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 was last updated 05 Sep 2023.
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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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