A list of actresses, television series, and films that won and were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
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1980s
- 1980note : Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker as Annie Sullivan
- Bette Davis for White Mama as Adele Malone
- Melissa Gilbert for The Miracle Worker as Helen Keller
- Lee Remick for Haywire as Margaret Sullavan
- 1981note : Vanessa Redgrave for Playing for Time as Fania Fénelon
- Ellen Burstyn for The People vs. Jean Harris as Jean Harris
- Catherine Hicks for Marilyn: The Untold Story as Marilyn Monroe
- Yoko Shimada for Shōgun as Lady Toda Mariko
- Joanne Woodward for Crisis at Central High as Elizabeth Huckaby
- 1982note : Ingrid Bergman for A Woman Called Golda as Prime Minister Golda Meir
- Glenda Jackson for The Patricia Neal Story as Patricia Neal
- Ann Jillian for Mae West as Mae West
- Jean Stapleton for Eleanor, First Lady of the World as Eleanor Roosevelt
- Cicely Tyson for The Marva Collins Story as Marva Collins
- 1983note : Barbara Stanwyck for The Thorn Birds as Mary Carson
- Ann-Margret for Who Will Love My Children? as Lucile Fray
- Rosanna Arquette for The Executioner's Song as Nicole Baker
- Mariette Hartley for M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Driving as Candace "Candy" Lightner
- Angela Lansbury for Little Gloria... Happy At Last as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
- 1984note : Jane Fonda for The Dollmaker as Gertie Nevels
- Jane Alexander for Calamity Jane as Calamity Jane
- Ann-Margret for A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche DuBois
- Glenn Close for Something About Amelia as Gail Bennett
- JoBeth Williams for Adam as Revé Walsh
- 1985note : Joanne Woodward for Do You Remember Love as Barbara Wyatt-Hollis
- Jane Alexander for Malice in Wonderland as Hedda Hopper
- Peggy Ashcroft for The Jewel in the Crown as Barbara "Barbie" Batchelor
- Farrah Fawcett for The Burning Bed as Francine Hughes
- Mary Tyler Moore for Heartsounds as Martha Weinman Lear
- 1986note : Marlo Thomas for Nobody's Child as Marie Balter
- Katharine Hepburn for Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry as Margaret Delafield
- Vanessa Redgrave for Second Serve as Richard Radley / Renée Richards
- Gena Rowlands for An Early Frost as Katherine Pierson
- Mare Winningham for Love Is Never Silent as Margaret Ryder
- 1987note : Gena Rowlands for The Betty Ford Story as Betty Ford
- Ann-Margret for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles as Ann Grenville
- Ellen Burstyn for Pack of Lies as Barbara Jackson
- Lee Remick for Nutcracker: Money, Madness, and Murder as Frances Schrueder
- Alfre Woodard for Unnatural Causes as Maude DeVictor
- 1988note : Jessica Tandy for Foxfire as Annie Nations
- Ann Jillian for The Ann Jillian Story as herself
- Mary Tyler Moore for Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln
- Mary Steenburgen for The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank as Miep Gies
- JoBeth Williams for Baby M as Mary Beth Whitehead
- 1989note : Holly Hunter for Roe vs. Wade as Ellen Russell
- Anjelica Huston for Lonesome Dove as Clara Allen
- Diane Lane for Lonesome Dove as Lorena "Lorie" Wood
- Amy Madigan for Roe vs. Wade as Sarah Weddington
- Jane Seymour for War and Remembrance as Natalie Henry
1990s
- 1990note : Barbara Hershey for A Killing in a Small Town as Candy Morrison
- Farrah Fawcett for Small Sacrifices as Diane Downs
- Christine Lahti for No Place Like Home as Zan Cooper
- Annette O'Toole for The Kennedys of Massachusetts as Rose Kennedy
- Lesley Ann Warren for Family of Spies as Barbara Walker
- Alfre Woodard for A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story as Mary Thomas
- 1991note : Lynn Whitfield for The Josephine Baker Story as Josephine Baker
- Glenn Close for Sarah, Plain and Tall as Sarah Wheaton
- Barbara Hershey for Paris Trout as Hanna Trout
- Suzanne Pleshette for Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean as Leona Helmsley
- Lee Purcell for Long Road Home as Bessie Robertson
- 1992note : Gena Rowlands for Face of a Stranger as Pat
- Anne Bancroft for Mrs. Cage as Mrs. Cage
- Meredith Baxter for A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story as Betty Broderick
- Judy Davis for One Against the Shadows as Mary Lindell
- Laura Dern for Afterburn as Janet Harduvel
- 1993note : Holly Hunter for The Positively True Adventures of the Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom as Wanda Holloway
- Glenn Close for Skylark as Sarah Wheaton
- Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Maggie Smith for Suddenly, Last Summer as Mrs. Venable
- Joanne Woodward for Blind Spot as Nell Harrington
- 1994note : Kirstie Alley for David's Mother as Sally Goodson
- Bette Midler for Gypsy as Rose Hovick
- Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Jessica Tandy for To Dance with the White Dog as Cora Peek
- Joanne Woodward for Breathing Lessons as Maggie Moran
- 1995note : Glenn Close for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story as Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer
- Sally Field for A Woman of Independent Means as Bess Alcott
- Anjelica Huston for Buffalo Girls as Calamity Jane
- Diane Keaton for Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight as Amelia Earhart
- Alfre Woodard for The Piano Lesson as Berniece Charles
- 1996note : Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Ashley Judd for Norma Jean & Marilyn as Norma Jean Dougherty
- Jessica Lange for A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche DuBois
- Mira Sorvino for Norma Jean & Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe
- Sela Ward for Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story as Jessica Savitch
- 1997note : Alfre Woodard for Miss Evers' Boys as Eunice Evers
- Stockard Channing for An Unexpected Family as Barbara Whitney
- Glenn Close for In the Gloaming as Janet
- Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Meryl Streep for First: Do No Harm as Lori Reimuller
- 1998note : Ellen Barkin for Before Women Had Wings as Glory Marie Jackson
- Jamie Lee Curtis for Nicholas' Gift as Maggie Green
- Judy Davis for The Echo of Thunder as Gladwyn Ritchie
- Olympia Dukakis for More Tales of the City as Anna Madrigal
- Angelina Jolie for Gia as Gia Carangi
- 1999note : Helen Mirren for The Passion of Ayn Rand as Ayn Rand
- Ann-Margret for Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story as Pamela Harriman
- Stockard Channing for The Baby Dance as Rachel Luckman
- Judy Davis for Dash and Lilly as Lillian Hellman
- Leelee Sobieski for Joan of Arc as Joan of Arc
2000s
- 2000note : Halle Berry for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge as Dorothy Dandridge
- Judy Davis for A Cooler Climate as Paula Tanner
- Sally Field for A Cooler Climate as Iris Prue
- Holly Hunter for Harlan County War as Ruby Kincaid
- Gena Rowlands for The Color of Love: Jacey's Story as Georgia Porter
- 2001note : Judy Davis for Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows as Judy Garland
- Judi Dench for The Last of the Blonde Bombshells as Elizabeth Harman
- Holly Hunter for When Billie Beat Bobby as Billie Jean King
- Hannah Taylor-Gordon for Anne Frank: The Whole Story as Anne Frank
- Emma Thompson for Wit as Vivian Bearing
- 2002note : Laura Linney for Wild Iris as Iris Bravard
- Angela Bassett for The Rosa Parks Story as Rosa Parks
- Blythe Danner for We Were the Mulvaneys as Corinne Mulvaney
- Vanessa Redgrave for The Gathering Storm as Clementine Churchill
- Gena Rowlands for Wild Iris as Minnie Brinn
- 2003note : Maggie Smith for My House in Umbria as Emily Delahunty
- Thora Birch for Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story as Elizabeth "Liz" Murray
- Helena Bonham Carter for Live from Baghdad as Ingrid Formanek
- Jessica Lange for Normal as Irma Applewood
- Helen Mirren for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone as Karen Stone
- 2004note : Meryl Streep for Angels in America as Hannah Pitt / Ethel Rosenberg / Rabbi Chemelwitz / The Angel Australia
- Glenn Close for The Lion in Winter as Queen Eleanor Of Aquitaine
- Judy Davis for The Reagans as Nancy Reagan
- Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Emma Thompson for Angels in America as Nurse Emily / Homeless Woman / The Angel America
- 2005note : S. Epatha Merkerson for Lackawanna Blues as Rachel "Nanny" Crosby
- Halle Berry for Their Eyes Were Watching God as Janie Crawford
- Blythe Danner for Back When We Were Grownups as Rebecca Davitch
- Cynthia Nixon for Warm Springs as Eleanor Roosevelt
- Debra Winger for Dawn Anna as Dawn Anna Townsend
- 2006note : Helen Mirren for Elizabeth I as Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Gillian Anderson for Bleak House as Lady Honoria Dedlock
- Kathy Bates for Ambulance Girl as Jane Stern
- Annette Bening for Mrs. Harris as Jean Harris
- Judy Davis for A Little Thing Called Murder as Sante Kimes
- 2007note : Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect as DCI Jane Tennison
- Queen Latifah for Life Support as Ana Wallace
- Debra Messing for The Starter Wife as Molly Kagan
- Mary-Louise Parker for The Robber Bride as Zenia Arden
- Gena Rowlands for What If God Were the Sun? as Melissa Eisenbloom
- 2008note : Laura Linney for John Adams as Abigail Adams
- Judi Dench for Cranford as Matilda "Matty" Jenkyns
- Catherine Keener for An American Crime as Gertrude Baniszewski
- Phylicia Rashad for A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger
- Susan Sarandon for Bernard and Doris as Doris Duke
- 2009note : Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens as Edith "Big Edie" Beale
- Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens as Edith "Little Edie" Beale
- Shirley MacLaine for Coco Chanel as Coco Chanel
- Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby as Mary Griffith
- Chandra Wilson for Accidental Friendship as Yvonne Caldwell
2010s
- 2010note : Claire Danes for Temple Grandin as Temple Grandin
- Joan Allen for Georgia O'Keeffe as Georgia O'Keeffe
- Hope Davis for The Special Relationship as Hillary Clinton
- Judi Dench for Return to Cranford as Matilda "Matty" Jenkyns
- Maggie Smith for Capturing Mary as Mary Gilbert
- 2011note : Kate Winslet for Mildred Pierce as Mildred Pierce
- Taraji P. Henson for Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story as Tiffany Rubin
- Diane Lane for Cinema Verite as Pat Loud
- Jean Marsh for Upstairs Downstairs as Rose Buck
- Elizabeth McGovern for Downton Abbey as Cora, Countess of Grantham
- 2012note : Julianne Moore for Game Change as Governor Sarah Palin
- Connie Britton for American Horror Story: Murder House as Vivien Harmon
- Ashley Judd for Missing as Rebecca "Becca" Winstone
- Nicole Kidman for Hemingway & Gellhorn as Martha Gellhorn
- Emma Thompson for The Song of Lunch as She
- 2013note : Laura Linney for The Big C as Cathy Jamison
- Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Asylum as Sister Jude Martin
- Helen Mirren for Phil Spector as Linda Kenney Baden
- Elisabeth Moss for Top of the Lake as Detective Robin Griffin
- Sigourney Weaver for Political Animals as Elaine Barrish
- 2014note : Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Coven as Fiona Goode
- Helena Bonham Carter for Burton & Taylor as Elizabeth Taylor
- Minnie Driver for Return to Zero as Maggie Royal
- Sarah Paulson for American Horror Story: Coven as Cordelia Foxx
- Cicely Tyson for The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts
- Kristen Wiig for The Spoils of Babylon as Cynthia Morehouse / Lauoreighiya Samcake
- 2015note : Frances McDormand for Olive Kitteridge as Olive Kitteridge
- Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Honourable Woman as Nessa Stein
- Felicity Huffman for American Crime as Barbara "Barb" Hanlon
- Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Freak Show as Elsa Mars
- Queen Latifah for Bessie as Bessie Smith
- Emma Thompson for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Mrs. Lovett
- 2016note : Sarah Paulson for The People v. O. J. Simpson as Marcia Clark
- Kirsten Dunst for Fargo as Peggy Blumquist
- Felicity Huffman for American Crime as Leslie Graham
- Audra McDonald for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill as Billie Holiday
- Lili Taylor for American Crime as Anne Blaine
- Kerry Washington for Confirmation as Anita Hill
- 2017note : Nicole Kidman for Big Little Lies as Celeste Wright
- Carrie Coon for Fargo as Chief Gloria Burgle
- Felicity Huffman for American Crime as Jeanette Hesby
- Jessica Lange for Feud as Joan Crawford / Blanche Hudson
- Susan Sarandon for Feud as Bette Davis / Baby Jane Hudson
- Reese Witherspoon for Big Little Lies as Madeline Martha McKenzie
- 2018note : Regina King for Seven Seconds as Latrice Butler
- Jessica Biel for The Sinner as Cora Tannetti
- Laura Dern for The Tale as Jennifer "Jenny" Fox
- Michelle Dockery for Godless as Alice Fletcher
- Edie Falco for Law & Order: True Crime as Leslie Abramson
- Sarah Paulson for American Horror Story: Cult as Ally Mayfair-Richards
- 2019note : Michelle Williams for Fosse/Verdon as Gwen Verdon
- Amy Adams for Sharp Objects as Camille Preaker
- Patricia Arquette for Escape at Dannemora as Joyce "Tilly" Mitchell
- Aunjanue Ellis for When They See Us as Sharonne Salaam
- Joey King for The Act as Gypsy Rose Blanchard
- Niecy Nash for When They See Us as Delores Wise
2020s
- 2020note : Regina King for Watchmen as Angela Abar / Sister Night
- Cate Blanchett for Mrs. America as Phyllis Schlafly
- Shira Haas for Unorthodox as Esther "Esty" Shapiro
- Octavia Spencer for Self Made as Madam C.J. Walker
- Kerry Washington for Little Fires Everywhere as Mia Warren
- 2021note : Kate Winslet for Mare of Easttown as Marianne "Mare" Sheehan
- Michaela Coel for I May Destroy You as Arabella Essiedu
- Cynthia Erivo for Genius as Aretha Franklin
- Elizabeth Olsen for WandaVision as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch
- Anya Taylor-Joy for The Queen's Gambit as Elizabeth "Beth" Harmon
- 2022: Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout as Elizabeth Holmes
- Toni Collette for The Staircase as Kathleen Peterson
- Julia Garner for Inventing Anna as Anna Sorokin / Anna Delvey
- Lily James for Pam & Tommy as Pamela Anderson
- Sarah Paulson for Impeachment as Linda Tripp
- Margaret Qualley for Maid as Alexandra "Alex" Russell
- 2023: Ali Wong for Beef as Amy Lau
- Lizzy Caplan for Fleishman Is In Trouble as Libby Epstein
- Jessica Chastain for George & Tammy as Tammy Wynette
- Dominique Fishback for Swarm as Andrea "Dre" Greene
- Kathryn Hahn for Tiny Beautiful Things as Clare Pierce
- Riley Keough for Daisy Jones & The Six as Margaret "Daisy" Jones