All-Time Best 20 Actresses In Movie History

Updated April 2023, after the 95th Academy Awards, presented for achievements in 2022.

The all-time best 20 film actresses are presented below, according to points awarded as follows:

12 points for a Best Actress Award;
4 points for a Best Actress nomination;
3 points for a Best Supporting Actress Award; and,
1 point for a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

(Note: the 20 Best Actors list is here)


Geraldine Page
28 points

1953: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Hondo
1961: Nominated, Best Actress, Summer And Smoke
1962: Nominated, Best Actress, Sweet Bird Of Youth
1966: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, You're A Big Boy Now
1972: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Pete 'N' Tillie
1978: Nominated, Best Actress, Interiors
1984: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, The Pope Of Greenwich Village
1986: Winner, Best Actress, The Trip To Bountiful


Norma Shearer
28 points

1929/30: Winner, Best Actress, The Divorcee (also Nominated for Their Own Desire)
1931: Nominated, Best Actress, A Free Soul
1934: Nominated, Best Actress, The Barretts Of Wimpole Street
1936: Nominated, Best Actress, Romeo And Juliet
1938: Nominated, Best Actress, Marie Antoinette


Susan Sarandon
28 points

1981: Nominated, Best Actress, Atlantic City
1991: Nominated, Best Actress, Thelma And Louise
1992: Nominated, Best Actress, Lorenzo's Oil
1994: Nominated, Best Actress, The Client
1995: Winner, Best Actress, Dead Man Walking


Shirley MacLaine
28 points

1958: Nominated, Best Actress, Some Came Running
1960: Nominated, Best Actress, The Apartment
1963: Nominated, Best Actress, Irma La Douce
1977: Nominated, Best Actress, The Turning Point
1983: Winner, Best Actress, Terms Of Endearment


Audrey Hepburn
28 points

1953: Winner, Best Actress, Roman Holiday
1954: Nominated, Best Actress, Sabrina
1959: Nominated, Best Actress, The Nun's Story
1961: Nominated, Best Actress, Breakfast At Tiffany's
1967: Nominated, Best Actress, Wait Until Dark


Susan Hayward
28 points

1947: Nominated, Best Actress, Smash Up - The Story Of A Woman
1949: Nominated, Best Actress, My Foolish Heart
1952: Nominated, Best Actress, With A Song In My Heart
1955: Nominated, Best Actress, I'll Cry Tomorrow
1958: Winner, Best Actress, I Want To Live!


Anne Bancroft
28 points

1962: Winner, Best Actress, The Miracle Worker
1964: Nominated, Best Actress, The Pumpkin Eater
1967: Nominated, Best Actress, The Graduate
1977: Nominated, Best Actress, The Turning Point
1985: Nominated, Best Actress, Agnes Of God

Ellen Burstyn
29 points

1971: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, The Last Picture Show
1973: Nominated, Best Actress, The Exorcist
1974: Winner, Best Actress, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1978: Nominated, Best Actress, Same Time, Next Year
1980: Nominated, Best Actress, Resurrection
2000: Nominated, Best Actress, Requiem For A Dream


Jodie Foster

29 points

1976: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Taxi Driver

1988: Winner, Best Actress, The Accused

1991: Winner, Best Actress, The Silence Of The Lambs

1994: Nominated, Best Actress, Nell

Jessica Lange
31 points

1982: Winner, Best Supporting Actress, Tootsie
1982: Nominated, Best Actress, Frances
1984: Nominated, Best Actress, Country
1985: Nominated, Best Actress, Sweet Dreams
1989: Nominated, Best Actress, Music Box
1994: Winner, Best Actress, Blue Sky


Sissy Spacek
32 points

1976: Nominated, Best Actress, Carrie
1980: Winner, Best Actress, Coal Miner's Daughter
1982: Nominated, Best Actress, Missing
1984: Nominated, Best Actress, The River
1986: Nominated, Best Actress, Crimes Of The Heart
2001: Nominated, Best Actress, In The Bedroom

Glenda Jackson

32 points

1970: Winner, Best Actress, Women In Love

1971: Nominated, Best Actress, Sunday Bloody Sunday

1973: Winner, Best Actress, A Touch Of Class

1975: Nominated, Best Actress, Hedda

Cate Blanchett
33 points

1998: Nominated, Best Actress, Elizabeth
2004: Winner, Best Supporting Actress, The Aviator
2006: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Notes On A Scandal
2007: Nominated, Best Actress, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
2007: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, I'm Not There
2013: Winner, Best Actress, Blue Jasmine
2015: Nominated, Best Actress, Carol

2022: Nominated, Best Actress, Tár

Olivia de Havilland

33 points

1939: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Gone With The Wind

1941: Nominated, Best Actress, Hold Back The Dawn

1946: Winner, Best Actress, To Each His Own

1948: Nominated, Best Actress, The Snake Pit

1949: Winner, Best Actress, The Heiress

Greer Garson
36 points

1939: Nominated, Best Actress, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
1941: Nominated, Best Actress, Blossoms In The Dust
1942: Winner, Best Actress, Mrs. Miniver
1943: Nominated, Best Actress, Madame Curie
1944: Nominated, Best Actress, Mrs. Parkington
1945: Nominated, Best Actress, The Valley Of Decision
1960: Nominated, Best Actress, Sunrise At Campobello


Elizabeth Taylor
36 points

1957: Nominated, Best Actress, Raintree County
1958: Nominated, Best Actress, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
1959: Nominated, Best Actress, Suddenly, Last Summer
1960: Winner, Best Actress, Butterfield 8
1966: Winner, Best Actress, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Frances McDormand

39 points

1988: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Mississippi Burning

1996: Winner, Best Actress, Fargo

2000: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Almost Famous

2005: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, North Country

2017: Winner, Best Actress, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2020: Winner, Best Actress, Nomadland

Jane Fonda
41 points

1969: Nominated, Best Actress, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
1971: Winner, Best Actress, Klute
1977: Nominated, Best Actress, Julia
1978: Winner, Best Actress, Coming Home
1979: Nominated, Best Actress, The China Syndrome
1981: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, On Golden Pond
1986: Nominated, Best Actress, The Morning After


Ingrid Bergman
43 points

1943: Nominated, Best Actress, For Whom The Bell Tolls
1944: Winner, Best Actress, Gaslight
1945: Nominated, Best Actress, The Bells Of St. Mary's
1948: Nominated, Best Actress, Joan Of Arc
1956: Winner, Best Actress, Anastasia
1974: Winner, Best Supporting Actress, Murder On The Orient Express
1978: Nominated, Best Actress, Autumn Sonata


Bette Davis
60 points

1935: Winner, Best Actress, Dangerous
1938: Winner, Best Actress, Jezebel
1939: Nominated, Best Actress, Dark Victory
1940: Nominated, Best Actress, The Letter
1941: Nominated, Best Actress, The Little Foxes
1942: Nominated, Best Actress, Now, Voyager
1944: Nominated, Best Actress, Mr. Skeffington
1950: Nominated, Best Actress, All About Eve
1952: Nominated, Best Actress, The Star
1962: Nominated, Best Actress, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?
Note: Davis was also a write-in Best Actress nominee for 1934's Of Human Bondage.


Katharine Hepburn
80 points

1933: Winner, Best Actress, Morning Glory
1935: Nominated, Best Actress, Alice Adams
1940: Nominated, Best Actress, The Philadelphia Story
1942: Nominated, Best Actress, Woman Of The Year
1951: Nominated, Best Actress, The African Queen
1955: Nominated, Best Actress, Summertime
1956: Nominated, Best Actress, The Rainmaker
1959: Nominated, Best Actress, Suddenly, Last Summer
1962: Nominated, Best Actress, Long Day's Journey Into The Night
1967: Winner, Best Actress, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
1968: Winner, Best Actress, The Lion In Winter
1981: Winner, Best Actress, On Golden Pond


Meryl Streep
90 points

1978: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, The Deer Hunter
1979: Winner, Best Supporting Actress, Kramer vs. Kramer
1981: Nominated, Best Actress, The French Lieutenant's Woman
1982: Winner, Best Actress, Sophie's Choice
1983: Nominated, Best Actress, Silkwood
1985: Nominated, Best Actress, Out Of Africa
1987: Nominated, Best Actress, Ironweed
1988: Nominated, Best Actress, A Cry In The Dark
1990: Nominated, Best Actress, Postcards From The Edge
1995: Nominated, Best Actress, The Bridges Of Madison County
1998: Nominated, Best Actress, One True Thing
1999: Nominated, Best Actress, Music Of The Heart
2002: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Adaptation
2006: Nominated, Best Actress, The Devil Wears Prada
2008: Nominated, Best Actress, Doubt
2009: Nominated, Best Actress, Julie And Julia
2011: Winner, Best Actress, The Iron Lady
2013: Nominated, Best Actress, August: Osage County
2014: Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, Into The Woods
2016: Nominated, Best Actress, Florence Foster Jenkins
2017: Nominated, Best Actress, The Post


All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.
The Index of Movie Stars is here.