THE 66th ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS : Best Actress

Angela Bassett

“What’s Love Got to Do With It”

In her first starring role, the rookie nominee made a splash as rocker Tina Turner, winning the Golden Globe. She also played Betty Shabazz in “Malcolm X” and Katherine Jackson in ABC’s “The Jacksons: An American Dream.”

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Stockard Channing

“Six Degrees of Separation”

Channing, best known for her New York theater career, was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role as a New York society matron, the same role that won her a Tony nomination.

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Holly Hunter

“The Piano”

Double nominee Hunter won best actress at Cannes for her non-speaking performance and was honored as well by nearly everyone else, including the Golden Globes and the major film critics’ groups. Her first Oscar nomination was for 1987’s “Broadcast News.”

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Emma Thompson

“The Remains of the Day”

On the heels of last year’s best actress Oscar for “Howards End,” Thompson played opposite Anthony Hopkins in “Remains.” She received two Globe nominations, the other for her Academy Award-nominated supporting role in “In the Name of the Father.”

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Debra Winger

“Shadowlands”

Winger’s performance as poet Joy Gresham is her third Oscar nomination, after 1982’s “An Officer and a Gentleman” and 1983’s “Terms of Endearment.” Her other 1993 star turn, in “A Dangerous Woman,” won her a Golden Globe nomination.