Skip to content
The Oscar record

Best Actor

1929 to 2026 · 482 nominations

People

Most nominated in this category

  1. 1Spencer Tracy9 noms2
  2. 2Laurence Olivier9 noms1
  3. 3Jack Nicholson8 noms2
  4. 4Paul Newman8 noms1
  5. 5Peter O'Toole8 noms
  6. 6Dustin Hoffman7 noms2
  7. 7Marlon Brando7 noms2
  8. 8Denzel Washington7 noms1
  9. 9Jack Lemmon7 noms1
  10. 10Daniel Day-Lewis6 noms3
Newest first

Year by year

2020s7 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 2026
    Also nominated

    Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

  2. 2025
    Also nominated

    Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)

  3. 2024
    Also nominated

    Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

  4. 2023
    Also nominated

    Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Austin Butler (Elvis), Bill Nighy (Living), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)

  5. 2022
    Also nominated

    Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Andrew Garfield (tick, tick... BOOM!)

  6. 2021
    Also nominated

    Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Gary Oldman (Mank), Steven Yeun (Minari), Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)

  7. 2020
    Also nominated

    Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes)

2010s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 2019
    Also nominated

    Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Christian Bale (Vice)

  2. 2018
    Also nominated

    Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)

  3. 2017
    Also nominated

    Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Ryan Gosling (La La Land)

  4. 2016
    Also nominated

    Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Matt Damon (The Martian), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

  5. 2015
    Also nominated

    Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

  6. 2014
    Also nominated

    Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Christian Bale (American Hustle), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)

  7. 2013
    Also nominated

    Denzel Washington (Flight), Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

  8. 2012
    Also nominated

    Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Brad Pitt (Moneyball), George Clooney (The Descendants), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)

  9. 2011
    Also nominated

    James Franco (127 Hours), Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

  10. 2010
    Also nominated

    Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), George Clooney (Up in the Air)

2000s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 2009
    Also nominated

    Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

  2. 2008
    Also nominated

    Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises), Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah), George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

  3. 2007
    Also nominated

    Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Peter O'Toole (Venus)

  4. 2006
    Also nominated

    Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck.), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)

  5. 2005
    Also nominated

    Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator)

  6. 2004
    Also nominated

    Jude Law (Cold Mountain), Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog), Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)

  7. 2003
    Also nominated

    Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt), Nicolas Cage (Adaptation.), Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York), Michael Caine (The Quiet American)

  8. 2002
    Also nominated

    Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Will Smith (Ali), Sean Penn (I Am Sam), Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom)

  9. 2001
    Also nominated

    Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls), Tom Hanks (Cast Away), Ed Harris (Pollock), Geoffrey Rush (Quills)

  10. 2000
    Also nominated

    Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown), Denzel Washington (The Hurricane), Russell Crowe (The Insider), Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)

1990s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1999
    Also nominated

    Nick Nolte (Affliction), Edward Norton (American History X), Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters), Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan)

  2. 1998
    Also nominated

    Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Robert Duvall (The Apostle), Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold), Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog)

  3. 1997
    Also nominated

    Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire), Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt)

  4. 1996
    Also nominated

    Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking), Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus), Anthony Hopkins (Nixon), Massimo Troisi (The Postman)

  5. 1995
    Also nominated

    Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool), John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George), Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)

  6. 1994
    Also nominated

    Daniel Day-Lewis (In the Name of the Father), Liam Neeson (Schindler's List), Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day), Laurence Fishburne (What's Love Got to Do with It)

  7. 1993
    Also nominated

    Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)

  8. 1992
    Also nominated

    Warren Beatty (Bugsy), Robert De Niro (Cape Fear), Robin Williams (The Fisher King), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides)

  9. 1991
    Also nominated

    Robert De Niro (Awakenings), Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac), Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves), Richard Harris (The Field)

  10. 1990
    Also nominated

    Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July), Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society), Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy), Kenneth Branagh (Henry V)

1980s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1989
    Also nominated

    Tom Hanks (Big), Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning), Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver)

  2. 1988
    Also nominated

    William Hurt (Broadcast News), Marcello Mastroianni (Dark Eyes), Robin Williams (Good Morning, Vietnam), Jack Nicholson (Ironweed)

  3. 1987
    Also nominated

    Dexter Gordon ('Round Midnight), William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God), Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa), James Woods (Salvador)

  4. 1986
    Also nominated

    James Garner (Murphy's Romance), Jack Nicholson (Prizzi's Honor), Jon Voight (Runaway Train), Harrison Ford (Witness)

  5. 1985
    Also nominated

    Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Jeff Bridges (Starman), Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields), Albert Finney (Under the Volcano)

  6. 1984
    Also nominated

    Michael Caine (Educating Rita), Tom Conti (Reuben, Reuben), Albert Finney (The Dresser), Tom Courtenay (The Dresser)

  7. 1983
    Also nominated

    Jack Lemmon (Missing), Peter O'Toole (My Favorite Year), Paul Newman (The Verdict), Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie)

  8. 1982
    Also nominated

    Paul Newman (Absence of Malice), Dudley Moore (Arthur), Burt Lancaster (Atlantic City), Warren Beatty (Reds)

  9. 1981
    Also nominated

    John Hurt (The Elephant Man), Robert Duvall (The Great Santini), Peter O'Toole (The Stunt Man), Jack Lemmon (Tribute)

  10. 1980
    Also nominated

    Roy Scheider (All That Jazz), Al Pacino (And Justice for All), Peter Sellers (Being There), Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome)

1970s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1979
    Also nominated

    Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait), Laurence Olivier (The Boys from Brazil), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story), Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter)

  2. 1978
    Also nominated

    Marcello Mastroianni (A Special Day), Woody Allen (Annie Hall), Richard Burton (Equus), John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever)

  3. 1977
    Also nominated

    William Holden (Network), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)

  4. 1976
    Also nominated

    Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon), James Whitmore (Give 'em Hell, Harry!), Maximilian Schell (The Man in the Glass Booth), Walter Matthau (The Sunshine Boys)

  5. 1975
    Also nominated

    Jack Nicholson (Chinatown), Dustin Hoffman (Lenny), Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express), Al Pacino (The Godfather Part II)

  6. 1974
    Also nominated

    Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris), Al Pacino (Serpico), Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail), Robert Redford (The Sting)

  7. 1973
    Also nominated

    Laurence Olivier (Sleuth), Michael Caine (Sleuth), Paul Winfield (Sounder), Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class)

  8. 1972
    Also nominated

    Topol (Fiddler on the Roof), Walter Matthau (Kotch), Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday), George C. Scott (The Hospital)

  9. 1971
    Also nominated

    Jack Nicholson (Five Easy Pieces), Melvyn Douglas (I Never Sang for My Father), Ryan O'Neal (Love Story), James Earl Jones (The Great White Hope)

  10. 1970
    Also nominated

    Richard Burton (Anne of the Thousand Days), Peter O'Toole (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy), Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy)

1960s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1969
    Also nominated

    Ron Moody (Oliver!), Alan Bates (The Fixer), Alan Arkin (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), Peter O'Toole (The Lion in Winter)

  2. 1968
    Also nominated

    Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde), Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke), Spencer Tracy (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate)

  3. 1967
    Also nominated

    Michael Caine (Alfie), Alan Arkin (The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming), Steve McQueen (The Sand Pebbles), Richard Burton (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

  4. 1966
    Also nominated

    Laurence Olivier (Othello), Oskar Werner (Ship of Fools), Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker), Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)

  5. 1965
    Also nominated

    Richard Burton (Becket), Peter O'Toole (Becket), Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek)

  6. 1964
    Also nominated

    Rex Harrison (Cleopatra), Paul Newman (Hud), Richard Harris (This Sporting Life), Albert Finney (Tom Jones)

  7. 1963
    Also nominated

    Burt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz), Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses), Marcello Mastroianni (Divorce Italian Style), Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)

  8. 1962
    Also nominated

    Charles Boyer (Fanny), Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg), Paul Newman (The Hustler), Stuart Whitman (The Mark)

  9. 1961
    Also nominated

    Spencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind), Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers), Jack Lemmon (The Apartment), Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer)

  10. 1960
    Also nominated

    James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder), Laurence Harvey (Room at the Top), Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot), Paul Muni (The Last Angry Man)

1950s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1959
    Also nominated

    Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Tony Curtis (The Defiant Ones), Sidney Poitier (The Defiant Ones), Spencer Tracy (The Old Man and the Sea)

  2. 1958
    Also nominated

    Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain), Marlon Brando (Sayonara), Anthony Quinn (Wild Is the Wind), Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution)

  3. 1957
    Also nominated

    James Dean (Giant), Rock Hudson (Giant), Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life), Sir Laurence Olivier (Richard III)

  4. 1956
    Also nominated

    Spencer Tracy (Bad Day at Black Rock), James Dean (East of Eden), James Cagney (Love Me or Leave Me), Frank Sinatra (The Man with the Golden Arm)

  5. 1955
    Also nominated

    James Mason (A Star Is Born), Dan O'Herlihy (Robinson Crusoe), Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny), Bing Crosby (The Country Girl)

  6. 1954
    Also nominated

    Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity), Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity), Marlon Brando (Julius Caesar), Richard Burton (The Robe)

  7. 1953
    Also nominated

    José Ferrer (Moulin Rouge), Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful), Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob), Marlon Brando (Viva Zapata!)

  8. 1952
    Also nominated

    Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun), Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire), Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory), Fredric March (Death of a Salesman)

  9. 1951
    Also nominated

    Spencer Tracy (Father of the Bride), James Stewart (Harvey), William Holden (Sunset Boulevard), Louis Calhern (The Magnificent Yankee)

  10. 1950
    Also nominated

    Kirk Douglas (Champion), John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima), Richard Todd (The Hasty Heart), Gregory Peck (Twelve O'Clock High)

1940s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1949
    Also nominated

    Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda), Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty), Montgomery Clift (The Search), Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles at Me)

  2. 1948
    Also nominated

    John Garfield (Body and Soul), Gregory Peck (Gentleman's Agreement), William Powell (Life with Father), Michael Redgrave (Mourning Becomes Electra)

  3. 1947
    Also nominated

    Laurence Olivier (Henry V), James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life), Larry Parks (The Jolson Story), Gregory Peck (The Yearling)

  4. 1946
    Also nominated

    Cornel Wilde (A Song to Remember), Gene Kelly (Anchors Aweigh), Bing Crosby (The Bells of St. Mary's), Gregory Peck (The Keys of the Kingdom)

  5. 1945
    Also nominated

    Charles Boyer (Gaslight), Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way), Cary Grant (None But the Lonely Heart), Alexander Knox (Wilson)

  6. 1944
    Also nominated

    Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca), Gary Cooper (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Walter Pidgeon (Madame Curie), Mickey Rooney (The Human Comedy)

  7. 1943
    Also nominated

    Walter Pidgeon (Mrs. Miniver), Ronald Colman (Random Harvest), Monty Woolley (The Pied Piper), Gary Cooper (The Pride of the Yankees)

  8. 1942
    Also nominated

    Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), Robert Montgomery (Here Comes Mr. Jordan), Cary Grant (Penny Serenade), Walter Huston (The Devil and Daniel Webster)

  9. 1941
    Also nominated

    Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), Laurence Olivier (Rebecca), Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath), Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator)

  10. 1940
    Also nominated

    Mickey Rooney (Babes in Arms), Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind), James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights)

1930s10 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1939
    Also nominated

    Charles Boyer (Algiers), James Cagney (Angels with Dirty Faces), Leslie Howard (Pygmalion), Robert Donat (The Citadel)

  2. 1938
    Also nominated

    Fredric March (A Star Is Born), Charles Boyer (Conquest), Robert Montgomery (Night Must Fall), Paul Muni (The Life of Emile Zola)

  3. 1937
    Also nominated

    Walter Huston (Dodsworth), Gary Cooper (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), William Powell (My Man Godfrey), Spencer Tracy (San Francisco)

  4. 1936
    Also nominated

    Paul Muni (Black Fury), Clark Gable (Mutiny on the Bounty), Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty), Franchot Tone (Mutiny on the Bounty)

  5. 1935
    Also nominated

    Frank Morgan (The Affairs of Cellini), William Powell (The Thin Man)

  6. 1934
    Also nominated

    Leslie Howard (Berkeley Square), Paul Muni (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang)

  7. 1932
    • Fredric March · Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

      NOTE: A tie. Wallace Beery (The Champ) had one vote less than Mr. March, and rules at the time stated that if any achievement came within three votes of the First Award, it would be considered a tie.

    • Wallace Beery · Champ

      NOTE: A tie. Mr. Beery had one vote less than Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), and rules at the time stated that if any achievement came within three votes of the First Award, it would be considered a tie.

    Also nominated

    Alfred Lunt (The Guardsman)

  8. 1931
    Also nominated

    Richard Dix (Cimarron), Jackie Cooper (Skippy), Adolphe Menjou (The Front Page), Fredric March (The Royal Family of Broadway)

  9. 1930
    • George Arliss · Benjamin Disraeli

      NOTE: As allowed by the award rules for this year, a single nomination could honor work in one or more films. Though the final awards ballot listed both Disraeli and The Green Goddess in his nomination, the award was announced for only the Disraeli performance. It has never been established as to why this was, but it possibly could have been because the original report from the Acting Branch Board of Judges only listed the Disraeli performance in the results of the nominations voting, or it could have been because on some of the final ballots, the voters had indicated the Disraeli performance over the other.

    Also nominated

    Ronald Colman (Bulldog Drummond), Wallace Beery (The Big House), Maurice Chevalier (The Big Pond), George Arliss (The Green Goddess), Lawrence Tibbett (The Rogue Song)

  10. 1930
    • Warner Baxter · The Cisco Kid

      NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL NOMINATION. There were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners (*) were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930.

    Also nominated

    Chester Morris (Alibi), Lewis Stone (The Patriot), Paul Muni (The Valiant), George Bancroft (Thunderbolt)

1920s1 ceremonies, tap to open
  1. 1929
    Also nominated

    Richard Barthelmess (The Noose)

Best Actor: every winner and nominee | Cinemuse