See Every Best Actress in Oscar History

  • 1929: Janet Gaynor - Street Angel, Sunrise and 7th Heaven
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  • 1930: Mary Pickford - Coquette
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  • 1931: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee
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  • 1932: Marie Dressler - Min and Bill
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  • 1933: Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet
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  • 1934: Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory 1968: Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 1969: Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter 1982: Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond
    Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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  • 1935: Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night
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  • 1936: Bette Davis - Dangerous 1939: Bette Davis - Jezebel
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  • 1937: Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld 1938: Luise Rainer - The Good Earth
    Ted Allan—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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  • 1940: Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind 1952: Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire
    Gordon Anthony—Getty Images
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  • 1941: Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle
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  • 1942: Joan Fontaine - Suspicion
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  • 1943: Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver
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  • 1944: Jennifer Jones - The Song of Bernadette
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  • 1945: Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight 1957: Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia
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  • 1946: Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce
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  • 1947: Olivia de Havilland - To Each His Own 1950: Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress
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  • 1948: Loretta Young - The Farmer's Daughter
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  • 1949: Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda
    Jack Albin—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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  • 1951: Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
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  • 1953: Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba
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  • 1954: Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday
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  • 1955: Grace Kelly - The Country Girl
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  • 1956: Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo
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  • 1958: Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve
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  • 1959: Susan Hayward - I Want to Live!
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  • 1960: Simone Signoret - Room at the Top
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  • 1961: Elizabeth Taylor - Butterfield 8 1967: Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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  • 1962: Sophia Loren - Two Women
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  • 1963: Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker
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  • 1964: Patricia Neal - Hud
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  • 1965: Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins
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  • 1966: Julie Christie - Darling
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  • 1970: Maggie Smith - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
    Terry O'Neill—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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  • 1971: Glenda Jackson - Women in Love 1974: Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class
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  • 1972: Jane Fonda - Klute 1979: Jane Fonda - Coming Home
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  • 1973: Liza Minnelli - Cabaret
    Terry O'Neill—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
    37 of 76
  • 1975: Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
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    38 of 76
  • 1976: Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
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  • 1977: Faye Dunaway - Network
    Terry O'Neill—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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  • 1978: Diane Keaton - Annie Hall
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    41 of 76
  • 1980: Sally Field - Norma Rae 1985: Sally Field - Places in the Heart
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  • 1981: Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter
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  • 1983: Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice 2012: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
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  • 1984: Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment
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  • 1986: Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful
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  • 1987: Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God
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  • 1988: Cher - Moonstruck
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  • 1989: Jodie Foster - The Accused 1992: Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs
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    49 of 76
  • 1990: Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
    50 of 76
  • 1991: Kathy Bates - Misery
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
    51 of 76
  • 1993: Emma Thompson - Howards End
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
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  • 1994: Holly Hunter - The Piano
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
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  • 1995: Jessica Lange - Blue Sky
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
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  • 1996: Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
    55 of 76
  • 1997: Frances McDormand - Fargo
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
    56 of 76
  • 1998: Helen Hunt - As Good as It Gets
    Ron Galella—WireImage/Getty Images
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  • 1999: Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare in Love
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  • 2000: Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry 2005: Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby
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  • 2001: Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
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  • 2002: Halle Berry - Monster's Ball
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  • 2003: Nicole Kidman - The Hours
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  • 2004: Charlize Theron - Monster
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  • 2006: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
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  • 2007: Helen Mirren - The Queen
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  • 2008: Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
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  • 2009: Kate Winslet - The Reader
    Kevork Djansezian—Getty Images
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  • 2010: Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
    Dan MacMedan—WireImage/Getty Images
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  • 2011: Natalie Portman - Black Swan
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  • 2013: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
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  • 2014: Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
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  • 2015: Julianne Moore- Still Alice
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  • 2016: Brie Larson - Room
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    73 of 76
  • 2017: Emma Stone - La La Land
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  • 2018: Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
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  • 2019: Olivia Colman - The Favourite
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By TIME Photo
Updated: | Originally published:

Every year, the Academy Awards names the finest leading lady of the big screen the Best Actress. From Ingrid Bergman’s triumph in 1945 for her chilling performance in Gaslight to Meryl Streep’s two wins out of 16 nominations for leading actress, the crowning of a Best Actress often signals the anointing of a film industry legend. Most recently, in 2017, Emma Stone took home the statue for her performance in La La Land. In 2018, Frances McDormand earned the little gold man for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Olivia Colman’s performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite nabbed her the Best Actress Oscar in 2019.

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