Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented each year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).  It is to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.

Winners and nominees 
Between 1952 and 1967, two awards were given to the best British and best foreign actress each year. In 1968, the two prizes of British and foreign actress were combined to create a single Best Actress award. Its current title, for Best Actress in a Leading Role, has been used since 1995.

1950s 
 1952
Best British Actress – Vivien Leigh – A Streetcar Named Desire
Phyllis Calvert – Mandy
Celia Johnson – I Believe in You
Ann Todd – The Sound Barrier

Best Foreign Actress – Simone Signoret – Golden Helmet
Edwige Feuillère – Olivia
Katharine Hepburn – Pat and Mike
Judy Holliday – The Marrying Kind
Nicole Stephane – Les Enfants terribles

1953 
Best British Actress – Audrey Hepburn – Roman Holiday
Celia Johnson – The Captain's Paradise
Best Foreign Actress – Leslie Caron – Lili
Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba
Marie Powers – The Medium
Maria Schell – The Heart of the Matter

1954 
Best British Actress – Yvonne Mitchell – The Divided Heart
Brenda De Banzie – Hobson's Choice
Audrey Hepburn – Sabrina Fair
Margaret Leighton – Carrington V.C.
Noelle Middleton – Carrington V.C.
Best Foreign Actress – Cornell Borchers  – The Divided Heart
Shirley Booth – About Mrs. Leslie
Judy Holliday – Phffft!
Grace Kelly – Dial M for Murder
Gina Lollobrigida – Bread, Love and Dreams

1955
Best British Actress – Katie Johnson – The Ladykillers
Margaret Johnson – Touch and Go
Deborah Kerr – The End of the Affair
Best Foreign Actress – Betsy Blair – Marty
Dorothy Dandridge – Carmen Jones
Judy Garland – A Star Is Born
Julie Harris – I Am a Camera
Katharine Hepburn – Summertime
Grace Kelly – The Country Girl
Giulietta Masina – The Road
Marilyn Monroe – The Seven Year Itch

1956
Best British Actress – Virginia McKenna – A Town Like Alice
Dorothy Alison – Reach for the Sky
Audrey Hepburn – War and Peace
Best Foreign Actress – Anna Magnani – The Rose Tattoo
Carroll Baker – Baby Doll
Eva Dahlbeck – Sommarnattens leende
Ava Gardner – Bhowani Junction
Susan Hayward – I'll Cry Tomorrow
Shirley MacLaine – The Trouble with Harry
Kim Novak – Picnic
Marisa Pavan – The Rose Tattoo
Maria Schell – Gervaise
Jean Simmons – Guys and Dolls

1957
Best British Actress – Heather Sears – The Story of Esther Costello
Deborah Kerr – Tea and Sympathy
Sylvia Syms – Woman in a Dressing Gown
Best Foreign Actress – Simone Signoret – The Witches of Salem
Augusta Dabney – That Night!
Katharine Hepburn – The Rainmaker
Marilyn Monroe – The Prince and the Showgirl
Lilli Palmer – Anastasia: Die letzte Zarentochter
Eva Marie Saint – A Hatful of Rain
Joanne Woodward – The Three Faces of Eve

1958
Best British Actress – Irene Worth – Orders to Kill
Hermione Baddeley – Room at the Top
Virginia McKenna – Carve Her Name with Pride
Best Foreign Actress – Simone Signoret – Room at the Top
Karuna Bannerjee – The Unvanquished
Ingrid Bergman– The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Anna Magnani – Wild is the Wind
Giulietta Masina – Nights of Cabiria
Tatyana Samojlova – The Cranes Are Flying
Elizabeth Taylor – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Joanne Woodward – No Down Payment

1959
Best British Actress – Audrey Hepburn – The Nun's Story
Peggy Ashcroft – The Nun's Story
Yvonne Mitchell – Sapphire
Sylvia Syms – No Trees in the Street
Kay Walsh – The Horse's Mouth
Best Foreign Actress – Shirley MacLaine –  Ask Any Girl
Rosalind Russell – Auntie Mame
Susan Hayward – I Want to Live!
Ava Gardner – On the Beach
Ellie Lambeti – To Telefteo psema

1960s 
1960
Best British Actress – Rachel Roberts – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
Hayley Mills – Pollyanna
Wendy Hiller – Sons and Lovers
Best Foreign Actress – Shirley MacLaine – The Apartment
Pier Angeli – The Angry Silence
Monica Vitti – The Adventure
Jean Simmons – Elmer Gantry
Emmanuelle Riva – Hiroshima Mon Amour
Melina Mercouri – Never on Sunday

1961
Best British Actress – Dora Bryan – A Taste of Honey
Deborah Kerr – The Sundowners
Hayley Mills – Whistle Down the Wind
Best Foreign Actress – Sophia Loren – Two Women
Annie Girardot – Rocco and His Brothers
Piper Laurie – The Hustler
Claudia McNeil – A Raisin in the Sun
Jean Seberg – Breathless

1962
Best British Actress – Leslie Caron – The L-Shaped Room
Virginia Maskell – The Wild and the Willing
Janet Munro – Life for Ruth
Best Foreign Actress – Anne Bancroft – The Miracle Worker
 Anouk Aimee – Lola
Harriet Andersson – Såsom i en spegel
Melina Mercouri – Phaedra
Jeanne Moreau – Jules and Jim
Geraldine Page – Sweet Bird of Youth
Natalie Wood – Splendor in the Grass

1963
Best British Actress – Rachel Roberts – This Sporting Life
Julie Christie – Billy Liar
Edith Evans – Tom Jones
Sarah Miles – The Servant
Barbara Windsor – Sparrers Can't Sing
Best Foreign Actress – Patricia Neal – Hud
Joan Crawford – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Bette Davis – What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Lee Remick – Days of Wine and Roses
Daniela Rocca – Divorce, Italian Style

1964
Best British Actress – Audrey Hepburn – Charade
Julie Andrews – Mary Poppins
Edith Evans – The Chalk Garden
Deborah Kerr – The Chalk Garden
Rita Tushingham – Girl with Green Eyes
Best Foreign Actress – Anne Bancroft – The Pumpkin Eater
Ava Gardner – The Night of the Iguana
Shirley MacLaine – Irma la Douce and  What a Way to Go!
Kim Stanley – Séance on a Wet Afternoon

1965
Best British Actress – Julie Christie – Darling
Julie Andrews – The Americanization of Emily and The Sound of Music
Maggie Smith – Young Cassidy
Rita Tushingham – The Knack …and How to Get It
Best Foreign Actress – Patricia Neal – In Harm's Way
Jane Fonda – Cat Ballou
Lila Kedrova – Zorba the Greek
Simone Signoret – Ship of Fools

1966
Best British Actress – Elizabeth Taylor – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Julie Christie – Doctor Zhivago and Fahrenheit 451
Lynn Redgrave – Georgy Girl
Vanessa Redgrave – Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment
Best Foreign Actress – Jeanne Moreau – Viva Maria!
Brigitte Bardot – Viva Maria!
Joan Hackett – The Group

1967
Best British Actress – Edith Evans – The Whisperers
Barbara Jefford – Ulysses
Elizabeth Taylor – The Taming of the Shrew
Best Foreign Actress – Anouk Aimée – A Man and a Woman
Bibi Andersson – Persona and  Syskonbädd 1782
Jane Fonda – Barefoot in the Park
Simone Signoret – The Deadly Affair

1968 – Katharine Hepburn – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter
 Anne Bancroft – The Graduate
 Catherine Deneuve – Belle de jour
 Joanne Woodward – Rachel, Rachel

1969 – Maggie Smith – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
 Mia Farrow – John and Mary , Rosemary's Baby and Secret Ceremony
 Glenda Jackson – Women in Love
 Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly!
 Mary Wimbush – Oh! What a Lovely War

1970s 
1970 – Katharine Ross – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
 Jane Fonda – They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
 Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower as Toni Simmons
 Sarah Miles – Ryan's Daughter

1971 – Glenda Jackson – Sunday Bloody Sunday
 Lynn Carlin – Taking Off
 Julie Christie – The Go-Between
 Jane Fonda – Klute as Bree Daniels
 Goldie Hawn – There's a Girl in My Soup
 Nanette Newman – The Raging Moon
1972 – Liza Minnelli – Cabaret as Sally Bowles Stéphane Audran – The Butcher
 Anne Bancroft – Young Winston
 Dorothy Tutin – Savage Messiah1973 – Stéphane Audran – The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Just Before Nightfall
 Julie Christie – Don't Look Now
 Glenda Jackson – A Touch of Class as Vicki Allesio
 Diana Ross – Lady Sings the Blues as Billie Holiday
 Ingrid Thulin – Viskningar och rop

1974 – Joanne Woodward – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
 Faye Dunaway – Chinatown as Evelyn Cross Mulwray
 Barbra Streisand – The Way We Were
 Cicely Tyson – The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as Jane Pittman

1975 – Ellen Burstyn – Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore as Alice Hyatt Anne Bancroft – The Prisoner of Second Avenue
 Valerie Perrine – Lenny as Honey Bruce
 Liv Ullmann – Scener ur ett äktenskap1976 – Louise Fletcher – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Nurse Mildred Ratched Lauren Bacall – The Shootist
 Rita Moreno – The Ritz
 Liv Ullmann – Ansikte mot ansikte as Dr. Jenny Isaakson1977 – Diane Keaton – Annie Hall as Annie Hall Faye Dunaway – Network as Diana Christensen
 Shelley Duvall – 3 Women
 Lily Tomlin – The Late Show1978 – Jane Fonda – Julia as Lillian Hellman Anne Bancroft – The Turning Point
 Jill Clayburgh – An Unmarried Woman
 Marsha Mason – The Goodbye Girl as Paula McFadden1979 – Jane Fonda – The China Syndrome as Kimberly Wells Diane Keaton – Manhattan
 Maggie Smith – California Suite as Diana Barrie
 Meryl Streep – The Deer Hunter as Linda

 1980s 1980 – Judy Davis – My Brilliant Career
 Shirley MacLaine – Being There
 Bette Midler – The Rose as Mary Rose Foster
 Meryl Streep – Kramer vs. Kramer as Joanna Kramer

1981 – Meryl Streep – The French Lieutenant's Woman as Sarah/Anna Mary Tyler Moore – Ordinary People as Beth Jarrett
 Maggie Smith – Quartet
 Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner's Daughter as Loretta Lynn1982 – Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond as Ethel Thayer Diane Keaton – Reds as Louise Bryant
 Jennifer Kendal – 36 Chowringhee Lane
 Sissy Spacek – Missing1983 – Julie Walters – Educating Rita as Rita Jessica Lange – Tootsie as Julie Nichols
 Phyllis Logan – Another Time, Another Place
 Meryl Streep – Sophie's Choice as Sophie Zawistowska1984 – Maggie Smith – A Private Function
 Shirley MacLaine – Terms of Endearment as Aurora Greenway
 Helen Mirren – Cal
 Meryl Streep – Silkwood as Karen Silkwood

1985 – Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India
 Mia Farrow – The Purple Rose of Cairo
 Kelly McGillis – Witness
 Alexandra Pigg – Letter to Brezhnev

1986 – Maggie Smith – A Room with a View
 Mia Farrow – Hannah and Her Sisters as Hannah
 Meryl Streep – Out of Africa as Karen Blixen
 Cathy Tyson – Mona Lisa

1987 – Anne Bancroft – 84 Charing Cross Road
 Emily Lloyd – Wish You Were Here
 Sarah Miles – Hope and Glory
 Julie Walters – Personal Services

1988 – Maggie Smith – The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
 Stéphane Audran – Babettes gæstebud
 Cher – Moonstruck as Loretta Castorini
 Jamie Lee Curtis – A Fish Called Wanda as Wanda

1989 – Pauline Collins – Shirley Valentine as Shirley Valentine Bradshaw Glenn Close – Dangerous Liaisons
 Jodie Foster – The Accused as Sarah Tobias
 Melanie Griffith – Working Girl as Tess McGill

 1990s 1990 – Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy as Miss Daisy Werthan Shirley MacLaine – Postcards from the Edge as Suzanne Vale
 Michelle Pfeiffer – The Fabulous Baker Boys
 Julia Roberts – Pretty Woman as Vivian Ward1991 – Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs as Clarice Starling Geena Davis – Thelma & Louise as Thelma Dickinson
 Susan Sarandon – Thelma & Louise as Louise Sawyer
 Juliet Stevenson – Truly, Madly, Deeply1992 – Emma Thompson – Howards End as Margaret Schlegel Judy Davis – Husbands and Wives
 Tara Morice – Strictly Ballroom
 Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes as Ninny Threadgoode1993 – Holly Hunter – The Piano as Ada McGrath Miranda Richardson – Tom & Viv as Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot
 Emma Thompson – The Remains of the Day
 Debra Winger – Shadowlands1994 – Susan Sarandon – The Client as Reggie Love Linda Fiorentino – The Last Seduction as Bridget Gregory
 Irène Jacob – Three Colors: Red (Trois couleurs: Rouge)
 Uma Thurman – Pulp Fiction as Mia Wallace1995 – Emma Thompson – Sense and Sensibility as Eleanor Dashwood Nicole Kidman – To Die For as Suzanne Stone Maretto
 Helen Mirren – The Madness of King George
 Elisabeth Shue – Leaving Las Vegas as Sera1996 – Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies as Cynthia Rose Purley Frances McDormand – Fargo as Marge Gunderson
 Kristin Scott Thomas – The English Patient
 Emily Watson – Breaking the Waves1997 – Judi Dench – Mrs. Brown as Queen Victoria
 Kim Basinger – L.A. Confidential Kathy Burke – Nil By Mouth Helena Bonham Carter – The Wings of the Dove1998 – Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth as Queen Elizabeth I Jane Horrocks – Little Voice
 Gwyneth Paltrow – Shakespeare in Love as Viola de Lesseps
 Emily Watson – Hilary and Jackie as Jacqueline du Pre1999 – Annette Bening – American Beauty as Carolyn Burnham Linda Bassett – East is East
 Julianne Moore – The End of the Affair
 Emily Watson – Angela's Ashes

2000s2000 – Julia Roberts – Erin Brockovich as Erin Brockovich Juliette Binoche – Chocolat
 Kate Hudson – Almost Famous as Penny Lane
 Hilary Swank – Boys Don't Cry as Brandon Teena
 Michelle Yeoh – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long)2001 – Judi Dench – Iris as Iris Murdoch Nicole Kidman – The Others
 Sissy Spacek – In the Bedroom as Ruth Fowler
 Audrey Tautou – Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)
 Renée Zellweger – Bridget Jones's Diary as Bridget Jones2002 – Nicole Kidman – The Hours as Virginia Woolf Halle Berry – Monster's Ball as Leticia Musgrove
 Salma Hayek – Frida as Frida Kahlo
 Meryl Streep – The Hours as Clarissa Vaughan
 Renée Zellweger – Chicago as Roxie Hart2003 – Scarlett Johansson – Lost in Translation as Charlotte Scarlett Johansson – Girl with a Pearl Earring
 Anne Reid – The Mother
 Uma Thurman – Kill Bill: Vol. 1 as The Bride
 Naomi Watts – 21 Grams2004 – Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake as Vera Drake
 Charlize Theron – Monster as Aileen Wuornos
 Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Clementine Kruczynski
 Kate Winslet – Finding Neverland
 Zhang Ziyi – House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu)

2005 – Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line as June Carter
 Judi Dench – Mrs Henderson Presents
 Charlize Theron – North Country as Josey Aimes
 Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener
 Zhang Ziyi – Memoirs of a Geisha

2006 – Helen Mirren – The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II
 Penélope Cruz – To Return (Volver)
 Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal
 Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly
 Kate Winslet – Little Children

2007 – Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose (La môme) as Édith Piaf
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age as Queen Elizabeth I
Julie Christie – Away From Her as Fiona Anderson
Keira Knightley – Atonement
Ellen Page – Juno as Juno MacGuff

2008 – Kate Winslet – The Reader as Hanna Schmitz
Angelina Jolie – Changeling as Christine Collins
Kristin Scott Thomas – I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)
Meryl Streep – Doubt as Sister Aloysius Beauvier
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road as April Wheeler

2009 – Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Mellor
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious as Claireece "Precious" Jones
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child
Audrey Tautou – Coco Before Chanel

2010s
2010 – Natalie Portman - Black Swan as Nina Sayers
 Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right as Nic
 Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right as Jules
 Noomi Rapace – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
 Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit as Mattie Ross

2011 – Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
 Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
 Viola Davis — The Help as Aibileen Clark
 Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin as Eva Khatchadourian
 Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe

Other websites
 BAFTA Awards Database

BAFTA Awards