best actress Oscar winners

Oscar Winners – Best Actressess

Best Actress Oscar Winners 1929-2024 Academy Awards

On 25 April 2021 the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, for films made during 2020, were presented at the Union Station and Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA. The best actress Oscar winners are chosen by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members. AMPAS is the professional organization of the movie industry. Since 1935 academy awards are presented for films released in the preceding year.

  • ADDucation’s best actress Oscar winners list compiled by Joe Connor, last updated Nov 7, 2022 @ 11:48 am.
Top Best Actress Oscar Trivia Facts

6 Best Actress Oscar Trivia Facts

  1. Who votes in the Academy Awards? Only AMPAS members can vote in the Oscars. You cannot apply to join AMPAS, you have to be sponsored by two existing members OR nominated for an Academy Award to be considered for membership by the Academy’s Board of Governors – it’s complicated.
  2. How many Oscar categories are there? There are currently 24 categories. Some have been discontinued, others may be added next time around.
  3. Most best actress Oscar winners is currently Katharine Hepburn with 4 Best Actress Oscars for; Morning Glory in 1933, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a 1967 comedy drama, The Lion In Winter in 1968 and again in 1981 for On Golden Pond alongside Henry Fonda who won Best Actor for the same movie.
  4. The most nominated best actress is Meryl Streep out in front with 2 wins from 15 nominations, ahead of Katharine Hepburn with 12 and Bette Davis with 10.
  5. The biggest loser is Deborah Kerr with no Oscar from 6 nominations, closely followed by Irene Dunne and Dame Judi Dench.
  6. Shortest Oscar Winning Performance: Beatrice Straight, won Best Supporting Actress Oscar Winner, for a single scene lasting 5 minutes, 40 seconds in the 1976 movie Network.

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Academy Awards Ceremony Best Actress Oscar Winners Country For her leading role in: Character: Born Died Films in:
1st Academy Awards 16 May 1929 Janet Gaynor 🇺🇸 USA Street Angel Angela 1906 1984 1927/8
2nd Academy Awards 3 April 1930 Mary Pickford 🇨🇦 Canada Coquette Norma Besant 1892 1979 1928/9
3rd Academy Awards 5 Nov 1930 Norma Shearer 🇺🇸 USA The Divorcee Jerry Martin 1902 1983 1929/30
4th Academy Awards 10 Nov 1931 Marie Dressler 🇨🇦 Canada Min and Bill Min Divot 1868 1934 1930/1
5th Academy Awards 18 Nov 1932 Helen Hayes 🇺🇸 USA The Sin of Madelon Claudet Madelon Claudet 1900 1993 1931/2
6th Academy Awards 16 Mar 1934 Katharine Hepburn (most best actress Oscar winners) 🇺🇸 USA Morning Glory Eva Lovelace 1907 2003 1932/3
7th Academy Awards 27 Feb 1935 Claudette Colbert 🇫🇷 France It Happened One Night Ellen “Ellie” Andrews 1903 1996 1934
8th Academy Awards 5 Mar 1936 Bette Davis 🇺🇸 USA Dangerous Joyce Heath 1908 1989 1935
9th Academy Awards 4 Mar 1937 Luise Rainer 🇩🇪 Germany The Great Ziegfeld Anna Held 1910 2014 1936
10th Academy Awards 10 Mar 1938 Luise Rainer 🇩🇪 Germany The Good Earth O-Lan 1910 2014 1937
11th Academy Awards 23 Feb 1939 Bette Davis 🇺🇸 USA Jezebel Julie Marsden 1908 1989 1938
12th Academy Awards 29 Feb 1940 Vivien Leigh 🇮🇳 India / 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Gone with the wind Scarlett O’Hara 1913 1967 1939
13th Academy Awards 27 Feb 1941 Ginger Rogers 🇺🇸 USA Kitty Foyle Kitty Foyle 1911 1995 1940
14th Academy Awards 26 Feb 1942 Joan Fontaine 🇺🇸 USA Suspicion Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth 1917 2013 1941
15th Academy Awards 4 Mar 1943 Greer Garson, CBE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England / 🇺🇸 USA Mrs. Miniver Kay Miniver 1904 1996 1942
16th Academy Awards 2 Mar 1944 Jennifer Jones 🇺🇸 USA The Song of Bernadette Bernadette Soubirous 1919 2009 1943
17th Academy Awards 15 Mar 1945 Ingrid Bergman 🇸🇪 Sweden Gaslight Paula Alquist Anton 1915 1982 1944
18th Academy Awards 7 Mar 1946 Joan Crawford 🇺🇸 USA Mildred Pierce Mildred Pierce Beragon 1905 1977 1945
19th Academy Awards 17 Mar 1947 Olivia de Havilland 🇺🇸 USA To Each His Own Miss Josephine “Jody” Norris 1916 2020 1946
20th Academy Awards 20 Mar 1948 Loretta Young 🇺🇸 USA The Farmer’s Daughter Katie Holstrom 1913 2000 1947
21st Academy Awards 24 Mar 1949 Jane Wyman 🇺🇸 USA Johnny Belinda Belinda MacDonald 1917 2007 1948
22nd Academy Awards 23 Mar 1950 Olivia de Havilland 🇺🇸 USA The Heiress Catherine Sloper 1916 2020 1949
23rd Academy Awards 29 Mar 1951 Judy Holliday 🇺🇸 USA Born Yesterday Emma “Billie” Dawn 1921 1965 1950
24th Academy Awards 20 Mar 1952 Vivien Leigh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England / 🇺🇸 USA A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Dubois 1913 1967 1951
25th Academy Awards 19 Mar 1953 Shirley Booth 🇺🇸 USA Come Back, Little Sheba Lola Delaney 1898 1992 1952
26th Academy Awards 25 Mar 1954 Audrey Hepburn 🇧🇪 Belgium / 🇬🇧 UK Roman Holiday Princess Ann 1929 1993 1953
27th Academy Awards 30 Mar 1955 Grace Kelly 🇺🇸 USA The Country Girl Georgie Elgin 1929 1982 1954
28th Academy Awards 21 Mar 1956 Anna Magnani 🇮🇹 Italy The Rose Tattoo Serafina Delle Rose 1908 1973 1955
29th Academy Awards 27 Mar 1957 Ingrid Bergman 🇸🇪 Sweden Anastasia Anna Koreff 1915 1982 1956
30th Academy Awards 26 Mar 1958 Joanne Woodward 🇺🇸 USA The Three Faces of Eve Eve White, Eve Black & Jane 1930 1957
31st Academy Awards 6 Apr 1959 Susan Hayward 🇺🇸 USA I Want to Live! Barbara Graham 1917 1975 1958
32nd Academy Awards 4 Apr 1960 Simone Signoret 🇫🇷 France Room at the Top Alice Aisgill 1921 1985 1959
33rd Academy Awards 17 Apr 1961 Elizabeth Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England / 🇺🇸 USA Butterfield 8 Gloria Wandrous 1932 2011 1960
34th Academy Awards 9 Apr 1962 Sophia Loren 🇮🇹 Italy Two Women Cesira 1934 1961
35th Academy Awards 8 Apr 1963 Anne Bancroft 🇺🇸 USA The Miracle Worker Anne Sullivan 1931 2005 1962
36th Academy Awards 13 Apr 1964 Patricia Neal, 🇺🇸 USA Hud Hud 1926 2010 1963
37th Academy Awards 5 Apr 1965 Julie Andrews, Dame 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Mary Poppins Mary Poppins 1935 1964
38th Academy Awards 18 Apr 1966 Julie Christie 🇮🇳 India / 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Darling Diana Scott 1941 1965
39th Academy Awards 10 Apr 1967 Elizabeth Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England / 🇺🇸 USA Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Martha 1932 2011 1966
40th Academy Awards 10 Apr 1968 Katharine Hepburn (most best actress Oscar winners) 🇺🇸 USA Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Christina Drayton 1907 2003 1967
41st Academy Awards 14 Apr 1969* Katharine Hepburn (most best actress Oscar winners) 🇺🇸 USA The Lion in Winter Eleanor of Aquitaine 1907 2003 1968*
41st Academy Awards 14 Apr 1969* Barbra Streisand 🇺🇸 USA Funny Girl Fanny Brice 1942 1968*
42nd Academy Awards 7 Apr 1970 Maggie Smith, Dame 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Jean Brodie 1934 1969
43rd Academy Awards 15 Apr 1971 Glenda Jackson, CBE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Women in Love Gundrun Brangwen 1936 1970
44th Academy Awards 10 Apr 1972 Jane Fonda 🇺🇸 USA Klute Bree Daniels 1937 1971
45th Academy Awards 27 Mar 1973 Liza Minnelli 🇺🇸 USA Cabaret Sally Bowles 1946 1972
46th Academy Awards 2 Apr 1974 Glenda Jackson, CBE 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England A Touch of Class Vicki Allessio 1936 1973
47th Academy Awards 8 Apr 1975 Ellen Burstyn 🇺🇸 USA Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore Alice Hyatt 1932 1974
48th Academy Awards 29 Mar 1976 Louise Fletcher 🇺🇸 USA One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nurse Mildred Ratched 1934 1975
49th Academy Awards 28 Mar 1977 Faye Dunaway 🇺🇸 USA Network Diana Christensen 1941 1976
50th Academy Awards 3 Apr 1978 Diane Keaton 🇺🇸 USA Annie Hall Annie Hall 1946 1977
51st Academy Awards 9 Apr 1979 Jane Fonda 🇺🇸 USA Coming Home Sally Hyde 1937 1978
52nd Academy Awards 14 Apr 1980 Sally Field 🇺🇸 USA Norma Rae Norma Rae Webster 1946 1979
53rd Academy Awards 31 Mar 1981 Sissy Spacek 🇺🇸 USA Coal Miner’s Daughter Loretta Lynn 1949 1980
54th Academy Awards 29 Mar 1982 Katharine Hepburn (most best actress Oscar winners) 🇺🇸 USA On Golden Pond Ethel Thayer 1907 2003 1981
55th Academy Awards 11 Apr 1983 Meryl Streep 🇺🇸 USA Sophie’s choice Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowski 1949 1982
56th Academy Awards 9 Apr 1984 Shirley MacLaine 🇺🇸 USA Terms of Endearment Aurora Greenway 1934 1983
57th Academy Awards 25 Mar 1985 Sally Field 🇺🇸 USA Places in the Heart Edna Spalding 1946 1984
58th Academy Awards 24 Mar 1986 Geraldine Page 🇺🇸 USA The Trip to Bountiful Carrie Watts 1924 1987 1985
59th Academy Awards 30 Mar 1987 Marlee Matlin 🇺🇸 USA Children of a Lesser God Sarah Norman 1965 1986
60th Academy Awards 11 Apr 1988 Cher 🇺🇸 USA Moonstruck Loretta Castorini 1946 1987
61st Academy Awards 29 Mar 1989 Jodie Foster 🇺🇸 USA The Accused Sarah Tobias 1962 1988
62nd Academy Awards 26 Mar 1990 Jessica Tandy 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Driving Miss Daisy Daisy Werthan 1909 1994 1989
63rd Academy Awards 25 Mar 1991 Kathy Bates 🇺🇸 USA Misery Annie Wilkes 1948 1990
64th Academy Awards 30 Mar 1992 Jodie Foster 🇺🇸 USA The Silence of the Lambs Clarice Starling 1962 1991
65th Academy Awards 29 Mar 1993 Emma Thompson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England Howards End Margaret Schlegel 1959 1992
66th Academy Awards 21 Mar 1994 Holly Hunter 🇺🇸 USA The Piano Ada McGrath 1958 1993
67th Academy Awards 27 Mar 1995 Jessica Lange 🇺🇸 USA Blue Sky Carly Marshall 1949 1994
68th Academy Awards 25 Mar 1996 Susan Sarandon 🇺🇸 USA Dead Man Walking Helen Prejean 1946 1995
69th Academy Awards 24 Mar 1997 Frances McDormand 🇺🇸 USA Fargo Marge Gunderson 1957 1996
70th Academy Awards 23 Mar 1998 Helen Hunt 🇺🇸 USA As Good as It Gets Carol Connelly 1963 1997
71st Academy Awards 21 Mar 1999 Gwyneth Paltrow 🇺🇸 USA Shakespeare in Love Viola De Lesseps 1972 1998
72nd Academy Awards 26 Mar 2000 Hilary Swank 🇺🇸 USA Boys don’t cry Brandon Teena 1974 1999
73rd Academy Awards 25 Mar 2001 Julia Roberts 🇺🇸 USA Erin Brockovich Erin Brockovich 1967 2000
74th Academy Awards 24 Mar 2002 Halle Berry 🇺🇸 USA Monster’s Ball Leticia Musgrove 1966 2001
75th Academy Awards 23 Mar 2003 Nicole Kidman 🇦🇺 Australia / 🇺🇸 USA The Hours Virginia Woolf 1967 2002
76th Academy Awards 29 Feb 2004 Charlize Theron 🇿🇦 South Africa / 🇺🇸 USA Monster Aileen Wuornos 1975 2003
77th Academy Awards 27 Feb 2005 Hilary Swank 🇺🇸 USA Million Dollar Baby Margaret “Maggie” Fitzgerald 1974 2004
78th Academy Awards 5 Mar 2006 Reese Witherspoon 🇺🇸 USA Walk the Line June Carter Cash 1976 2005
79th Academy Awards 25 Feb 2007 Helen Mirren Dame 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England The Queen Queen Elizabeth II 1945 2006
80th Academy Awards 24 Feb 2008 Marion Cotillard 🇫🇷 France La vie en rose Édith Piaf 1975 2007
81st Academy Awards 22 Feb 2009 Kate Winslet 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England The Reader Hanna Schmitz 1975 2008
82nd Academy Awards 7 Mar 2010 Sandra Bullock 🇺🇸 USA The Blind Side Leigh Anne Tuohy 1964 2009
83th Academy Awards 27 Feb 2011 Natalie Portman 🇮🇪 Ireland / 🇺🇸 USA Black Swan Nina Sayers 1981 2010
84th Academy Awards 26 Feb 2012 Meryl Streep 🇺🇸 USA The iron lady Margaret Thatcher 1949 2011
85th Academy Awards 24 Feb 2013 Jennifer Lawrence 🇺🇸 USA Silver Linings Playbook Tiffany Maxwell 1990 2012
86th Academy Awards 2 Mar 2014 Cate Blanchett 🇦🇺 Australia Blue Jasmine Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis 1969 2013
87th Academy Awards 22 Feb 2015 Julianne Moore 🇺🇸 USA Still Alice Alice Howland 1960 2014
88th Academy Awards 28 Feb 2016 Brie Larson 🇺🇸 USA Room Joy “Ma” Newsome 1989 2015
89th Academy Awards 26 Feb 2017 Emma Stone 🇺🇸 USA La La Land Mia Dolan 1988 2016
90th Academy Awards 4 Mar 2018 Frances McDormand 🇺🇸 USA Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Mildred Hayes 1957 2017
91st Academy Awards 24 Feb 2019 Olivia Colman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England The Favourite Queen Anne 1974 2018
92nd Academy Awards 9 Feb 2020 Renée Zellweger 🇺🇸 USA Judy Judy Garland 1969 2019
93rd Academy Awards 25 Apr 2021 Frances McDormand 🇺🇸 USA Nomadland Fern 1957 2020
See also: Oscar Winning Actors | Most Famous Actors Roles

* Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand received exactly the same number of votes results so a tie was declared. ADDucation’s list of best actress Oscar winners is neither endorsed nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Oscars®, Academy Awards® and the Oscar© statuette are trademarks and copyrighted property of AMPAS.

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