BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role


Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.
  • From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actress awards presented, Best British Actress and Best Foreign Actress.
  • From 1968 onwards, the two awards merged into one award, which from 1968 to 1984 was known as Best Actress.
  • From 1985 to present, the award has been known by its current name of Best Actress in a Leading Role.
In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.

Winners and nominees

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Superlatives

Multiple nominations

;12 nominations
;8 nominations
;7 nominations
;6 nominations
;5 nominations
;4 nominations
;3 nominations
;2 nominations
;4 wins
  • Maggie Smith
;3 wins
  • Anne Bancroft
  • Cate Blanchett
  • Audrey Hepburn
  • Simone Signoret
;2 wins
  • Leslie Caron
  • Judi Dench
  • Jane Fonda
  • Katharine Hepburn
  • Shirley MacLaine
  • Frances McDormand
  • Patricia Neal
  • Rachel Roberts
  • Emma Stone
  • Meryl Streep
  • Emma Thompson