BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

**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 Messiah_

- **1973** – **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 äktenskap_

- **1976** – **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 Isaakson

- **1977** – **Diane Keaton** – ***Annie Hall_ as Annie Hall**
    - Faye Dunaway – _Network_ as Diana Christensen
    - Shelley Duvall – _3 Women_
    - Lily Tomlin – _The Late Show_

- **1978** – **Jane Fonda** – ***Julia_ as Lillian Hellman**
    - Anne Bancroft – _The Turning Point_
    - Jill Clayburgh – _An Unmarried Woman_
    - Marsha Mason – _The Goodbye Girl_ as Paula McFadden

- **1979** – **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 Lynn

- **1982** – **Katharine Hepburn** – ***On Golden Pond_ as Ethel Thayer**
    - Diane Keaton – _Reds_ as Louise Bryant
    - Jennifer Kendal – _36 Chowringhee Lane_
    - Sissy Spacek – _Missing_

- **1983** – **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 Zawistowska

- **1984** – **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 Ward

- **1991** – **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, Deeply_

- **1992** – **Emma Thompson** – ***Howards End_ as Margaret Schlegel**
    - Judy Davis – _Husbands and Wives_
    - Tara Morice – _Strictly Ballroom_
    - Jessica Tandy – _Fried Green Tomatoes_ as Ninny Threadgoode

- **1993** – **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 – _Shadowlands_

- **1994** – **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 Wallace

- **1995** – **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 Sera

- **1996** – **Brenda Blethyn** – ***Secrets & Lies_ as Cynthia Rose Purley**
    - Frances McDormand – _Fargo_ as Marge Gunderson
    - Kristin Scott Thomas – _The English Patient_
    - Emily Watson – _Breaking the Waves_

- **1997** – **Judi Dench** – ***Mrs. Brown_ as Queen Victoria**
    - Kim Basinger – _L.A. Confidential_
    - Kathy Burke – _Nil By Mouth_
    - Helena Bonham Carter – _The Wings of the Dove_

- **1998** – **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 Pre

- **1999** – **Annette Bening** – ***American Beauty_ as Carolyn Burnham**
    - Linda Bassett – _East is East_
    - Julianne Moore – _The End of the Affair_
    - Emily Watson – _Angela's Ashes_

### 2000s

- **2000** – **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 Jones

- **2002** – **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 Hart

- **2003** – **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 Grams_

- **2004** – **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