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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
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| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | |
|---|---|
 The 2023 recipient: Ali Wong | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| First awarded | 1955 |
| Currently held by | Ali Wong, Beef (2023) |
| Website | emmys |
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. Ali Wong is the current recipient of the award, for her portrayal of Amy Lau on Beef. Helen Mirren has won the most awards in this category, with four, and has received the most nominations for the award, on two occasions.
Winners and nominations
| Indicates the winner |
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1950s
| Year | Actress | Role | Program | Episode | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Actress in a Single Performance | |||||
| 1955 (7th) [1] | |||||
| 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 (8th) [2] | |||||
| 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 (9th) [3] | |||||
| 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 (10th) [4] | |||||
| 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 (11th) [5] | |||||
| 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) | |||||
| 1960 (12th) [6] | |||||
| 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 (13th) [7] | |||||
| 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 (14th) [8] | |||||
| 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 (15th) [9] | |||||
| 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 (16th) [10] | |||||
| 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 (17th) [11] | |||||
| 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 (18th) [12] | |||||
| 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 (19th) [13] | |||||
| 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 (20th) [14] | |||||
| 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 (21st) [15] | |||||
| 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 | |