The Silver Bear for Best Actress is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actress. It is selected by the jury of the festival for films in the official competition slate. The award was first presented in 1956, and can be for lead or supporting roles. The award was not presented in 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974. Sachiko Hidari won the award for two films in the 1964 competition. In 2011 the award was given to the entire female cast of A Separation. Shirley MacLaine is the only actress that has won the award more than once.