The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture", but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actress – Drama.
The formal title has varied since its inception. In 2005, it was officially called "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical". The current wording is "Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy".
Winners and nominees
† Indicates the Academy Award winner
1950s Year Actress Role(s) Film 1950 Judy Holliday † Emma "Billie" Dawn Born Yesterday Spring Byington Louisa Norton Louisa Betty Hutton Annie Oakley Annie Get Your Gun 1951 June Allyson Cynthia Potter Too Young to Kiss 1952 Susan Hayward Jane Froman With a Song in My Heart Katharine Hepburn Pat Pemberton Pat and Mike Ginger Rogers Edwina Fulton Monkey Business 1953 Ethel Merman Sally Adams Call Me Madam 1954 Judy Garland Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester A Star Is Born 1955 Jean Simmons Sarah Brown Guys and Dolls 1956 Deborah Kerr Anna Leonowens The King and I Judy Holliday Laura Partridge The Solid Gold Cadillac Machiko Kyō Lotus Blossom The Teahouse of the August Moon Marilyn Monroe Chérie Bus Stop Debbie Reynolds Polly Parish Bundle of Joy 1957 Taina Elg Angele Ducros Les Girls Kay Kendall Sybil Wren Cyd Charisse Nina "Ninotchka" Yoschenko Silk Stockings Audrey Hepburn Ariane Chavasse Love in the Afternoon Jean Simmons Anne Leeds This Could Be the Night 1958 Rosalind Russell Mame Dennis Auntie Mame Ingrid Bergman Anna Kalman Indiscreet Leslie Caron Gigi Gigi Doris Day Isolde Poole The Tunnel of Love Mitzi Gaynor Nellie Forbush South Pacific 1959 Marilyn Monroe Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk Some Like It Hot Dorothy Dandridge Bess Porgy and Bess Doris Day Jan Morrow Pillow Talk Shirley MacLaine Meg Wheeler Ask Any Girl Lilli Palmer Kathryn Ward But Not for Me
1960s Year Actress Role(s) Film 1960 (18th) Shirley MacLaine Fran Kubelik The Apartment Lucille Ball Kitty Weaver The Facts of Life Capucine Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Song Without End Judy Holliday Ella Peterson Bells Are Ringing Sophia Loren Lucia Curcio It Started in Naples 1961 (19th) Rosalind Russell Bertha Jacoby A Majority of One Bette Davis Apple Annie Pocketful of Miracles Audrey Hepburn Holly Golightly Breakfast at Tiffany's Hayley Mills Susan Evers / Sharon McKendrick The Parent Trap Miyoshi Umeki Mei Li Flower Drum Song 1962 (20th) Rosalind Russell Rose Hovick Gypsy Doris Day Kitty Wonder Billy Rose's Jumbo Jane Fonda Isabel Haverstick Period of Adjustment Shirley Jones Marian Paroo The Music Man Natalie Wood Louise Hovick / Gypsy Rose Lee Gypsy 1963 (21st) Shirley MacLaine Irma la Douce Irma la Douce Ann-Margret Kim MacAffee Bye Bye Birdie Doris Day Ellen Wagstaff Arden Move Over, Darling Audrey Hepburn Regina "Reggie" Lampert Charade Hayley Mills Nancy Carey Summer Magic Molly Picon Sophie Baker Come Blow Your Horn Jill St. John Peggy John Joanne Woodward Sam Blake / Mimi A New Kind of Love 1964 (22nd) Julie Andrews † Mary Poppins Mary Poppins Audrey Hepburn Eliza Doolittle My Fair Lady Sophia Loren Filumena Marturano Marriage Italian Style Melina Mercouri Elizabeth Lipp Topkapi Debbie Reynolds Molly Brown The Unsinkable Molly Brown 1965 (23rd) Julie Andrews Maria von Trapp The Sound of Music Jane Fonda Cat Ballou Cat Ballou Barbara Harris Dr. Sandra Markowitz A Thousand Clowns Rita Tushingham Nancy Jones The Knack ...and How to Get It Natalie Wood Daisy Clover Inside Daisy Clover 1966 (24th) Lynn Redgrave Georgy Georgy Girl Jane Fonda Ellen Gordon Any Wednesday Elizabeth Hartman Barbara Darling You're a Big Boy Now Shirley MacLaine Nicole Chang Gambit Vanessa Redgrave Leonie Delt Morgan! 1967 (25th) Anne Bancroft Mrs. Robinson The Graduate Julie Andrews Millie Dillmount Thoroughly Modern Millie Audrey Hepburn Joanna "Jo" Wallace Two for the Road Shirley MacLaine Paulette / Maria Teresa / Linda / Edith / Eve Minou / Marie / Jeanne Woman Times Seven Vanessa Redgrave Guenevere Camelot 1968 (26th) Barbra Streisand † Fanny Brice Funny Girl Julie Andrews Gertrude Lawrence Star! Lucille Ball Helen North Yours, Mine and Ours Petula Clark Sharon McLongeran Finian's Rainbow Gina Lollobrigida Carla Campbell Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell 1969 (27th) Patty Duke Natalie Miller Me, Natalie Ingrid Bergman Stephanie Dickinson Cactus Flower Dyan Cannon Alice Henderson Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Kim Darby Doris Bolton Owen Generation Mia Farrow Mary John and Mary Shirley MacLaine Charity Hope Valentine Sweet Charity Anna Magnani Rose Bombolini The Secret of Santa Vittoria Barbra Streisand Dolly Levi Hello, Dolly!
1970s Year Actress Role(s) Film 1970 (28th) Carrie Snodgress Tina Balser Diary of a Mad Housewife Julie Andrews Lili Smith Darling Lili Sandy Dennis Gwen Kellerman The Out-of-Towners Angela Lansbury Countess Erthe Van Orstein Something for Everyone Barbra Streisand Doris The Owl and the Pussycat 1971 (29th) Twiggy Polly Browne The Boy Friend Sandy Duncan Amy Cooper Star Spangled Girl Ruth Gordon Maude Chardin Harold and Maude Angela Lansbury Eglantine Price Bedknobs and Broomsticks Elaine May Henrietta Lowell A New Leaf 1972 (30th) Liza Minnelli † Sally Bowles Cabaret Carol Burnett Tillie Schlaine Pete 'n' Tillie Goldie Hawn Jill Tanner Butterflies Are Free Juliet Mills Pamela Piggott Avanti! Maggie Smith Augusta Bertram Travels with My Aunt 1973 (31st) Glenda Jackson † Vicky Allesio A Touch of Class Yvonne Elliman Mary Magdalene Jesus Christ Superstar Cloris Leachman Nettie Appleby Charley and the Angel Tatum O'Neal Addie Loggins Paper Moon Liv Ullmann Ann Stanley 40 Carats 1974 (32nd) Raquel Welch Constance Bonacieux The Three Musketeers Lucille Ball Mame Dennis Mame Diahann Carroll Claudine Price Claudine Helen Hayes Mrs. Steinmetz Herbie Rides Again Cloris Leachman Frau Blücher Young Frankenstein 1975 (33rd) Ann-Margret Nora Walker Tommy Julie Christie Jackie Shawn Shampoo Goldie Hawn Jill Haynes Liza Minnelli Claire Lucky Lady Barbra Streisand Fanny Brice Funny Lady 1976 (34th) Barbra Streisand Esther Hoffman A Star Is Born Barbara Harris Blanche Tyler Family Plot Ellen Andrews Freaky Friday Jodie Foster Annabelle Andrews Goldie Hawn Amanda "Duchess" Quaid The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox Rita Moreno Googie Gomez The Ritz 1977 (35th) Diane Keaton † Annie Hall Annie Hall Marsha Mason Paula McFadden The Goodbye Girl Sally Field Carrie ("Frog") Smokey and the Bandit Liza Minnelli Francine Evans New York, New York Lily Tomlin Margo Sperling The Late Show 1978 (36th) Ellen Burstyn Doris Same Time, Next Year Maggie Smith Diana Barrie California Suite Jacqueline Bisset Natasha O'Brien Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Goldie Hawn Gloria Mundy Foul Play Olivia Newton-John Sandy Olsson Grease 1979 (37th) Bette Midler Mary Rose Foster The Rose Julie Andrews Samantha Taylor 10 Jill Clayburgh Marilyn Holmberg Starting Over Shirley MacLaine Eve Rand Being There Marsha Mason Jennie MacLaine Chapter Two
1980s Year Actress Role(s) Film 1980 (38th) Sissy Spacek † Loretta Lynn Coal Miner's Daughter Irene Cara Coco Hernandez Fame Goldie Hawn Judy Benjamin Private Benjamin Bette Midler Herself / The Divine Miss M Divine Madness Dolly Parton Doralee Rhodes 9 to 5 1981 (39th) Bernadette Peters Eileen Everson Pennies from Heaven Blair Brown Dr. Nell Porter Continental Divide Carol Burnett Kate Burroughs The Four Seasons Jill Clayburgh Ruth Loomis First Monday in October Liza Minnelli Linda Marolla Arthur 1982 (40th) Julie Andrews Victoria Grant / Victor Grezhinski Victor/Victoria Carol Burnett Miss Hannigan Annie Sally Field Kay Villano Kiss Me Goodbye Goldie Hawn Paula McCullen Best Friends Dolly Parton Mona Stangley The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Aileen Quinn Annie Annie 1983 (41st) Julie Walters Susan "Rita" White Educating Rita Anne Bancroft Anna Bronski To Be or Not to Be Jennifer Beals Alex Owens Flashdance Linda Ronstadt Mabel The Pirates of Penzance Barbra Streisand Yentl Mendel Yentl 1984 (42nd) Kathleen Turner Joan Wilder Romancing the Stone Anne Bancroft Estelle Rolfe Garbo Talks Mia Farrow Tina Vitale Broadway Danny Rose Shelley Long Lucy Brodsky Irreconcilable Differences Lily Tomlin Edwina Cutwater All of Me 1985 (43rd) Kathleen Turner Irene Walker Prizzi's Honor Rosanna Arquette Roberta Glass Desperately Seeking Susan Glenn Close Jan Chaney / Maxie Malone Maxie Mia Farrow Cecelia The Purple Rose of Cairo Sally Field Emma Moriarty Murphy's Romance 1986 (44th) Sissy Spacek Rebecca Magrath / Babe Botrelle Crimes of the Heart Julie Andrews Gillian Fairchild That's Life! Melanie Griffith Audrey Hankel Something Wild Bette Midler Barbara Whiteman Down and Out in Beverly Hills Kathleen Turner Peggy Sue Peggy Sue Got Married 1987 (45th) Cher † Loretta Castorini Moonstruck Jennifer Grey Frances "Baby" Houseman Dirty Dancing Holly Hunter Jane Craig Broadcast News Diane Keaton J.C. Wiatt Baby Boom Bette Midler Sandy Bronzinsky Outrageous Fortune 1988 (46th) Melanie Griffith Tess McGill Working Girl Jamie Lee Curtis Wanda Gershwitz A Fish Called Wanda Amy Irving Isabelle Grossman Crossing Delancey Michelle Pfeiffer Angela DeMarco Married to the Mob Susan Sarandon Annie Savoy Bull Durham 1989 (47th) Jessica Tandy † Daisy Werthan Driving Miss Daisy Pauline Collins Shirley Valentine-Bradshaw Shirley Valentine Meg Ryan Sally Albright When Harry Met Sally... Meryl Streep Mary Fisher She-Devil Kathleen Turner Barbara Rose The War of the Roses
1990s