Silver Bear for Best Actress

At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival held in 1956, Elsa Martinelli was the first winner of this award for her performance in Donatella, and Paula Beer was the last winner in this category for her role in Undine at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020. Shirley MacLaine is the only actress to win the award twice, in 1959 for Ask Any Girl and in 1971 for Desperate Characters. Sandra Hüller, the 2006 winner for Requiem, had won Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in 2026 for Rose.

• Name — Silver Bear for Best Actress • Subheader — Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin • Awarded For — Best Performance by an Actress • Presenter — Berlin International Film Festival • Country — Germany • Image Upright — 0.8 • Year — 1956 • Year2 — 2020 • Holder — Paula Beer Undine (2020) • Website — http: www.berlinale.de/ The Silver Bear for Best Actress (Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival. Beginning with the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, the award was replaced with two gender-neutral categories, Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival held in 1956, Elsa Martinelli was the first winner of this award for her performance in Donatella, and Paula Beer was the last winner in this category for her role in Undine at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020. Shirley MacLaine is the only actress to win the award twice, in 1959 for Ask Any Girl and in 1971 for Desperate Characters. Sandra Hüller, the 2006 winner for Requiem, had won Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in 2026 for Rose.

The award was first presented in 1956 and could be for lead or supporting roles. The prize was not awarded on four occasions (1969, 1973–74, and 1990). In 1970, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the controversy over the official selection film, o.k. by Michael Verhoeven, which led to the resignation of the international jury. In 2011, the entire female cast of A Separation received the award. Shirley MacLaine has won the most awards in this category, with two. Sachiko Hidari is the only actress to win a joint award for her roles in two different films in the same competition; she won in 1964 for her performances in The Insect Woman and She and He. The last of this award was given out in 2020, after which it was replaced with gender-neutral categories, Best Leading Performance and Best Supporting Performance, the following year.

• Illustration — Elsa Martinelli, the first recipient of this award for Donatella (1956) • Illustration — Shirley McLaine won twice for Ask Any Girl (1959), and Desperate Characters (1971) • Illustration — Bibi Andersson won for The Mistress (1962) • Illustration — Gena Rowlands won for Opening Night (1977) • Illustration — Isabelle Adjani won for Camille Claudel (1988) • Illustration — Juliette Binoche won for The English Patient (1996) • Illustration — Halle Berry won for Monsters Ball (2001) • Illustration — Meryl Streep won with her co-stars Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore for The Hours (2002) • Illustration — Charlotte Rampling won for 45 Years (2015) • Illustration — Kim Min-hee won for On the Beach at Night Alone (2017) • Illustration — Paula Beer, the last winner of the Berlin Film Festival Award for Best Actress in 2020

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 1956 — Elsa — Donatella • 1957 — Yvonne — Amy • 1958 — Anna — Gioia • 1959 — Shirley — Meg

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 1960 — Juliette — Annette • 1961 — Anna — Angela • 1962 — Rita — Estelle • Viveca — Inès • 1963 — Bibi • 1964 — Sachiko — Tome • Naoko — She and He • 1965 — Madhur — Manjula • 1966 — Lola — Marie • 1967 — Edith — Maggie • 1968 — Stéphane — Frédérique

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 1971 — Shirley — Sophie • Simone — Clémence • 1972 — Elizabeth — Jimmie Jean • 1975 — Kinuyo — Osaki • 1976 — Jadwiga — Barbara • 1977 — Lily — Margo • 1978 — Gena — Myrtle • 1979 — Hanna — Maria

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 1980 — Renate — Ingrid “Sunny” • 1981 — Barbara — Kama • 1982 — Katrin — Nina • 1983 — Yevgeniya — Vera • 1984 — Inna — Vera Nikolaevna • 1985 — Jo — Mary • 1986 — Marcélia — Macabéa • Charlotte — Nadia • 1987 — Ana Beatriz — Vera • 1988 — Holly — Jane • 1989 — Isabelle — Camille

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 1991 — Victoria — Luisa • 1992 — Maggie — Ruan • 1993 — Michelle — Lurene • 1994 — Crissy — Maggie • 1995 — Josephine — May • 1996 — Anouk — Marie — My Man • 1997 — Juliette — Hana • 1998 — Fernanda — Isadora • 1999 — Juliane — Lilly • Maria — Felice

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 2000 — Bibiana — Rita • Nadja — Tatjana • 2001 — Kerry — Claire • 2002 — Halle — Leticia • 2003 — Nicole — Virginia • Julianne — Laura • Meryl — Clarissa • 2004 — Catalina — María • Charlize — Aileen • 2005 — Julia — Sophie • 2006 — Sandra — Michaela • 2007 — Nina — Yella • 2008 — Sally — Pauline "Poppy" • 2009 — Birgit — Gitti

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 2010 — Shinobu — Shigeko • 2011 — Leila — Simin • Sareh — Razieh • Sarina — Termeh • Kimia — Somayeh • 2012 — Rachel — Komona • 2013 — Paulina — Gloria • 2014 — Haru — Taki • 2015 — Charlotte — Kate • 2016 — Trine — Anna • 2017 — Kim — Young-hee • 2018 — Ana — Chela • 2019 — Yong — Wang

• Year — Actress — Role(s) — English Title — Ref. Reference • 2020 — Paula — Undine

The following actress is the only person to have received multiple Best Actress awards: • Wins — Actress — Nationality — Films • 2 — Shirley MacLaine — United States — Ask Any Girl (1959), Desperate Characters (1971)