Silver Bear for Best Actress

Silver Bear for Best Actress
Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin (German)
Shirley MacLaine is the only actress to win the award twice
Awarded forBest Performance by an Actress
CountryGermany
Presented byBerlin International Film Festival
First awarded1956
Last awarded2020
Currently held byPaula Beer
Undine (2020)
Websitewww.berlinale.de

The Silver Bear for Best Actress (German: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival. Beginning with the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, the award was replaced with two gender-neutral categories, Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.

At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival held in 1956, Elsa Martinelli was the first winner of this award for her performance in Donatella, and Paula Beer was the last winner in this category for her role in Undine at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020.