And The Best Actress Oscar Went To...
We're going to assume that you didn't sit around in your diapers watching the Oscars when you were a one-year-old. However, there was a ceremony that year. And these are the super talented women who won...
Note: As you probably know, each year's Oscar ceremony celebrates the films from the previous year. Thus, the year of the awards ceremony is not the same as the year the films were released. For the purposes of this list, we have stuck with the year the ceremony took place (not the year the films were released).
1975: Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore)
The Other Nominees Were:
Faye Dunaway (Chinatown)
Diahann Carroll (Claudine)
Valerie Perrine (Lenny)
Gena Rowlands (A Woman Under the Influence)
Burstyn has been nominated for one Best Supporting Actress and five Best Actress Oscars in her career. This is her only win.
Warner Bros., Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
1976: Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
The Other Nominees Were:
Ann-Margret (Tommy)
Glenda Jackson (Hedda)
Carol Kane (Hester Street)
Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H)
Fletcher's win was part of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest's sweep of the five major categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay (Adapted).
Fantasy Films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
1977: Faye Dunaway (Network)
The Other Nominees Were:
Talia Shire (Rocky)
Sissy Spacek (Carrie)
Liv Ullman (Face to Face)
Marie-Christine Barrault (Cousin Cousine)
Dunaway had been nominated twice before for her performances in Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown—but this was her first, and so far, her only win.
1978: Diane Keaton (Annie Hall)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jane Fonda (Julia)
Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl)
Shirley MacLaine (The Turning Point)
Anne Bancroft (The Turning Point)
Keaton won the Oscar on her first ever nomination. She would be nominated three more times (without taking home the statue again).
Rollins-Joffe Production, Annie Hall (1977)
1979: Jane Fonda (Coming Home)
The Other Nominees Were:
Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata)
Jill Clayburgh (An Unmarried Woman)
Ellen Burstyn (Same Time Next Year)
Geraldine Page (Interiors)
This was Fonda's second Best Actress win—having taken home the award seven years earlier for her role in Klute.
Jayne Productions Inc., Coming Home (1978)
1980: Sally Field (Norma Rae)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jane Fonda (The China Syndrome)
Bette Midler (The Rose)
Jill Clayburgh (Starting Over)
Marsha Mason (Chapter Two)
Field also won the Best Female Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her brilliant portrayal of union organizer Norma Rae.
Twentieth Century, Norma Rae (1979)
1981: Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner’s Daughter)
The Other Nominees Were:
Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People)
Goldie Hawn (Private Benjamin)
Ellen Burstyn (Resurrection)
Gena Rowlands (Gloria)
Although this is Spacek's only win, she has been nominated for Best Actress five other times in her career.
Universal, Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
1982: Katharine Hepburn (On Golden Pond)
The Other Nominees Were:
Diane Keaton (Reds)
Meryl Streep (The French Lieutenant’s Woman)
Susan Sarandon (Atlantic City)
Marsha Mason (Only When I Laugh)
The win put Katharine Hepburn alone in the record books as the only person to win four competitive acting Oscars.
1983: Meryl Streep (Sophie’s Choice)
The Other Nominees Were:
Debra Winger (An Officer and a Gentleman)
Jessica Lange (Frances)
Sissy Spacek (Missing)
Julie Andrews (Victor Victoria)
Three years after winning her first Oscar (Best Supporting Actress), Meryl Streep took home her second Academy Award—and first in the Best Actress category. It was also her fourth acting nomination in a five-year span (with many, many more to come).
1984: Shirley MacLaine (Terms Of Endearment)
The Other Nominees Were:
Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment)
Meryl Streep (Silkwood)
Julie Walters (Educating Rita)
Jane Alexander (Testament)
It was the fifth, and so far, the last time MacLaine was ever nominated for an acting Oscar. This stands as her only win.
Paramount, Terms of Endearment (1983)
1985: Sally Field (Places In The Heart)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jessica Lange (Country)
Vanessa Redgrave (The Bostonians)
Sissy Spacek (The River)
Judy Davis (A Passage to India)
This was the one with Field's famous acceptance speech: "And I can't deny the fact that you like me...right now...you like me! (applause) Thank you!" (Often misquoted as "You like me, you really like me!").
TriStar, Places in the Heart (1984)
1986: Geraldine Page (The Trip To Bountiful)
The Other Nominees Were:
Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple)
Meryl Streep (Out of Africa)
Jessica Lange (Sweet Dreams)
Anne Bancroft (Agnes of God)
The eighth time was the charm for Geraldine Page who'd been nominated for seven acting Academy Awards before finally winning her first, and only, Oscar.
Bountiful Film Partners, The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
1987: Marlee Matlin (Children Of A Lesser God)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jane Fonda (The Morning After)
Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married)
Sigourney Weaver (Aliens)
Sissy Spacek (Crimes of the Heart)
Matlin became both the first deaf performer to win an Oscar and the youngest winner in the Best Actress category (a record she still holds).
Paramount, Children of a Lesser God (1986)
1988: Cher (Moonstruck)
The Other Nominees Were:
Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction)
Meryl Streep (Ironweed)
Holly Hunter (Broadcast News)
Sally Kirkland (Anna)
Cher won her first, and only, Best Actress nomination (she'd been nominated for Best Supporting Actress four years earlier).
1989: Jodie Foster (The Accused)
The Other Nominees Were:
Melanie Griffith (Working Girl)
Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark)
Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons)
Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist)
Jodie Foster's win made it the eighth time a Best Actress had won the award for a film with no other nominations.
1990: Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy)
The Other Nominees Were:
Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys)
Jessica Lange (Music Box)
Isabelle Adjani (Camille Claudel)
Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine)
Jessica Tandy remains the oldest woman to ever win the Best Actress Oscar—she was 80 years, 292 days old.
The Zanuck Company, Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
1991: Kathy Bates (Misery)
The Other Nominees Were:
Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)
Meryl Streep (Postcards from the Edge)
Anjelica Huston (The Grifters)
Joanne Woodward (Mr & Mrs Bridge)
Misery is the only Stephen King film to win an Oscar.
1992: Jodie Foster (The Silence Of The Lambs)
The Other Nominees Were:
Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise)
Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise)
Bette Midler (For the Boys)
Laura Dern (Rambling Rose)
It was Foster's first nomination since winning for The Accused three years prior—and once again, she took home the golden statue.
Orion, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1993: Emma Thompson (Howards End)
The Other Nominees Were:
Michelle Pfeiffer (Love Field)
Catherine Deneuve (Indochine)
Susan Sarandon (Lorenzo’s Oil)
Mary McDonnell (Passion Fish)
This was Thompson's first ever Oscar nomination—and, so far, her only acting win. She would take home the award for Adapted Screenplay a few years later for Sense and Sensibility.
Merchant Ivory Productions, Howards End (1992)
1994: Holly Hunter (The Piano)
The Other Nominees Were:
Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation)
Debra Winger (Shadowlands)
Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do with It)
Emma Thompson (The Remains of the Day)
Holly Hunter was also nominated that year in the Best Supporting Actress category, for her role in The Firm.
1995: Jessica Lange (Blue Sky)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jodie Foster (Nell)
Winona Ryder (Little Women)
Susan Sarandon (The Client)
Miranda Richardson (Tom & Viv)
12 years after her Best Supporting Actress win for Tootsie—Jessica Lange took home her second acting Oscar.
1996: Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)
The Other Nominees Were:
Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas)
Meryl Streep (The Bridges of Madison County)
Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility)
Sharon Stone (Casino)
After being nominated four times previously (and three times in the previous four years), Susan Sarandon finally won her first, and thus far, her only Oscar.
Working Title Films, Dead Man Walking (1995)
1997: Frances McDormand (Fargo)
The Other Nominees Were:
Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient)
Diane Keaton (Marvin’s Room)
Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves)
Brenda Blethyn (Secrets & Lies)
McDormand became the first person to win for a role in a film directed by their spouse (McDormand and Joel Coen have been married since 1984).
Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Fargo (1996)
1998: Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets)
The Other Nominees Were:
Kate Winslet (Titanic)
Judi Dench (Mrs Brown)
Julie Christie (Afterglow)
Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings of the Dove)
With Jack Nicholson's best actor win, As Good as It Gets became the seventh film ever to win both lead acting awards.
TriStar, As Good as It Gets (1997)
1999: Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare In Love)
The Other Nominees Were:
Meryl Streep (One True Thing)
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth)
Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie)
Fernanda Montenegro (Central Station)
This wasn't just Paltrow's only Oscar win—it is still the only time she's ever been nominated.
Universal, Shakespeare in Love (1998)
2000: Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry)
The Other Nominees Were:
Annette Bening (American Beauty)
Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart)
Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair)
Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds)
We'll see Swank in the winner's circle again in a few years.
Searchlight Pictures, Boys Don't Cry (1999)
2001: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockovich)
The Other Nominees Were:
Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me)
Juliette Binoche (Chocolat)
Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream)
Joan Allen (The Contender)
Roberts also won a BAFTA, a Critic's Choice Award and a golden Globe for her performance in Erin Brockovich.
Universal, Erin Brockovich (2000)
2002: Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball)
The Other Nominees Were:
Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones’s Diary)
Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge!)
Judi Dench (Iris)
Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom)
Halle Berry is still the only Black woman to ever win Best Actress at the Academy Awards.
Lionsgate, Monster's Ball (2001)
2003: Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
The Other Nominees Were:
Renée Zellweger (Chicago)
Julianne Moore (Far from Heaven)
Salma Hayek (Frida)
Diane Lane (Unfaithful)
She's been nominated for five acting Oscars, but this remains Nicole Kidman's only win thus far.
2004: Charlize Theron (Monster)
The Other Nominees Were:
Naomi Watts (21 Grams)
Diane Keaton (Something’s Gotta Give)
Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider)
Samantha Morton (In America)
It was Theron's first ever Oscar nomination. She's been nominated two times since (no other wins).
Media 8 Entertainment, Monster (2003)
2005: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
The Other Nominees Were:
Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Annette Bening (Being Julia)
Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace)
Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake)
Swank has only been nominated twice. But she's won both times.
Warner Bros., Million Dollar Baby (2004)
2006: Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
The Other Nominees Were:
Charlize Theron (North Country)
Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice)
Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents)
Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)
Witherspoon: First-time nominee and first-time winner.
Konrad Pictures, Walk the Line (2005)
2007: Helen Mirren (The Queen)
The Other Nominees Were:
Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)
Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)
Penélope Cruz (Volver)
Kate Winslet (Little Children)
Having been nominated for two Best Supporting Actress awards previously, this was Helen Mirren's first Best Actress nomination (and her first win, obviously).
2008: Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
The Other Nominees Were:
Ellen Page (Juno)
Laura Linney (The Savages)
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Marion Cotillard became the second person to win Best Actress for a non-English performance (the first for a French-language performance).
Légende Films, La Vie En Rose (2007)
2009: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
The Other Nominees Were:
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Her sixth acting nomination finally earned Kate Winslet her much-deserved golden statue.
The Weinstein Company, The Reader (2008)
2010: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
The Other Nominees Were:
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: based on the novel Push by Sapphire)
Bullock would get nominated again four years later, for Gravity—but this was her first nom and her first win.
Alcon Entertainment, The Blind Side (2009)
2011: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Portman was an Oscar, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, and Golden Globe winner that year.
Searchlight Pictures, Black Swan (2010)
2012: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
The Other Nominees Were:
Viola Davis (The Help)
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
It was her 13th acting nomination since her second Oscar win—and it put Meryl Streep in the rare three Acting Oscars club.
2013: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
At 22 years old, Jennifer Lawrence was the second youngest Best Actress winner ever.
The Weinstein Company, Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
2014: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
The Other Nominees Were:
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Amy Adams (American Hustle)
With her win, Cate Blanchett became the sixth actress to win both female acting awards in her career.
Gravier Productions, Blue Jasmine (2013)
2015: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
The Other Nominees Were:
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
It was her fifth acting nomination and the first win for Julianna Moore.
Apologies to all the nine-year-olds, but we will end it there.
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Killer Films, Still Alice (2014)
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