The Best Actresses to Ever Win Oscars for Best Actress
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105.3K votes
7.0K voters
48 reranks
Latest additions: Emma Stone, Michelle Yeoh
Most divisive: Jennifer Lawrence
Over 7.0K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Greatest Best Actress Winners
Every year the Academy evaluates a year's worth of brilliant performances and picks what they believe to be the best of the best, nominating these for the most prestigious acting awards in cinema: the Oscars. This in itself is an honor - just to be nominated for an Academy Award. But only one person can win each year, and the women listed here have all taken home Oscar gold for Best Actress in a Leading Role - so which Best Actress Oscar winners are the best?
Of the leading women who have won Best Actress, who is the best Best Actress? Is it the most nominated women of all time Meryl Streep, with 15 nominations? Is it a classic actress like Katharine Hepburn (who has the most wins, with four)? What about Audrey Hepburn, or Grace Kelly? Maybe a more modern choice like Hilary Swank, Cate Blanchett, Jennifer Lawrence, or Julianne Moore?
With so many options choosing the best is hard, but that's where you come in. Vote up the very best actresses of all the Best Actress Academy Award winners below!
- 1Sophie's Choice (1982), The Iron Lady (2011)
- Credits (Film): The Deer Hunter, Out of Africa, Kramer vs. Kramer, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Manhattan
- Birthplace: Summit, New Jersey, USA
- 2Morning Glory (1932), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), On Golden Pond (1984)
- Credits (Film): Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, On Golden Pond
- Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut, USA
- 3
California Suite (1979), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1970)
- Credits (Film): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Birthplace: Ilford, Essex, England, UK
- 4Blue Jasmine (2013)
- Credits (Film): The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Hot Fuzz, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
- Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- 5
The Queen (2006), The Last Station (2010)
- Credits (Film): Monsters University, The Prince of Egypt, Excalibur, RED, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Birthplace: Chiswick, London, England, UK
- 6Howard's End (1992)
- Credits (Film): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Brave, Men in Black 3, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Birthplace: Paddington, London, England, UK
- 7Mary Poppins (1964)
- Credits (Film): The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Shrek 2, Despicable Me, Enchanted
- Birthplace: Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK
- 8
Blue Sky (1995)
- Credits (Film): Tootsie, Big Fish, Cape Fear, All That Jazz, Rob Roy
- Birthplace: Cloquet, Minnesota, USA
- 9The Accused (1988), Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Credits (Film): The Silence of the Lambs, Taxi Driver, Contact, Elysium, Inside Man
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- 10The Reader (2008)
- Credits (Film): Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, Sense and Sensibility, Divergent
- Birthplace: Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
- 11Misery (1990)
- Credits (Film): Titanic, Misery, The Blind Side, The Waterboy, Midnight in Paris
- Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
- 12Norma Rae (1979), Places in the Heart (1984)
- Credits (Film): Forrest Gump, The Amazing Spider-Man, Mrs. Doubtfire, Lincoln, Steel Magnolias
- Birthplace: Pasadena, California, USA
- 13Dangerous (1935), Jezebel (1938)
- Credits (Film): All About Eve, P.S. I Love You, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Watcher in the Woods, Burnt Offerings
- Birthplace: Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
- 14Gone with the Wind (1939), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Credits (Film): Gone with the Wind, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ship of Fools, Waterloo Bridge, Fire Over England
- Birthplace: Darjeeling, West Bengal, British India
- 15Still Alice (2014)
- Credits (Film): The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, Children of Men
- Birthplace: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
- 16Roman Holiday (1953)
- Credits (Film): Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, Roman Holiday, Charade, Wait Until Dark
- Birthplace: Brussels, Ixelles, Belgium
- 17Gaslight (1944), Anastasia (1956)
- Credits (Film): Casablanca, Notorious, Cinema Paradiso, Murder on the Orient Express, Spellbound
- Birthplace: Stockholm, Sweden
- 18
Coal Miner's Daughter (1981)
- Credits (Film): Carrie, JFK, The Help, Badlands, The Straight Story
- Birthplace: Quitman, Texas, USA
- 19
The Miracle Worker (1962)
- Credits (Film): Blazing Saddles, The Graduate, Antz, The Elephant Man, G.I. Jane
- Birthplace: Bronx, New York, USA
- 20
Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Over Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Nomadland (2020)
- Credits (Film): Fargo, Almost Famous, Raising Arizona, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Moonrise Kingdom
- Birthplace: Gibson City, Illinois, USA
- 21Mildred Pierce (1945)
- Credits (Film): What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Grand Hotel, Mildred Pierce, Johnny Guitar, Hush… Hush
- Birthplace: Texas, USA, San Antonio
- 22
The Three Faces of Eve (1958)
- Credits (Film): Philadelphia, The Age of Innocence, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, The End, They Might Be Giants
- Birthplace: Thomasville, Georgia, USA
- 23
The Country Girl (1954)
- Credits (Film): Rear Window, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief, The Bridges at Toko-Ri
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- 24
Driving Miss Daily (1990)
- Credits (Film): The Birds, Driving Miss Daisy, Fried Green Tomatoes, Cocoon, Batteries Not Included
- Birthplace: London, England, UK
- 25
The Favourite (2018)
- Credits (Film): Hot Fuzz, The Iron Lady, Locke, Terkel in Trouble, Cuban Fury
- Birthplace: Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
- 26Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
- Credits (Film): The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream, Interstellar, The Fountain, Red Dragon
- Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA
- 27Black Swan (2010)
- Credits (Film): Thor, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Thor: The Dark World, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
- Birthplace: Jerusalem, Israel
- 28
I Want to Live! (1959)
- Credits (Film): Demetrius and the Gladiators, I Want to Live!, Valley of the Dolls, Garden of Evil, The Lusty Men
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
- 29Monster (2003)
- Credits (Film): Prometheus, The Italian Job, The Devil's Advocate, Snow White and the Huntsman, Hancock
- Birthplace: Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa
- 30
Poor Things (2023)
La La Land (2016)
- Credits (Film): The Amazing Spider-Man, Zombieland, Superbad, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Help
- Birthplace: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
- 31The Blind Side (2009)
- Credits (Film): The Blind Side, Gravity, Crash, Speed, The Prince of Egypt
- Birthplace: Arlington County, Virginia
- 32It Happened One Night (1934)
- Credits (Film): It Happened One Night, The Palm Beach Story, It's a Wonderful World, Hitchcock, Since You Went Away
- Birthplace: Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France
- 33
The Piano (1994)
- Credits (Film): The Incredibles, Raising Arizona, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Firm
- Birthplace: Conyers, Georgia, USA
- 34The Hours (2002)
- Credits (Film): Batman Forever, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge!, The Others, Happy Feet
- Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
- 35
Coquette (1930)
- Credits (Film): Little Lord Fauntleroy, Ben-Hur, The Little Princess, Poor Little Rich Girl, Coquette
- Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 36
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
- Credits (Film): Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Interstellar, The Help, Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life
- Birthplace: Sacramento, California, USA
- 37
Darling (1966)
- Credits (Film): Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Doctor Zhivago, Troy, Heaven Can Wait, Finding Neverland
- Birthplace: India, Chabua
- 38
Airport (1971), The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932)
- Credits (Film): Cinema Paradiso, Airport, Herbie Rides Again, A Farewell to Arms, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
- Birthplace: Washington, D.C., USA
- 39Walk the Line (2005)
- Credits (Film): American Psycho, Legally Blonde, Election, Walk the Line, Cruel Intentions
- Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- 40Erin Brockovich (2000)
- Credits (Film): Pretty Woman, Ocean's Eleven, Hook, Steel Magnolias, Erin Brockovich
- Birthplace: Smyrna, Georgia, USA
- 41Annie Hall (1977)
- Credits (Film): The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part III, Manhattan
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- 42
Butterfield 8 (1960), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1964)
- Credits (Film): Cleopatra, National Velvet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Flintstones, Giant
- Birthplace: Hampstead, London, England, UK
- 43
The Farmer's Daughter (1948)
- Credits (Film): The Bishop's Wife, The Stranger, The Farmer's Daughter, Along Came Jones, The Sheik
- Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- 44
Hud (1964)
- Credits (Film): Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Hud, A Face in the Crowd, In Harm's Way
- Birthplace: Packard, Kentucky, USA
- 45La Vie en Rose (2007)
- Credits (Film): The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Big Fish, Midnight in Paris, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- 46
Mrs. Miniver (1943)
- Credits (Film): Mrs. Miniver, Pride and Prejudice, Julius Caesar, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Birthplace: London, England, UK
- 47
Kitty Foyle (1941)
- Credits (Film): Top Hat, Swing Time, The Gay Divorcee, Stage Door, Monkey Business
- Birthplace: Independence, Missouri, USA
- 48
The Heiress (1950), To Each His Own (1947)
- Credits (Film): Gone with the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Cinema Paradiso, The Guns of Navarone, Captain Blood
- Birthplace: Japan, Tokyo
- 49Klute (1971), Coming Home (1978)
- Credits (Film): 9 to 5, Cat Ballou, The Butler, The China Syndrome, On Golden Pond
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
- 50
Terms of Endearment (1984)
- Credits (Film): The Apartment, Steel Magnolias, Terms of Endearment, Being There, Valentine's Day
- Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia, USA
- 51Dead Man Walking (1995)
- Credits (Film): The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Thelma & Louise, Bull Durham, Enchanted, James and the Giant Peach
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
- 52Boys Don't Cry (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004)
- Credits (Film): Million Dollar Baby, Insomnia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, P.S. I Love You, Boys Don't Cry
- Birthplace: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
- 53
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1976)
- Credits (Film): One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Cruel Intentions, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Virtuosity, 2 Days in the Valley
- Birthplace: Birmingham, Alabama, USA
- 54
Suspicion (1942)
- Credits (Film): Rebecca, Suspicion, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe
- Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
- 55
Judy (2019)
- Credits (Film): Dazed and Confused, Jerry Maguire, Chicago, Bridget Jones's Diary, Monsters vs. Aliens
- Birthplace: Katy, Texas, USA
- 56
The Trip to Bountiful (1986)
- Credits (Film): The Rescuers, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Trip to Bountiful, The Day of the Locust, White Nights
- Birthplace: Kirksville, Missouri, USA
- 57
Silver Linings Playbook (2013)
- Credits (Film): The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, X-Men: First Class, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, X-Men: Days of Future Past
- Birthplace: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
- 58Monster's Ball (2001)
- Credits (Film): X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Cloud Atlas
- Birthplace: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- 59
Johnny Belinda (1949)
- Credits (Film): The Lost Weekend, My Man Godfrey, Pollyanna, The Yearling, All That Heaven Allows
- Birthplace: St. Joseph, Missouri, USA
- 60
As Good as It Gets (1998)
- Credits (Film): As Good as It Gets, Cast Away, Twister, Peggy Sue Got Married, Pay It Forward
- Birthplace: Culver City, California, USA
- 61Two Women (1961)
- Credits (Film): El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire, The Cassandra Crossing, Nine, A Special Day
- Birthplace: Rome, Lazio, Italy
- 62
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
- Credits (Film): Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sunshine, Kung Fu Panda 2, Tomorrow Never Dies
- Birthplace: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
- 63Cabaret (1972)
- Credits (Film): Cabaret, Arthur, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Silent Movie, Sex and the City 2
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
- 64
Shirley Booth
Dec. at 94 (1898-1992)Come Back, Little Sheba (1953)
- Credits (Film): The Year Without a Santa Claus, Come Back, Little Sheba, The Matchmaker, Hot Spell
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
- 65
Children of a Lesser God (1987)
- Credits (Film): Children of a Lesser God, It's My Party, The One I Love, Walker, Excision
- Birthplace: Morton Grove, Illinois, USA
- 66
Born Yesterday (1951)
- Credits (Film): Adam's Rib, On the Town, The Solid Gold Cadillac, Winged Victory, It Should Happen to You
- Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
The Good Earth (1938), The Great Ziegfield (1937)
- Credits (Film): The Great Ziegfeld, The Good Earth, The Great Waltz, The Gambler, Dramatic School
- Birthplace: Düsseldorf, Germany
- 68
Min and Bill (1931)
- Credits (Film): Dinner at Eight, Chasing Rainbows, The Divine Lady, Anna Christie, Min and Bill
- Birthplace: Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
- 69
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1929)
- Credits (Film): Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Christina, A Star Is Born, Delicious, Ladies in Love
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- 70
A Touch of Class (1974), Women in Love (1971)
- Credits (Film): Health, The Maids, Mary, Queen of Scots, This Sporting Life
- Birthplace: Birkenhead, England
- 71
The Divorcee (1930)
- Credits (Film): Cinema Paradiso, Romeo and Juliet, The Divorcee, A Slave of Fashion, A Free Soul
- Birthplace: Montréal, Québec, Canada
- 72
The Song of Bernadette (1944)
- Credits (Film): The Towering Inferno, Duel in the Sun, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, The Song of Bernadette, Beat the Devil
- Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
- 73
Funny Girl (1969)
- Credits (Film): What's Up, Doc?, Meet the Fockers, The Way We Were, The Prince of Tides
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA
- 74
Network (1977)
- Credits (Film): Chinatown, Bonnie and Clyde, The Towering Inferno, Network, Three Days of the Condor
- Birthplace: Bascom, Florida, USA
- 75
The Rose Tattoo (1956)
- Credits (Film): Cinema Paradiso, Rome, Open City, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Mamma Roma
- Birthplace: Rome, Italy
- 76
Moonstruck (1988)
- Credits (Film): Moonstruck, The Witches of Eastwick, Stuck on You, Silkwood, Mask
- Birthplace: USA, California, El Centro
- 77
Room (2016)
- Credits (Film): 21 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 13 Going on 30, Don Jon, Greenberg
- Birthplace: Sacramento, California, USA
- 78
Room at the Top (1960)
- Credits (Film): Cinema Paradiso, Army of Shadows, Les Diaboliques, Madame Rosa, Ship of Fools
- Birthplace: Wiesbaden, Germany
- 79
Shakespeare in Love (1999)
- Credits (Film): The Avengers, Iron Man, Seven, Iron Man 3, Iron Man 2
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
