Oscar Tribute-Best Actress

The great Katharine Hepburn won Best Actress four times.

On a spring evening in 1928 Janet Gaynor beat out fellow movie stars Louise Dresser and Gloria Swanson to win the very first Best Actress Oscar. The following year the silver screens first superstar, Mary Pickford, won for Coquette besting fellow silent film star Bessie Love whose performance in The Broadway Melody helped kick off the musical craze. At the third annual ceremony in 1930 Norma Shearer won over the legendary Greta Garbo as well as Gloria Swanson, who, though nominated three times in her long career, never left a winner. When aging character actress Marie Dressler won over the sexually alluring Marlene Dietrich the next year it became clear this award was about more than just glamour and great legs. And though many beautiful women have since taken this Oscar home it has often gone to less attractive but no less talented women.

The three most acclaimed women of this award are Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Meryl Streep. Katie has twelve nominations and four wins ranging from the early thirties to the early eighties, Bette was nominated eleven times (between 1934 and 1944 she was nominated an astounding eight times and along with Greer Garson is the only woman to be nominated five consecutive years), winning twice, and Meryl has been nominated an amazing ten times since 1981, although she has only taken one Best Actress statuette home.

This award definitely favors dramatic performances though there have been a few winners in comedic roles, most notably Claudette Colbert for It Happened One Night and Judy Holiday in Born Yesterday. This last award caused one of Hollywood’s greatest upsets when Holiday’s name was announced over Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. Both of these were great comeback roles that are now considered to be two of the finest performances in movie history.

The few actresses who have won this award twice, besides the aforementioned Hepburn and Davis are: Louise Rainer, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor, Glenda Jackson, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Jodi Foster and Hilary Swank.

Space does not allow me to pay homage to the many other fine actresses who’ve won this great honor. But to them all I whisper a very appreciative thank you, for the many hours of magic they have provided me in the dark.