The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a television limited series or television movie for the primetime network season.
The award was first presented at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards on March 7, 1955, to Judith Anderson, for her performance as Lady Macbeth on the Hallmark Hall of Fame episode "Macbeth". It has undergone several name changes, with the category split into two categories at the 25th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy; and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series. By the 31st Primetime Emmy Awards, the categories were merged into one, and it has since undergone several name changes, leading to its current title.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 54 actresses. Sally Field is the current recipient of the award, for her portrayal of Tova Sullivan on Remarkably Bright Creatures. Helen Mirren has won the most awards in this category, with four.
Winners and nominations
+ Table key Indicates the winner
1950s Year Actress Role Program Episode Network Best Actress in a Single Performance1955 Judith Anderson Lady Macbeth Hallmark Hall of Fame "Macbeth" NBC Ethel Barrymore Mme. Rosalie La Grange Climax! "The Thirteenth Chair" CBS Beverly Garland Estelle Collins Medic "White Is the Color" NBC Ruth Hussey Harriet Craig Lux Video Theater "Craig's Wife" CBS Dorothy McGuire Janet Spence Climax! "The Gioconda Smile" Eva Marie Saint Betty The Philco Television Playhouse "Middle of the Night" NBC Claire Trevor Ellen Creed Lux Video Theater "Ladies in Retirement" CBS 1956 Mary Martin Peter Pan Producers' Showcase "Peter Pan" NBC Julie Harris Shevawn The United States Steel Hour "A Wind from the South" CBS Eva Marie Saint Emily Producers' Showcase "Our Town" NBC Jessica Tandy The Wife "The Fourposter" Loretta Young Sadie The Loretta Young Show "Christmas Stopover" 1957 Claire Trevor Fran Dodsworth Producers' Showcase "Dodsworth" NBC Edna Best Ethel Gibbons Ford Star Jubilee "This Happy Breed" CBS Gracie Fields Sarah Dowey The United States Steel Hour "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" Nancy Kelly Sister M. Aquinas Studio One "The Pilot" Evelyn Rudie Eloise Playhouse 90 "Eloise" Best Single Performance by an Actress – Lead or Support 1958 Polly Bergen Helen Morgan Playhouse 90 "The Helen Morgan Story" CBS Julie Andrews Cinderella Cinderella CBS Helen Hayes Mrs. Gilling The Alcoa Hour "Mrs. Gilling and the Skyscraper" NBC Piper Laurie Ruth Cornelius Studio One "The Deaf Heart" CBS Teresa Wright Annie Sullivan Playhouse 90 "The Miracle Worker" Best Single Performance by an Actress 1959 Julie Harris Bridgid Mary Hallmark Hall of Fame "Little Moon of Alban" CBS Judith Anderson Marquesa de Montemayor The DuPont Show of the Month "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" CBS Helen Hayes Mother Seraphim The United States Steel Hour "One Red Rose for Christmas" Piper Laurie Kirsten Clay Playhouse 90 "Days of Wine and Roses" Geraldine Page The Young Woman "The Old Man" Maureen Stapleton Sadie Burke Kraft Television Theatre "All the Kings Men" NBC
1960s Year Actress Role Program Episode Network Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress (Lead or Support) 1960Emmys.com list of 1960 Nominees & Winners Ingrid Bergman The Governess Startime "The Turn of the Screw" NBC Julie Harris Mattie Silver DuPont Show of the Month "Ethan Frome" CBS Teresa Wright Margaret Bourke-White NBC Sunday Showcase "The Margaret Bourke-White Story" NBC Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1961 Judith Anderson Lady Macbeth Hallmark Hall of Fame "Macbeth" NBC Ingrid Bergman Clare Lester Twenty-Four Hours in a Woman's Life CBS Elizabeth Montgomery Rusty Heller The Untouchables "The Rusty Heller Story" NBC 1962 Julie Harris Queen Victoria Hallmark Hall of Fame "Victoria Regina" NBC Geraldine Brooks Katherine Barnes Bus Stop "Call Back Yesterday" ABC Suzanne Pleshette Julie Lawler Dr. Kildare "Shining Image" NBC Inger Stevens Anna Beza The Dick Powell Theatre "The Price of Tomatoes" Ethel Waters Jenny Henderson Route 66 "Goodnight, Sweet Blues" CBS 1963 Kim Stanley Faith Parsons Ben Casey "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" ABC Diahann Carroll Ruby Jay Naked City "A Horse Has a Big Head, Let Him Worry" ABC Diana Hyland Liza Laurents Alcoa Premiere "The Voice of Charlie Point" Eleanor Parker Connie Folson The Eleventh Hour "Why Am I Grown So Cold?" NBC Sylvia Sidney Adela The Defenders "The Madman" CBS 1964 Shelley Winters Jenny Dworak Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre "Two is the Number" NBC Ruby Dee Jenny Bishop The Doctors and the Nurses "Express Stop from Lennox Avenue" CBS Bethel Leslie Ellen Dudley The Richard Boone Show "Statement of Fact" NBC Jeanette Nolan Jessie McCoony "Vote No on 11!" Diana Sands Ruth East Side/West Side "Who Do You Kill?" CBS Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment - Actors and Performers 1965 Lynn Fontanne Fanny Bowditch Holmes Hallmark Hall of Fame "The Magnificent Yankee" NBC Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama 1966 Simone Signoret Sara Lescault Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre "A Small Rebellion" NBC Eartha Kitt Angel I Spy "The Loser" NBC Margaret Leighton Chris Becker Dr. Kildare "A Life for a Life" Shelley Winters Edith Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre "Back to Back" 1967 Geraldine Page Sook ABC Stage 67 "Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory" ABC Shirley Booth Amanda Wingfield CBS Playhouse "The Glass Menagerie" CBS Mildred Dunnock Linda Loman Death of a Salesman Lynn Fontanne Grand Duchess Marie Hallmark Hall of Fame "Anastasia" NBC Julie Harris Anastasia 1968 Maureen Stapleton Mary O'Meaghan Among the Paths to Eden ABC Judith Anderson Queen Elizabeth I Hallmark Hall of Fame "Elizabeth the Queen" NBC Geneviève Bujold Joan of Arc "Saint Joan" Colleen Dewhurst Elizabeth Proctor The Crucible CBS Anne Jackson Vivian Spears CBS Playhouse "Dear Friends" Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1969 Geraldine Page Sook The Thanksgiving Visitor ABC Anne Baxter Betty-Jean Currier The Name of the Game "The Bobby Currier Story" NBC Lee Grant Kay Gould Judd, for the Defense "The Gates of Cerberus" ABC
1970s Year Actress Role Program Network Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1970 Patty Duke Marlene Chambers My Sweet Charlie NBC Edith Evans Aunt Betsy Trotwood David Copperfield NBC Shirley Jones Katherine Johnson Silent Night, Lonely Night 1971 Lee Grant Carrie Miller The Neon Ceiling NBC Colleen Dewhurst Mrs. Franz The Price NBC Lee Grant Leslie Williams Ransom for a Dead Man 1972 Glenda Jackson Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth R: The Shadow in the Sun PBS Helen Hayes Sophie Tate Curtis Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate ABC Glenda Jackson Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth R: The Lion's Cub PBS Patricia Neal Olivia Walton The Homecoming: A Christmas Story CBS Susannah York Jane Eyre Jane Eyre NBC 1973 Cloris Leachman Victoria Douglas A Brand New Life ABC Lauren Bacall Margo Channing Applause CBS Hope Lange Janet Salter That Certain Summer ABC Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Drama/Comedy - Limited Episodes) Susan Hampshire Becky Sharp Vanity Fair PBS Vivien Heilbron Rachel Verinder The Moonstone PBS Margaret Tyzack Bette Cousin Bette 1974 Best Lead Actress in a Drama Cicely Tyson Jane Pittman The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman CBS Carol Burnett Anne Miller 6 Rms Riv Vu CBS Katharine Hepburn Amanda Wingfield The Glass Menagerie ABC Cloris Leachman Viola Barlow The Migrants CBS Elizabeth Montgomery Ellen Harrod A Case of Rape PBS Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series Mildred Natwick Gwendolyn Snoop Nicholson The Snoop Sisters NBC Helen Hayes Ernesta Snoop The Snoop Sisters NBC Lee Remick Cassie Walters The Blue Knight 1975 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy Katharine Hepburn Jessica Medlicott Love Among the Ruins ABC Jill Clayburgh Wanda Hustling ABC Elizabeth Montgomery Lizzie Borden The Legend of Lizzie Borden Diana Rigg Philippa In This House of Brede CBS Maureen Stapleton Bea Asher Queen of the Stardust Ballroom Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series Jessica Walter Amy Prentiss Amy Prentiss NBC Susan Saint James Sally McMillan McMillan & Wife NBC 1976 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy Susan Clark Babe Didrikson Zaharias Babe CBS Jane Alexander Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor and Franklin ABC Colleen Dewhurst Josie Hogan A Moon for the Misbegotten Sada Thompson Phoebe Rice The Entertainer NBC Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series Rosemary Harris George Sand Notorious Woman PBS Susan Blakely Julie Prescott Rich Man, Poor Man ABC Jean Marsh Rose Upstairs, Downstairs PBS Lee Remick Lady Randolph Churchill Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill 1977 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy Sally Field Sybil Sybil NBC Jane Alexander Eleanor Roosevelt Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years ABC Susan Clark Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart NBC Julie Harris Mary Todd Lincoln The Last of Mrs. Lincoln PBS Joanne Woodward Dr. Cornelia Wilbur Sybil NBC Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series Patty Duke Bernadette Hennessy Armagh Captains and the Kings NBC Dori Brenner Rhoda Gold Blackman Seventh Avenue NBC Susan Flannery Margot Bracken The Moneychangers Eva Marie Saint Katherine Macaran How the West Was Won ABC Jane Seymour Marjorie Chisolm Captains and the Kings NBC 1978 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special Joanne Woodward Betty Quinn See How She Runs CBS Helen Hayes Emma Long A Family Upside Down NBC Eva Marie Saint Passenger Taxi!!! Maureen Stapleton Kate The Gathering ABC Sada Thompson Mrs. Gibbs Our Town NBC Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series Meryl Streep Inga Helms-Weiss Holocaust NBC Rosemary Harris Berta Palitz Weiss Holocaust NBC Elizabeth Montgomery Sayward Luckett Wheeler The Awakening Land Lee Remick Erica Trenton Wheels Cicely Tyson Coretta Scott King King Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Special 1979 Bette Davis Lucy Mason Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter CBS Carol Burnett Peg Mullen Friendly Fire ABC Olivia Cole Maggie Rogers Backstairs at the White House NBC Katharine Hepburn Miss Lily Moffat The Corn Is Green CBS Mary Tyler Moore Betty Rollin First, You Cry
1980s