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 actresses 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 person ever to win this award is Marlee Matlin, who was 21 years old when she won for Children of a Lesser God (1986). The oldest person ever to win this award is Jessica Tandy, who was 80 years old when she won for Driving Miss Daisy (1989). The youngest person ever to be nominated for this award is Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was 13 years old when she was nominated for Whale Rider (2003). The oldest person ever to be nominated for this award is Jessica Tandy, who was 80 years old when she was nominated for Driving Miss Daisy (1989).

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, Olivia de Havilland, Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Glenda Jackson, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, and Hilary Swank.

Katharine Hepburn holds the record in the Best Actress catogery with 12 nominations. Meryl Streep has been nominated 11 times for Best Actress as well as 3 times for Best Supporting Actress, which makes her the overall most nominated actress.

There has been only one tie in the history of this category. This occurred in 1968 when Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand were both given the award. Unlike the earlier 1932 "tie" for Best Actor, however, Hepburn and Streisand each received the exact same number of votes.

The first ever African-American winner for Best Actress was Halle Berry, who won in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball.

1920s

• 1928 Janet Gaynor - Seventh Heaven as "Diane", Street Angel as "Angela", and Sunrise as "The Wife (Indre)"
  • Louise Dresser - A Ship Comes In as "Mrs. Pleznik"
  • Gloria Swanson - Sadie Thompson as "Sadie Thompson"

• 1929 Mary Pickford - Coquette as "Norma Besant"
  • Ruth Chatterton - Madame X as "Jacqueline Floriot"
  • Betty Compson - The Barker as "Carrie"
  • Jeanne Eagels - The Letter as "Leslie Crosby"
  • Corinne Griffith - The Divine Lady as Emma Hamilton
  • Bessie Love - The Broadway Melody as "Hank Mahoney"

1930s

• 1930 Norma Shearer - The Divorcee as "Jerry Bernard Martin"
  • Nancy Carroll - The Devil's Holiday as "Hallie Hobart"
  • Ruth Chatterton - Sarah and Son as "Sarah Storm"
  • Greta Garbo - Anna Christie (1930 film) as "Anna Christie" and Romance as "Madame Rita Cavallini"
  • Norma Shearer - Their Own Desire as "Lucia 'Liz' Marlett"
  • Gloria Swanson - The Trespasser as "Marion Donnell"

• 1931 Marie Dressler - Min and Bill as "Min Divot"
  • Marlene Dietrich - Morocco as "Mademoiselle Amy Jolly"
  • Irene Dunne - Cimarron as "Sabra Cravat"
  • Ann Harding - Holiday as "Linda Seton"
  • Norma Shearer - A Free Soul as "Jan Ashe"

• 1932 Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet as "Madelon Claudet"
  • Marie Dressler - Emma as "Emma Thatcher Smith"
  • Lynn Fontanne - The Guardsman as "The Actress"

• 1933 Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory as "Eva Lovelace"
  • May Robson - Lady for a Day as "Apple Annie"
  • Diana Wynyard - Cavalcade as "Jane Marryot"

• 1934 Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night as "Ellie Andrews"
  • Bette Davis - Of Human Bondage as "Mildred Rogers"
  • Grace Moore - One Night of Love as "Mary Barrett"
  • Norma Shearer - The Barretts of Wimpole Street as Elizabeth Barrett

• 1935 Bette Davis - Dangerous as "Joyce Heath"
  • Elisabeth Bergner - Escape Me Never as "Gemma Jones"
  • Claudette Colbert - Private Worlds as "Dr. Jane Everest"
  • Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams as "Alice Adams"
  • Miriam Hopkins - Becky Sharp as "Becky Sharp"
  • Merle Oberon - The Dark Angel as "Kitty Vane"

• 1936 Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld as Anna Held
  • Irene Dunne - Theodora Goes Wild as "Theodora Lynn"
  • Gladys George - Valiant Is the Word for Carrie as "Carrie Snyder"
  • Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey as "Irene Bullock"
  • Norma Shearer - Romeo and Juliet as "Juliet Capulet"

• 1937 Luise Rainer - The Good Earth as "O-Lan Lung"
  • Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth as "Lucy Warriner"
  • Greta Garbo - Camille as "Marguerite Gautier"
  • Janet Gaynor - A Star Is Born as "Esther Victoria Blodgett, aka Vicki Lester"
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas as "Stella Martin 'Stell' Dallas"

• 1938 Bette Davis - Jezebel as "Julie Marsden"
  • Fay Bainter - White Banners as "Hannah Parmalee"
  • Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion as "Eliza Doolittle"
  • Norma Shearer - Marie Antoinette as Marie Antoinette
  • Margaret Sullavan - Three Comrades as "Patricia 'Pat' Hollmann"

• 1939 Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind as "Scarlett O'Hara"
  • Bette Davis - Dark Victory as "Judith Traherne"
  • Irene Dunne - Love Affair as "Terry McKay"
  • Greta Garbo - Ninotchka as "Nina Ivanovna Yakushova, aka Ninotchka"
  • Greer Garson - Goodbye, Mr. Chips as "Kathy Ellis"

1940s

• 1940 Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle as "Katherine 'Kitty' Foyle"
  • Bette Davis - The Letter as "Leslie Crosbie"
  • Joan Fontaine - Rebecca as "The Second Mrs. de Winter"
  • Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story as "Tracy Lord"
  • Martha Scott - Our Town as "Emily Webb"

• 1941 Joan Fontaine - Suspicion as "Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth"
  • Bette Davis - The Little Foxes as "Regina Giddens"
  • Olivia de Havilland - Hold Back the Dawn as "Emmy Brown"
  • Greer Garson - Blossoms in the Dust as "Edna Kahly Gladney"
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire as "Katherine 'Sugarpuss' O'Shea"

• 1942 Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver as "Kay Miniver"
  • Bette Davis - Now, Voyager as "Charlotte Vale"
  • Katharine Hepburn - Woman of the Year as "Tess Harding"
  • Rosalind Russell - My Sister Eileen as "Ruth Sherwood"
  • Teresa Wright - The Pride of the Yankees as Eleanor Twitchell

• 1943 Jennifer Jones - The Song of Bernadette as Bernadette Soubirous
  • Jean Arthur - The More the Merrier as "Constance 'Connie' Milligan"
  • Ingrid Bergman - For Whom the Bell Tolls as "Maria"
  • Joan Fontaine - The Constant Nymph as "Tessa Sanger"
  • Greer Garson - Madame Curie as Marie Curie

• 1944 Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight as "Paula Alquist Anton"
  • Claudette Colbert - Since You Went Away as "Mrs. Anne Hilton"
  • Bette Davis - Mr. Skeffington as "Fanny Trellis"
  • Greer Garson - Mrs. Parkington as "Susie 'Sarah' Parkington"
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity as "Phyllis Dietrichson"

• 1945 Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce as "Mildred Pierce"
  • Ingrid Bergman - The Bells of St. Mary's as "Sister Mary Benedict"
  • Greer Garson - The Valley of Decision as "Mary Rafferty"
  • Jennifer Jones - Love Letters as "Singleton/Victoria Morland"
  • Gene Tierney - Leave Her to Heaven as "Ellen Berent Harland"

• 1946 Olivia de Havilland - To Each His Own as "Josephine Norris"
  • Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter as "Laura Jesson"
  • Jennifer Jones - Duel in the Sun as "Pearl Chavez"
  • Rosalind Russell - Sister Kenny as "Sister Elizabeth Kenny"
  • Jane Wyman - The Yearling as "Ora Baxter"

• 1947 Loretta Young - The Farmer's Daughter as "Katrin Holstrom"
  • Joan Crawford - Possessed as "Louise Howell Graham"
  • Susan Hayward - Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman as "Angelica 'Angie'/'Angel' Evans Conway"
  • Dorothy McGuire - Gentleman's Agreement as "Kathy Lacey"
  • Rosalind Russell - Mourning Becomes Electra as "Lavinia Mannon"

• 1948 Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda as "Belinda McDonald"
  • Ingrid Bergman - Joan of Arc as Joan of Arc
  • Olivia de Havilland - The Snake Pit as "Virginia Stuart Cunningham"
  • Irene Dunne - I Remember Mama as "Martha Hanson"
  • Barbara Stanwyck - Sorry, Wrong Number as "Leona Stevenson"

• 1949 Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress as "Catherine Sloper"
  • Jeanne Crain - Pinky as "Patricia 'Pinky' Johnson"
  • Susan Hayward - My Foolish Heart as "Eloise Winters"
  • Deborah Kerr - Edward, My Son as "Evelyn Boult"
  • Loretta Young - Come to the Stable as "Sister Margaret"

1950s

• 1950 Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday as Emma 'Billie' Dawn
  • Anne Baxter - All About Eve as "Eve Harrington"
  • Bette Davis - All About Eve as "Margo Channing"
  • Eleanor Parker - Caged as "Marie Allen"
  • Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard as "Norma Desmond"

• 1951 Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire as "Blanche DuBois"
  • Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen as "Rose Sayer"
  • Eleanor Parker - Detective Story as "Mary McLeod"
  • Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun as "Alice Tripp"
  • Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil as "Louise Mason"

• 1952 Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba as "Lola Delaney"
  • Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear as "Myra Hudson"
  • Bette Davis - The Star as "Margaret Elliot"
  • Julie Harris - The Member of the Wedding as "Frankie Addams"
  • Susan Hayward - With a Song in My Heart as "Jane Froman"

• 1953 Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday as "Princess Ann"
  • Leslie Caron - Lili as "Lili Daurier"
  • Ava Gardner - Mogambo as "Eloise Y. 'Honey Bear' Kelly"
  • Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity as "Karen Holmes"
  • Maggie McNamara - The Moon Is Blue as "Patty O'Neill"

• 1954 Grace Kelly - The Country Girl as "Georgie Elgin"
  • Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones as "Carmen Jones"
  • Judy Garland - A Star Is Born as "Vicki Lester (Esther Blodgett)"
  • Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina as "Sabrina Fairchild"
  • Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession as "Helen Phillips"

• 1955 Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo as "Serafina Delle Rose"
  • Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow as Lillian Roth
  • Katharine Hepburn - Summertime as "Jane Hudson"
  • Jennifer Jones - Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing as "Dr. Han Suyin"
  • Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody as "Marjorie 'Margie' Lawrence"

• 1956 Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia as "Anna Koreff"/Anastasia
  • Carroll Baker - Baby Doll as "Baby Doll Meighan"
  • Katharine Hepburn - The Rainmaker as "Lizzie Curry"
  • Nancy Kelly - The Bad Seed as "Christine Penmark"
  • Deborah Kerr - The King and I as Anna Leonowens

• 1957 Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve as "Eve White/Eve Black/Jane"
  • Deborah Kerr - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison as "Sister Angela"
  • Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind as "Gioia"
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Raintree County as "Susanna Drake"
  • Lana Turner - Peyton Place as "Constance MacKenzie"

• 1958 Susan Hayward - I Want to Live! as Barbara Graham
  • Deborah Kerr - Separate Tables as "Sibyl Railton-Bell"
  • Shirley MacLaine - Some Came Running as "Ginnie Moorehead"
  • Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mame as "Mame Dennis"
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as "Maggie 'The Cat' Pollitt"

• 1959 Simone Signoret - Room at the Top as "Alice Aisgill"
  • Doris Day - Pillow Talk as "Jan Morrow"
  • Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story as "Sister Luke"
  • Katharine Hepburn - Suddenly, Last Summer as "Violet Venable"
  • Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly, Last Summer as "Catherine Holly"

1960s

• 1960 Elizabeth Taylor - BUtterfield 8 as "Gloria Wandrous"
  • Greer Garson - Sunrise at Campobello as Eleanor Roosevelt
  • Deborah Kerr - The Sundowners as "Ida Karmody"
  • Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment as "Fran Kubelik"
  • Melina Mercouri - Never on Sunday as "Ilya"

• 1961 Sophia Loren - Two Women as "Cesira"
  • Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's as "Holly Golightly"
  • Piper Laurie - The Hustler as "Sarah Packard"
  • Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke as "Alma Winemiller"
  • Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass "Wilma Dean 'Deanie' Loomis"

• 1962 Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker as Annie Sullivan
  • Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? as "Baby Jane Hudson"
  • Katharine Hepburn - Long Day's Journey Into Night as "Mary Tyrone"
  • Geraldine Page - Sweet Bird of Youth as "Alexandra Del Lago (Princess Cosmonopolous)"
  • Lee Remick - Days of Wine and Roses as "Kirsten Arnesen"

• 1963 Patricia Neal - Hud as "Alma Brown"
  • Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room as "Jane Fossett"
  • Shirley MacLaine - Irma la Douce as "Irma la Douce"
  • Rachel Roberts - This Sporting Life as "Mrs. Margaret Hammond"
  • Natalie Wood - Love with the Proper Stranger as "Angie Rossini"

• 1964 Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins as "Mary Poppins"
  • Anne Bancroft - The Pumpkin Eater as "Jo Armitage"
  • Sophia Loren - Marriage Italian Style as "Filumena Marturano"
  • Debbie Reynolds - The Unsinkable Molly Brown as Margaret Brown
  • Kim Stanley - Séance on a Wet Afternoon as "Myra"

• 1965 Julie Christie - Darling as "Diana Scott"
  • Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music as Maria von Trapp
  • Samantha Eggar - The Collector as "Miranda Grey"
  • Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue as "Selina D'Arcy"
  • Simone Signoret - Ship of Fools as "La Contessa"

• 1966 Dame Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as "Martha"
  • Anouk Aimée - A Man and a Woman as "Anne Gauthier"
  • Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street as "Rozalie Lautmann"
  • Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl as "Georgina (Georgy)"
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan! as "Leonie Delt"

• 1967 Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner as "Christina Drayton"
  • Anne Bancroft - The Graduate as "Mrs. Robinson"
  • Faye Dunaway - Bonnie and Clyde as Bonnie Parker
  • Edith Evans - The Whisperers as "Mrs. Ross"
  • Audrey Hepburn - Wait Until Dark as "Suzy Hendrix"

• 1968 Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl as "Fanny Brice"
  • Patricia Neal - The Subject Was Roses as "Nettie Cleary"
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Isadora as Isadora Duncan
  • Joanne Woodward - Rachel, Rachel as "Rachel Cameron"

• 1969 Dame Maggie Smith - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as "Jean Brodie"
  • Geneviève Bujold - Anne of the Thousand Days as Anne Boleyn
  • Jane Fonda - They Shoot Horses, Don't They? as "Gloria Beatty"
  • Liza Minnelli - The Sterile Cuckoo as "Mary Ann 'Pookie' Adams"
  • Jean Simmons - The Happy Ending as "Mary Wilson"

1970s

• 1970 Glenda Jackson - Women in Love as "Gudrun Brangwen"
  • Jane Alexander - The Great White Hope as "Eleanor Backman"
  • Ali MacGraw - Love Story as "Jennifer Cavalleri
  • Sarah Miles - Ryan's Daughter as "Rosy Ryan"
  • Carrie Snodgress - Diary of a Mad Housewife as "Tina Balser"

• 1971 Jane Fonda - Klute as "Bree Daniels"
  • Julie Christie - McCabe & Mrs. Miller as "Constance Miller"
  • Glenda Jackson - Sunday Bloody Sunday as "Alex Greville"
  • Vanessa Redgrave - Mary, Queen of Scots as Mary I of Scotland
  • Janet Suzman - Nicholas and Alexandra as Empress Alexandra

• 1972 Liza Minnelli - Cabaret as "Sally Bowles"
  • Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues as Billie Holiday
  • Maggie Smith - Travels with My Aunt as "Aunt Augusta Bertram"
  • Cicely Tyson - Sounder as "Rebecca Morgan"
  • Liv Ullmann - The Emigrants as "Kristina"

• 1973 Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class as "Vicki Allessio"
  • Ellen Burstyn - The Exorcist as "Chris MacNeil"
  • Marsha Mason - Cinderella Liberty as "Maggie Paul"
  • Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were as "Katie Morosky"
  • Joanne Woodward - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams as "Rita Walden"

• 1974 Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore as "Alice Hyatt"
  • Diahann Carroll - Claudine as "Claudine Price"
  • Faye Dunaway - Chinatown as "Evelyn Mulwray"
  • Valerie Perrine - Lenny as Honey Bruce
  • Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence as "Mabel Longhetti"

• 1975 Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as "Nurse Ratched"
  • Ann-Margret - Tommy as "Nora Walker Hobbs" /
  • Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H. as Adèle Hugo
  • Glenda Jackson - Hedda as "Hedda Gabler"
  • Carol Kane - Hester Street as "Gitl"

• 1976 Faye Dunaway - Network as "Diana Christiansen"
  • Marie-Christine Barrault - Cousin, cousine as "Marthe"
  • Talia Shire - Rocky as "Adrianna 'Adrian' Pennino"
  • Sissy Spacek - Carrie as "Carrie White"
  • Liv Ullmann - Face to Face as "Dr. Jenny Isaksson"

• 1977 Diane Keaton - Annie Hall as "Annie Hall"
  • Anne Bancroft - The Turning Point as "Emma Jacklin"
  • Jane Fonda - Julia as Lillian Hellman
  • Shirley MacLaine - The Turning Point as "Deedee Rodgers"
  • Marsha Mason - The Goodbye Girl as "Paula McFadden"

• 1978 Jane Fonda - Coming Home as "Sally Hyde"
  • Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata as "Charlotte Andergast"
  • Ellen Burstyn - Same Time, Next Year as "Doris"
  • Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman as "Erica"
  • Geraldine Page - Interiors as "Eve"

• 1979 Sally Field - Norma Rae as "Norma Rae Webster"
  • Jill Clayburgh - Starting Over as "Marilyn Holmberg"
  • Jane Fonda - The China Syndrome as "Kimberly Wells"
  • Marsha Mason - Chapter Two as "Jennie MacLaine"
  • Bette Midler - The Rose as "Mary Rose Foster"

1980s

• 1980 Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter as Loretta Lynn
  • Ellen Burstyn - Resurrection as "Edna Mae McCauley"
  • Goldie Hawn - Private Benjamin as "Pvt. Judy Benjamin/Goodman"
  • Mary Tyler Moore - Ordinary People as "Beth Jarrett"
  • Gena Rowlands - Gloria as "Gloria Swenson"

• 1981 Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond as "Ethel Thayer"
  • Diane Keaton - Reds as as Louise Bryant
  • Marsha Mason - Only When I Laugh as "Georgia"
  • Susan Sarandon - Atlantic City as "Sally Matthews"
  • Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Woman as "Sarah/Anna"

• 1982 Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice as "Sophie Zawistowska"
  • Julie Andrews - Victor/Victoria as "Victoria Grant, aka Count Victor Grezhinski"
  • Jessica Lange - Frances as Frances Farmer
  • Sissy Spacek - Missing as Beth Horman
  • Debra Winger - An Officer and a Gentleman as "Paula Pokrifki"

• 1983 Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment as "Aurora Greenway"
  • Jane Alexander - Testament as "Carol Wetherly"
  • Meryl Streep - Silkwood as Karen Silkwood
  • Julie Walters - Educating Rita as "Rita, aka Susan"
  • Debra Winger - Terms of Endearment as "Emma Greenway Horton"

• 1984 Sally Field - Places in the Heart as "Edna Spalding"
  • Judy Davis - A Passage to India as "Adela Quested"
  • Jessica Lange - Country as "Jewell Ivy"
  • Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians as "Olive Chancellor"
  • Sissy Spacek - The River as "Mae Garvey"

• 1985 Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful as "Carrie Watts"
  • Anne Bancroft - Agnes of God as "Mother Miriam Ruth"
  • Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple as "Celie"
  • Jessica Lange - Sweet Dreams as Patsy Cline
  • Meryl Streep - Out of Africa as "Karen Christence Dinesen Blixon"

• 1986 Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God as "Sarah Norman"
  • Jane Fonda - The Morning After as "Alex Sternbergen"
  • Sissy Spacek - Crimes of the Heart as "Rebecca 'Babe'/'Becky' Magrath Botrelle"
  • Kathleen Turner - Peggy Sue Got Married as "Peggy Sue Kelcher/Bodell"
  • Sigourney Weaver - Aliens as "Ellen Ripley"

• 1987 Cher - Moonstruck as "Loretta Castorini"
  • Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction as "Alex Forrest"
  • Holly Hunter - Broadcast News as "Jane Craig"
  • Sally Kirkland - Anna as "Anna"
  • Meryl Streep - Ironweed as "Helen Archer"

• 1988 Jodie Foster - The Accused as "Sarah Tobias"
  • Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons as "Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil"
  • Melanie Griffith - Working Girl as "Tess McGill"
  • Meryl Streep - A Cry in the Dark as Lindy Chamberlain
  • Sigourney Weaver - Gorillas in the Mist as Dian Fossey

• 1989 Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy as "Daisy Werthan"
  • Isabelle Adjani - Camille Claudel as Camille Claudel
  • Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine as "Shirley Valentine"
  • Jessica Lange - Music Box as "Ann Talbot"
  • Michelle Pfeiffer - The Fabulous Baker Boys as "Susie Diamond"

1990s

• 1990 Kathy Bates - Misery as "Annie Wilkes"
  • Anjelica Huston - The Grifters as "Lilly Dillon"
  • Julia Roberts - Pretty Woman as "Vivian Ward"
  • Meryl Streep - Postcards from the Edge as "Suzanne Vale"
  • Joanne Woodward - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge as "India Bridge"

• 1991 Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs as "Clarice Starling"
  • Geena Davis - Thelma and Louise as "Thelma Yvonne Dickinson"
  • Laura Dern - Rambling Rose as "Rose"
  • Bette Midler - For the Boys as "Dixie Leonard"
  • Susan Sarandon - Thelma and Louise as "Louise Elizabeth Sawyer"

• 1992 Emma Thompson - Howards End as "Margaret Wilcox"
  • Catherine Deneuve - Indochine as "Eliane"
  • Mary McDonnell - Passion Fish as "May-Alice Culhane"
  • Michelle Pfeiffer - Love Field as "Lurene Hallett"
  • Susan Sarandon - Lorenzo's Oil as Michaela Odone

• 1993 Holly Hunter - The Piano as "Ada McGrath"
  • Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do with It? as Anne Mae Bullock/Tina Turner
  • Stockard Channing - Six Degrees of Separation as "Louise 'Ouisa' Kittredge"
  • Emma Thompson - The Remains of the Day as "Mary Kenton"
  • Debra Winger - Shadowlands as Joy Gresham

• 1994 Jessica Lange - Blue Sky as "Carly Marshall"
  • Jodie Foster - Nell as "Nell Kellty"
  • Miranda Richardson - Tom & Viv as Vivienne Haigh-Wood
  • Winona Ryder - Little Women as "Jo March"
  • Susan Sarandon - The Client as "Regina 'Reggie' Love"

• 1995 Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking as Helen Prejean
  • Elisabeth Shue - Leaving Las Vegas as "Sera"
  • Sharon Stone - Casino as "Ginger McKenna"
  • Meryl Streep - The Bridges of Madison County as "Francesca Johnson"
  • Emma Thompson - Sense and Sensibility as "Elinor Dashwood"

• 1996 Frances McDormand - Fargo as "Marge Gunderson"
  • Brenda Blethyn - Secrets & Lies as "Cynthia Rose Purley"
  • Diane Keaton - Marvin's Room as "Bessie Greenfield"
  • Kristin Scott Thomas - The English Patient as "Katharine Clifton"
  • Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves as "Bess McNeill"

• 1997 Helen Hunt - As Good as It Gets as "Carol Connelly"
  • Helena Bonham Carter - The Wings of the Dove as "Kate Croy"
  • Julie Christie - Afterglow as "Phyllis Mann"
  • Judi Dench - Mrs. Brown as Queen Victoria
  • Kate Winslet- Titanic as "Rose DeWitt Bukater"

• 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love as "Viola de Lesseps"
  • Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth as Queen Elizabeth I
  • Fernanda Montenegro - Central do Brasil as "Dora"
  • Meryl Streep - One True Thing as "Kate Gulden"
  • Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie as Jacqueline du Pré

• 1999 Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry as Brandon Teena
  • Annette Bening - American Beauty as "Carolyn Burnham"
  • Janet McTeer - Tumbleweeds as "Mary Jo Walker"
  • Julianne Moore - The End of the Affair as "Sarah Miles"
  • Meryl Streep - Music of the Heart as Roberta Guaspari

2000s

• 2000 Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich
  • Joan Allen - The Contender as "Sen. Laine Hanson"
  • Juliette Binoche - Chocolat as "Vianne Rocher"
  • Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream as "Sara Goldfarb"
  • Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me as "Samantha 'Sammy' Prescott"

• 2001 Halle Berry - Monster's Ball as "Leticia Musgrove"
  • Judi Dench - Iris as Iris Murdoch
  • Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge! as "Satine" /
  • Sissy Spacek - In the Bedroom as "Ruth Fowler"
  • Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones's Diary as "Bridget Jones"

• 2002 Nicole Kidman - The Hours as Virginia Woolf /
  • Salma Hayek - Frida as Frida Kahlo /
  • Diane Lane - Unfaithful as "Connie Sumner"
  • Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven as "Cathy Whitaker"
  • Renée Zellweger - Chicago as "Roxie Hart"

• 2003 Charlize Theron - Monster as Aileen Wuornos /
  • Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider as "Paikea"
  • Diane Keaton - Something's Gotta Give as "Erica Jane Barry"
  • Samantha Morton - In America as "Sarah"
  • Naomi Watts - 21 Grams as "Cristina Peck" /

• 2004 Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby as "Maggie Fitzgerald"
  • Annette Bening - Being Julia as "Julia Lambert"
  • Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace as "María Álvarez"
  • Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake as "Vera Drake"
  • Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as "Clementine Kruczynski"

• 2005 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line as June Carter
  • Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents as Laura Henderson
  • Felicity Huffman - Transamerica as Bree Osbourne
  • Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice as "Elizabeth Bennet"
  • Charlize Theron - North Country as "Josey Aimes" /

• 2006 Helen Mirren - The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II
  • Penélope Cruz - Volver as "Raimunda"
  • Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal as "Barbara Covett"
  • Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada as "Miranda Priestly"
  • Kate Winslet - Little Children as "Sarah Pierce"

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