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 Feuillere - 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 - Sasom 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 - Seance 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 Aimee - A Man and a Woman
Bibi Andersson - Persona and Syskonbadd 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?