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?
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 Stephane Audran - The Butcher
Anne Bancroft - Young Winston
Dorothy Tutin - Savage Messiah1973 - Stephane 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 aktenskap1976 - 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
Stephane Audran - Babettes gaestebud
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
Irene 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 - Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain)
Renee 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
Renee 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
Penelope 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 mome) as Edith 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
Berenice 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