Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture" but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actress - Musical or Comedy.

The formal title has varied since its inception and as of 2005 is officially called: "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama".

Past winners

"Best Actress - Motion Picture"

*1944 - Jennifer Jones, "The Song of Bernadette"
*1945 - Ingrid Bergman, "Gaslight"
*1946 - Ingrid Bergman, "The Bells of St. Mary's"
*1947 - Rosalind Russell, "Sister Kenny"
*1948 - Rosalind Russell, "Mourning Becomes Electra"
*1949 - Jane Wyman, "Johnny Belinda"
*1950 - Olivia de Havilland, "The Heiress"

"Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama"

1950s

*1951 - Gloria Swanson, "Sunset Boulevard"
*1952 - Jane Wyman, "The Blue Veil"
*1953 - Shirley Booth, "Come Back, Little Sheba"
*1954 - Audrey Hepburn, "Roman Holiday"
*1955 - Grace Kelly, "The Country Girl"
*1956 - Anna Magnani, "The Rose Tattoo"
*1957 - Ingrid Bergman, "Anastasia"
*1958 - Joanne Woodward, "The Three Faces of Eve"
*1959 - Susan Hayward, "I Want to Live!"

1960s

*1960 - Elizabeth Taylor, "Suddenly, Last Summer"
*1961 - Greer Garson, "Sunrise at Campobello"
*1962 - Geraldine Page, "Summer and Smoke"
*1963 - Geraldine Page, "Sweet Bird of Youth"
*1964 - Leslie Caron, "The L-Shaped Room"
*1965 - Anne Bancroft, "The Pumpkin Eater"
*1966 - Samantha Eggar, "The Collector"
*1967 - Anouk Aimée, "A Man and a Woman"
*1968 - Edith Evans, "The Whisperers"
*1969 - Joanne Woodward, "Rachel, Rachel"

1970s

*1970 - Geneviève Bujold, "Anne of the Thousand Days" as Anne Boleyn
*1971 - Ali MacGraw, "Love Story" as "Jenny Cavilleri Barrett"
*1972 - Jane Fonda, "Klute" as "Bree Daniels"
*1973 - Liv Ullmann, "The Emigrants (Utvandrarna)"
*1974 - Marsha Mason, "Cinderella Liberty"
*1975 - Gena Rowlands, "A Woman Under the Influence"
*1976 - Louise Fletcher, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as "Nurse Ratched"
*1977 - Faye Dunaway, "Network" as "Diana Christensen"
*1978 - Jane Fonda, "Julia" as Lillian Hellman
*1979 - Jane Fonda, "Coming Home" as "Sally Hyde"

1980s

*1980 - Sally Field, "Norma Rae" as "Norma Rae Webster"
*1981 - Mary Tyler Moore, "Ordinary People" as "Beth Jarrett"
*1982 - Meryl Streep, "The French Lieutenant's Woman"
*1983 - Meryl Streep, "Sophie's Choice" as "Sophie Zawistowska"
*1984 - Shirley MacLaine, "Terms of Endearment" as "Aurora Greenway"
*1985 - Sally Field, "Places in the Heart" as "Edna Spalding"
*1986 - Whoopi Goldberg, "The Color Purple" as "Celie"
*1987 - Marlee Matlin, "Children of a Lesser God" as "Sarah Norman"
*1988 - Sally Kirkland, "Anna" as "Anna"
*1989 - Three way tie: Jodie Foster - "The Accused" as Sarah Tobias; Sigourney Weaver-"Gorillas in the mist" as Diane Fossey and Shirley MacLaine-"Madame Sousatzka" as Yuvline Sousatzka
*"1989" - Michelle Pfieffer, "The Fabulous Baker Boys" as "Susie Diamond"

1990s

**Jessica Lange - "Music Box" as Ann Talbot
**Liv Ullman - "The Rose Garden" as Gabriele
**Andie MacDowell - "sex, lies and videotape" as Ann Bishop Mullany
**Sally Field - "Steel Magnolias" as M'Lynn Eatenton
*1991 - Kathy Bates - "Misery" as Annie Wilkes
**Anjelica Huston - "The Grifters" as Lilly Dillon
**Joanne Woodward - "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" as India Bridge
**Michelle Pfeiffer - "The Russia House" as Katya Orlova
**Susan Sarandon - "White Palace" as Nora Baker
*1992 - Jodie Foster - "The Silence of the Lambs" as Clarice Starling
**Annette Bening - "Bugsy" as Virginia Hill
**Laura Dern - "Rambling Rose" as Rose
**Geena Davis - "Thelma and Louise" as Thelma Yvonne Dickinson
**Susan Sarandon - "Thelma and Louise" as Louise Elizabeth Sawyer
*1993 - Emma Thompson - "Howards End" as Margaret Schlegel
**Sharon Stone - "Basic Instinct" as Catherine Tramell
**Susan Sarandon - "Lorenzo's Oil" as Michaela Odone
**Michelle Pfeiffer - "Love Field" as Lurene Hallett
**Mary McDonnell - "Passion Fish" as May-Alice Culhane
*1994 - Holly Hunter - "The Piano" as Ada McGrath
**Michelle Pfeiffer - "The Age of Innocence" as Ellen Olenska
**Debra Winger - "A Dangerous Woman" as Martha Horgan
**Emma Thompson - "The Remains of the Day" as Mary Kenton
**Juliette Binoche - "" as Julie Vignon (de Courcy)
*1995 - Jessica Lange - "Blue Sky" as Carly Marshall
**Jennifer Jason Leigh - "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" as Dorothy Parker
**Jodie Foster - "Nell" as Nell Kellty
**Meryl Streep - "The River Wild" as Gail Hartman
**Miranda Richardson - "Tom & Viv" as Vivienne Haigh-Wood
*1996 - Sharon Stone - "Casino" as Ginger McKenna
**Meryl Streep - "The Bridges of Madison County" as Francesca Johnson
**Susan Sarandon - "Dead Man Walking" as Sister Helen Prejean
**Elisabeth Shue - "Leaving Las Vegas" as Sera
**Emma Thompson - "Sense and Sensibility" as Elinor Dashwood
*1997 - Brenda Blethyn - "Secrets and Lies" as Cynthia Rose Purley
**Emily Watson - "Breaking the Waves" as Bess McNeill
**Kristin Scott Thomas - "The English Patient" as Katharine Clifton
**Meryl Streep - "Marvin's Room" as Lee
**Courtney Love - "The People vs. Larry Flynt" as Althea Leasure
*1998 - Judi Dench - "Mrs. Brown" as Queen Victoria
**Jodie Foster - "Contact" as Eleanor Arroway
**Jessica Lange - "A Thousand Acres" as Ginny Cook Smith
**Kate Winslet - "Titanic" as Rose DeWitt Bukater
**Helena Bonham Carter - "The Wings of the Dove" as Kate Croy
* "'1999 - Cate Blanchett - "Elizabeth" as Queen Elizabeth I
**Fernanda Montenegro - "Central Station (Central do Brasil)" as Dora
**Susan Sarandon - "Stepmom" as Jackie Harrison
**Meryl Streep - "One True Thing" as Kate Gulden
**Emily Watson - "Hilary and Jackie" as Jackie duPre

2000s

*"'2000 Hilary Swank - "Boys Don't Cry" as Brandon Teena
** Annette Bening - "American Beauty" as Carolyn Burnham
** Julianne Moore - "The End of the Affair" as Sarah Myles
** Meryl Streep - "Music of the Heart" as Roberta Guaspari
** Sigourney Weaver - "A Map of the World" as Alice Goodwin
*"'2001 Julia Roberts - "Erin Brockovich" as Erin Brockovich
** Joan Allen – "The Contender" as Senator Laine Hanson
** Björk – "Dancer in the Dark" as Selma Jezkova
** Ellen Burstyn – "Requiem for a Dream" as Sara Goldfarb
** Laura Linney – "You Can Count on Me" as Samantha "Sammy" Prescott
* "'2002 Halle Berry - "Monster's Ball" as Leticia Musgrove
** Sissy Spacek - "In the Bedroom" as Ruth Fowler
** Judi Dench - "Iris" as Iris Murdoch
** Nicole Kidman - "The Others" as Grace Stewart
** Tilda Swinton - "The Deep End" as Margaret Hall
* "'2003 Nicole Kidman - "The Hours" as Virginia Woolf
** Salma Hayek - "Frida" as Frida Kahlo
** Diane Lane - "Unfaithful" as Connie Summer
** Julianne Moore - "Far From Heaven" as Cathy Whitaker
** Meryl Streep - "The Hours" as Clarissa Vaughan
* "'2004 Charlize Theron - "Monster" as Aileen Wuornos
** Cate Blanchett - "Veronica Guerin" as Veronica Guerin
** Scarlett Johansson - "Girl with a Pearl Earring" as Griet
** Nicole Kidman - "Cold Mountain" as Ada Monroe
** Uma Thurman - "Kill Bill Vol. 1" as The Bride
** Evan Rachel Wood - "Thirteen" as Tracy Louise Freeland
* "'2005 Hilary Swank - "Million Dollar Baby" as Maggie Fitzgerald
** Scarlett Johansson - "A Love Song for Bobby Long" as Pursy Will
** Nicole Kidman - "Birth" as Anna
** Imelda Staunton - "Vera Drake" as Vera
** Uma Thurman - "Kill Bill Vol. 2" as Beatrix Kiddo/The Bride
* "'2006 Felicity Huffman - "Transamerica" as Bree Osbourne
** Maria Bello - "A History of Violence" as Edie Stall
** Gwyneth Paltrow - "Proof" as Catherine
** Charlize Theron - "North Country" as Josey Aimes
** Ziyi Zhang - "Memoirs of a Geisha" as Chiyo/Sayuri
* "'2007 Helen Mirren - "The Queen" as Queen Elizabeth II
** Penélope Cruz - "Volver" as Raimunda
** Judi Dench - "Notes on a Scandal" as Barbara Covett
** Maggie Gyllenhaal - "SherryBaby" as Sherry Swanson
** Kate Winslet - "Little Children" as Sarah Pierce
* "'2008 Julie Christie - "Away from Her" as Fiona Anderson
** Cate Blanchett - "" as Queen Elizabeth I
** Jodie Foster - "The Brave One" as Erica Bain
** Angelina Jolie - "A Mighty Heart" as Mariane Pearl
** Keira Knightley - "Atonement" as Cecilia Tallis