Empire Award for Best British Actress Empire Award for Best British Actress The Empire Award for Best British Actress was an Empire Award presented annually by the British film magazine "Empire" to honor a British actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The Empire Award for Best British Actress was first introduced at the 1st Empire Awards ceremony in 1996 with Kate Winslet receiving the award for her role in "Heavenly Creatures" and last presented at the 10th Empire Awards ceremony in 2005. It was one of three Best British awards retired that year (the others
Mildred Pierce (film) 1942, two years earlier, Joan Crawford had been released from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer due to a mutual agreement. Crawford campaigned for the lead role in "Mildred Pierce", which most lead actresses did not want because of the implied age as mother of a teenage daughter. Warner Bros. and director Michael Curtiz had originally wanted Bette Davis to play the title role, but she declined. Curtiz did not want Crawford to play the part. Curtiz campaigned for Barbara Stanwyck, who was working on "My Reputation" (1946) at the time. When he learned that Stanwyck was not, however, going to be cast, he then