From Janet Gaynor in 1929 to Marion Cotillard in 2008, the Academy Awards have recognized great performances by leading actresses throughout the years.
Multiple winners have included Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, and Hilary Swank.
Who Won Best Actress Oscars?
| 2008 Marion Cotillard ("La Vie En Rose") |  
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| Other Nominees: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age); Julie Christie (Away From Her); Laura Linney (The Savages); Ellen Page (Juno) | |
| 2007 Helen Mirren ("The Queen") | |
| Other Nominees: Penelope Cruz (Volver); Judi Dench (Notes On A Scandal); Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada); Kate Winslet (Little Children) | |
| 2006 Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line") | |
| Other Nominees: Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents); Felicity Huffman (Transamerica); Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice); Charlize Theron (North Country) | |
| 2005 Hilary Swank ("Million Dollar Baby") | |
| Other Nominees: Annette Bening; Catalina Sandino Moreno; Imelda Staunton; Kate Winslet | |
| 2004 Charlize Theron ("Monster") | |
| Other Nominees: Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider); Diane Keaton (Somethings Gotta Give); Samantha Morton (In America); Naomi Watts (21 Grams) | |
| 2003 Nicole Kidman ("The Hours") | |
| Other Nominees: Salma Hayek (Frida); Diane Lane (Unfaithful); Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven); Rene Zellweger (Chicago) | |
| 2002 Halle Berry ("Monsters Ball") | |
| Other Nominees: Judi Dench (Iris); Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge); Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom); Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones Diary) | |
| 2001 Julia Roberts ("Erin Brockovich") | |
| Other Nominees: Joan Allen (The Contender); Juliette Binoche (Chocolat); Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream); Laura Linney (You Can Count On Me) | |
| 2000 Hilary Swank ("Boys Don't Cry") | |
| Other Nominees: Annette Bening (American Beauty); Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds); Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair); Meryl Streep (Music of the Heart) | |
| 1999 Gwyneth Paltrow ("Shakespeare In Love") | 
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| Other Nominees: Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth); Fernanda Montenegro (Central Station); Meryl Streep (One True Thing); Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie) | |
| 1998 Helen Hunt ("As Good As It Gets") | |
| Other Nominees: Helena Bonham Carter (The Wings Of the Dove); Julie Christie (Afterglow); Judi Dench (Mrs Brown); Kate Winslet (Titanic) | |
| 1997 Frances McDormand ("Fargo") | |
| Other Nominees: Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies); Diane Keaton (Marvins Room); Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient); Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves) | |
| 1996 Susan Sarandon ("Dead Man Walking") | |
| Other Nominees: Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas); Sharon Stone (Casino); Meryl Streep (Bridges of Madison County); Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) | |
| 1995 Jessica Lange ("Blue Sky") | |
| Other Nominees: Jodie Foster (Nell); Miranda Richardson (Tom and Viv); Winona Ryder (Little Women); Susan Sarandon (The Client) | |
| 1994 Holly Hunter ("The Piano") | |
| Other Nominees: Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It); Stockard Channing (Six Degrees of Separation); Emma Thompson (The Remains of the Day); Debra Winger (Shadowlands) | |
| 1993 Emma Thompson ("Howards End") | |
| Other Nominees: Catherine Deneuve (Indochine); Mary McDonnell (Passion Fish); Michelle Pfeiffer (Love Field); Susan Sarandon (Lorenzo's Oil) | |
| 1992 Jodie Foster ("The Silence Of The Lambs") | 
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| Other Nominees: Geena Davis (Thelma and Lousie); Laura Dern (Rambling Rose); Bette Midler (For the Boys); Susan Sarandon (Thelma and Lousie) | |
| 1991 Kathy Bates ("Misery") | |
| Other Nominees: Anjelica Huston (The Grifters); Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman); Meryl Streep (Postcards from the Edge); Joanne Woodward (Mr and Mrs Bridge) | |
| 1990 Jessica Tandy ("Driving Miss Daisy") | |
| Other Nominees: Isabelle Adjani (Camille Claudel); Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine); Jessica Lange (Music Box); Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys) | |
| 1989 Jodie Foster ("The Accused") | |
| Other Nominees: Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons); Melanie Griffith (Working Girl); Meryl Streep (A Cry In the Dark); Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist) | |
| 1988 Cher ("Moonstruck") | |
| Other Nominees: Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction); Holly Hunter (Broadcast News); Sally Kirkland (Anna); Meryl Streep (Ironweed) | |
| 1987 Marlee Matlin ("Children Of A Lesser God") | |
| Other Nominees: Jane Fonda (The Morning After); Sissy Spacek (Crimes of the Heart); Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married); Sigourney Weaver (Aliens) | |
| 1986 Geraldine Page ("The Trip to Bountiful") | |
| Other Nominees: Anne Bancroft (Agnes of God); Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple); Jessica Lange (Sweet Dreams); Meryl Streep (Out of Africa) | |
| 1985 Sally Field ("Places in the Heart") | |
| Other Nominees: Judy Davis (A Passage To India); Jessica Lange (Country); Vanessa Redgrave (The Bostonians); Sissy Spacek (The River) | |
| 1984 Shirley MacLaine ("Terms of Endearment") | |
| Other Nominees: Jane Alexander (Testament); Meryl Streep (Silkwood); Julie Walters (Educating Rita); Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment) | |
| 1983 Meryl Streep ("Sophie's Choice") | |
| Other Nominees: Julie Andrews (Victor/Victoria); Jessica Lange (Frances); Sissy Spacek (Missing); Debra Winger (An Officer and a Gentleman) | |
| 1982 Katharine Hepburn ("On Golden Pond") | |
| Other Nominees: Diane Keaton (Reds); Marsha Mason (Only When I Laugh); Susan Sarandon (Atlantic City); Meryl Streep (The French Lieutenant's Woman) | |
| 1981 Sissy Spacek ("Coal Miner's Daughter") | |
| Other Nominees: Ellen Burstyn (Resurrection); Goldie Hawn (Private Benjamin); Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People); Gena Rowlands (Gloria) | |
| 1980 Sally Field ("Norma Rae") | |
| Other Nominees: Jill Clayburgh (Starting Over); Jane Fonda (The China Syndrome); Marsha Mason (Chapter Two); Bette Midler (The Rose) | |
| 1979 Jane Fonda ("Coming Home") | |
| Other Nominees: Ingrid Bergman (Autumn Sonata); Ellen Burstyn (Same Time Next Year); Jill Clayburgh (An Unmarried Woman); Gerladine Page (Interiors) | |
| 1978 Diane Keaton ("Annie Hall") | |
| Other Nominees: Anne Bancroft (The Turning Point); Jane Fonda (Julia); Shirley MacLaine (The Turning Point); Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl) | |
| 1977 Faye Dunaway ("Network") | |
| Other Nominees: Marie-Christine Barrault (Cousin Cousine); Talia Shire (Rocky); Sissy Spacek (Carrie); Liv Ulllmann (Face To Face) | |
| 1976 Louise Fletcher ("One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") | |
| Other Nominees: Isabelle Adjani (The Story of Adele H); Ann-Margret (Tommy); Glenda Jackson (Hedda); Carol Kane (Hester Street) | |
| 1975 Ellen Burstyn ("Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore") | 
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| Other Nominees: Diahann Carroll (Claudine); Faye Dunaway (Chinatown); Valerie Perrine (Lenny); Gena Rowlands (A Woman Under the Influence) | |
| 1974 Glenda Jackson ("A Touch Of Class") | 
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| Other Nominees: Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist); Marsha Mason (Cinderella Liberty); Barbra Streisand (The Way We Were); Joanne Woodward (Summer Wishes Winter Dreams) | |
| 1973 Liza Minnelli ("Cabaret") | |
| Other Nominees: Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues); Maggie Smith (Travels With My Aunt); Cicely Tyson (Sounder); Liv Ullmann (The Emigrants) | |
| 1972 Jane Fonda ("Klute") | |
| Other Nominees: Julie Christie (McCabe and Mrs Miller); Glenda Jackson (Sunday Bloody Sunday); Vanessa Redgrave (Mary Queen of Scots); Janet Suzman (Nocholas and Alexandra) | |
| 1971 Glenda Jackson ("Women In Love") | |
| Other Nominees: Jane Alexander (The Great White Hope); Ali MacGraw (Love Story); Sarah Miles (Ryan's Daughter); Carrie Snodgress (Diary of a Mad Housewife) | |
| 1970 Maggie Smith ("The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie") | |
| Other Nominees: Genevieve Bujold (Anne of the Thousand Days); Jane Fonda (They Shoot Horses Don't They?); Liza Minnelli (The Sterile Cuckoo); Jean Simmons (The Happy Ending) | |
| 1969 Barbra Streisand ("Funny Girl") | |
| Other Nominees: Patricia Neal (The Subject Was Roses); Vanessa Redgrave (Isadora); Joanne Woodward (Rachel Rachel) | |
| 1969 Katharine Hepburn ("The Lion In Winter") | |
| Other Nominees: Patricia Neal (The Subject Was Roses); Vanessa Redgrave (Isadora); Joanne Woodward (Rachel Rachel) | |
| 1968 Katharine Hepburn ("Guess Who's Coming To Dinner") | |
| Other Nominees: Anne Bancroft (The Graduate); Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde); Dame Edith Evans (The Whisperers); Audrey Hepburn (Wait Until Dark) | |
| 1967 Elizabeth Taylor ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") | |
| Other Nominees: Anouk Aimee (A Man and a Woman); Ida Kaminska (The Shop on Main Street); Lynn Redgrave (Georgy Girl); Vanessa Redgrave (Morgan!) | |
| 1966 Julie Christie ("Darling") | |
| Other Nominees: Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music); Samantha Eggar (The Collector); Elizabeth Hartman (A Patch of Blue); Simone Signoret (Ship of Fools) | |
| 1965 Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins") | |
| Other Nominees: Anne Bancroft (The Pumpkin Eater); Sophia Loren (Marriage Italian Style); Debbie Reynolds (The Unsinkable Mollly Brown); Kim Stanley (Séance On A Wet Afternoon) | |
| 1964 Patricia Neal ("Hud") | |
| Other Nominees: Leslie Caron (The L-Shaped Room); Shirley MacLaine (Irma La Douce); Rachel Roberts (This Sporting Life); Natalie Wood (Love With the Proper Stranger) | |
| 1963 Anne Bancroft ("The Miracle Worker") | |
| Other Nominees: Bette Davis (Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?); Katharine Hepburn (Long Day's Journey Into Night); Geraldine Page (Sweet Bird of Youth); Lee Remick (Days of Wine and Roses) | |
| 1962 Sophia Loren ("Two Women") | |
| Other Nominees: Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany's); Piper Laurie (The Hustler); Geraldine Page (Summer and Smoke); Natalie Wood (Spendor In the Grass) | |
| 1961 Elizabeth Taylor ("Butterfield 8") | |
| Other Nominees: Greer Garson (Sunrise at Campobello); Deborah Kerr (The Sundowners); Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment); Melina Mercouri (Never on Sunday) | |
| 1960 Simone Signoret ("Room at the Top") | |
| Other Nominees: Doris Day (Pillow Talk); Audrey Hepburn (The Nun's Story); Katharine Hepburn (Suddenly Last Summer); Elizabeth Taylor (Suddenly Last Summer) | |
| 1959 Susan Hayward ("I Want To Live!") | |
| Other Nominees: Deborah Kerr (Separate Tables); Shirley MacLaine (Some Came Running); Rosalind Russell (Auntie Mame); Elizabeth Taylor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) | |
| 1958 Joanne Woodward ("The Three Faces of Eve") | |
| Other Nominees: Deborah Kerr (Heaven Knows Mr Allison); Anna Magnani (Wild Is the Wind); Elizabeth Taylor (Raintree County); Lana Turner (Peyton Place) | |
| 1957 Ingrid Bergman ("Anastasia") | |
| Other Nominees: Carroll Baker (Baby Doll); Katharine Hepburn (The Rainmaker); Nancy Kelly (The Bad Seed); Deborah Kerr (The King and I) | |
| 1956 Anna Magnani ("The Rose Tattoo") | |
| Other Nominees: Susan Hayward (I'll Cry Tomorrow); Katharine Hepburn (Summertime); Jennifer Jones (Love Is A Many Splendored Thing); Eleanor Parker (Interrupted Melody) | |
| 1955 Grace Kelly ("The Country Girl") | |
| Other Nominees: Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones); Judy Garland (A Star Is Born); Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina); Jane Wyman (Magnificent Obsession) | |
| 1954 Audrey Hepburn ("Roman Holiday") | |
| Other Nominees: Leslie Caron (Lili); Ava Gardner (Mogambo); Deborah Kerr (From Here To Eternity); Maggie McNamara (The Moon Is Blue) | |
| 1953 Shirley Booth ("Come Back Little Sheba") | |
| Other Nominees: Joan Crawford (Sudden Fear); Bette Davis (The Star); Julie Harris (The Member of the Wedding); Susan Hayward (With a Song In My Heart) | |
| 1952 Vivien Leigh ("A Streetcar Named Desire") | 
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| Other Nominees: Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen); Eleanor Parker (Detective Story); Shelley Winters (A Place In the Sun); Jane Wyman (The Blue Veil) | |
| 1951 Judy Holliday ("Born Yesterday") | |
| Other Nominees: Anne Baxter (All About Eve); Bette Davis (All About Eve); Eleanor Parker (Caged); Gloria Swanson (Sunset Blvd) | |
| 1950 Olivia de Havilland ("The Heiress") | |
| Other Nominees: Jeanne Crain (Pinky); Susan Hayward (My Foolish Heart); Deborah Kerr (Edward My Son); Loretta Young (Come To the Stable) | |
| 1949 Jane Wyman ("Johnny Belinda") | |
| Other Nominees: Ingrid Bergman (Joan of Arc); Olivia de Havilland (The Snake Pit); Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama); Barbara Stanwyck (Sorry Wrong Number) | |
| 1948 Loretta Young ("The Farmer's Daughter") | |
| Other Nominees: Joan Crawford (Possessed); Susan Hayward (Smash Up-The Story of a Woman); Dorothy McGuire (Gentleman's Agreement); Rosalind Russell (Mourning Becomes Electra) | |
| 1947 Olivia de Havilland ("To Each His Own") | |
| Other Nominees: Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter); Jennifer Jones (Duel In the Sun); Rosalind Russell (Sister Kenny); Jane Wyman (The Yearling) | |
| 1946 Joan Crawford ("Mildred Pierce") | |
| Other Nominees: Ingrid Bergman (The Bells of St Mary's); Greer Garson (The Valley of Decision); Jennifer Jones (Love Letters); Gene Tierney (Leave Her To Heaven) | |
| 1945 Ingrid Bergman ("Gaslight") | |
| Other Nominees: Claudette Colbert (Since You Went Away); Bette Davis (Mr Skeffington); Greer Garson (Mrs Parkington); Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity) | |
| 1944 Jennifer Jones ("The Song of Bernadette") | |
| Other Nominees: Jean Arthur (The More the Merrier); Ingrid Bergman (For Whom the Bell Tolls); Joan Fontaine (The Constant Nymph); Greer Garson (Madame Curie) | |
| 1943 Greer Garson ("Mrs Miniver") | |
| Other Nominees: Bette Davis (Now Voyager); Katharine Hepburn (Woman of the Year); Rosalind Russell (My Sister Eileen); Teresa Wright (Pride of the Yankees) | |
| 1942 Joan Fontaine ("Suspicion") | |
| Other Nominees: Bette Davis (The Little Foxes); Olivia de Havilland (Hold Back the Dawn); Greer Garson (Blossoms In the Dust); Barbara Stanwyck (Ball of Fire) | |
| 1941 Ginger Rogers ("Kitty Foyle") | |
| Other Nominees: Bette Davis (The Letter); Joan Fontaine (Rebecca); Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story); Martha Scott (Our Town) | |
| 1940 Vivien Leigh ("Gone With the Wind") | |
| Other Nominees: Bette Davis (Dark Victory); Irene Dunne (Love Affair); Greta Garbo (Ninotchka); Greer Garson (Goodbye Mr Chips) | |
| 1939 Bette Davis ("Jezebel") | |
| Other Nominees: Fay Bainter (White Banners); Wendy Hiller (Pygmalion); Norma Shearer (Marie Antoinette); Margaret Sullavan (Three Comrades) | |
| 1938 Luise Rainer ("The Good Earth") | |
| Other Nominees: Irene Dunne (The Awful Truth); Greta Garbo (Camille); Janet Gaynor (A Star Is Born); Barbara Stanwyck (Stella Dallas) | |
| 1937 Luise Rainer ("The Great Ziegfeld") | |
| Other Nominees: Irene Dunne (Theodora Goes Wild); Gladys George (Valiant Is the Word For Carrie); Carole Lombard (My Man Godfrey); Norma Shearer (Romeo and Juliet) | |
| 1936 Bette Davis ("Dangerous") | |
| Other Nominees: Elisabeth Bergner (Escape Me Never); Claudette Colbert (Private Worlds); Katharine Hepburn (Alice Adams); Mariam Hopkins (Becky Sharp); Merle Oberon (The Dark Angel) | |
| 1935 Claudette Colbert ("It Happened One Night") | |
| Other Nominees: Grace Moore (One Night of Love); Norma Shearer (The Barretts of Wimpole Street) | |
| 1934 Katharine Hepburn ("Morning Glory") | |
| Other Nominees: May Robson (Lady For A Day); Diana Wynyard (Cavalcade) | |
| 1932 Helen Hayes ("The Sin of Madelon Claudet") | |
| Other Nominees: Marie Dressler; Lynn Fontanne | |
| 1931 Marie Dressler ("Min and Bill") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlene Dietrich; Irene Dunne; Ann Harding; Norma Shearer | |
| 1930 Norma Shearer ("The Divorcee") | |
| Other Nominees: Nancy Carroll; Ruth Chatterson; Greta Garbo; Gloria Swanson | |
| 1930 Mary Pickford ("Coquette") | |
| Other Nominees: Ruth Chatterton; Betty Compson; Jeanne Eagels; Corrine Griffith; Bessie Love | |
| 1929 Janet Gaynor ("7th Heaven; Sunrise") | 
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| Other Nominees: Louise Dresser; Gloria Swanson | |
Movie Trailer for 'La Vie En Rose'
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