Silver Bear for Best Actress

Discontinued award presented by the Berlin International Film Festival From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Silver Bear for Best Actress (German: 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.

Awarded forBest Performance by an Actress
CountryGermany
First award1956
Quick facts Awarded for, Country ...
Silver Bear for Best Actress
Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin (German)
Shirley MacLaine is the only actress to win the award twice
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actress
CountryGermany
Presented byBerlin International Film Festival
First award1956
Final award2020
Currently held byPaula Beer
Undine (2020)
Websitewww.berlinale.de
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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.

History

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.

Winners

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

1950s

More information Year, Actress ...
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1960s

More information Year, Actress ...
Year Actress Role(s) English Title Ref.
1960 Juliette Mayniel Annette The Fair [5]
1961 Anna Karina Angela Récamier A Woman Is a Woman [6]
1962 Rita Gam Estelle Rigault No Exit [7]
Viveca Lindfors Inès Serrano
1963 Bibi Andersson The Girl The Mistress [8]
1964 Sachiko Hidari [A] Tome Matsuki The Insect Woman [9]
Naoko Ishikawa She and He
1965 Madhur Jaffrey Manjula Shakespeare Wallah [10]
1966 Lola Albright Marie Greene Lord Love a Duck [11]
1967 Edith Evans Maggie Ross The Whisperers [12]
1968 Stéphane Audran Frédérique Les Biches [13]
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1970s

More information Year, Actress ...
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1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

More information Year, Actress ...
Year Actress Role(s) English Title Ref.
2020 Paula Beer Undine Wibeau Undine [60]
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Multiple winners

The following actress is the only person to have received multiple Best Actress awards:

More information Wins, Actress ...
Wins Actress Nationality Films
2 Shirley MacLaine United States Ask Any Girl (1959),
Desperate Characters (1971)
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See also

Notes

A^: Performer to receive a joint award which honor the outstanding work in multiple different films in the same official competition slate.
B^: The entire male and female cast of A Separation (جدایی نادر از سیمین) was recipient of this award.

References

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