[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1938 and the nominees are: 1. Luise Rainer - The Good Earth 2. Irene Donne - The Awful Truth 3. Greta Garbo - Camille 4. Janet Gaynor - A Star is Born 5. Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas - In 1938 Luise Rainer became the first performer to win back-to-back Oscars as well as the first performer to have two Academy Awards. Her first Oscar was won the year prior for The Great Ziegfeld. If...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 2023 and the nominees are: 1. Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once 2. Cate Blanchett - Tár 3. Ana de Armas - Blonde 4. Andrea Riseborough 5. Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans - In 2023 Michelle Yeoh became the second woman of colour in the 95 year history of the Oscars to win Best Actress in a Leading Role for the critical smash hit, Everything Everywhere All at Once. This...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1985 and the nominees are: 1. Sissy Spacek - The River 2. Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians 3. Jessica Lange - Country 4. Judy Davis - A Passage to India 5. Sally Field - Places in the Heart - In 1985 Sally Field won her second Oscar playing a widow struggling to save her farm in Places in the Heart. This was an odd year in that there were 2 other similarly nominated roles for both...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1959 and the nominees are: 1. Susan Hayward - I Want to Live! 2. Deborah Kerr - Separate Tables 3. Shirley MacLaine - Some Came Running 4. Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mama 5. Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - In 1959 Susan Hayward won the Oscar for her portrayal of alleged murder accomplice Barbara Graham and her eventual execution in a gas chamber. Hayward was known for delivering...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1945 and the nominees are: 1. Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight  2. Claudette Colbert - Since You Went Away 3. Bette Davis - Mr. Skeffington 4. Greer Garson - Mrs. Parkington 5. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity  - In 1945 Ingrid Bergman won her first of three Oscars for a role that we currently use as a psychological term in Gaslight. Bergman plays a woman who becomes suspicious of goings-on in...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1954 and the nominees are: 1. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday  2. Leslie Caron - Lili 3. Ava Gardner - Mogambo 4. Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity  5. Maggie McNamara - The Moon is Blue - In 1954 Audrey Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress playing a princess going from ‘riches to rags for a day’ in the classic film, Roman Holiday. I’ve always wondered why she won the Oscar for this film...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 2015 and the nominees are: 1. Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night 2. Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything 3. Julianne Moore - Still Alice 4. Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl 5. Reese Witherspoon - Wild - In 2015 Julianne Moore finally won her Oscar after her fifth nomination for arguably one of the most heartbreaking performances put to screen as a woman suffering from early on set...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1956 and the nominees are: 1. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo 2. Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow 3. Katharine Hepburn - Summertime 4. Jennifer Jones - Love Is a Many Splendored Thing 5. Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody - Please note: My mic wasn't working and by default used my laptop mic to record. Apologies for sound quality - will be fixed for future episodes. In 1956 Anna Magnani...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1946 and the nominees are: 1. Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce 2. Ingrid Bergman - The Bells of St. Mary's  3. Greer Garson - The Valley of Decision 4. Jennifer Jones - Love Letters 5. Gene Tierney - Leave Her to Heaven - In 1946 Joan Crawford won the Best Actress Oscar for Mildred Pierce in one of the greatest Hollywood comeback stories of all time. After being dropped by MGM Crawford signed...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1976 and the nominees are: Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H. Ann-Margret - Tommy Louise Fletcher - One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Glenda Jackson - Hedda Carol Kane - Hester Street - In 1976 Louise Fletcher won Best Actress for playing one of the most iconic movie villains of all time, Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This film became the first in 41 years to sweep the...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1966 and the nominees are: Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music Julie Christie - Darling Samantha Eggar - The Collector Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue Simone Signoret - Ship of Fools - In 1966 Julie Christie won Best Actress for Darling playing a young London model who sleeps her way to the top (good for you girl). She famously beat Julie Andrews in what is considered her best work in The...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1967 and the nominees are: 1) Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2) Anouk Aimée - A Man and a Woman 3) Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street 4) Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl 5) Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan! - In 1967 Elizabeth Taylor won her second Oscar in a role that is regarded as one of the greatest screen performances ever in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Siblings Lynn...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] NEW EPISODE ALERT - The year is 1963 and the nominees are: Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker 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 - In 1963 Bette Davis was odds on favourite to win her third Oscar and become the first actor to have three for her performance in...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1942 and the nominees are: 1) Joan Fontaine - Suspicion 2) Bette Davis - The Little Foxes 3) Olivia de Havilland - Hold Back the Dawn 4) Greer Garson - Blossoms in the Dust 5) Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire - In 1942 Joan Fontaine won Best Actress for Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion (a movie title he allegedly hated). Many pundits think she won because she did not win the previous year when...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1934 and the nominees are: Sophia Loren - Two Women Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany’s Piper Laurie - The Hustler Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke Natalie Wood - Splendour in the Grass - In 1962 Sophia Loren became the first Best Actress winner to win for a performance in a foreign language film playing Cesira in Two Women. Two Women is the story of a widow (Loren) and her lonely...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1934 and the nominees are: 1) Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory 2) Diana Wynard - Cavalcade 3) May Robson - Lady for a Day - In 1934 Katharine Hepburn won her first of four Oscars playing Eva Lovelace, an aspiring actress who faces various career setbacks but ultimately makes it in show business. At this time in history there were only 3 nominees per category and there were was no category...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1952 and the nominees are: 1. Kathryn Hepburn - The African Queen 2. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire 3. Eleanor Parker - Detective Story 4. Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun 5. Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil - In 1952 Vivien Leigh won her second Oscar for A Streetcar Named Desire. This film swept the acting categories with Best Supporting Actress going to Kim Hunter, Best...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] NEW EPISODE ALERT The year is 1969 and the nominees are: Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl Patricia Neal - The Subject Was Roses Vanessa Redgrave - Isadora Joanne Woodward - Rachel, Rachel - In 1969 Ingrid Bergman presented the Oscar for Best Actress and was stunned when she opened the envelope revealing a tie for Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn. Up until this...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1940 and the nominees are: Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind Bette Davis - Dark Victory Irene Dunne - Love Affair Greta Garbo - Ninotchka Greer Garson - Goodbye, Mr. Chips In 1940 Vivien Leigh won the Oscar for Best Actress and is regarded, by some, as the greatest Best Actress Oscar win of all time. A role which Bette Davis admitted as being furious for not being cast in. If you’ve seen...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 2021 and the nominees are: 1. Andra Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday 2. Vanessa Kirby - Pieces of a Woman 3. Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman 4. Viola Davis - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom 5. Frances McDormand - Nomadland 
 - In 2021 Frances McDormand won her third Best Actress Oscar for Nomadland. McDormand currently has the second most Best Actress Oscars won to date with...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 2022 and the nominees are: 1. Nicole Kidman - Being the Ricardos 2. Penélope Cruz - Parallel Mothers 3. Kristen Stewart - Spencer 4. Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye 5. Olivia Colman - The Lost Daughter - In 2022 Jessica Chastain won her Oscar (finally) for portraying the iconic televangelist, Tammy Faye. Chastain has incredible range and she certainly does not disappoint in...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 1965 and the nominees are: 1. Kim Stanley - Seance on a Wet Afternoon 2. Debbie Reynolds - The Unsinkable Molly Brown 3. Sophia Loren - Marriage Italian Style 4. Anne Bancroft - The Pumpkin Eater 5. Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins - In 1965 Julie Andrews victoriously won the Best Actress Oscar for her iconic role as Mary Poppins. It was a bit of a musical vs musical of Mary Poppins vs My...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] The year is 2014 and the nominees are: 1. Meryl Streep - August: Osage County 2. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine 3. Sandra Bullock - Gravity 4. Judi Dench - Philomena 5. Amy Adams - American Hustle - In 2014 Cate Blanchett won the Oscar for her haunting performance in Blue Jasmine playing a New York socialite whose privileged life has come crashing down around her after her husband’s disgraced...

[ For full episode catalogue please subscribe to our Patreon at Patreon.com/BestActress ] NEW EPISODE ALERT The year is 1971 and the nominees are: 1. Glenda Jackson - Women in Love 2. Jane Alexander - The Great White Hope 3. Ali MacGraw - Love Story 4. Sarah Miles - Ryan’s Daughter 5. Carrie Snodgress - Diary of a Mad Housewife - In 1971 Glenda Jackson won her first Oscar for Women in Love, a film that was very controversial for the time. It was banned in many countries due to its nudity...