Top 5 Academy Award Best Actress Winners in History

The time approaches again for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to pick their list of Oscar winners. Despite the many great films filled with some of the best actresses only one can walk away with the Oscar for Best Actress. Since it began in 1929 the Academy Awards have been given to many wonderful female stars, some of them have only won one Oscar, others more but each a winner in their own right. These five are some of my picks for the best of the best winners of the Oscar for best actress

Perhaps one of the most endearing actresses of filmdom is the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn. This Belgian born actress was nominated for the award of best actress for several movies though surprisingly not for My Fair Lady. Her Oscar was for her part in Roman Holiday in which she did a marvelous job portraying the princess of some unnamed country opposite Gregory Peck. This is a tale of love found and lost in the world of a princess who longs to be normal. A great role that seemed made to fit for Audrey and she plays it perfectly

In 1957 Joanne Woodward starred in The Three Faces of Eve, a movie the dealt with an extremely difficult subject, multiple personalities. Winning the Oscar for best actress was no easy task, this movie's subject was no easy task for Joanne, she had to perform not only one but three different characters in at the same time. Not only did she accomplish this but did it in such a believable way that by the end of the movie there was not a dry eye in the theater.

An avid activist and fine actress, Jane Fonda has starred in many movies some were great, some not, but for her role in Klute she won the coveted Oscar. Starring with Donald Sutherland she portrays a call girl who is called upon to work with a police officer (Suthreland) to help solve a series of murders. Starting out as a tough call girl by the end of the movie we see the soft side come through as the cop shows her the kind of affection she is not accustomed to.

Sally Field earned her Oscar for her portrayal of Norma Rae in the movie of the same name. This 1979 movie shows the life of a small town textile worker, Norma Rae, who sets out to prove that the local cotton mill is responsible for the poor health of not only her family, but the community. Showing that she has tremendous depth of acting skills, Sally Field show us a side of her that's more than just the Flying Nun.

Sissy Spacek was personally chosen by Loretta Lynn to play her in her Oscar winning performance of Coal Miner's Daughter. For her 1980 best actress award winning performance not only did Sissy have to learn the part, but she did all of her own singing. An incredible performance that even Loretta Lynn called nothing short of amazing. Also nominated for an Emmy for her singing, puts Sissy firmly in the list for one of the best of the best actresses to win an academy award.

Meryl Streep won her award for best actress for the 1982 film; Sophie's Choice. This emotionally charged film shows Meryl Streep's emotionally charged portrayal of Sophie, a polish immigrant who is interred in a Nazi concentration camp, where she is forced to choose which of her two children will die and which will live. It continues through the movie to show the horrendous effects on her as she goes through her life and ends with her own suicide. An incredible performance dealing with a terrible tragedy, this is not a movie for the faint of heart, but one of Meryl Streep's best performances.

As always the Oscars are filled with great movies and even greater actors and actresses and the choices are difficult to make because each one selected deserves to be there. Will the one you want to win be selected for that ultimate award and be named Best Actress of the year by the Academy? The only way to find out is to tune in and watch the ceremonies on February 22^nd. See you at the Oscars.

Sources: www.wikippedia.com, www.filmsite.org