From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actress awards presented, Best British Actress and Best Foreign Actress.
From 1968 onwards, the two awards merged into one award, which from 1968 to 1984 was known as Best Actress.[1]
From 1985 to present, the award has been known by its current name of Best Actress in a Leading Role.[2]
In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.
C12 : Emmanuelle Riva and Marion Cotillard both received nominations for French-speaking roles. It was the first time that multiple foreign-language performances were nominated for Best Actress in the same year since separate Best Foreign Actress and Best British Actress awards were folded into a single category in 1968.
^"American Beauty shines at Baftas". BBC News. 9 April 2000. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Gladiator, Crouching Tiger do battle in Bafta nominations". The Guardian. 31 January 2001. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Gladiator conquers the Baftas". BBC News. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"'Lord of the Rings' dominates BAFTAs, wins best film award". The Irish Times. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Hernandez, Eugene (24 February 2003). "Top BAFTA Awards For "The Pianist"". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Rings rule at Bafta film awards". BBC News. 16 February 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Aviator flies off with Bafta for Best Film". The Scotsman. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Hernandez, Eugene (20 February 2006). ""Brokeback Mountain" Wins 4 BAFTA Awards, Including Best Picture". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Baftas 2007: The winners". BBC News. 11 February 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Dawtrey, Adam (10 February 2008). "'Atonement' tops BAFTA Awards". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Turner, Mimi (8 February 2009). "'Slumdog Millionaire' wins 7 BAFTA nods". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^King, Susan (21 February 2010). "'Hurt Locker' wins big at BAFTA Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Brown, Mark (14 February 2011). "Baftas 2011: The King's Speech sweeps the board". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Reynolds, Simon (12 February 2012). "Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list - in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Brooks, Xan (11 February 2013). "Baftas 2013 – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
^"Baftas: Gravity and 12 Years a Slave share glory". BBC News. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Brown, Mark (8 February 2015). "Baftas 2015: Boyhood wins top honours but Grand Budapest Hotel checks out with most". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Lodderhose, Diana (14 February 2016). "'The Revenant,' Leonardo DiCaprio Dominate BAFTA Awards". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Grater, Tom. "Baftas 2017: 'La La Land' scoops five as 'Moonlight', 'Nocturnal Animals' are shutout". Screendaily. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Bafta Film Awards 2018: Three Billboards wins top prizes". BBC. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Nordine, Michael (10 February 2019). "BAFTA Awards 2019: 'Roma' Wins Best Film as 'The Favourite' Takes Home the Most Prizes". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"Baftas 2020: Sam Mendes film 1917 dominates awards". BBC. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^Shoard, Catherine (12 April 2021). "Baftas 2021: Nomadland wins big as Promising Young Woman and Anthony Hopkins surprise". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
^"2022 EE British Academy Film Awards: Nominations". BAFTA. 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^Sandwell, Ian (19 February 2023). "Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front has set a new BAFTA record". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
^Donnelly, Matt (1 December 2020). "Oscar-Nominated 'Umbrella Academy' Star Elliot Page Announces He Is Transgender". Variety. Retrieved 1 December 2020.