Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominees are currently determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. In the first three years of the awards, actors and actresses were nominated as the best individuals in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. Despite this, at the 3rd Academy Awards, held in 1930, only one film was cited in each winner's award regardless of how many they were eligible to be considered for during that span. The current system, in which an actress is nominated for a specific performance in a single film, was introduced for the 4th Academy Awards. Starting with the 9th Academy Awards, held in 1937, the category was limited to a maximum five nominations per year. == Winners and nominees ==

In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31. For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31. 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s ==Multiple wins and nominations==

The following individuals won two or more Academy Awards for Best Actress: The following individuals received three or more Best Actress nominations: ==Age superlatives==

==Films with multiple Leading Actress nominations==

Winners are in bold. • All About Eve (1950) – Anne Baxter and Bette Davis • Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) – Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor • The Turning Point (1977) – Anne Bancroft and Shirley MacLaine • Terms of Endearment (1983) – Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger • Thelma & Louise (1991) – Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon ==Multiple character nominations==

The following were nominated for their portrayals of the same fictional or non-fictional character in separate films (including variations of the original). • Billie Holiday from Lady Sings the Blues (Diana Ross, 1972) and The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Andra Day, 2021) • Josephine "Jo" March from Little Women (Winona Ryder, 1994) and Little Women (Saoirse Ronan, 2019) • Leslie Crosbie from The Letter (Jeanne Eagels, 1929) and The Letter (Bette Davis, 1940) • Marilyn Monroe from My Week with Marilyn (Michelle Williams, 2011) and Blonde (Ana de Armas, 2022) • Queen Elizabeth I from Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett, 1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Cate Blanchett, 2007) • Vicki Lester () from A Star Is Born (Janet Gaynor, 1937) and A Star Is Born (Judy Garland, 1954) • Ally Maine () from A Star Is Born (Lady Gaga, 2018) ==See also==