Susan Sarandon beat out veteran Oscar winners Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep to win the Oscar for best actress. Sarandon played a nun trying to save the soul and life of a murderer on death row in "Dead Man Walking."
The other nominees were:
Elisabeth Shue
Shue plays the compassionate hooker who befriends a hard- drinking writer (played by Nicolas Cage) in "Leaving Las Vegas."
Sharon Stone
Stone plays a former hustler and the wife of a casino manager with mob ties (Robert De Niro) in "Casino."
Meryl Streep
Streep plays the wistful housewife Francesca who finds her one true love late in life in "The Bridges of Madison County."
Emma Thompson
Thompson plays Elinor Dashwood, the practical older sister longing for love in Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." Thompson also wrote the screenplay for the movie.
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