BAFTA for Best Actress

2008 - Kate Winslet - The Reader
2007 - Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
2006 - Helen Mirren - The Queen
2005 - Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
2004 - Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake
2003 - Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation
2002 - Nicole Kidman - The Hours
2001 - Judi Dench - Iris
2000 - Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich
1999 - Annette Bening - American Beauty
1998 - Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth 
1997 - Judi Dench - Mrs Brown 
1996 - Brenda Blethyn - Secrets & Lies
1995 - Emma Thompson - Sense and Sensibility 
1994 - Susan Sarandon - The Client
1993 - Holly Hunter - The Piano
1992 - Emma Thompson - Howards End
1991 - Jodie Foster - The Silence Of The Lambs
1990 - Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy
1989 - Pauline Collins - Shirley Valentine
1988 - Maggie Smith - The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
1987 - Anne Bancroft - 84 Charing Cross Road 
1986 - Maggie Smith - A Room With A View
1985 - Peggy Ashcroft - A Passage to India 
1984 - Maggie Smith - A Private Function
1983 - Julie Walters - Educating Rita
1982 - Katharine Hepburn - On Golden Pond 
1981 - Meryl Streep - The French Lieutenant's Daughter 
1980 - Judy Davis - My Brilliant Career
1979 - Jane Fonda - China Syndrome
1978 - Jane Fonda - Julia
1977 - Diane Keaton - Annie Hall
1976 - Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1975 - Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974 - Joanne Woodward - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams 
1973 - Stephane Audran -  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
1972 - Liza Minnelli - Cabaret
1971 - Glenda Jackson - Sunday Bloody Sunday
1970 - Katharine Ross - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
1969 - Maggie Smith - The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
1968 - Katharine Hepburn - The Lion In Winter 

Prior to 1968 two BAFTAs were given - one for Best British Actress and one for Best Foreign Actress.

1967 - Best Foreign Actress - Anouk Aimée - A Man and a Woman 
          - Best British Actress - Edith Evans - The Whisperers  
1966 - Best Foreign Actress - Jeanne Moreau - Viva Maria! 
          - Best British Actress - Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 
1965 - Best Foreign Actress - Patricia Neal - In Harm's Way
          - Best British Actress - Julie Christie - Darling
1964 - Best Foreign Actress - Anne Bancroft - The Pumpkin Eater 
          - Best British Actress - Audrey Hepburn - Charade
1963 - Best Foreign Actress - Patricia Neal - Hud
          - Best British Actress - Rachel Roberts - This Sporting Life  
1962 - Best Foreign Actress - Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker 
          - Best British Actress - Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room
1961 - Best Foreign Actress - Sophia Loren - Two Womenr
          - Best British Actress - Dora Bryan - A Taste of Honey
1960 - Best Foreign Actress - Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment 
          - Best British Actress - Rachel Roberts - Saturday Night & Sunday Morning  
1959 - Best Foreign Actress - Shirley MacLaine - Ask Any Girl
          - Best British Actress - Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story  
1958 - Best Foreign Actress - Simone Signoret - Room at the Top
          - Best British Actress - Irene Worth - Orders to Kill 
1957 - Best Foreign Actress - Simone Signoret - The Witches of Salem 
          - Best British Actress - Heather Sears - The Story of Esther Costello 
1956 - Best Foreign Actress - Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo
          - Best British Actress - Virginia McKenna - A Town Like Alice 
1955 - Best Foreign Actress - Betsy Blair - Marty
          - Best British Actress - Katie Johnson - The Ladykillers  
1954 - Best Foreign Actress - Cornell Borchers - The Divided Heart 
          - Best British Actress - Yvonne Mitchell - The Divided Heart 
1953 - Best Foreign Actress - Leslie Caron - Lili
          - Best British Actress - Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday  
1952 - Best Foreign Actress - Simone Signoret - Golden Helmet 
          - Best British Actress - Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire