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100 Greatest Female Acting
Performances

Movie images collage

Criteria: These female acting perfomances are based on characterization, charisma, intensity, and mainly on how well the actor portrayed the role. The genre of the role has no affect on its placement. Comedy, drama, and action, as well as both leading roles and supporting roles were all given a fair consideration.

Last Updated: 2017-10-08
Newly added names are in  Red 
Greatest Female Acting Performances
  Actress - Movie Title (Year)
  1. Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice (1982)
  2. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard (1950)
  3. Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen (1951)
  4. Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
  5. Katharine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter (1968)
  6. Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight (1944)
  7. Kathy Bates - Misery (1990)
  8. Vivien Leigh - Gone With the Wind (1939)
  9. Julia Roberts - Erin Brocovich (2000)
10. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
11. Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
12. Frances McDormand - Fargo (1996)
13. Norma Shearer - The Divorcee (1929)
14. Olivia De Havilland - To Each His Own (1946)
15. Diane Keaton - Annie Hall (1977)
16. Holly Hunter - The Piano (1993)
17. Sophie Loren - Two Women (1961)
18. Olivia De Havilland - The Heiress (1949)
19. Shirley MacLaine - Terms of Endearment (1983)
20. Ingrid Bergman - Casablanca (1942)
21. Hillary Swank - Boys Don't Cry (2000)
22. Grace Kelly - The Country Girl (1954)
23. Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
24. Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story (1940)
25. Emma Thompson - Howard's End (1992)
26. Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
27. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf (1966)
28. Charlize Theron - Monster (2003)
29. Jennifer Jones - The Song Of Bernadette (1943)
30. Joan Fontaine - Suspicion (1941)
31. Jodie Foster - The Accused (1988)
32. Jane Fonda - Coming Home (1978)
33. Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond (1981)
34. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday (1953)
35. Faye Dunaway - Network (1976)
36. Lana Turner - The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
37. Sally Field - Places in the Heart (1984)
38. Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night (1934)
39. Bette Davis - Jezebel (1938)
40. Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story (1959)
41. Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker (1962)
42. Meryl Streep - French Lieutenants Woman (1981)
43. Kathy Bates - Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
44. Halle Berry - Monster's Ball (2001)
45. Doris Day - Pillow Talk (1959)
46. Donna Reed - It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
47. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity (1944)
48. Sally Field - Norma Rae (1979)
49. Audrey Hepburn - Two For the Road (1967)
50. Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction (1987)
51. Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear (1952)
52. Jean Seberg - Breathless (1960)
53. Bette Davis - Dangerous (1935)
54. Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
55. Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory (1933)
56. Donna Reed - From Here To Eternity (1953)
57. Julie Andrews - The Sound Of Music (1965)
58. Louise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
59. Anna Magnini - The Rose Tattoo (1955)
60. Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
61. Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia (1956)
62. Louise Rainer - The Good Earth (1937)
63. Kathy Bates - Dolores Claiborne (1995)
64. Bette Davis - All About Eve (1950)
65. Glenda Jackson - Women in Love (1970)
66. Liza Minnelli - Cabaret (1972)
67. Ingrid Bergman - Notorious (1946)
68. Glenda Jackson - A Touch of Class (1973)
69. Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
70. Bette Davis - Of Human Bondage (1934)
71. Julie Christie - Darling (1960)
72. Catherine Hepburn - Holiday (1938)
73. Nicole Kidman - The Hours (2002)
74. Ingrid Bergman - Spellbound (1945)
75. Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire (1941)
76. Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver (1942)
77. Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce (1945)
78. Katherine Hepburn - Adam's Rib (1949)
79. Jane Fonda - Klute (1971)
80. Ava Gardner - The Night Of The Iguana (1964)
81. Faye Dunaway - Mommie Dearest (1981)
82. Susan Sarandon - Dead Man Walking (1995)
83. Susan Hayward - I Want to Live (1958)
84. Elizabeth Taylor - Buttlerfield 8 (1960)
85. Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda (1948)
86. Bette Davis - Dark Victory (1939)
87. Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata (1978)
88. Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (2011)
89. Lauren Bacall - Key Largo (1948)
90. Judy Garland - A Star Is Born (1954)
91. Joan Fontaine - Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)
92. Sissy Spacek - Carrie (1976)
93. Jessica Lange - Blue Sky (1994)
94. Joan Fontaine - Rebecca (1940)
95. Deborah Kerr - The King and I (1956)
96. Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby (2004)
97. Giulietta Masina - La Strada (1954)
98. Helen Mirren - The Queen (2006)
99. Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity (1953)
100. Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine (2013)

15 More Worth Mentioning
101. Natalie Portman - Black Swan (2010)
102. Kate Winslet - The Reader (2008)
103. Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves (1996)
104. Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line (2005)
105. Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side (2009)
106. Amy Adams - American Hustle (2013)
107. Audrey Hepburn - My Fair Lady (1964)
108. Julianne Moore - Still Alice (2014)
109. Kate Winslet - Hamlet (1996)
110. Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose (2007)
111. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
112. Brie Larson - Room (2015)
113. Judi Dench - Philomena (2013)
114. Viola Davis - The Help (2011)
115. Emma Stone - La La Land (2016)
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
Meryl Streep in
Sophie's Choice


Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
Gloria Swanson
in Sunset Boulevard


Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen
Katharine Hepburn
in The African Queen


Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Elizabeth Taylor
in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof


Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter
Katharine Hepburn
in The Lion in Winter


Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight
Ingrid Bergman
in Gaslight



Sophie's Choice - Movie Trailer



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