Oscar Best Actress. Who Should've Won...
by La_Notte61 | created - 28 Aug 2014 | updated - 29 Aug 2014 | PublicThe list shows my pick of who should've won the Oscar in the best performance by an actress in a leading role category.
The rest of the nominees for each year are ranked in order of preference. * denotes the actual winner
I'm currently watching every single nominated/winning performance, the list will be upload every now and then.
I'm only listing years from what I've seen at least 3 performances
1. Gloria Swanson
Actress | Sunset Blvd.
Gloria Swanson was born Gloria May Josephine Svensson in Chicago, Illinois. She was destined to be perhaps one of the biggest stars of the silent movie era. Her personality and antics in private definitely made her a favorite with America's movie-going public. Gloria certainly didn't intend on ...
1950.
For Sunset Blvd.
Anne Baxter, All About Eve
Bette Davis, All About Eve
2. Glenda Jackson
Actress | Women in Love
Few in modern British history have come as far or achieved as much from humble beginnings as Glenda Jackson did. From acclaimed actress to respected MP (Member of Parliament), she was known for her high intelligence and meticulous approach to her work. She was born to a working-class household in ...
1971.
For Sunday Bloody Sunday
Julie Christie, McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Jane Fonda, Klute *
Vanessa Redgrave / Janet Suzman N/S
3. Isabelle Adjani
Actress | Possession
Isabelle Yasmine Adjani was born in Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine, a suburb of Paris, to Emma Augusta "Gusti" (Schweinberger) and Mohammed Adjani. Her father was a Kabyle Algerian, from Iferhounène, and her mother was a Bavarian German. She grew up speaking German fluently. After winning a school ...
1975.
For The Story of Adele H.
Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest *
Ann-Margret, Tommy
Glenda Jackson / Carol Kane N/S
4. Sally Kirkland
Actress | Anna
Sally Kirkland, Best Actress Oscar Nominee, Golden Globe winner, Independent Spirit Award winner, LA Film Critics Circle Award winner, and veteran of over 200 movies. Feisty, hard-working, famously liberal, with the trademark blonde hair, actress Sally Kirkland has certainly made an indelible mark ...
1987.
For Anna
Cher, Moonstruck *
Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction
Meryl Streep, Ironweed
Holly Hunter N/S
5. Glenn Close
Actress | Fatal Attraction
Eight time Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Mary H. "Bettine" (Moore) and William Taliaferro Close (William Close), a prominent doctor. Both of her parents were from upper-class families.
Glenn was a noted ...
1988.
For Dangerous Liaisons
Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas in the Mist
Jodie Foster, The Accused *
Melanie Griffith, Working Girl
Meryl Streep N/S
6. Anjelica Huston
Actress | The Grifters
Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951 to director and actor John Huston and Russian prima ballerina Enrica 'Ricki' Soma. Huston spent most of her childhood overseas, in Ireland and England, and in 1968 first dipped her toe into the world of show business, taking on the lead role of her father's ...
1990.
For The Grifters
Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman
Kathy Bates, Misery *
Streep / Woodward N/S
7. Jodie Foster
Actress | The Silence of the Lambs
Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received ...
1991.
For Silence of the Lambs * (right choice)
Geena Davis, Thelma & Louise
Susan Sarandon, Thelma & Louise
Laura Dern / Bette Midler N/S
8. Frances McDormand
Actress | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Frances Louise McDormand was born on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. She was adopted by Canadian-born parents Noreen Eloise (Nickleson), a nurse from Ontario, and Rev. Vernon Weir McDormand, a Disciples of Christ minister from Nova Scotia, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. She ...
1996.
For Fargo * (right choice!)
Diane Keaton, Marvin's Room
Kristin Scott Thomas, The English Patient
Brenda Blethyn, Secrets & Lies
Emily Watson N/S
9. Cate Blanchett
Actress | Carol
Cate Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to June (Gamble), an Australian teacher and property developer, and Robert DeWitt Blanchett, Jr., an American advertising executive, originally from Texas. She has an older brother and a younger sister. When she was ten ...
1998.
For Elizabeth
Emily Watson, Hilary and Jackie
Gwyneth Platrow, Shakespeare in Love *
Fernanda Montengro, Central Station
Meryl Streep N/S
10. Hilary Swank
Actress | Million Dollar Baby
Hilary was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Judith Kay (Clough), a secretary, and Stephen Michael Swank, who served in the National Guard and was also a traveling salesman. Her maternal grandmother, Frances Martha Dominguez, was of Mexican descent, and her other roots include German, English, and ...
1999.
For Boys Don't Cry
Julianne Moore, The End of the Affair
Annette Bening, American Beauty
Meryl Streep / Janet McTeer N/S
11. Julia Roberts
Actress | Pretty Woman
Julia Fiona Roberts never dreamed she would become the most popular actress in America. She was born in Smyrna, Georgia, to Betty Lou (Bredemus) and Walter Grady Roberts, one-time actors and playwrights, and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Swedish descent. As a child, due to her ...
2000.
For Erin Brockovich * (right choice!)
Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
Juliette Binoche, Chocolat
Laura Linney / Joan Allen N/S
12. Renée Zellweger
Actress | Chicago
Renée Kathleen Zellweger was born on April 25, 1969, in Katy, Texas, Her mother, Kjellfrid Irene (Andreassen), is a Norwegian-born former nurse and midwife, of Norwegian, Kven (Finnish), and Swedish descent. Her father, Emil Erich Zellweger, is a Swiss-born engineer. The two married in 1963. Renée ...
2001.
For Bridget Jones's Diary
Judi Dench, Iris
Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom
Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!
Halle Berry, Monster's Ball *
13. Salma Hayek
Actress | Frida
Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Her father is of Lebanese descent and her mother is of Mexican/Spanish ancestry. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theater, she decided she wanted to become an actress. At age 12, she...
2002.
For Frida
Renée Zellweger, Chicago
Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven
Nicole Kidman, The Hours *
Diane Lane, Unfaithful
14. Naomi Watts
Actress | Mulholland Dr.
Naomi Ellen Watts was born on September 28, 1968 in Shoreham, England to Myfanwy Edwards "Miv" (Roberts), an antiques dealer and costume/set designer, and Peter Watts (Peter Anthony Watts), Pink Floyd's road manager. Her maternal grandfather was Welsh. Her father died when she was seven and she ...
2003.
For 21 Grams
Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Charlize Theron, Monster *
Samantha Morton / Castle-Hughes N/S
15. Kate Winslet
Actress | Titanic
Ask Kate Winslet what she likes about any of her characters, and the word "ballsy" is bound to pop up at least once. The British actress has made a point of eschewing straightforward pretty-girl parts in favor of more devilish damsels; as a result, she's built an eclectic resume that runs the gamut...
2004.
For Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Imelda Stauton, Vera Drake
Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace
Annette Bening, Being Julia
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby *
16. Reese Witherspoon
Producer | Wild
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana to Betty Witherspoon, a registered nurse & John Draper Witherspoon, a military surgeon. Reese spent the first 4 years of her life in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, where her father served as a lieutenant colonel in the ...
2005.
For Walk the Line * (right choice!)
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
17. Penélope Cruz
Actress | Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Known outside her native country as the "Spanish enchantress," Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid to Eduardo Cruz, a retailer, and Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser. As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family's amusement, but she decided to ...
2006.
For Volver
Helen Mirren, The Queen *
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
18. Julie Christie
Actress | Doctor Zhivago
Julie Christie, the British movie legend whom Al Pacino called "the most poetic of all actresses," was born in Chabua, Assam, India, on April 14, 1940, the daughter of a tea planter and his Welsh wife Rosemary, who was a painter. The young Christie grew up on her father's plantation before being ...
2007.
For Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose *
Laura Linney, The Savages
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Ellen Page, Juno
19. Angelina Jolie
Actress | Maleficent
Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become ...
2008.
For Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet, The Reader *
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep, Doubt
20. Gabourey Sidibe
Actress | Precious
Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, the star of Precious (2009), was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Alice Tan Ridley, is a former special education teacher who gave up her career and became a street performer/singer, while her father, Ibnou Sidibe, is a cab driver....
2009.
For Precious
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side *
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
21. Michelle Williams
Actress | Blue Valentine
A small-town girl born and raised in rural Kalispell, Montana, Michelle Ingrid Williams is the daughter of Carla Ingrid (Swenson), a homemaker, and Larry Richard Williams, a commodity trader and author. Her ancestry is Norwegian, as well as German, British Isles, and other Scandinavian. She was ...
2010.
For Blue Valentine
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan *
Nicole Kidman N/S
22. Rooney Mara
Actress | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara was born on April 17, 1985 in Bedford, New York. She made her screen debut in the slasher film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005), went on to have a supporting role in the independent coming-of-age drama Tanner Hall (2009), and has since starred in the horror ...
2011.
For The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady *
23. Emmanuelle Riva
Actress | Hiroshima mon amour
An only child, Emmanuelle was born Paulette Germaine Riva in Cheniménil, but eventually grew up in Remiremont. Her mother, Jeanne Fernande Nourdin, was a seamstress. Her father, René Alfred "Alfredo" Riva, was a sign writer. Her paternal grandfather was Italian. She dreamed of becoming an actress ...
2012.
For Amour
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook *
24. Cate Blanchett
Actress | Carol
Cate Blanchett was born on May 14, 1969 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to June (Gamble), an Australian teacher and property developer, and Robert DeWitt Blanchett, Jr., an American advertising executive, originally from Texas. She has an older brother and a younger sister. When she was ten ...
2013.
For Blue Jasmine * (right choice!)
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August, Osage County
Amy Adams, American Hustle
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