The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered a
The 2026 recipient: Jessie Buckley
Janet Gaynor was the inaugural winner, for three films: 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).
Mary Pickford won for Coquette (1929).
Marie Dressler won for Min and Bill (1930).
Frances McDormand
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Frances Louise McDormand is an American actress and film producer. In a career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy
Academy Award for Best Actress
…recent winner is Jessie Buckley for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet (2025). The record for most wins is four, held by Katharine Hepburn; Frances McDormand has won three times, and thirteen other actresses have won the award twice. Meryl Streep has received the most nominations in the category—seventeen—and…
McDormand in 2015
McDormand has frequently collaborated with the Coen brothers, including Fargo, for which she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress
McDormand on the set of Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day in 2007
McDormand in 2022