1959 Academy Awards® Winners and History Room at the Top (1959, UK) Actor: CHARLTON HESTON in "Ben-Hur" , Laurence Harvey in "Room at the Top", Jack Lemmon in "Some Like It Hot" , Paul Muni in "The Last Angry Man", James Stewart in "Anatomy of a Murder" Actress: SIMONE SIGNORET in "Room at the Top", Doris Day in "Pillow Talk", Audrey Hepburn in "The Nun's Story", Katharine Hepburn in "Suddenly, Last Summer" , Elizabeth Taylor in "Suddenly, Last Summer" Supporting Actor: HUGH GRIFFITH in "Ben-Hur" , Arthur O'Connell in "Anatomy of a Murder", George C.

Scott in "Anatomy of a Murder", Robert Vaughn in "The Young Philadelphians", Ed Wynn in "The Diary of Anne Frank" Supporting Actress: SHELLEY WINTERS in "The Diary of Anne Frank", Hermione Baddeley in "Room at the Top", Susan Kohner in "Imitation of Life", Juanita Moore in "Imitation of Life", Thelma Ritter in "Pillow Talk" Director: WILLIAM WYLER for "Ben-Hur" , Jack Clayton for "Room at the Top", George Stevens for "The Diary of Anne Frank", Billy Wilder for "Some Like It Hot" , Fred Zinnemann for "The Nun's Story" MGM's (producer Sam Zimbalist) and director William Wyler's three and a half-hour long epic drama Ben-Hur (with a spectacular sea battle and eleven minute chariot race choreographed by Yakima Canutt) broke the previous year's all-time record of Gigi (1958). It was the most-honored motion picture in Academy Awards history up to that time and for many years - until 1997, with its record-breaking eleven Oscars from twelve nominations.

And it was the most expensive film of its time, budgeted at $15 million. Ben-Hur was a re-make of MGM's own 1926 silent film of the same name, and the first and only re-make to have won the Best Picture award. Both films were based on or inspired by General Lew Wallace's novel (first published in 1880) about the rise of Christianity. Ironically, the famed director Cecil B. DeMille, who had made 'Ben-Hur-like' films throughout his lifetime - without the same awards success as the 1959 winner, died the same year (on January 21, 1959). The awards for the Best Picture film covered the following categories: Best Picture, Best Actor (Charlton Heston), Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith), Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Musical Score, Best Film Editing, Best Special Effects, and Best Costume Design. It lost out on only a single nomination, for Best Screenplay credited to Karl Tunberg (although other writers included Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Christopher Frye, and Gore Vidal).

[The Best Screenplay Oscar was won by Neil Paterson for his intelligent script for Room at the Top.] The Best Picture's competition came from less sweeping dramas: director Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder (with seven nominations and no wins), a sensational small-town trial and courtroom drama regarding the suspected rape of an Army lieutenant's wife director George Stevens' The Diary of Anne Frank (with eight nominations and three wins - Best Supporting Actress, Best B/W Cinematography, and Best B/W Art Direction/Set Decoration), the overproduced story of the hiding of the Frank family in cramped conditions during the Nazi occupation Fred Zinnemann's religious melodrama taken from Kathryn Hulme's novel, The Nun's Story (with eight nominations and no wins), about a free-spirited young nun who worked in the Congo and Belgium during WWII director Jack Clayton's acclaimed and sensational British film Room at the Top (with six nominations and two wins - Best Actress and Best Screenplay), about the romance between a Yorkshire milltown worker and an older, unhappily married woman Four of the five Best Picture nominees were also Best Director-nominated.

Billy Wilder's signature film Some Like It Hot (with six nominations and one win - Best B/W Costume Design) about two unemployed musicians who disguise themselves as women in an all-girl band to escape gangsters, supplanted Best Picture-nominated Anatomy of a Murder as the fifth director-nominated film. Three stars of the socially-realistic, sexually-frank British-made film Room at the Top were nominated for acting awards: Laurence Harvey (with his sole nomination) as Best Actor for his performance as Joe Lampton - an ambitious, ruthless, working-class anti-hero and social climber engaged in a cruel affair - his most well-known film role British actress Hermione Baddeley (with her sole nomination) was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as music-teacher Elspeth (Simone Signoret's knowing friend). French actress Simone Signoret (with her first of two career nominations - and sole Oscar win) won the Best Actress award for her role as older married woman Alice Aisgill - the sexy, soon-abandoned, and suffering tragic mistress of a cynical, exploitative young opportunist (Laurence Harvey) Signoret was the first actress to ever receive an Oscar for a performance in a British or foreign-made film (a non-Hollywood film).

[The second French actress to be an Oscar winner was Juliette Binoche for her supporting role in The English Patient (1996).] The Best Actor winner was Charlton Heston in the title role of Ben-Hur as Judah Ben-Hur - a rich patrician Jew who is denounced as a traitor by former childhood friend and Roman commander Messala (Stephen Boyd) and sentenced to life as a Roman galley slave, while his mother and sister are sent to a leper colony. Reprieved after saving the life of a Roman commander, Ben-Hur returns to seek bitter revenge in the chariot race. It was Heston's only nomination and sole win in his long, distinguished film career in which he usually portrayed historical characters. Heston's win marked the first time a performer received an Oscar for a Biblical film role, possibly the result of block voting for the Best Picture winner.

Other Best Actor nominees included: the category's favorite - Jack Lemmon (with his second of eight career nominations) as Jerry/Daphne - a bass-playing musician-on-the-run in drag - one of his funniest and best roles - in director Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot Paul Muni (with his fifth and last career nomination) in his last performance as Dr. Sam Abelman - a Brooklyn Jewish doctor who selflessly helps the poor in director Daniel Mann's The Last Angry Man (with two nominations and no wins) James Stewart (with his fifth and last career nomination) as the small-town defense attorney Paul Biegler in Anatomy of a Murder - noted for its long trial scenes as he defends white Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering a black tavern owner for allegedly raping his wife (Lee Remick) Laurence Harvey - see above The four nominees who lost the Best Actress Award to Simone Signoret included two Hepburns: Audrey Hepburn (with her third of five career nominations) as Sister Luke who eventually renounces her vows in The Nun's Story Katharine Hepburn (with her eighth of twelve career nominations) as an insane, wealthy dowager Mrs.

Venable who wishes that doctor Montgomery Clift would perform a lobotomy on her niece (co-star Elizabeth Taylor) in Gore Vidal's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Suddenly, Last Summer (with three nominations and no wins) Elizabeth Taylor (with her third of four consecutive nominations) as Hepburn's mentally-disturbed niece Catherine Holly in Suddenly, Last Summer Doris Day (with her sole career nomination!) as Jan Morrow - a 'virgin' who shares a telephone party line with Rock Hudson in the romantic comedy by director Michael Gordon, Pillow Talk (with five nominations and one win - Best Story/Screenplay) - this was the first teaming of the two comedy stars in the popular series of films Two co-stars playing lawyers in Anatomy of a Murder received Best Supporting Actor nominations: George C.

Scott (with his first of four career nominations) as Claude Dancer - a slick, cynical prosecuting attorney Arthur O'Connell (with his second and last unsuccessful career nomination) as Parnell McCarthy - an alcoholic lawyer (co-star James Stewart's assistant) In addition, there were two others: Robert Vaughn (with his sole career nomination) was nominated for his role as Korean war veteran Chet Gwynn who is charged with murder and defended by an ambitious young Philadelphian lawyer (co-star Paul Newman) in director Victor Sherman's The Young Philadelphians (with three nominations and no wins) Ed Wynn (with his sole career nomination) for his performance as Albert Dussell - a dentist in hiding with the Franks in The Diary of Anne Frank In a surprise upset (Scott had a much superior performance), Welshman Hugh Griffith (with his first of two career nominations - and his sole Oscar win) won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as colorful horse-training Arab Sheik Ilderim in Ben-Hur - his first American-made film.

[It would be another 44 years until another film would win both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars - Mystic River (2003).] Two co-stars in Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life (with two nominations and no wins), a re-make of the 1934 film starring Claudette Colbert and film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's romantic novel - a weepy melodrama with Lana Turner, were nominated for Best Supporting Actress: Juanita Moore (with her sole nomination) as Annie Johnson - Lana Turner's self-sacrificing black maid twenty-three year old Susan Kohner (with her sole nomination) as Sarah Jane Johnson - Moore's light-skinned black daughter. [Kohner was the daughter of Mexican actress Lupita Tovar.] also, Thelma Ritter (with her fifth of six unsuccessful career nominations) was nominated for her role as Doris Day's imbibing housekeeper Alma in Pillow Talk The winner in the Best Supporting Actress category was Shelley Winters (with her second nomination - and first Oscar win) as Mrs.

Van Daan in director George Stevens' The Diary of Anne Frank - an indomitable mother, and one of the Jews hiding out from the Nazis with the Frank family in a cramped attic in Amsterdam. It was the first of Winters' mature, serious character roles. [Winters' first nomination was for a role in another Stevens film - A Place in the Sun (1951) . In 1965, she starred in her third Stevens film, The Greatest Story Ever Told, but won a nomination - and her second Oscar - for a role in director Guy Green's film A Patch of Blue (1965).] An Honorary Oscar, a bittersweet recognition, was awarded to the under-appreciated Buster Keaton, one of the silent screen's greatest comedic characters, who was known as 'The Great Stone Face.' His award was for "his unique talents which brought immortal comedies to the screen," such as Sherlock, Jr. (1924), The Navigator (1924), The General (1927) , Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) , and The Cameraman (1928).

Oscar Anomalies: Francois Truffaut's "French New Wave" film and first feature film, the semi-autobiographical The 400 Blows (Fr.) (aka Les Quatre Cents Coups) received only a single Best Writing: Original Story and Screenplay nomination, but no nomination in the Foreign Language Film category (won by Black Orpheus). And Jean-Pierre Leaud's performance was snubbed as frustrated 12 year-old Parisian schoolboy and juvenile offender Antoine Doinel who was placed in a detention work camp - the film was famous for the ending (with a zoom and freeze-framed shot) in which the boy fled toward the beach and seashore. Similarly, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries received only one nomination for Best Writing: Story and Screenplay. Unbelievably, both films lost their sole nominations to Pillow Talk. Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Because of the sweep by Ben-Hur , many other films were bypassed, including Hitchcock (again!), for another MGM film - the definitive caper film North By Northwest . Although the film had three minor nominations, it was ignored in the Best Picture, Best Director, and all acting categories.

Cary Grant, playing a debonair Roger Thornhill - a Manhattan ad executive and the victim of mistaken identity (believed to be a secret agent), the cool Eva Marie Saint, villain James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis in a supporting role as Grant's mother Clara, and the score by Bernard Herrmann were seriously ignored by the Academy. Stephen Boyd deserved a Best Actor or Supporting Actor nomination for his role as Messala (when compared to Hugh Griffith's nomination/win as Best Supporting Actor). And Howard Hawks' outstanding Rio Bravo with John Wayne as sheriff John T. Chance, Dean Martin as Dude, and Angie Dickinson as Feathers - the director's response to High Noon (1952) and similar in its cast composition to Red River (1948) , received no nominations! Single Oscar winner Some Like It Hot (for Black and White Costume Design) received nominations for Best Actor (Jack Lemmon), Best Director (Billy Wilder), and Best Screenplay (Billy Wilder), but the nominations overlooked the following: its Best Picture potentiality Tony Curtis in a cross-dressing, dual role as Joe/Josephine (and often playing Cary Grant in impersonations) Joe E.

Brown as love-struck, ardent suitor and millionaire Osgood E. Fielding III and Marilyn Monroe in her quintessential comedic role as the breathy, bourbon-swigging, sexy, ukulele-strumming singer Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in an all-girls band (memorably singing I Wanna Be Loved By You) And Lee Remick was un-nominated for her role as slutty, allegedly-raped Laura Manion (wife of Army Lieutenant Ben Gazzara) in the oft-nominated but completely bypassed Anatomy of a Murder. Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957), considered for awards in 1959, received only one unsuccessful nomination for Best Original Screenplay (Bergman). Both Bergman and Victor Sjostrom were snubbed as Best Director and Best Actor (as Professor Borg) respectively. Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Newcomers, Powerhouse Divas and Stage Actresses By Laurie Boeder Updated March 02, 2016.

Actresses new to the silver screen did well among the Best Actress Oscar winners of the 1950s, often beating out established actresses in great roles. As usual, the academy tended to favor women in big, juicy dramatic roles over those in comedies and romances, no matter their caliber or public appeal. In a decade filled with strong roles for women, some great actresses were never recognized. Born Yesterday. Columbia Pictures Buy from Amazon One of the hottest races in Oscar history brought newcomer Judy Holliday her first and only Academy award, playing the girlfriend of a corrupt pol in the charming Born Yesterday, a rare win for a comic role. Bette Davis might have won for her brilliant role in All About Eve , the year’s Best Picture, but votes were siphoned off by her costar Anne Baxter, also nominated. Gloria Swanson was equally deserving for her courageous out-of-retirement turn as a faded silent screen star in the noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard . Eleanor Parker rounded out the nominations in the inferior Caged, and Oscar snubbed Katharine Hepburn in Adam’s Rib. Check Amazon rating » continue reading below our video Highest Paid Male Actors Ever A Streetcar Named Desire. Warner Brothers 2.

1951 Best Actress - Vivian Leigh in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Two powerhouse actresses in truly great films collided in 1951, with Vivian Leigh’s ruined southern belle in Streetcar winning out over Katharine Hepburn’s indomitable spinster in The African Queen . (I’d have given the award to Hepburn, but it was a tough call.) Trailing far behind the two battling divas in the nominations were Shelley Winters as a pregnant factory worker in the melodrama A Place in the Sun, Jane Wyman as a noble nanny in The Blue Veil, and Eleanor Parker as a wife hiding a secret in Detective Story. Come Back, Little Sheba. Paramount 3. 1952 Best Actress - Shirley Booth in ‘Come Back, Little Sheba’ Newcomer Shirley Booth won for the role she created on stage of a dowdy, frumpy housewife whose husband longs to be rid of her in William Inge's bleak play.

Also nominated were Julie Harris, recreating her stage role as the young girl in The Member of the Wedding; Bette Davis, again playing a fading actress in The Star; Joan Crawford with her final nomination as a playwright in Sudden Fear; and Susan Hayward in the biopic of World War II entertainer Jane Froman, With a Song in My Heart. Oscar ignored a few serious divas in 1952: Maureen O’Hara’s feisty Irishwoman in The Quiet Man; Grace Kelly's Quaker wife in High Noon; and Marlene Dietrich in Rancho Notorious. Roman Holiday. Paramount 4. 1953 Best Actress - Audrey Hepburn in 'Roman Holiday' Lovely Audrey Hepburn took the honors as a rebellious princess escaping her duties and tooling around on a Vespa in the beloved romance Roman Holiday. She knocked out Deborah Kerr’s steamy performance in the Hawaiian surf in From Here to Eternity, the year’s Best Picture, and adorable French actress Leslie Caron in the bittersweet musical Lili. Also defeated were gorgeous Ava Gardner in the racy tale of a love triangle, Mogambo, and Maggie MacNamara in The Moon is Blue.

Oscar failed to nominate costars Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell for their crowd-pleasing escapades in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The Country Girl. Paramount 5. 1954 Best Actress - Grace Kelly in 'The Country Girl' The luminous Kelly played against type as a the dowdy, bitter wife of an alcoholic singer, certainly not her best role. She bested Judy Garland’s heartbreaking comeback turn as the wife of a fading, alcoholic actor in a remake of a A Star is Born, as well as the first black woman to be nominated for Best Actress, Dorothy Dandridge as factory worker Carmen Jones. Also nominated were Jane Wyman, playing a blind woman in the soap opera Magnificent Obsession, and Audrey Hepburn, as the chauffeur’s daughter in Sabrina . Kelly should have been nominated as the plucky fashion editor in Rear Window , and Oscar ought to have given a nod to Judy Holliday for the delightful It Should Happen to You. The Rose Tattoo. Paramount 6.

1955 Best Actress - Anna Magnani in 'The Rose Tattoo' A relative newcomer again beat veteran actresses with multiple past nominations, as Magnani won for her sultry widow tempting a dim truck driver in The Rose Tattoo. Katharine Hepburn was more deserving as a spinster having a fling with a gorgeous Italian in Summertime, her sixth of 12 career nominations. Susan Hayward lost her fourth bid as an alcoholic singer in I’ll Cry Tomorrow; Eleanor Parker lost her third of three failed bids in the biopic of an Australian opera singer, Interrupted Melody; and Jennifer Jones lost the last of her five nominations as a doctor in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing. Oscar snubbed Doris Day as a singer with a gangster husband in Love Me or Leave Me. Anastasia. 20th Century Fox 7. 1956 Best Actress - Ingrid Bergman in 'Anastasia' Bergman came galloping back to the Oscars some years after her scandalous affair with director Roberto Rosselini damaged her career. She won for her role as a guttersnipe trained to masquerade as the missing Russian princess.

She beat Katharine Hepburn’s poignant outing (again as a spinster) in The Rainmaker; Deborah Kerr as the English teacher in the popular musical The King and I; Nancy Kelly recreating her stage role as the mother of a sociopathic tot in The Bad Seed; and Carroll Baker in the creepy Tennessee Williams story Baby Doll. Oscar snubbed Doris Day again in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Marilyn Monroe’s touching turn in Bus Stop. The Three Faces of Eve. 20th Century Fox 8. 1957 Best Actress - Joanne Woodward in ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ A newcomer won again in 1957: elegant Joanne Woodward with her extraordinary portrayal of a real-life woman with multiple personalities. Her compelling performance bested Elizabeth Taylor in the film of the bestselling Southern novel Raintree County, and Anna Magnani as a mail-order bride in Wild is the Wind. Lana Turner lost her first and only nomination as a sexually-frustrated widow in the soaper Peyton Place, and lovely Deborah Kerr lost her fourth of six failed career nominations as a shipwrecked nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.

Oscar unjustly bypassed the superb Marlene Dietrich for her title role in Witness for the Prosecution . I Want to Live. United Artists 9. 1958 Best Actress - Susan Hayward in 'I Want to Live' Hayward finally won her fifth nomination, as a woman on death row in San Quentin. She was good, but for my money, Rosalind Russell’s irresistible Auntie Mame should have won. Poor Deborah Kerr lost her fifth nomination, as a lonely spinster in love with a retired military blowhard in Separate Tables; Elizabeth Taylor lost as the sexually ravenous Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; and Shirley MacLaine lost her first nod, as a working girl in Some Came Running. The snubs were rampant -- no nod for Kim Novak in, essentially, a dual role in Hitchcock’s Vertigo ; and Ingrid Bergman was ignored for both Indiscreet and Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Room at the Top. Remus 10.

1959 Best Actress - Simone Signoret in ‘Room at the Top’ Frenchwoman Signoret won as the victimized mistress of a manipulative social climber in the British film Room at the Top, defeating Audrey Hepburn turning her back on her vows in A Nun’s Story. Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor may have canceled each other out, both nominated for the controversial Suddenly Last Summer, a bizarre Tennessee Williams story. Doris Day received her first and only nomination for Pillow Talk, the first in her popular series of light-hearted romances with costar Rock Hudson. Unforgivably, Oscar snubbed Marilyn Monroe for her defining role as Sugar in Some Like it Hot , along with Lee Remick as a nasty little tart in Anatomy of a Murder. Oscars' best actresses of all time - CNN.com Oscars' best actresses of all time By Lisa Respers France, CNN Updated 3:10 PM ET, Fri February 28, 2014 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Brie Larson accepts the best actress award at the 88th annual Academy Awards on February 28, 2016. Larson won for her role in "Room." Here are all the other actresses who have captured the prize over the years: Hide Caption 1 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Janet Gaynor (1929) – Douglas Fairbanks Sr. hands Janet Gaynor her best actress Oscar in 1929 for Gaynor's performance in the 1927 film ''Sunrise." It was the first best actress Oscar ever awarded. Hide Caption 2 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Mary Pickford (1930) – In 1930, there were actually two Oscar ceremonies.

Actress Mary Pickford, seen here, receives her best actress Oscar in April 1930 for her performance in the 1929 film "Coquette." Hide Caption 3 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Norma Shearer (1930) – Norma Shearer receives a best actress Oscar in October 1930 for her role in "The Divorcee." Giving her the award is Conrad Nagel, who starred with her in the film released earlier that year. Hide Caption 4 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Marie Dressler (1931) – Marie Dressler and Lionel Barrymore collect their best actress and best actor Oscars in 1931. Dressler won for "Min and Bill" and Barrymore won for "A Free Soul." Hide Caption 5 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Helen Hayes (1932) – Film producer Louis B. Mayer presents the best actress Oscar to Helen Hayes for her role in "The Sin of Madelon Claudet." Hide Caption 6 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1934) – Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

and Katharine Hepburn appear in the 1933 film "Morning Glory." Hepburn's performance earned her the best actress Oscar in 1934. There was no Academy Awards ceremony in 1933; films from that year and the last half of 1932 were eligible to win at the 1934 ceremony. Hide Caption 7 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Claudette Colbert (1935) – Claudette Colbert won the best actress Oscar in 1935 for "It Happened One Night," a film that was the first to win all five of the major Academy Award categories -- best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay. Hide Caption 8 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Bette Davis (1936) – Bette Davis and film producer Jack L. Warner hold Davis' best actress Oscar at the ceremony held in 1936.

Davis won her first Oscar for her role in the film "Dangerous." Hide Caption 9 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Luise Rainer (1937) – Luise Rainer, second from left, is seen at the 1937 ceremony with, from left, Louis B. Mayer, Louise Tracy and Frank Capra. Rainer won for "The Great Ziegfeld." Hide Caption 10 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Luise Rainer (1938) – For her performance in "The Good Earth," Luise Rainer won the best actress Oscar for the second consecutive year.

Hide Caption Bette Davis (1939) – Bette Davis won her second Oscar in 1939, this time for "Jezebel." Hide Caption 12 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Vivien Leigh (1940) – Vivien Leigh accepts her Oscar in 1940 for her performance in "Gone With the Wind." Hide Caption 13 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ginger Rogers (1941) – Actors James Stewart and Ginger Rogers smile after winning Oscars in 1941.

Stewart won best actor for his performance in "The Philadelphia Story," while Rogers won best actress for her performance in "Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman." Hide Caption 14 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joan Fontaine (1942) – Joan Fontaine looks at the best actress Oscar she won for her role in the film "Suspicion." Hide Caption 15 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Greer Garson (1943) – After winning the best actress Oscar in 1943, Greer Garson gets a congratulatory kiss from her "Mrs. Miniver" co-star Walter Pidgeon. Hide Caption 16 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jennifer Jones (1944) – Jennifer Jones holds the best actress Oscar she won in 1944 for her performance in "Song of Bernadette." To her right is actress Ingrid Bergman. Hide Caption 17 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ingrid Bergman (1945) – Ingrid Bergman didn't have to wait long to hold her own best actress award.

Here, she poses with the Oscar she earned for her role in the film "Gaslight." Hide Caption 18 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joan Crawford (1946) – Joan Crawford receives her Academy Award in bed because of an illness. She was recognized for her performance in the 1945 film "Mildred Pierce." Hide Caption 19 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Olivia de Havilland (1947) – Olivia de Havilland receives her best actress Oscar from actor Ray Milland for her performance in "To Each His Own." Hide Caption 20 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Loretta Young (1948) – Loretta Young, second from left, won the best actress Oscar in 1948 for her role in "Farmer's Daughter." Hide Caption 21 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jane Wyman (1949) – Jane Wyman stands by a doorway backstage at the Academy Awards.

She won her best actress Oscar for the film "Johnny Belinda." Hide Caption 22 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Olivia de Havilland (1950) – Olivia de Havilland looks at her two best actress Oscars. She won her second in 1950 for her role in "The Heiress." Hide Caption 23 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Judy Holliday (1951) – Judy Holliday bursts into tears in 1951 after winning the best actress Oscar for her performance in "Born Yesterday." Hide Caption 24 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Vivien Leigh (1952) – Vivien Leigh appears with Karl Malden in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Her performance in the film earned her a second Oscar. Hide Caption 25 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Shirley Booth (1953) – Shirley Booth wins the best actress Oscar for "Come Back, Little Sheba" in 1953.

Hide Caption 26 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Audrey Hepburn (1954) – Audrey Hepburn is surrounded by reporters as she holds her best actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday." Hide Caption 27 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Grace Kelly (1955) – Grace Kelly poses with her Oscar after the Academy Awards ceremony in 1955. She won the statuette for her role in "The Country Girl." Hide Caption 28 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Anna Magnani (1956) – Anna Magnani enthusiastically holds the Oscar she won for "Rose Tattoo." The award was presented to her by U.S. Ambassador Clare Luce at the Villa Taverna in Rome. Hide Caption 29 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ingrid Bergman (1957) – Ingrid Bergman, right, appears with Helen Hayes in a scene from the movie "Anastasia." Her performance earned her a second Oscar for best actress.

Hide Caption 30 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joanne Woodward (1958) – Joanne Woodward smiles while holding her best actress Oscar (and a cigarette). She received the award for her role in the film "Three Faces of Eve." Hide Caption 31 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Susan Hayward (1959) – From left, actor Burl Ives, actress Susan Hayward and actor David Niven pose with their Oscars in 1959.

Hayward won for her role in "I Want to Live!" Hide Caption 32 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Simone Signoret (1960) – Actress Simone Signoret, seen here next to actor Rock Hudson at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1960, won the best actress Oscar for her role in "Room at the Top." Hide Caption 33 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Elizabeth Taylor (1961) – Elizabeth Taylor is seen with her Oscar after being named best actress for her part in "Butterfield 8." Hide Caption Sophia Loren (1962) – Sophia Loren reacts after winning best actress for the film "La Ciociara." Hide Caption 35 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Anne Bancroft (1963) – Anne Bancroft cries in her New York apartment as she accepts a congratulatory phone call following her win for "The Miracle Worker." Hide Caption 36 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Patricia Neal (1964) – Patricia Neal and her three children look at her Oscar statuette, which she won in 1964 for her role in "

Hud." Hide Caption 37 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Julie Andrews (1965) – Julie Andrews looks at the Academy Award she won for "Mary Poppins'" in 1965.

The role was her film debut. Hide Caption 38 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Julie Christie (1966) – Julie Christie is seen with her Academy Award, which she won for her role in "Darling." Hide Caption 39 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Elizabeth Taylor (1967) – Elizabeth Taylor holds up her second Oscar, this one for the film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." Hide Caption 40 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1968) – Katharine Hepburn and Cecil Kellaway appear in a scene from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Hepburn won her second Oscar more than 30 years after her first. Hide Caption 41 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Barbra Streisand (1969) – Barbra Streisand gazes at the best actress statuette she won for "Funny Girl." There was a tie for the award in 1969, with the other winner being Katharine Hepburn.

Hide Caption 42 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1969) – Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole appear in "The Lion in Winter." The film earned Hepburn her third Oscar for best actress. Hide Caption 43 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Maggie Smith (1970) – Maggie Smith, who won for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," celebrates with her husband at the time, Robert Stephens. Hide Caption 44 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Glenda Jackson (1971) – Glenda Jackson won the best actress Oscar for her part in "Women In Love." Hide Caption Liza Minnelli (1973) – Liza Minnelli holds the Oscar she won for "Cabaret." Hide Caption 47 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Glenda Jackson (1974) – George Segal and Glenda Jackson appear in a scene from "A Touch of Class," which snagged Jackson the best actress Oscar in 1974.

Hide Caption 48 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ellen Burstyn (1975) – Ellen Burstyn, left, appears in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," which won her the best actress Oscar in 1975. Hide Caption 49 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Louise Fletcher (1976) – From left, producer Saul Zaentz, actor Jack Nicholson, actress Louise Fletcher and producer Michael Douglas pose with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards ceremony. They all won for the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," which swept the major categories that year. Hide Caption 50 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Faye Dunaway (1977) – Faye Dunaway rests by the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool the morning after she received the best actress Oscar for "Network." Hide Caption 51 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Diane Keaton (1978) – Diane Keaton places her Oscar on a restaurant table after the Academy Awards ceremony in 1978.

She received the award for her role in "Annie Hall." Hide Caption 52 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jane Fonda (1979) – Jane Fonda is ecstatic about winning her second Academy Award, this one for "Coming Home." Hide Caption Cher (1988) – Cher wears that dress in 1988, when she won the Academy Award for "Moonstruck." Hide Caption 62 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jodie Foster (1989) – Jodie Foster holds her Oscar in the press room after winning for her role in "The Accused." Hide Caption 63 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jessica Tandy (1990) – Jessica Tandy acknowledges applause after receiving the Oscar for her role in "Driving Miss Daisy." Hide Caption 64 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Kathy Bates (1991) – Kathy Bates, far left, clutches the best actress award for her role in "Misery." To her left are fellow Oscar winners Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg and Joe Pesci.

Hide Caption 65 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jodie Foster (1992) – Jodie Foster holds up her second Oscar, this one for her role in "The Silence of the Lambs." Hide Caption 66 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Emma Thompson (1993) – Emma Thompson poses with her Oscar after winning best actress for her role in "Howards End." Hide Caption 67 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Holly Hunter (1994) – Holly Hunter poses in the press room after being awarded the best actress Oscar for her performance in "The Piano." Hide Caption 68 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jessica Lange (1995) – Jessica Lange holds the Oscar she won for her role in the film "Blue Sky." Hide Caption Charlize Theron (2004) – Charlize Theron poses with her Oscar after winning for the film "Monster." Hide Caption 78 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Hilary Swank (2005) – Hilary Swank grabbed her second Academy Award in 2005 for the film "Million Dollar Baby

." Hide Caption 79 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Reese Witherspoon (2006) – Reese Witherspoon kisses then-husband Ryan Phillippe before going on stage to accept the best actress award for "Walk the Line." Hide Caption 80 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Helen Mirren (2007) – Director Taylor Hackford kisses his wife, Helen Mirren, after Mirren won the best actress Oscar for her role in "The Queen." Hide Caption Kate Winslet (2009) – Kate Winslet reacts after winning the best actress Oscar for "The Reader." Hide Caption 83 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Sandra Bullock (2010) – Best actress Sandra Bullock gives her acceptance speech after winning for "The Blind Side." Hide Caption 84 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Natalie Portman (2011) – Natalie Portman poses in the press room after winning the best actress Oscar for "Black Swan." Hide Caption 85 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Meryl Streep (2012) – Meryl Streep, right, laughs with Sandra

 Bullock after Streep's win for her role in "The Iron Lady." Hide Caption 86 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jennifer Lawrence (2013) – Jennifer Lawrence charms the audience in 2013 as she accepts the best actress Oscar for her performance in "Silver Linings Playbook." Hide Caption 87 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Cate Blanchett (2014) – Cate Blanchett won an Oscar in 2014 for her turn as a modern-day Blanche DuBois in the Woody Allen film "Blue Jasmine." Hide Caption 88 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Matthew McConaughey presents Julianne Moore with the Oscar for best actress at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

She won for her role in "Still Alice." Hide Caption Simone Signoret - Awards - IMDb Simone Signoret Showing all 13 wins and 9 nominations Academy Awards, USA For episode "A Small Rebellion". BAFTA Awards Tied with Shirley MacLaine for Desperate Characters (1971). Cannes Film Festival Tied with Jane Fonda for Julia (1977). Jussi Awards Collective acting prize together with Yves Montand . Laurel Awards a list of 32 people created 03 Apr 2012 a list of 36 people created 27 May 2012 a list of 36 people created 5 months ago a list of 25 images created 4 months ago a list of 25 people created 3 months ago IMDb Everywhere Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet!

Academy Awards® Winners (1950 - 1959) Actor: GARY COOPER in "High Noon" , Marlon Brando in "Viva Zapata!", Kirk Douglas in "The Bad and the Beautiful" , Jose Ferrer in "Moulin Rouge", Alec Guinness in "The Lavender Hill Mob" Actress: SHIRLEY BOOTH in "Come Back, Little Sheba", Joan Crawford in "Sudden Fear", Bette Davis in "The Star", Julie Harris in "The Member of the Wedding", Susan Hayward in "With a Song in My Heart" Supporting Actor: ANTHONY QUINN in "Viva Zapata!", Richard Burton in "My Cousin Rachel", Arthur Hunnicutt in "The Big Sky", Victor McLaglen in "The Quiet Man" , Jack Palance in "Sudden Fear" Supporting Actress: GLORIA GRAHAME in "The Bad and the Beautiful" , Jean Hagen in "Singin' In The Rain" , Colette Marchand in "Moulin Rouge", Terry Moore in "Come Back, Little Sheba", Thelma RItter in "With a Song in My Heart" Director: JOHN FORD for "The Quiet

 Man" , Cecil B.

DeMille for "The Greatest Show On Earth", John Huston for "Moulin Rouge", Joseph L.

Mankiewicz for "Five Fingers", Fred Zinnemann for The Rose Tattoo (1955) Actor: ERNEST BORGNINE in "Marty" , James Cagney in "Love Me or Leave Me", James Dean in "East of Eden" , Frank Sinatra in "The Man With the Golden Arm", Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock" Actress: ANNA MAGNANI in "The Rose Tattoo", Susan Hayward in "I'll Cry Tomorrow", Katharine Hepburn in "Summertime", Jennifer Jones in "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", Eleanor Parker in "Interrupted Melody" Supporting Actor: "Rebel Without a Cause" , Arthur O'Connell in "Picnic" Supporting Actress: JO VAN FLEET in "East of Eden" , Betsy Blair in "Marty" , Peggy Lee in "Pete Kelly's Blues", Marisa Pavan in "The Rose Tattoo", Natalie Wood in "Rebel Without a Cause" Director: The Ten Commandments (1956) Actor: YUL BRYNNER in "The King and I" , James Dean in "Giant", Kirk Douglas in "Lust for Life", Rock Hudson

 in "Giant", Laurence Olivier in "Richard III" Actress: INGRID BERGMAN in "Anastasia", Carroll Baker in "Baby Doll" , Katharine Hepburn in "The Rainmaker", Nancy Kelly in "The Bad Seed", Deborah Kerr in "The King and I" Supporting Actor: ANTHONY QUINN in "Lust for Life", Don Murray in "Bus Stop", Anthony Perkins in "Friendly Persuasion", Mickey Rooney in "The Bold and the Brave", Robert Stack in "Written on the Wind" Supporting Actress: DOROTHY MALONE in "Written on the Wind" , Mildred Dunnock in "Baby Doll" , Eileen Heckart in "The Bad Seed", Mercedes McCambridge in "Giant", Patty McCormack in "The Bad Seed" Director: GEORGE STEVENS for "Giant", Michael Anderson for "Around the World in 80 Days", Walter Lang for "The King and I" , King Vidor for "War and Peace", William Wyler for "Friendly Persuasion" Witness For the Prosecution (1957) Actor: ALEC GUINNESS in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" , Marlon Brando in

 "Sayonara" , Anthony Franciosa in "A Hatful of Rain", Charles Laughton in "Witness for the Prosecution", Anthony Quinn in "Wild Is the Wind" Actress: JOANNE WOODWARD in "The Three Faces of Eve", Deborah Kerr in "Heaven Knows, Mr.

Allison", Anna Magnani in "Wild is the Wind", Elizabeth Taylor in "Raintree County", Lana Turner in "Peyton Place" Supporting Actor: RED BUTTONS in "Sayonara" , Vittorio De Sica in "A Farewell to Arms", Sessue Hayakawa in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" , Arthur Kennedy in "Peyton Place", Russ Tamblyn in "Peyton Place" Supporting Actress: MIYOSHI UMEKI in "Sayonara" , Carolyn Jones in "The Bachelor Party", Elsa Lanchester in "Witness for the Prosecution", Hope Lange in "Peyton Place", Diane Varsi in "Peyton Place" Director: DAVID LEAN for Separate Tables (1958) Actor: DAVID NIVEN in "Separate Tables", Tony Curtis in "The Defiant Ones" , Paul Newman in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" , Sidney Poitier in "The Defiant Ones" , Spencer Tracy in "The Old Man and the Sea" Actress: SUSAN HAYWARD in "I Want to Live", Deborah Kerr in "Separate Tables", Shirley MacLaine in "Some Came Running", Rosal

ind Russell in "Auntie Mame", Elizabeth Taylor in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" Supporting Actor: BURL IVES in "The Big Country", Theodore Bikel in "The Defiant Ones" , Lee J.

Cobb in "The Brothers Karamazov", Arthur Kennedy in "Some Came Running", Gig Young in "Teacher's Pet" Supporting Actress: WENDY HILLER in "Separate Tables", Peggy Cass in "Auntie Mame", Martha Hyer in "Some Came Running", Maureen Stapleton in "Lonelyhearts", Cara Williams in "The Defiant Ones" Director: VINCENTE MINNELLI for "Gigi", Richard Brooks for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" , Stanley Kramer for "The Defiant Ones" , Mark Robson for "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness", Robert Wise for "I Want to Live!" Room at the Top (1959, UK) Actor: CHARLTON HESTON in "Ben-Hur" , Laurence Harvey in "Room at the Top", Jack Lemmon in "Some Like It Hot" , Paul Muni in "The Last Angry Man", James Stewart in "Anatomy of a Murder" Actress: SIMONE SIGNORET in "Room at the Top", Doris Day in "Pillow Talk", Audrey Hepburn in "The Nun's Story", Katharine Hepburn in "Suddenly, Last Summer" , Elizabeth Taylor in "Suddenly,

 Last Summer" Supporting Actor: HUGH GRIFFITH in "Ben-Hur" , Arthur O'Connell in "Anatomy of a Murder", George C.

Scott in "Anatomy of a Murder", Robert Vaughn in "The Young Philadelphians", Ed Wynn in "The Diary of Anne Frank" Supporting Actress: SHELLEY WINTERS in "The Diary of Anne Frank", Hermione Baddeley in "Room at the Top", Susan Kohner in "Imitation of Life", Juanita Moore in "Imitation of Life", Thelma Ritter in "Pillow Talk" Director: WILLIAM WYLER for "Ben-Hur" , Jack Clayton for "Room at the Top", George Stevens for "The Diary of Anne Frank", Billy Wilder for Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Best Actress Oscar Winners of the 1950s Newcomers, Powerhouse Divas and Stage Actresses By Laurie Boeder Updated March 02, 2016. Actresses new to the silver screen did well among the Best Actress Oscar winners of the 1950s, often beating out established actresses in great roles.

As usual, the academy tended to favor women in big, juicy dramatic roles over those in comedies and romances, no matter their caliber or public appeal. In a decade filled with strong roles for women, some great actresses were never recognized. Born Yesterday. Columbia Pictures Buy from Amazon One of the hottest races in Oscar history brought newcomer Judy Holliday her first and only Academy award, playing the girlfriend of a corrupt pol in the charming Born Yesterday, a rare win for a comic role. Bette Davis might have won for her brilliant role in All About Eve , the year’s Best Picture, but votes were siphoned off by her costar Anne Baxter, also nominated. Gloria Swanson was equally deserving for her courageous out-of-retirement turn as a faded silent screen star in the noir masterpiece Sunset Boulevard . Eleanor Parker rounded out the nominations in the inferior Caged, and Oscar snubbed Katharine Hepburn in Adam’s Rib. Check Amazon rating » continue reading below our video Highest Paid Male Actors Ever A Streetcar Named Desire. Warner Brothers 2.

1951 Best Actress - Vivian Leigh in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Two powerhouse actresses in truly great films collided in 1951, with Vivian Leigh’s ruined southern belle in Streetcar winning out over Katharine Hepburn’s indomitable spinster in The African Queen . (I’d have given the award to Hepburn, but it was a tough call.) Trailing far behind the two battling divas in the nominations were Shelley Winters as a pregnant factory worker in the melodrama A Place in the Sun, Jane Wyman as a noble nanny in The Blue Veil, and Eleanor Parker as a wife hiding a secret in Detective Story. Come Back, Little Sheba. Paramount 3. 1952 Best Actress - Shirley Booth in ‘Come Back, Little Sheba’ Newcomer Shirley Booth won for the role she created on stage of a dowdy, frumpy housewife whose husband longs to be rid of her in William Inge's bleak play.

Also nominated were Julie Harris, recreating her stage role as the young girl in The Member of the Wedding; Bette Davis, again playing a fading actress in The Star; Joan Crawford with her final nomination as a playwright in Sudden Fear; and Susan Hayward in the biopic of World War II entertainer Jane Froman, With a Song in My Heart. Oscar ignored a few serious divas in 1952: Maureen O’Hara’s feisty Irishwoman in The Quiet Man; Grace Kelly's Quaker wife in High Noon; and Marlene Dietrich in Rancho Notorious. Roman Holiday. Paramount 4. 1953 Best Actress - Audrey Hepburn in 'Roman Holiday' Lovely Audrey Hepburn took the honors as a rebellious princess escaping her duties and tooling around on a Vespa in the beloved romance Roman Holiday. She knocked out Deborah Kerr’s steamy performance in the Hawaiian surf in From Here to Eternity, the year’s Best Picture, and adorable French actress Leslie Caron in the bittersweet musical Lili. Also defeated were gorgeous Ava Gardner in the racy tale of a love triangle, Mogambo, and Maggie MacNamara in The Moon is Blue.

Oscar failed to nominate costars Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell for their crowd-pleasing escapades in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The Country Girl. Paramount 5. 1954 Best Actress - Grace Kelly in 'The Country Girl' The luminous Kelly played against type as a the dowdy, bitter wife of an alcoholic singer, certainly not her best role. She bested Judy Garland’s heartbreaking comeback turn as the wife of a fading, alcoholic actor in a remake of a A Star is Born, as well as the first black woman to be nominated for Best Actress, Dorothy Dandridge as factory worker Carmen Jones. Also nominated were Jane Wyman, playing a blind woman in the soap opera Magnificent Obsession, and Audrey Hepburn, as the chauffeur’s daughter in Sabrina . Kelly should have been nominated as the plucky fashion editor in Rear Window , and Oscar ought to have given a nod to Judy Holliday for the delightful It Should Happen to You. The Rose Tattoo. Paramount 6.

1955 Best Actress - Anna Magnani in 'The Rose Tattoo' A relative newcomer again beat veteran actresses with multiple past nominations, as Magnani won for her sultry widow tempting a dim truck driver in The Rose Tattoo. Katharine Hepburn was more deserving as a spinster having a fling with a gorgeous Italian in Summertime, her sixth of 12 career nominations. Susan Hayward lost her fourth bid as an alcoholic singer in I’ll Cry Tomorrow; Eleanor Parker lost her third of three failed bids in the biopic of an Australian opera singer, Interrupted Melody; and Jennifer Jones lost the last of her five nominations as a doctor in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing. Oscar snubbed Doris Day as a singer with a gangster husband in Love Me or Leave Me. Anastasia. 20th Century Fox 7. 1956 Best Actress - Ingrid Bergman in 'Anastasia' Bergman came galloping back to the Oscars some years after her scandalous affair with director Roberto Rosselini damaged her career. She won for her role as a guttersnipe trained to masquerade as the missing Russian princess.

She beat Katharine Hepburn’s poignant outing (again as a spinster) in The Rainmaker; Deborah Kerr as the English teacher in the popular musical The King and I; Nancy Kelly recreating her stage role as the mother of a sociopathic tot in The Bad Seed; and Carroll Baker in the creepy Tennessee Williams story Baby Doll. Oscar snubbed Doris Day again in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Marilyn Monroe’s touching turn in Bus Stop. The Three Faces of Eve. 20th Century Fox 8. 1957 Best Actress - Joanne Woodward in ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ A newcomer won again in 1957: elegant Joanne Woodward with her extraordinary portrayal of a real-life woman with multiple personalities. Her compelling performance bested Elizabeth Taylor in the film of the bestselling Southern novel Raintree County, and Anna Magnani as a mail-order bride in Wild is the Wind. Lana Turner lost her first and only nomination as a sexually-frustrated widow in the soaper Peyton Place, and lovely Deborah Kerr lost her fourth of six failed career nominations as a shipwrecked nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.

Oscar unjustly bypassed the superb Marlene Dietrich for her title role in Witness for the Prosecution . I Want to Live. United Artists 9. 1958 Best Actress - Susan Hayward in 'I Want to Live' Hayward finally won her fifth nomination, as a woman on death row in San Quentin. She was good, but for my money, Rosalind Russell’s irresistible Auntie Mame should have won. Poor Deborah Kerr lost her fifth nomination, as a lonely spinster in love with a retired military blowhard in Separate Tables; Elizabeth Taylor lost as the sexually ravenous Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; and Shirley MacLaine lost her first nod, as a working girl in Some Came Running. The snubs were rampant -- no nod for Kim Novak in, essentially, a dual role in Hitchcock’s Vertigo ; and Ingrid Bergman was ignored for both Indiscreet and Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Room at the Top. Remus 10.

1959 Best Actress - Simone Signoret in ‘Room at the Top’ Frenchwoman Signoret won as the victimized mistress of a manipulative social climber in the British film Room at the Top, defeating Audrey Hepburn turning her back on her vows in A Nun’s Story. Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor may have canceled each other out, both nominated for the controversial Suddenly Last Summer, a bizarre Tennessee Williams story. Doris Day received her first and only nomination for Pillow Talk, the first in her popular series of light-hearted romances with costar Rock Hudson. Unforgivably, Oscar snubbed Marilyn Monroe for her defining role as Sugar in Some Like it Hot , along with Lee Remick as a nasty little tart in Anatomy of a Murder.

Question: Who won the best actress Oscar for the 1959 film Room at the Top?
Answer: Simone Signoret