955 Best Actress Nominees:
Susan Hayward, “I’ll Cry Tomorrow”
Katharine Hepburn, “Summertime”
Jennifer Jones, “Love is a Many-Splendored Thing”
Anna Magnani, “The Rose Tattoo”
Eleanor Parker, “Interrupted Melody” -
Grace Kelly
Image Credit: Paramount “The Country Girl” (1954)
Kelly’s win for playing the long-suffering wife of an alcoholic actor remains one of the great upsets in Oscar history. Judy Garland had been widely expected to win for “A Star is Born,” causing Groucho Marx to refer to Kelly’s win as “the biggest robbery since Brinks.”
1954 Best Actress Nominees:
Dorothy Dandridge, “Carmen Jones”
Judy Garland, “A Star is Born”
Audrey Hepburn, “Sabrina”
Grace Kelly, “The Country Girl”
Jane Wyman, “Magnificent Obsession” -
Audrey Hepburn
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures “Roman Holiday” (1953)
Hepburn won her Oscar for her portrayal of a princess frustrated with the demands of royal life in this romantic comedy. Hepburn countinued to act in films, but eventually left Hollywood to focus on family life and work for humanitarian causes.
1953 Best Actress Nominees:
Leslie Caron, “Lili”
Ava Gardner, “Mogambo”
Audrey Hepburn, “Roman Holiday”
Deborah Kerr, “From Here to Eternity”
Maggie McNamara, “The Moon is Blue” -
Shirley Booth
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Come Back, Little Sheba” (1952)
The stage veteran won the Oscar for reprising her Tony-winning role as a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to a recovering alcoholic.
1952 Best Actress Nominees:
Shirley Booth, “Come Back, Little Sheba”
Joan Crawford, “Sudden Fear”
Bette Davis, “The Star”
Julie Harris, “The Member of the Wedding”
Susan Hayward, “With a Song in My Heart” -
Vivien Leigh
Image Credit: Warner Bros “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951)
The British actress won her second Oscar for playing Blanche DuBois, the tragic heroine of the Pulitzer prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams.
1951 Best Actress Nominees:
Katharine Hepburn, “The African Queen”
Vivien Leigh, “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Eleanor Parker, “Detective Story”
Shelley Winters, “A Place in the Sun”
Jane Wyman, “The Blue Veil” -
Judy Holliday
Image Credit: Columbia “Born Yesterday” (1950)
Holliday was a popular winner for her portrayal of a mob boss’s ditzy girlfriend, defeating the likes of Gloria Swanson (“Sunset Boulevard”) and Bette Davis (“All About Eve”).
1950 Best Actress Nominees:
Anne Baxter, “All About Eve”
Bette Davis, “All About Eve”
Judy Holliday, “Born Yesterday”
Eleanor Parker, “Caged”
Gloria Swanson, “Sunset Boulevard” -
Olivia de Havilland
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “The Heiress” (1949)
The actress won her second Oscar in just three years for her portrayal of a naive young woman in this adaptation of the Broadway play.
1949 Best Actress Nominees:
Jeanne Crain, “Pinky”
Olivia de Havilland, “The Heiress”
Susan Hayward, “My Foolish Heart”
Deborah Kerr, “Edward, My Son”
Loretta Young, “Come to the Stable” -
Jane Wyman
Image Credit: Warner Bros “Johnny Belinda” (1948)
Wyman, the former wife of future president Ronald Reagan, won an Oscar for her portrayal of a deaf-mute woman who is raped by a local man and then gives birth to his child.
1948 Best Actress Nominees:
Ingrid Bergman, “Joan of Arc”
Olivia de Havilland, “The Snake Pit”
Irene Dunn, “I Remember Mama”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Sorry, Wrong Number”
Jane Wyman, “Johnny Belinda” -
Loretta Young
Image Credit: RKO “The Farmer’s Daughter” (1947)
Young, a former child star, won her Oscar for playing a maid who develops political ambitions after she begins working for a congressman.
1947 Best Actress Nominees:
Joan Crawford, “Possessed”
Susan Hayward, “Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman”
Dorothy McGuire, “Gentleman’s Agreement”
Rosalind Russell, “Mourning Becomes Electra”
Loretta Young, “The Farmer’s Daughter” -
Olivia de Havilland
Image Credit: Paramount “To Each His Own” (1946)
De Havilland’s first Oscar was for her role as woman who gives up her children for adoption and spends the rest of her life trying to find redemption.
1946 Best Actress Nominees:
Olivia de Havilland, “To Each His Own”
Celia Johnson, “Brief Encounter”
Jennifer Jones, “Duel in the Sun”
Rosalind Russell, “Sister Kenny”
Jane Wyman, “The Yearling” -
Joan Crawford
Image Credit: Warner Bros. “Mildred Pierce” (1945)
Crawford’s Oscar was for her role as a middle-class mother struggling to maintain her dignity against the backdrop of the Depression. The film was later remade into an Emmy-winning HBO miniseries starring Kate Winslet.
1945 Best Actress Nominees:
Ingrid Bergman, “The Bells of St. Mary’s”
Joan Crawford, “Mildred Pierce”
Greer Garson, “The Valley of Decision”
Jennifer Jones, “Love Letters”
Gene Tierney, “Leave Her to Heaven” -
Ingrid Bergman
Image Credit: MGM “Gaslight” (1944)
Bergman’s first Oscar was for her role as a wife who is manipulated into insanity by her cruel husband.
1944 Best Actress Nominees:
Ingrid Bergman, “Gaslight”
Claudette Colbert, “Since You Went Away”
Bette Davis, “Mrs. Skeffington”
Greer Garson, “Mrs. Parkington”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Double Indemnity” -
Jennifer Jones
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox “The Song of Bernadette” (1943)
Jones won her Oscar for her role in this true story of a young French woman who claims to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary and later becomes a Catholic saint.
1943 Best Actress Nominees:
Jean Arthur, “The More the Merrier”
Ingrid Bergman, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
Joan Fontaine, “The Constant Nymph”
Greer Garson, “Madame Curie”
Jennifer Jones, “The Song of Bernadette” -
Greer Garson
Image Credit: Everett Collection “Mrs. Miniver” (1942)
Garson plays a British woman who is profoundly affected by World War II in this Best Picture Oscar winner.
1942 Best Actress Nominees:
Bette Davis, “Now, Voyager”
Greer Garson, “Mrs. Miniver”
Katharine Hepburn, “Woman of the Year”
Rosalind Russell, “My Sister Eileen”
Teresa Wright, “The Pride of the Yankees” -
Joan Fontaine
Image Credit: RKO “Suspicion” (1941)
Fonatine plays a spinster who becomes the target of a con man in this romantic thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
1941 Best Actress Nominees:
Bette Davis, “The Little Foxes”
Joan Fontaine, “Suspicion”
Olivia de Havilland, “Hold Back the Dawn”
Greer Garson, “Blossoms in the Dust”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Ball of Fire” -
Ginger Rogers
Image Credit: RKO “Kitty Foyle” (1940)
Rogers won for her portrayal of a middle-class woman who must choose between her career and marrying a rich doctor.
1940 Best Actress Nominees:
Bette Davis, “The Letter”
Joan Fontaine, “Rebecca”
Katharine Hepburn, “The Philadelphia Story”
Ginger Rogers, “Kitty Foyle”
Martha Scott, “Our Town” -
Vivien Leigh
Image Credit: MGM “Gone with the Wind” (1939)
Leigh won her fist Oscar for playing Scarlett O’Hara in this adaptation of the classic novel, an adaptation that won 10 Oscars including Best Picture.
1939 Best Actress Nominees:
Bette Davis, “Dark Victory”
Irene Dunn, “Love Affair”
Greta Garbo, “Ninotchka”
Greer Garson, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”
Vivien Leigh, “Gone with the Wind” -
Bette Davis
Image Credit: Warner Bros “Jezebel” (1938)
Davis won her second Best Actress Oscar for her role as a headstrong woman in the south prior to the Civil War.
1938 Best Actress Nominees:
Fay Bainter, “White Banners”
Bette Davis, “Jezebel”
Wendy Hiller, “Pygmalion”
Norma Shearer, “Marie Antionette”
Margaret Sullivan, “Three Comrades” -
Luise Rainer
Image Credit: MGM “The Good Earth” (1937)
Rainer won her second consecutive prize in this category for her role as a long-suffering Chinese wife in this adaptation of the classic novel by Pearl Buck. Rainer was also the very first performer in Oscar history to win a second Oscar; prior to Rainer, nobody in any field had won more than one trophy.
1937 Best Actress Nominees:
Irene Dunn, “The Awful Truth”
Greta Garbo, “Camille”
Janet Gaynor, “A Star is Born”
Luise Rainer, “The Good Earth”
Barbara Stanwyck, “Stella Dallas” -
Luise Rainer
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936)
Rainer won her first Oscar for playing real-life entertainer Anna Held, who was the common law wife of Florenz Ziegfeld, the famed Broadway impresario.
1936 Best Actress Nominees:
Irene Dunn, “Theodora Goes Wild”
Gladys George, “Valiant is for the Word Carrie”
Carole Lombard, “My Man Godfrey”
Luise Rainer, “The Great Ziegfeld”
Norma Shearer, “Romeo and Juliet” -
Bette Davis
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Dangerous” (1935)
Davis won her first Oscar for playing a tempestuous actress who feels that she is unlucky in love.
1935 Best Actress Nominees:
Elisabeth Bergner, “Escape Me Never”
Claudette Colbert, “Private Worlds”
Bette Davis, “Dangerous”
Katharine Hepburn, “Alice Adams”
Miriam Hopkins, “Becky Sharp”
Merle Oberon, “The Dark Angel” -
Claudette Colbert
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures “It Happened One Night” (1934)
Colbert won for her role as a spoiled socialite who falls in love with a reporter in this classic comedy, one of only three films to win Oscars for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay.
1934 Best Actress Nominees:
Claudette Colbert, “It Happened One Night”
Grace Moore, “One Night of Love”
Norma Shearer, “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” -
Katharine Hepburn
Image Credit: RKO “Morning Glory” (1933)
Hepburn won her first of four Best Actress Oscars for her role of a small-town performer yearning for stardom.
1933 Best Actress Nominees:
Katharine Hepburn, “Morning Glory”
Mary Robson, “Lady for a Day”
Diana Wynyard, “Cavalcade” -
Helen Hayes
Image Credit: MGM “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” (1932)
Hayes, commonly known as “The First Lady of the American Theater,” won her Oscar for playing a desperate mother who turns to prostitution and stealing to support her young son.
1932 Best Actress Nominees:
Marie Dressler, “Emma”
Lynn Fontanne, “The Guardsman”
Helen Hayes, “The Sin of Madelon Claudet” -
Marie Dressler
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “Min and Bill” (1931)
Dressler won for playing a dock-side innkeeper struggling to protect the abandoned daughter of a prostitute.
1931 Best Actress Nominees:
Marlene Dietrich, “Morocco”
Marie Dressler, “Min and Bill”
Irene Dunn, “Cimarron”
Ann Harding, “Holiday”
Norma Shearer, “A Free Soul” -
Norma Shearer
Image Credit: MGM “The Divorcee” (1930)
Shearer plays a troubled woman involved in a series of messy relationships. The film was produced by Shearer’s husband, Irving Thalberg, who thought his wife lacked the sex appeal to play the lead role. But Shearer commissioned a private photo shoot which ultimately convinced Thalberg to give her the role. Shearer received two nominations in this category, but was given the Oscar for this performance.
1930 Best Actress Nominees:
Nancy Carroll, “The Devil’s Holiday”
Ruth Chatterton, “Sarah and Son”
Greta Garbo, “Anna Christie”/ “Romance”
Norma Shearer, “The Divorcee”
Norma Shearer, “Their Own Desire”
Gloria Swanson, “The Trespasser” -
Mary Pickford
Image Credit: United Artists “Coquette” (1929)
Pickford won her Oscar for her role as a southern belle who toys with numerous suitors, leading to tragic consequences for all involved. Pickford also served as a producer on the film, having bought the rights to the stage play.
1929 Best Actress Nominees:
Ruth Chatterton, “Madame X”
Betty Compson, “The Barker”
Jeanne Eagels, “The Letter”
Corinne Griffith, “The Divine Lady”
Bessie Love, “The Broadway Melody”
Mary Pickford, “Coquette” -
Janet Gaynor
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “7th Heaven”/ “Street Angel”/ “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” (1928)
At the first Oscar ceremony, Gaynor won for her roles in this trio of silent films. Three years later, the Academy rules changed and performers were only acknowledged for a single performance rather than a collection of work.
1928 Best Actress Nominees:
Louise Dresser, “A Ship Comes In”
Janet Gaynor, “7th Heaven”/ “Street Angel” / “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”
Gloria Swanson, “Sadie Thompson” -
More Oscar Photo Galleries
Image Credit: AMPAS Every Oscar winner for Best Picture
Every Oscar winner for Best Director
Every Oscar winner for Best Actor
Every Oscar winner for Best Actress
Every Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor
Every Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress
Musicals that won Best Picture
Westerns that won Best Picture
Tom O’Neil: My Top 25 Oscar Best Picture Winners of All Time
