[1] The 1st ceremony was held in 1932, when Helen Hayes received the Volpi Cup for the title role in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)—this was the only time that the award was chosen by public voting.

In 1934, Katharine Hepburn was honored with the Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actress for her role in Little Women.

[6] In 1992, Ingrid Bergman was honored posthumously for her performance in Europe '51, which was denied by the jury in 1952 because her voice was dubbed from Swedish into Italian.

Bette Davis is the only actress to win the award for her roles in two different films on the same competition; she won in 1937 for her contribution in Marked Woman and Kid Galahad.

In 1988, the award was shared by two actresses in different films: Huppert in Story of Women and MacLaine in Madame Sousatzka.