List of best actress Oscar winners
and other Academy Award nominees
Updated: March 11, 2024
Who beat who for best actress Oscar: Year indicates year/period for which films were judged, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia
2023: Emma Stone (Poor Things) — beat Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Annette Bening (Nyad)
2022: Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) — beat Cate Blanchett (Tár), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Ana de Armas (Blonde)
2021: Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) — beat Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos), Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
2020: Frances McDormand (Nomadland) — beat Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
2019: Renée Zellweger (Judy) — beat Charlize Theron (Bombshell), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)
2018: Olivia Colman (The Favourite) — beat Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Glenn Close (The Wife)
2017: Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) — beat Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Meryl Streep (The Post)
2016: Emma Stone (La La Land) — beat Natalie Portman (Jackie), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving)
2015: Brie Larson (Room) — beat Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Cate Blanchett (Carol), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Charlotte Rampling (45 years)
2014: Julianne Moore (Still Alice) — beat Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
2013: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) — beat Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Judi Dench (Philomena), Meryl Streep (August: Osage County), Amy Adams (American Hustle)
2012: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) — beat Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
2011: Meryl Streep (Iron Lady) — beat Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
2010: Natalie Portman (Black Swan) — beat Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
2009: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) — beat Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: based on the novel Push by Sapphire)
2008: Kate Winslet (The Reader) — beat Meryl Streep (Doubt), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
2007: Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose) — beat Ellen Page (Juno), Laura Linney (The Savages), Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away from Her)
2006: Helen Mirren (The Queen) — beat Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Penélope Cruz (Volver), Kate Winslet (Little Children)
2005: Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) — beat Charlize Theron (North Country), Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice), Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents), Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
2004: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) — beat Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Annette Bening (Being Julia), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake)
2003: Charlize Theron (Monster) — beat Naomi Watts (21 Grams), Diane Keaton (Something’s Gotta Give), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider), Samantha Morton (In America)
2002: Nicole Kidman (The Hours) — beat Renée Zellweger (Chicago), Julianne Moore (Far from Heaven), Salma Hayek (Frida), Diane Lane (Unfaithful)
2001: Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball) — beat Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones’s Diary), Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!), Judi Dench (Iris), Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom)
2000: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich) — beat Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me), Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream), Joan Allen (The Contender)
1999: Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) — beat Annette Bening (American Beauty), Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart), Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair), Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds)
1998: Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love) — beat Meryl Streep (One True Thing), Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth), Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie), Fernanda Montenegro (Central Station)
1997: Helen Hunt (As Good as It Gets) — beat Kate Winslet (Titanic), Judi Dench (Mrs Brown), Julie Christie (Afterglow), Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of the Dove)
1996: Frances McDormand (Fargo) — beat Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient), Diane Keaton (Marvin’s Room), Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves), Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies)
1995: Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) — beat Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Meryl Streep (The Bridges of Madison County), Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility), Sharon Stone (Casino)
1994: Jessica Lange (Blue Sky) — beat Jodie Foster (Nell), Winona Ryder (Little Women), Susan Sarandon (The Client), Miranda Richardson (Tom & Viv)
1993: Holly Hunter (The Piano) — beat Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation), Debra Winger (Shadowlands), Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It), Emma Thompson (The Remains of the Day)
1992: Emma Thompson (Howards End) — beat Michelle Pfeiffer (Love Field), Catherine Deneuve (Indochine), Susan Sarandon (Lorenzo’s Oil), Mary McDonnell (Passion Fish)
1991: Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs) — beat Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise), Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise), Bette Midler (For the Boys), Laura Dern (Rambling Rose)
1990: Kathy Bates (Misery) — beat Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman), Meryl Streep (Postcards from the Edge), Anjelica Huston (The Grifters), Joanne Woodward (Mr. & Mrs. Bridge)
1989: Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) — beat Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Jessica Lange (Music Box), Isabelle Adjani (Camille Claudel), Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine)
1988: Jodie Foster (The Accused) — beat Melanie Griffith (Working Girl), Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark), Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons), Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist)
1987: Cher (Moonstruck) — beat Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction), Meryl Streep (Ironweed), Holly Hunter (Broadcast News), Sally Kirkland (Anna)
1986: Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) — beat Jane Fonda (The Morning After), Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married), Sigourney Weaver (Aliens), Sissy Spacek (Crimes of the Heart)
1985: Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful) — beat Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple), Meryl Streep (Out of Africa), Jessica Lange (Sweet Dreams), Anne Bancroft (Agnes of God)
1984: Sally Field (Places in the Heart), — beat Jessica Lange (Country), Vanessa Redgrave (The Bostonians), Sissy Spacek (The River), Judy Davis (A Passage to India)
1983: Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment) — beat Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment), Meryl Streep (Silkwood), Julie Walters (Educating Rita), Jane Alexander (Testament)
1982: Meryl Streep (Sophie’s Choice) — beat Debra Winger (An Officer and a Gentleman), Jessica Lange (Frances), Sissy Spacek (Missing), Julie Andrews (Victor Victoria)
1981: Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond) — beat Diane Keaton (Reds), Meryl Streep (The French Lieutenant’s Woman), Susan Sarandon (Atlantic City), Marsha Mason (Only When I Laugh)
1980: Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner’s Daughter) — beat Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People), Goldie Hawn (Private Benjamin), Ellen Burstyn (Resurrection), Gena Rowlands (Gloria)
1979: Sally Field (Norma Rae) — beat Jane Fonda (The China Syndrome), Bette Midler (The Rose), Jill Clayburgh (Starting Over), Marsha Mason (Chapter Two)
1978: Jane Fonda (Coming Home) — beat Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata), Jill Clayburgh (An Unmarried Woman), Ellen Burstyn (Same Time Next Year), Geraldine Page (Interiors)
1977: Diane Keaton (Annie Hall) — beat Jane Fonda (Julia), Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl), Shirley MacLaine (The Turning Point), Anne Bancroft (The Turning Point)
1976: Faye Dunaway (Network) — beat Talia Shire (Rocky), Sissy Spacek (Carrie), Liv Ullman (Face to Face), Marie-Christine Barrault (Cousin cousine)
1975: Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) — beat Ann-Margret (Tommy), Glenda Jackson (Hedda), Carol Kane (Hester Street), Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H)
1974: Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) — beat Faye Dunaway (Chinatown), Diahann Carroll (Claudine), Valerie Perrine (Lenny), Gena Rowlands (A Woman Under the Influence)
1973: Glenda Jackson (A Touch of Class) — beat Barbra Streisand (The Way We Were), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist), Marsha Mason (Cinderella Liberty), Joanne Woodward (Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams)
1972: Liza Minnelli (Cabaret) — beat Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues), Cicely Tyson (Sounder), Maggie Smith (Travels with My Aunt), Liv Ullman (The Emigrants)
1971: Jane Fonda (Klute) — beat Julie Christie (McCabe & Mrs. Miller), Vanessa Redgrave (Mary, Queen of Scots), Glenda Jackson (Sunday Bloody Sunday), Janet Suzman (Nicholas and Alexandra)
1970: Glenda Jackson (Women in Love) — beat Ali MacGraw (Love Story), Carrie Snodgress (Diary of a Mad Housewife), Jane Alexander (The Great White Hope), Sarah Miles (Ryan’s Daughter)
1969: Maggie Smith (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) — beat Jane Fonda (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?), Liza Minnelli (The Sterile Cuckoo), Jean Simmons (The Happy Ending), Geneviève Bujold (Anne of the Thousand Days)
1968: Katharine Hepburn (The Lion in Winter) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl), tie — beat Vanessa Redgrave (Isadora), Joanne Woodward (Rachel, Rachel), Patricia Neal (The Subject Was Roses)
1967: Katharine Hepburn (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) — beat Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde), Anne Bancroft (The Graduate), Audrey Hepburn (Wait Until Dark), Edith Evans (The Whisperers)
1966: Elizabeth Taylor (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) — beat Vanessa Redgrave (Morgan!), Lynn Redgrave (Georgy Girl), Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street), Anouk Aimée (A Man and a Woman)
1965: Julie Christie (Darling) — beat Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music), Simone Signoret (Ship of Fools), Samantha Eggar (The Collector), Elizabeth Hartman (A Patch of Blue)
1964: Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins) — beat Debbie Reynolds (The Unsinkable Molly Brown), Anne Bancroft (The Pumpkin Eater), Sophia Loren (Marriage Italian Style), Kim Stanley (Seance on a Wet Afternoon)
1963: Patricia Neal (Hud) — beat Natalie Wood (Love with the Proper Stranger), Shirley MacLaine (Irma la Douce), Leslie Caron (The L-Shaped Room), Rachel Roberts (This Sporting Life)
1962: Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker) — beat 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)
1961: Sophia Loren (Two Women) — beat Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), Natalie Wood (Splendor in the Grass), Piper Laurie (The Hustler), Geraldine Page (Summer and Smoke)
1960: Elizabeth Taylor (BUtterfield 8) — beat Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment), Greer Garson (Sunrise at Campobello), Deborah Kerr (The Sundowners), Melina Mercouri (Never on Sunday)
1959: Simone Signouret (Room at the Top) — beat Katharine Hepburn (Suddenly, Last Summer), Elizabeth Taylor (Suddenly, Last Summer), Doris Day (Pillow Talk), Audrey Hepburn (The Nun’s Story)
1958: Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!) — beat Elizabeth Taylor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Shirley MacLaine (Some Came Running), Deborah Kerr (Separate Tables), Rosalind Russell (Auntie Mame)
1957: Joanne Woodward (The Three Faces of Eve) — beat Elizabeth Taylor (Raintree County), Lana Turner (Peyton Place), Deborah Kerr (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison), Anna Magnani (Wild Is the Wind)
1956: Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia) — beat Katharine Hepburn (The Rainmaker), Deborah Kerr (The King and I), Carroll Baker (Baby Doll), Nancy Kelly (The Bad Seed)
1955: Anna Magnani (The Rose Tattoo) — beat Katharine Hepburn (Summertime), Susan Hayward (I’ll Cry Tomorrow), Jennifer Jones (Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing), Eleanor Parker (Interrupted Melody)
1954: Grace Kelly (The Country Girl) — beat Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones), Judy Garland (A Star Is Born), Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina), Jane Wyman (Magnificent Obsession)
1953: Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday) — beat Deborah Kerr (From Here to Eternity), Ava Gardner (Mogambo), Leslie Caron (Lili), Maggie McNamara (The Moon Is Blue)
1952: Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba) — beat Bette Davis (The Star), Joan Crawford (Sudden Fear), Susan Hayward (With a Song in My Heart), Julie Harris (The Member of the Wedding)
1951: Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire) — beat Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen), Shelley Winters (A Place in the Sun), Jane Wyman (The Blue Veil), Eleanor Parker (Detective Story)
1950: Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday) — beat Gloria Swanson (Sunset Blvd.), Bette Davis (All About Eve), Anne Baxter (All About Eve), Eleanor Parker (Caged)
1949: Olivia de Havilland (The Heiress) — beat Susan Hayward (My Foolish Heart), Deborah Kerr (Edward, My Son), Loretta Young (Come to the Stable), Jeanne Crain (Pinky)
1948: Jane Wyman (Johnny Belinda) — beat Olivia de Havilland (The Snake Pit), Ingrid Bergman (Joan of Arc), Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry, Wrong Number), Irene Dunn (I Remember Mama)
1947: Loretta Young (The Farmer’s Daughter) — beat Joan Crawford (Possessed), Susan Hayward (Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman), Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman’s Agreement), Rosalind Russell (Morning Becomes Electra)
1946: Olivia de Havilland (To Each His Own) — beat Jane Wyman (The Yearling), Jennifer Jones (Duel in the Sun), Rosalind Russell (Sister Kenny), Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter)
1945: Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) — beat Ingrid Bergman (The Bells of St. Mary’s), Greer Garson (The Valley of Decision), Jennifer Jones (Love Letters), Gene Tierney (Leave Her to Heaven)
1944: Ingrid Bergman (Gaslight) — beat Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity), Claudette Colbert (Since You Went Away), Bette Davis (Mr. Skeffington), Greer Garson (Mrs. Parkington)
1943: Jennifer Jones (The Song of Bernadette) — beat Ingrid Bergman (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Joan Fontaine (The Constant Nymph), Greer Garson (Madame Curie), Jean Arthur (The More the Merrier)
1942: Greer Garson (Mrs. Miniver) — beat Teresa Wright (The Pride of the Yankees), Katharine Hepburn (Woman of the Year), Bette Davis (Now, Voyager), Rosalind Russell (My Sister Eileen)
1941: Joan Fontaine (Suspicion) — beat Bette Davis (The Little Foxes), Olivia de Havilland (Hold Back the Dawn), Greer Garson (Blossoms in the Dust), Barbara Stanwyck (Ball of Fire)
1940: Ginger Rogers (Kitty Foyle) — beat Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story), Joan Fontaine (Rebecca), Bette Davis (The Letter), Martha Scott (Our Town)
1939: Viven Leigh (Gone with the Wind) — beat Bette Davis (Dark Victory), Greer Garson (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), Greta Garbo (Ninotchka), Irene Dunne (Love Affair)
1938: Bette Davis (Jezebel) — beat Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette), Margaret Sullavan (Three Comrades), Wendy Hiller (Pygmalion), Fay Bainter (White Banners)
1937: Luise Rainer (The Good Earth) — beat Janet Gaynor (A Star Is Born), Greta Garbo (Camille), Irene Dunne (The Awful Truth), Barbara Stanwyck (Stella Dallas)
1936: Luise Rainer (The Great Ziegfeld) — beat Carole Lombard (My Man Godfrey), Irene Dunn (Theodora Goes Wild), Norma Shearer (Romeo and Juliet), Gladys George (Valiant Is the Word for Carrie)
1935: Bette Davis (Dangerous) — beat Katharine Hepburn (Alice Adams), Claudette Colbert (Private Worlds), Miriam Hopkins (Becky Sharp), Elisabeth Bergner (Escape Me Never), Merle Oberon (The Dark Angel)
1934: Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night) — beat Bette Davis (Of Human Bondage), Norma Shearer (The Barretts of Wimpole Street), Grace Moore (One Night of Love)
Aug. 1, 1932-Dec. 31, 1933: Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory) — beat May Robson (Lady for a Day), Diana Wynyard (Cavalcade)
Aug. 1, 1931-July 31, 1932: Helen Hayes (The Sin of Madelon Claudet) — beat Marie Dressler (Emma), Lynn Fontanne (The Guardsman)
Aug. 1, 1930-July 31, 1931: Marie Dressler (Min and Bill) — beat Marlene Dietrich (Morocco), Irene Dunn (Cimarron), Ann Harding (Holiday), Norma Shearer (A Free Soul)
Aug. 1, 1929-July 31, 1930: Norma Shearer (The Divorcee) — beat Greta Garbo (Anna Christie), Greta Garbo (Romance), Norma Shearer (Their Own Desire), Gloria Swanson (The Trespasser), Nancy Carroll (The Devil’s Holiday), Ruth Chatterton (Sarah and Son)
Aug. 1, 1928-July 31, 1929: Mary Pickford (Coquette) — beat Ruth Chatterton (Madame X), Betty Compson (The Barker), Corinne Griffith (The Divine Lady), Bessie Love (The Broadway Melody), Jeanne Eagels (The Letter)
1927-28: Janet Gaynor (Seventh Heaven/Street Angel/Sunrise) — beat Gloria Swanson (Sadie Thompson), Louise Dresser (A Ship Comes In)
