BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role facts for kids

Quick facts for kids BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
The 2024 recipient: Mikey Madison
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Country	United Kingdom
Currently held by	Mikey Madison for Anora (2024)

The BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is a special award given out every year. It's presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). This award honors an actress who gave the best performance as a main character in a movie.

The award has changed over the years:

• From 1952 to 1967, there were two separate awards: one for the Best British Actress and one for the Best Foreign Actress.
• In 1968, these two awards were combined into one single award called Best Actress.
• Since 1985, it has been known by its current name, Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In the lists below, the names in bold with a gold background are the winners. The years shown are when the movies were released, not the year of the awards ceremony.

Famous Winners of the Award

     This color shows the winner

Vivien Leigh was the first winner, for A Streetcar Named Desire (1952).

Audrey Hepburn won three times, including for Roman Holiday (1953).

Katharine Hepburn won twice, including for The Lion in Winter (1968).

Maggie Smith has won this award four times, more than any other actress.

Liza Minnelli won for playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret (1972).

Meryl Streep has been nominated a record 12 times. She won for The Iron Lady (2011).

Judi Dench won for playing Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown (1997) and for Iris (2001).

Cate Blanchett has won three times, including for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998).

Helen Mirren won for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

Emma Stone won for La La Land (2016) and Poor Things (2023).

Frances McDormand won for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and Nomadland (2020).

This section shows the winners for each year. From 1952 to 1967, there were two winners: one British and one Foreign. From 1968 on, there was only one winner.

1950s: The First Winners

1960s: A Decade of Change

1970s to Today: One Award for All

Record-Breaking Actresses

Some actresses have won or been nominated for this award many times. Here are some of the record-holders.

Who has the most wins?

• 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

Who has the most nominations?

• 12 nominations: Meryl Streep
• 8 nominations: Maggie Smith
• 7 nominations: Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine
• 6 nominations: Julie Christie, Jane Fonda, Simone Signoret
• 5 nominations: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:BAFTA a la mejor actriz para niños

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role