Best Actress
| Year | Name | Country | Film | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Mary Pickford | Coquette | Winner | The first Canadian-born person to be nominated for an acting Oscar. | |
| 1930 | Norma Shearer | The Divorcee | Winner | ||
| Norma Shearer | Their Own Desire | Nominee | |||
| 1931 | Marie Dressler | Min and Bill | Winner | ||
| Norma Shearer | A Free Soul | Nominee | |||
| 1932 | Marie Dressler | Emma | Nominee | ||
| Lynn Fontanne | The Guardsman | Nominee | |||
| 1933 | May Robson | Lady for a Day | Nominee | The first Australian-born person to be nominated for an acting Oscar | |
| Diana Wynyard | Cavalcade | Nominee | |||
| 1934 | Norma Shearer | The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Nominee | ||
| 1935 | Merle Oberon | The Dark Angel | Nominee | ||
| 1936 | Norma Shearer | Romeo and Juliet | Nominee | ||
| 1938 | Norma Shearer | Marie Antoinette | Nominee | ||
| Wendy Hiller | Pygmalion | Nominee | |||
| 1939 | Vivien Leigh | Gone with the Wind | Winner | ||
| Greer Garson | Goodbye, Mr. Chips | Nominee | |||
| 1940 | Joan Fontaine | Rebecca | Nominee | ||
| 1941 | Joan Fontaine | Suspicion | Winner | ||
| Greer Garson | Blossoms in the Dust | Nominee | |||
| Olivia de Havilland | Hold Back the Dawn | Nominee | |||
| 1942 | Greer Garson | Mrs. Miniver | Winner | ||
| 1943 | Joan Fontaine | The Constant Nymph | Nominee | ||
| Greer Garson | Madame Curie | Nominee | |||
| 1944 | Greer Garson | Mrs. Parkington | Nominee | ||
| 1945 | Greer Garson | The Valley of Decision | Nominee | ||
| 1946 | Olivia de Havilland | To Each His Own | Winner | ||
| Celia Johnson | Brief Encounter | Nominee | |||
| 1948 | Olivia de Havilland | The Snake Pit | Nominee | ||
| 1949 | Olivia de Havilland | The Heiress | Winner | ||
| Deborah Kerr | Edward, My Son | Nominee | The first Scottish-born person to be nominated for an acting Oscar. | ||
| 1951 | Vivien Leigh | A Streetcar Named Desire | Winner | ||
| 1953 | Audrey Hepburn | Roman Holiday | Winner | Hepburn was a Belgian-born English actress | |
| Deborah Kerr | From Here to Eternity | Nominee | |||
| 1954 | Audrey Hepburn | Sabrina | Nominee | ||
| 1956 | Deborah Kerr | The King and I | Nominee | ||
| 1957 | Deborah Kerr | Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison | Nominee | ||
| 1958 | Deborah Kerr | Separate Tables | Nominee | ||
| 1959 | Audrey Hepburn | The Nun's Story | Nominee | ||
| 1960 | Greer Garson | Sunrise at Campobello | Nominee | ||
| Deborah Kerr | The Sundowners | Nominee | |||
| 1961 | Audrey Hepburn | Breakfast at Tiffany's | Nominee | ||
| 1963 | Rachel Roberts | This Sporting Life | Nominee | ||
| 1964 | Julie Andrews | Mary Poppins | Winner | ||
| 1965 | Julie Andrews | The Sound of Music | Nominee | ||
| Julie Christie | Darling | Winner | Christie is an Indian-born English actress. | ||
| 1966 | Lynn Redgrave | Georgy Girl | Nominee | ||
| 1967 | Edith Evans | The Whisperers | Nominee | ||
| Audrey Hepburn | Wait Until Dark | Nominee | |||
| 1968 | Vanessa Redgrave | Isadora | Nominee | ||
| 1969 | Maggie Smith | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Winner | ||
| Geneviève Bujold | Anne of the Thousand Days | Nominee | |||
| Jean Simmons | The Happy Ending | Nominee | |||
| 1970 | Glenda Jackson | Women in Love | Winner | ||
| Sarah Miles | Ryan's Daughter | Nominee | |||
| 1971 | Glenda Jackson | Sunday Bloody Sunday | Nominee | ||
| Julie Christie | McCabe & Mrs. Miller | Nominee | |||
| 1972 | Maggie Smith | Travels with My Aunt | Nominee | ||
| 1973 | Glenda Jackson | A Touch of Class | Winner | ||
| 1975 | Glenda Jackson | Hedda | Nominee | ||
| 1982 | Julie Andrews | Victor Victoria | Nominee | ||
| 1983 | Julie Walters | Educating Rita | Nominee | ||
| 1984 | Vanessa Redgrave | The Bostonians | Nominee | ||
| Judy Davis | A Passage to India | Nominee | |||
| 1989 | Jessica Tandy | Driving Miss Daisy | Winner | ||
| Pauline Collins | Shirley Valentine | Nominee | |||
| 1992 | Emma Thompson | Howards End | Winner | ||
| 1993 | Emma Thompson | The Remains of the Day | Nominee | ||
| 1994 | Miranda Richardson | Tom and Viv | Nominee | ||
| 1995 | Emma Thompson | Sense and Sensibility | Nominee | ||
| 1996 | Brenda Blethyn | Secrets & Lies | Nominee | ||
| Kristin Scott-Thomas | The English Patient | Nominee | |||
| Emily Watson | Breaking the Waves | Nominee | |||
| 1997 | Helena Bonham Carter | The Wings of the Dove | Nominee | ||
| Julie Christie | Afterglow | Nominee | |||
| Judi Dench | Mrs. Brown | Nominee | |||
| Kate Winslet | Titanic | Nominee | |||
| 1998 | Emily Watson | Hilary and Jackie | Nominee | ||
| Cate Blanchett | Elizabeth | Nominee | |||
| 1999 | Janet McTeer | Tumbleweeds | Nominee | ||
| 2001 | Judi Dench | Iris | Nominee | ||
| Nicole Kidman | Moulin Rouge! | Nominee | Kidman is a US-born Australian actress. | ||
| 2002 | Nicole Kidman | The Hours | Winner | ||
| 2003 | Keisha Castle-Hughes | Whale Rider | Nominee | ||
| Samantha Morton | In America | Nominee | |||
| Charlize Theron | Monster | Winner | Theron is a South African-American actress. | ||
| Naomi Watts | 21 Grams | Nominee | Watts is an English-born Australian actress. | ||
| 2004 | Imelda Staunton | Vera Drake | Nominee | ||
| Kate Winslet | Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | Nominee | |||
| 2005 | Judi Dench | Mrs Henderson Presents | Nominee | ||
| Charlize Theron | North Country | Nominee | |||
| Keira Knightley | Pride and Prejudice | Nominee | |||
| 2006 | Judi Dench | Notes on a Scandal | Nominee | ||
| Helen Mirren | The Queen | Winner | |||
| Kate Winslet | Little Children | Nominee | |||
| 2007 | Julie Christie | Away from Her | Nominee | ||
| Cate Blanchett | Elizabeth: The Golden Age | Nominee | |||
| 2008 | Kate Winslet | The Reader | Winner | ||
| 2009 | Helen Mirren | The Last Station | Nominee | ||
| Carey Mulligan | An Education | Nominee | |||
| 2010 | Nicole Kidman | Rabbit Hole | Nominee | ||
| 2012 | Naomi Watts | The Impossible | Nominee |
Read more about this topic: British And Commonwealth Academy Award Winners For Best Actor
Famous quotes containing the word actress:
“For an actress to be a success, she must have the face of Venus, the brains of a Minerva, the grace of Terpsichore, the memory of a Macaulay, the figure of Juno, and the hide of a rhinoceros.”
—Ethel Barrymore (1897–1959)
“An actress reading a part for the first time tries many ways to say the same line before she settles into the one she believes suits the character and situation best. There’s an aspect of the rehearsing actress about the girl on the verge of her teens. Playfully, she is starting to try out ways to be a grown-up person.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)