Updated May 2020
Of the 82 actresses who have won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, the vast majority (69) have received the award at their first nomination.
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If we eliminate Supporting Actresses winners who have been nominated before in the lead category (Best Actress), the number is even bigger.
Shelley Winters, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, and Cate Blanchett, among others, belong to that category.
1930s: 4
1936: Gale Sondergaard, Anthony Adverse
1937: Alice Brady, In Old Chicag0
1938: Fay Bainter, Jezebel
1939: Hattie McDaniel, Gone With the Wind
1940s: 10
1940: Jane Darwell, The Grapes of Wrath
1941: Mary Astor, The Great Lie
1942: Teresa Wright, Mrs. Miniver
1943: Katine Paxinou, For Whom the Bell Tolls
1944: Ethel Barrymore, None But the Lonely Heart
1945: Anne Revere, National Velvet
1946: Anne Baxter, The Razor’s Edge
1947: Celeste Holme, Gentleman’s Agreement
1948: Claire Trevor, Key Largo
1949: Mercedes McCambrdige, All the King’s Men
1950s: 10
1950: Josephine Hull, Harvey
1951: Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire
1952: Gloria Grahame, The Bad and the Beautiful
1953: Donna Reed, From Here to Eternity
1954: Eva Marie Saint, On the Waterfront
1955: Jo Van Fleet, East of Eden
1956: Dorothy Malone, Written on the Wind
1957: Miyoshi Umeki, Sayonara
1958: Wendy Hiller, Separate Tables
1959: Shelley Winters, The Diary of Anne Frank
1960s: 10
1960: Shirley Jones, Elmer Gantry
1961: Rita Moreno, West Side Story
1962: Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker
1963: Margaret Rutherford, The V.I.P.’s
1964: Lila Kedrova, Zorba the Greek
1965: Shelley Winters, A Patch of Blue
1966: Sandy Dennis, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
1967: Estelle Parsons, Bonnie and Clyde
1968: Ruth Gordon, Rosemary’s Baby
1969: Goldie Hawn, Cactus Flower
1970s: 10
1970: Helen Hayes, Airport
1971: Cloris Leachman, The Last Picture Show
1972: Eileen Heckart, Butterflies Are Free
1973: Tatum O’Neal, Paper Moon
1974: Ingrid Bergman, Murder on the Orient Express
1975: Lee Grant, Shampoo
1976: Beatrice Straight, Network
1977: Vanessa Redgrave, Julia
1978: Maggie Smith, California Suite
1979: Meryl Streep, Kramer Vs. Kramer
1980s: 10
1980: Mary Steenburgen, Melvin and Howard
1981: Maureen Stapleton, Reds
1982: Jessica Lange, Tootsie
1983: Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously
1984: Peggy Ashcroft, A Passage to India
1985: Anjelica Huston, Prizzi’s Honor
1986: Dianne Wiest, Hannah and Her Sisters
1987: Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck
1988: Geena Davis, The Accidental Tourist
1989: Brenda Fricker, My Left Foot
1990s: 10
1990: Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost
1991: Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King
1992: Marisa Tomei, My Cousin Vinny
1993: Anna Paquin, The Piano
1994: Diane Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway
1995: Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite
1996: Juliette Binoche, The English Patient
1997: Kim Basinger, L.A. Confidential
1998: Judi Dench, Shakespeare in Love
1999: Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted
2000s: 10
2000: Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock
2001: Jenniffer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
2002: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
2003: Renee Zelwegger, Cold Mountain
2004: Cate Blanchette, The Aviator
2005: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
2006: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
2007: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
2008: Penelope Cruz, Vicki, Cristina, Barcelona
2009: Mo’ Nique, Precious
2010s: 10
2010: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
2011: Octavia Spencer, The Help
2012: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
2013: Lupita N’Yong, 12 Years a Slave
2014: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
2015: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
2017: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
2018: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
2019: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Note:
Shelley Winters and Diane Wiest have won two Best Supporting Actress Oscars.