|
1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |
Academy Award for Best
Actress
The Academy Award for Best Performance by an
Actress in a Leading Role is one of the awards given to people working in
the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences;
nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. The
winners are chosen by the Academy membership as a whole. Following the Academy's
practice, the films below are listed by release year: for example, the Oscar for
"Best Actress in 1999" was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000.
Winners are listed first, followed by the other nominees.
The youngest ever nominee is Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was 13 when nominated
for her role in Whale Rider in 2004. The oldest nominee and winner is Jessica
Tandy, who was 80 years old when she won for Driving Miss Daisy in 1989. The
youngest ever winner is Marlee Matlin, who was 21 when she won for her role in
Children of a Lesser God.
Katharine Hepburn, with four wins, has more Best Actress Awards than any other
actress. Eleven women have won two Best Actress Awards; in chronological order,
they are Luise Rainer, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de
Havilland, Elizabeth Taylor, Glenda Jackson, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Jodie
Foster,and Hilary Swank.
1928 Janet Gaynor - Seventh Heaven, Street
Angel and Sunrise
Louise Dresser - A Ship Comes In
Gloria Swanson - Sadie Thompson
1929 Mary Pickford - Coquette
Ruth Chatterton - Madame X
Betty Compson - The Barker
Jeanne Eagels - The Letter
Corinne Griffith - The Divine Lady
Bessie Love - The Broadway Melody
1930 Norma Shearer - The Divorcee
Nancy Carroll - The Devil's Holiday
Ruth Chatterton - Sarah and Son
Greta Garbo - Anna Christie and Romance
Norma Shearer - Their Own Desire
Gloria Swanson - The Trespasser
1931 Marie Dressler - Min and Bill
Marlene Dietrich - Morocco
Irene Dunne - Cimarron
Ann Harding - Holiday
Norma Shearer - A Free Soul
1932 Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet
Marie Dressler - Emma
Lynn Fontanne - The Guardsman
1933 Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory
May Robson - Lady for a Day
Diana Wynyard - Cavalcade
1934 Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night
Grace Moore - One Night of Love
Norma Shearer - The Barretts of Wimpole Street
1935 Bette Davis - Dangerous
Elisabeth Bergner - Escape Me Never
Claudette Colbert - Private Worlds
Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams
Miriam Hopkins - Becky Sharp
Merle Oberon - The Dark Angel
1936 Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld
Irene Dunne - Theodora Goes Wild
Gladys George - Valiant Is the Word for Carrie
Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey
Norma Shearer - Romeo and Juliet
1937 Luise Rainer - The Good Earth
Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth
Greta Garbo - Camille
Janet Gaynor - A Star Is Born
Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas
1938 Bette Davis - Jezebel
Fay Bainter - White Banners
Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion
Norma Shearer - Marie Antoinette
Margaret Sullavan - Three Comrades
1939 Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind
Bette Davis - Dark Victory
Irene Dunne - Love Affair
Greta Garbo - Ninotchka
Greer Garson - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
1940 Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle
Bette Davis - The Letter
Joan Fontaine - Rebecca
Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story
Martha Scott - Our Town
1941 Joan Fontaine - Suspicion
Bette Davis - The Little Foxes
Olivia de Havilland - Hold Back the Dawn
Greer Garson - Blossoms in the Dust
Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire
1942 Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver
Bette Davis - Now, Voyager
Katharine Hepburn - Woman of the Year
Rosalind Russell - My Sister Eileen
Teresa Wright - The Pride of the Yankees
1943 Jennifer Jones - The Song of Bernadette
Jean Arthur - The More the Merrier
Ingrid Bergman - For Whom the Bell Tolls
Joan Fontaine - The Constant Nymph
Greer Garson - Madame Curie
1944 Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight
Claudette Colbert - Since You Went Away
Bette Davis - Mr. Skeffington
Greer Garson - Mrs. Parkington
Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity
1945 Joan Crawford Mildred Pierce
Ingrid Bergman - The Bells of St. Mary's
Greer Garson - The Valley of Decision
Jennifer Jones - Love Letters
Gene Tierney - Leave Her to Heaven
1946 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
1947 Loretta Young - The Farmer's Daughter
Joan Crawford - Possessed
Susan Hayward - Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman
Dorothy McGuire - Gentleman's Agreement
Rosalind Russell - Mourning Becomes Electra
1948 Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda
Ingrid Bergman - Joan of Arc
Olivia de Havilland - The Snake Pit
Irene Dunne - I Remember Mama
Barbara Stanwyck - Sorry, Wrong Number
1949 Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress
Jeanne Crain - Pinky
Susan Hayward - My Foolish Heart
Deborah Kerr - Edward, My Son
Loretta Young - Come to the Stable
1950 Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
Anne Baxter - All About Eve
Bette Davis - All About Eve
Eleanor Parker - Caged
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
1951 Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire
Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen
Eleanor Parker - Detective Story
Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun
Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil
1952 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
1953 Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday
Leslie Caron - Lili
Ava Gardner - Mogambo
Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity
Maggie McNamara - The Moon Is Blue
1954 Grace Kelly - The Country Girl
Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones
Judy Garland - A Star Is Born
Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina
Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession
1955 Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo
Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow
Katharine Hepburn - Summertime
Jennifer Jones - Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody
1956 Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia
Carroll Baker - Baby Doll
Katharine Hepburn - The Rainmaker
Nancy Kelly - The Bad Seed
Deborah Kerr - The King and I
1957 Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve
Deborah Kerr - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind
Elizabeth Taylor - Raintree County
Lana Turner - Peyton Place
1958 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
1959 Simone Signoret - Room at the Top
Doris Day - Pillow Talk
Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story
Katharine Hepburn - Suddenly, Last Summer
Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly, Last Summer
1960 Elizabeth Taylor - Butterfield 8
Greer Garson - Sunrise at Campobello
Deborah Kerr - The Sundowners
Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment
Melina Mercouri - Never on Sunday
1961 Sophia Loren - Two Women
Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Piper Laurie - The Hustler
Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke
Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass
1962 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
1963 Patricia Neal - Hud
Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room
Shirley MacLaine - Irma la Douce
Rachel Roberts - This Sporting Life
Natalie Wood - Love with the Proper Stranger
1964 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
1965 Julie Christie - Darling
Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music
Samantha Eggar - The Collector
Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue
Simone Signoret - Ship of Fools
1966 Dame Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Anouk Aimée - A Man and a Woman
Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street
Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl
Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan!
1967 Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Anne Bancroft - The Graduate
Faye Dunaway - Bonnie and Clyde
Edith Evans - The Whisperers
Audrey Hepburn - Wait Until Dark
1968 Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter and Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl
Patricia Neal - The Subject Was Roses
Vanessa Redgrave - Isadora
Joanne Woodward - Rachel, Rachel
1969 Dame Maggie Smith - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Geneviève Bujold - Anne of the Thousand Days
Jane Fonda - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Liza Minnelli - The Sterile Cuckoo
Jean Simmons - The Happy Ending
1970 Glenda Jackson - Women in Love
Jane Alexander - The Great White Hope
Ali MacGraw - Love Story
Sarah Miles - Ryan's Daughter
Carrie Snodgress - Diary of a Mad Housewife
1971 Jane Fonda - Klute
Julie Christie - McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Glenda Jackson - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Vanessa Redgrave - Mary, Queen of Scots
Janet Suzman - Nicholas and Alexandra
1972 Liza Minnelli - Cabaret
Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues
Maggie Smith - Travels with My Aunt
Cicely Tyson - Sounder
Liv Ullmann - The Emigrants
1973 Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class
Ellen Burstyn - The Exorcist
Marsha Mason - Cinderella Liberty
Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were
Joanne Woodward - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
1974 Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Diahann Carroll - Claudine
Faye Dunaway - Chinatown
Valerie Perrine - Lenny
Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence
1975 Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ann-Margret - Tommy
Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H.
Glenda Jackson - Hedda
Carol Kane - Hester Street
1976 Faye Dunaway - Network
Marie-Christine Barrault - Cousin, cousine
Talia Shire - Rocky
Sissy Spacek - Carrie
Liv Ullmann - Face to Face
1977 Diane Keaton - Annie Hall
Anne Bancroft - The Turning Point
Jane Fonda - Julia
Shirley MacLaine - The Turning Point
Marsha Mason - The Goodbye Girl
1978 Jane Fonda - Coming Home
Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata
Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year
Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman
Geraldine Page - Interiors
1979 Sally Field - Norma Rae
Jill Clayburgh - Starting Over
Jane Fonda - The China Syndrome
Marsha Mason - Chapter Two
Bette Midler - The Rose
1980 Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter
Ellen Burstyn - Resurrection
Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin
Mary Tyler Moore - Ordinary People
Gena Rowlands - Gloria
1981 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
1982 Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice
Julie Andrews - Victor/Victoria
Jessica Lange - Frances
Sissy Spacek - Missing
Debra Winger - An Officer and a Gentleman
1983 Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment
Jane Alexander - Testament
Meryl Streep - Silkwood
Julie Walters - Educating Rita
Debra Winger - Terms of Endearment
1984 Sally Field - Places in the Heart
Judy Davis - A Passage to India
Jessica Lange - Country
Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians
Sissy Spacek - The River
1985 Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful
Anne Bancroft - Agnes of God
Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple
Jessica Lange - Sweet Dreams
Meryl Streep - Out of Africa
1986 Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God
Jane Fonda - The Morning After
Sissy Spacek - Crimes of the Heart
Kathleen Turner - Peggy Sue Got Married
Sigourney Weaver - Aliens
1987 Cher - Moonstruck
Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction
Holly Hunter - Broadcast News
Sally Kirkland - Anna
Meryl Streep - Ironweed
1988 Jodie Foster - The Accused
Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons
Melanie Griffith - Working Girl
Meryl Streep - A Cry in the Dark
Sigourney Weaver - Gorillas in the Mist
1989 Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy
Isabelle Adjani - Camille Claudel
Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine
Jessica Lange - Music Box
Michelle Pfeiffer - The Fabulous Baker Boys
1990 Kathy Bates - Misery
Anjelica Huston - The Grifters
Julia Roberts - Pretty Woman
Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge
Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
1991 Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs
Geena Davis - Thelma and Louise
Laura Dern - Rambling Rose
Bette Midler - For the Boys
Susan Sarandon - Thelma and Louise
1992 Emma Thompson - Howards End
Catherine Deneuve - Indochine
Mary McDonnell - Passion Fish
Michelle Pfeiffer - Love Field
Susan Sarandon - Lorenzo's Oil
1993 Holly Hunter - The Piano
Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do with It?
Stockard Channing - Six Degrees of Separation
Emma Thompson - The Remains of the Day
Debra Winger - Shadowlands
1994 Jessica Lange - Blue Sky
Jodie Foster - Nell
Miranda Richardson - Tom & Viv
Winona Ryder - Little Women
Susan Sarandon - The Client
1995 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
1996 Frances McDormand - Fargo
Brenda Blethyn - Secrets & Lies
Diane Keaton - Marvin's Room
Kristin Scott Thomas - The English Patient
Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves
1997 Helen Hunt - As Good as It Gets
Helena Bonham Carter - The Wings of the Dove
Julie Christie - Afterglow
Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown
Kate Winslet - Titanic
1998 Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Fernanda Montenegro - Central do Brasil
Meryl Streep - One True Thing
Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie
1999 Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry
Annette Bening - American Beauty
Janet McTeer - Tumbleweeds
Julianne Moore - The End of the Affair
Meryl Streep - Music of the Heart
2000 Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
Joan Allen - The Contender
Juliette Binoche - Chocolat
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me
2001 Halle Berry - Monster's Ball
Judi Dench - Iris
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge!
Sissy Spacek - In the Bedroom
Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary
2002 Nicole Kidman - The Hours
Salma Hayek - Frida
Diane Lane - Unfaithful
Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven
Renée Zellweger - Chicago
2003 Charlize Theron - Monster
Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider
Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give
Samantha Morton - In America
Naomi Watts - 21 Grams
2004 Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
Annette Bening - Being Julia
Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace
Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2005 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Charlize Theron - North Country
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice