Best Actor
Acting · 98 ceremonies · 1928-present
2025 (98th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Smoke/Stack, Sinners
Marty Mauser, Marty Supreme
Lorenz Hart, Blue Moon
Armando/Marcelo Alves/Adult Fernando, The Secret Agent
2024 (97th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
László Tóth, The Brutalist
Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown
Divine G, Sing Sing
Lawrence, Conclave
Donald Trump, The Apprentice
2023 (96th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
J. Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer
Leonard Bernstein, Maestro
Bayard Rustin, Rustin
Paul Hunham, The Holdovers
Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison, American Fiction
2022 (95th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Charlie, The Whale
Elvis, Elvis
Pádraic Súilleabháin, The Banshees of Inisherin
Calum, Aftersun
Williams, Living
2021 (94th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
2020 (93rd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
2019 (92nd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Arthur Fleck, Joker
Salvador, Pain and Glory
Rick Dalton, Once upon a Time...in Hollywood
Charlie Barber, Marriage Story
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio/Pope Francis, The Two Popes
2018 (91st)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody
Dick Cheney, Vice
Vincent Van Gogh, At Eternity's Gate
Tony Lip, Green Book
2017 (90th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Winston Churchill, Darkest Hour
Reynolds Woodcock, Phantom Thread
Chris Washington, Get Out
Roman J. Israel, Esq., Roman J. Israel, Esq.
2016 (89th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Lee Chandler, Manchester by the Sea
Desmond Doss, Hacksaw Ridge
Sebastian, La La Land
Troy Maxson, Fences
2015 (88th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
2014 (87th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Stephen Hawking, The Theory of Everything
John du Pont, Foxcatcher
Chris Kyle, American Sniper
Alan Turing, The Imitation Game
2013 (86th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Ron Woodroof, Dallas Buyers Club
Irving Rosenfeld, American Hustle
Woody Grant, Nebraska
Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street
Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave
2012 (85th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
2011 (84th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
George Valentin, The Artist
Carlos Galindo, A Better Life
Matt King, The Descendants
George Smiley, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2010 (83rd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
King George VI, The King's Speech
Uxbal, Biutiful
Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network
Aron Ralston, 127 Hours
2009 (82nd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bad Blake, Crazy Heart
Ryan Bingham, Up in the Air
George, A Single Man
Nelson Mandela, Invictus
Staff Sergeant William James, The Hurt Locker
2008 (81st)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Walter, The Visitor
Richard Nixon, Frost/Nixon
Benjamin Button, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Randy, The Wrestler
2007 (80th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood
Michael Clayton, Michael Clayton
Sweeney Todd, Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Hank Deerfield, In the Valley of Elah
Nikolai, Eastern Promises
2006 (79th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Idi Amin, The Last King of Scotland
Danny Archer, Blood Diamond
Dan Dunne, Half Nelson
Maurice, Venus
Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness
2005 (78th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Truman Capote, Capote
Ennis Del Mar, Brokeback Mountain
John R. Cash, Walk the Line
Edward R. Murrow, Good Night, and Good Luck.
2004 (77th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Ray Charles, Ray
Paul Rusesabagina, Hotel Rwanda
Sir James Matthew Barrie, Finding Neverland
Howard Hughes, The Aviator
Frankie Dunn, Million Dollar Baby
2003 (76th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jimmy Markum, Mystic River
Behrani, House of Sand and Fog
Inman, Cold Mountain
Bob Harris, Lost in Translation
2002 (75th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Wladyslaw Szpilman, The Pianist
Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman, Adaptation
Thomas Fowler, The Quiet American
Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting, Gangs of New York
Warren Schmidt, About Schmidt
2001 (74th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
2000 (73rd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1999 (72nd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Lester Burnham, American Beauty
Jeffrey Wigand, The Insider
Alvin Straight, The Straight Story
Emmet Ray, Sweet and Lowdown
Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, The Hurricane
1998 (71st)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1997 (70th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Melvin Udall, As Good as It Gets
Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting
The Apostle E.F., The Apostle
Ulee Jackson, Ulee's Gold
Stanley Motss, Wag the Dog
1996 (69th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
David Helfgott, Shine
Jerry Maguire, Jerry Maguire
Almasy, The English Patient
Larry Flynt, The People vs. Larry Flynt
Karl Childers, Sling Blade
1995 (68th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Ben Sanderson, Leaving Las Vegas
Glenn Holland, Mr. Holland's Opus
Richard Nixon, Nixon
Matthew Poncelet, Dead Man Walking
1994 (67th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Forrest Gump, Forrest Gump
King George III, The Madness of King George
Sully, Nobody's Fool
Vincent Vega, Pulp Fiction
1993 (66th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Andrew Beckett, Philadelphia
Gerry Conlon, In the Name of the Father
Ike Turner, What's Love Got to Do with It
Mr. Stevens, The Remains of the Day
Oskar Schindler, Schindler's List
1992 (65th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Lt. Col. Frank Slade, Scent of a Woman
Charles Chaplin, Chaplin
Bill Munny, Unforgiven
Fergus, The Crying Game
Malcolm X, Malcolm X
1991 (64th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Dr. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs
Bugsy Siegel, Bugsy
Max Cady, Cape Fear
Tom Wingo, The Prince of Tides
1990 (63rd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Claus Von Bulow, Reversal of Fortune
Lieutenant Dunbar, Dances With Wolves
Leonard Lowe, Awakenings
Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano de Bergerac
Bull McCabe, The Field
1989 (62nd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Christy Brown, My Left Foot
Henry V, Henry V
Ron Kovic, Born on the Fourth of July
Hoke Colburn, Driving Miss Daisy
John Keating, Dead Poets Society
1988 (61st)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Raymond Babbitt, Rain Man
Anderson, Mississippi Burning
Jaime Escalante, Stand and Deliver
Lasse Karlsson, Pelle the Conqueror
1987 (60th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Gordon Gekko, Wall Street
Tom Grunick, Broadcast News
Romano, Dark Eyes
Francis Phelan, Ironweed
Adrian Cronauer, Good Morning, Vietnam
1986 (59th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Eddie Felson, The Color of Money
Dale Turner, 'Round Midnight
George, Mona Lisa
Richard Boyle, Salvador
1985 (58th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Luis Molina, Kiss of the Spider Woman
John Book, Witness
Murphy Jones, Murphy's Romance
Charley Partanna, Prizzi's Honor
Manny, Runaway Train
1984 (57th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Antonio Salieri, Amadeus
Starman, Starman
Geoffrey Firmin, Under the Volcano
Sydney Schanberg, The Killing Fields
1983 (56th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Mac Sledge, Tender Mercies
Dr. Frank Bryant, Educating Rita
Gowan McGland, Reuben, Reuben
Norman, The Dresser
1982 (55th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi
Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels, Tootsie
Edmund Horman, Missing
Frank Galvin, The Verdict
Alan Swann, My Favorite Year
1981 (54th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Norman Thayer, Jr., On Golden Pond
John 'Jack' Reed, Reds
Arthur Bach, Arthur
Michael Gallagher, Absence of Malice
1980 (53rd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull
Bull Meechum, The Great Santini
John Merrick, The Elephant Man
Scottie Templeton, Tribute
Eli Cross, The Stunt Man
1979 (52nd)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Ted Kramer, Kramer vs. Kramer
Jack Godell, The China Syndrome
Arthur Kirkland, ...And Justice for All
Joe Gideon, All That Jazz
John Chance, the gardener (aka Chauncey Gardiner), Being There
1978 (51st)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Luke Martin, Coming Home
Joe Pendleton (alias, Leo Farnsworth, Tom Jarrett), Heaven Can Wait
Buddy Holly, The Buddy Holly Story
Michael, The Deer Hunter
Ezra Lieberman, The Boys from Brazil
1977 (50th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Elliot Garfield, The Goodbye Girl
Alvy Singer, Annie Hall
Dr. Martin Dysart, Equus
Gabriele, A Special Day
Tony Manero, Saturday Night Fever
1976 (49th)
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Howard Beale, Network
Travis Bickle, Taxi Driver
Pasqualino Frafuso, Seven Beauties
Max Schumacher, Network
Rocky Balboa, Rocky
1975 (48th)
Best Actor
Randle Patrick McMurphy, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Willy Clark, The Sunshine Boys
Sonny, Dog Day Afternoon
Arthur Goldman, The Man in the Glass Booth
Harry S. Truman, Give 'em Hell, Harry!
1974 (47th)
Best Actor
Harry, Harry and Tonto
Hercule Poirot, Murder on the Orient Express
Lenny Bruce, Lenny
J. J. Gittes, Chinatown
Michael Corleone, The Godfather Part II
1973 (46th)
Best Actor
1972 (45th)
Best Actor
Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather
Milo Tindale, Sleuth
Andrew Wyke, Sleuth
Jack, 14th Earl of Gurney, The Ruling Class
Nathan Lee Morgan, Sounder
1971 (44th)
Best Actor
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, The French Connection
Dr. Daniel Hirsh, Sunday Bloody Sunday
Joseph P. Kotcher, Kotch
Dr. Herbert Bock, The Hospital
Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof
1970 (43rd)
Best Actor
General George S. Patton, Jr., Patton
Tom Garrison, I Never Sang for My Father
Jack Jefferson, The Great White Hope
Robert Eroica Dupea, Five Easy Pieces
Oliver Barrett IV, Love Story
1969 (42nd)
Best Actor
Rooster Cogburn, True Grit
King Henry VIII, Anne of the Thousand Days
Ratso Rizzo, Midnight Cowboy
Arthur Chipping, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Joe Buck, Midnight Cowboy
1968 (41st)
Best Actor
1967 (40th)
Best Actor
Police Chief Bill Gillespie, In the Heat of the Night
Clyde Barrow, Bonnie and Clyde
Ben Braddock, The Graduate
Luke Jackson, Cool Hand Luke
Matt Drayton, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
1966 (39th)
Best Actor
1965 (38th)
Best Actor
Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn, Cat Ballou
Alec Leamas, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
Othello, Othello
Sol Nazerman, The Pawnbroker
Dr. Schumann, Ship of Fools
1964 (37th)
Best Actor
Professor Henry Higgins, My Fair Lady
Thomas Becket, Becket
King Henry II, Becket
Alexis Zorba, Zorba the Greek
Group Captain Lionel Mandrake/President Muffley/Dr. Strangelove, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1963 (36th)
Best Actor
Homer Smith, Lilies of the Field
Tom Jones, Tom Jones
Frank Machin, This Sporting Life
Julius Caesar, Cleopatra
Hud Bannon, Hud
1962 (35th)
Best Actor
Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird
Robert Stroud, Birdman of Alcatraz
Joe Clay, Days of Wine and Roses
Ferdinando Cefalu, Divorce--Italian Style
T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia
1961 (34th)
Best Actor
Hans Rolfe, Judgment at Nuremberg
César, Fanny
Eddie Felson, The Hustler
Judge Dan Haywood, Judgment at Nuremberg
Jim Fuller, The Mark
1960 (33rd)
Best Actor
Elmer Gantry, Elmer Gantry
Morel, Sons and Lovers
C.C. 'Bud' Baxter, The Apartment
Archie Rice, The Entertainer
Henry Drummond, Inherit the Wind
1959 (32nd)
Best Actor
Judah Ben-Hur, Ben-Hur
Joe Lampton, Room at the Top
Jerry/Daphne, Some Like It Hot
Dr. Sam Abelman, The Last Angry Man
Paul Biegler, Anatomy of a Murder
1958 (31st)
Best Actor
Major Pollock, Separate Tables
John 'Joker' Jackson, The Defiant Ones
Brick Pollitt, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Noah Cullen, The Defiant Ones
The Old Man, The Old Man and the Sea
1957 (30th)
Best Actor
Colonel Nicholson, The Bridge on the River Kwai
Major Lloyd Gruver, Sayonara
Sir Wilfrid Robarts, Witness for the Prosecution
1956 (29th)
Best Actor
The King, The King and I
Jett Rink, Giant
Vincent Van Gogh, Lust for Life
Bick Benedict, Giant
Richard III, Richard III
1955 (28th)
Best Actor
Marty Pilletti, Marty
Martin Snyder, Love Me or Leave Me
Cal Trask, East of Eden
John J. Macreedy, Bad Day at Black Rock
1954 (27th)
Best Actor
Terry Malloy, On the Waterfront
Captain Queeg, The Caine Mutiny
Frank Elgin, The Country Girl
Norman Maine/Alfred Hinkel, A Star Is Born
Robinson Crusoe, Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
1953 (26th)
Best Actor
Sefton, Stalag 17
Marc Antony, Julius Caesar
Marcellus Gallio, The Robe
Robert E. Lee Prewitt, From Here to Eternity
Sgt. Milton Warden, From Here to Eternity
1952 (25th)
Best Actor
Will Kane, High Noon
Emiliano Zapata, Viva Zapata!
Jonathan Shields, The Bad and the Beautiful
Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin Rouge
Holland, The Lavender Hill Mob
1951 (24th)
Best Actor
Charlie Allnut, The African Queen
Stanley Kowalski, A Streetcar Named Desire
George Eastman, A Place in the Sun
Larry Levins, Bright Victory
Willy Loman, Death of a Salesman
1950 (23rd)
Best Actor
Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano de Bergerac
Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Magnificent Yankee
Joe Gillis, Sunset Blvd.
Elwood P. Dowd, Harvey
Stanley T. Banks, Father of the Bride
1949 (22nd)
Best Actor
Willie Stark, All the King's Men
Midge Kelly, Champion
General Savage, Twelve O'Clock High
Lachie, The Hasty Heart
Sergeant John M. Stryker, Sands of Iwo Jima
1948 (21st)
Best Actor
Hamlet, Hamlet
Dr. Robert Richardson, Johnny Belinda
Ralph Stevenson, The Search
Lynn Belvedere, Sitting Pretty
1947 (20th)
Best Actor
Anthony John, A Double Life
Charlie Davis, Body and Soul
Phil Green, Gentleman's Agreement
Clarence Day, Life with Father
Orin Mannon, Mourning Becomes Electra
1946 (19th)
Best Actor
Al Stephenson, The Best Years of Our Lives
Henry V, Henry V
Al Jolson, The Jolson Story
Pa Baxter, The Yearling
George Bailey, It's a Wonderful Life
1945 (18th)
Best Actor
Don Birnam, The Lost Weekend
Father O'Malley, The Bells of St. Mary's
Joseph Brady, Anchors Aweigh
Father Francis Chisholm, The Keys of the Kingdom
Frederick Chopin, A Song to Remember
1944 (17th)
Best Actor
Father O'Malley, Going My Way
Gregory Anton, Gaslight
Father Fitzgibbon, Going My Way
Ernie Mott, None but the Lonely Heart
Woodrow Wilson, Wilson
1943 (16th)
Best Actor
Kurt Muller, Watch on the Rhine
Rick Blane, Casablanca
Robert Jordan, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Pierre Curie, Madame Curie
Homer Macauley, The Human Comedy
1942 (15th)
Best Actor
George M. Cohan, Yankee Doodle Dandy
Charles Ranier, Random Harvest
Lou Gehrig, The Pride of the Yankees
Clem Miniver, Mrs. Miniver
Howard, The Pied Piper
1941 (14th)
Best Actor
Alvin C. York, Sergeant York
Roger Adams, Penny Serenade
Mr. Scratch, All That Money Can Buy
Joe Pendleton, Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane
1940 (13th)
Best Actor
Mike Connor, The Philadelphia Story
Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania, The Great Dictator
Tom Joad, The Grapes of Wrath
Abraham Lincoln, Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Maxim de Winter, Rebecca
1939 (12th)
Best Actor
Mr. Chips, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Rhett Butler, Gone with the Wind
Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights
Mickey Moran, Babes in Arms
Jefferson Smith, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1938 (11th)
Best Actor
Father Flanagan, Boys Town
Pepe Le Moko, Algiers
Rocky Sullivan, Angels with Dirty Faces
Andrew Mason, The Citadel
Professor Henry Higgins, Pygmalion
1937 (10th)
Best Actor
Manuel, Captains Courageous
Napoleon Bonaparte, Conquest
Norman Maine (Alfred Hinkel), A Star Is Born
Emile Zola, The Life of Emile Zola
1936 (9th)
Best Actor
Louis Pasteur, The Story of Louis Pasteur
Longfellow Deeds, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Sam Dodsworth, Dodsworth
Godfrey Parks, My Man Godfrey
Father Tim Mullen, San Francisco
1935 (8th)
Best Actor
Gypo Nolan, The Informer
Fletcher Christian, Mutiny on the Bounty
Captain Bligh, Mutiny on the Bounty
Joe Radek, Black Fury
Roger Byam, Mutiny on the Bounty
1934 (7th)
Best Actor
Peter Warne, It Happened One Night
Allesandro, Duke of Florence, The Affairs of Cellini
Nick Charles, The Thin Man
1932/33 (6th)
Best Actor
Henry VIII, The Private Life of Henry VIII
Peter Standish, Berkeley Square
James Allen, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
1931/32 (5th)
Best Actor
1930/31 (4th)
Best Actor
Stephen Ashe, A Free Soul
Skippy Skinner, Skippy
Yancey Cravat, Cimarron
Tony Cavendish, The Royal Family of Broadway
Walter Burns, The Front Page
1929/30 (3rd)
Best Actor
Benjamin Disraeli, Disraeli · Oxonian, the Rajah of Rukh, The Green Goddess
'Machine Gun' Butch Schmidt, The Big House
Count Alfred Renard, The Love Parade · Pierre Mirande, The Big Pond
Michel, Condemned · Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond, Bulldog Drummond
1928/29 (2nd)
Best Actor
The Cisco Kid, In Old Arizona
Thunderbolt Jim Lang, Thunderbolt
No. 1065, Chick Williams, Alibi
James Dyke, The Valiant
Count Pahlen, The Patriot
1927/28 (1st)
Best Actor
General Dolgorucki [Grand Duke Sergius Alexander], The Last Command · August Schilling, The Way of All Flesh
The Patent Leather Kid, The Patent Leather Kid · Nickie Elkins, The Noose
Known as
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1976-present
Best Actor
1928-1975