Best Actor
1929 to 2026 · 482 nominations
Most nominated in this category
- 1Spencer Tracy9 noms2
- 2Laurence Olivier9 noms1
- 3Jack Nicholson8 noms2
- 4Paul Newman8 noms1
- 5Peter O'Toole8 noms
- 6Dustin Hoffman7 noms2
- 7Marlon Brando7 noms2
- 8Denzel Washington7 noms1
- 9Jack Lemmon7 noms1
- 10Daniel Day-Lewis6 noms3
Year by year
2020s7 ceremonies, tap to open
- 2026
- Michael B. Jordan · Smoke/Stack
Also nominatedEthan Hawke (Blue Moon), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
- 2025
- Adrien Brody · László Tóth
Also nominatedTimothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
- 2024
- Cillian Murphy · J. Robert Oppenheimer
Also nominatedJeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
- 2023
- Brendan Fraser · Charlie
Also nominatedPaul Mescal (Aftersun), Austin Butler (Elvis), Bill Nighy (Living), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
- 2022
- Will Smith · Richard Williams
Also nominatedJavier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Andrew Garfield (tick, tick... BOOM!)
- 2021
- Anthony Hopkins · Anthony
Also nominatedChadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Gary Oldman (Mank), Steven Yeun (Minari), Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
- 2020
- Joaquin Phoenix · Arthur Fleck
Also nominatedAdam 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
- 2019
- Rami Malek · Freddie Mercury
Also nominatedBradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Christian Bale (Vice)
- 2018
- Gary Oldman · Winston Churchill
Also nominatedTimothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
- 2017
- Casey Affleck · Lee Chandler
Also nominatedViggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
- 2016
- Leonardo DiCaprio · Hugh Glass
Also nominatedMichael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Matt Damon (The Martian), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
- 2015
- Eddie Redmayne · Stephen Hawking
Also nominatedBradley Cooper (American Sniper), Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
- 2014
- Matthew McConaughey · Ron Woodroof
Also nominatedChiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Christian Bale (American Hustle), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
- 2013
- Daniel Day-Lewis · Abraham Lincoln
Also nominatedDenzel Washington (Flight), Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
- 2012
- Jean Dujardin · George Valentin
Also nominatedDemián Bichir (A Better Life), Brad Pitt (Moneyball), George Clooney (The Descendants), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
- 2011
- Colin Firth · King George VI
Also nominatedJames Franco (127 Hours), Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
- 2010
- Jeff Bridges · Bad Blake
Also nominatedColin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), George Clooney (Up in the Air)
2000s10 ceremonies, tap to open
- 2009Also nominated
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
- 2008
- Daniel Day-Lewis · Daniel Plainview
Also nominatedViggo 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)
- 2007
- Forest Whitaker · Idi Amin
Also nominatedLeonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Peter O'Toole (Venus)
- 2006
- Philip Seymour Hoffman · Truman Capote
Also nominatedHeath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck.), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
- 2005
- Jamie Foxx · Ray Charles
Also nominatedJohnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator)
- 2004
- Sean Penn · Jimmy Markum
Also nominatedJude 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)
- 2003
- Adrien Brody · Wladyslaw Szpilman
Also nominatedJack Nicholson (About Schmidt), Nicolas Cage (Adaptation.), Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York), Michael Caine (The Quiet American)
- 2002
- Denzel Washington · Alonzo
Also nominatedRussell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Will Smith (Ali), Sean Penn (I Am Sam), Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom)
- 2001
- Russell Crowe · Maximus Decimus Meridius
Also nominatedJavier Bardem (Before Night Falls), Tom Hanks (Cast Away), Ed Harris (Pollock), Geoffrey Rush (Quills)
- 2000
- Kevin Spacey · Lester Burnham
Also nominatedSean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown), Denzel Washington (The Hurricane), Russell Crowe (The Insider), Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
1990s10 ceremonies, tap to open
- 1999
- Roberto Benigni · Guido
Also nominatedNick Nolte (Affliction), Edward Norton (American History X), Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters), Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan)
- 1998
- Jack Nicholson · Melvin Udall
Also nominatedMatt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Robert Duvall (The Apostle), Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold), Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog)
- 1997
- Geoffrey Rush · David Helfgott
Also nominatedTom Cruise (Jerry Maguire), Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt)
- 1996
- Nicolas Cage · Ben Sanderson
Also nominatedSean Penn (Dead Man Walking), Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus), Anthony Hopkins (Nixon), Massimo Troisi (The Postman)
- 1995
- Tom Hanks · Forrest Gump
Also nominatedPaul Newman (Nobody's Fool), John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George), Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)
- 1994
- Tom Hanks · Andrew Beckett
Also nominatedDaniel 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)
- 1993
- Al Pacino · Lt. Col. Frank Slade
Also nominatedRobert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)
- 1992
- Anthony Hopkins · Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Also nominatedWarren Beatty (Bugsy), Robert De Niro (Cape Fear), Robin Williams (The Fisher King), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides)
- 1991
- Jeremy Irons · Claus Von Bulow
Also nominatedRobert De Niro (Awakenings), Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac), Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves), Richard Harris (The Field)
- 1990
- Daniel Day Lewis · Christy Brown
Also nominatedTom 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
- 1989
- Dustin Hoffman · Raymond Babbitt
Also nominatedTom Hanks (Big), Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning), Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver)
- 1988
- Michael Douglas · Gordon Gekko
Also nominatedWilliam Hurt (Broadcast News), Marcello Mastroianni (Dark Eyes), Robin Williams (Good Morning, Vietnam), Jack Nicholson (Ironweed)
- 1987
- Paul Newman · Eddie Felson
Also nominatedDexter Gordon ('Round Midnight), William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God), Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa), James Woods (Salvador)
- 1986
- William Hurt · Luis Molina
Also nominatedJames Garner (Murphy's Romance), Jack Nicholson (Prizzi's Honor), Jon Voight (Runaway Train), Harrison Ford (Witness)
- 1985
- F. Murray Abraham · Antonio Salieri
Also nominatedTom Hulce (Amadeus), Jeff Bridges (Starman), Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields), Albert Finney (Under the Volcano)
- 1984
- Robert Duvall · Mac Sledge
Also nominatedMichael Caine (Educating Rita), Tom Conti (Reuben, Reuben), Albert Finney (The Dresser), Tom Courtenay (The Dresser)
- 1983
- Ben Kingsley · Mahatma Gandhi
Also nominatedJack Lemmon (Missing), Peter O'Toole (My Favorite Year), Paul Newman (The Verdict), Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie)
- 1982
- Henry Fonda · Norman Thayer, Jr.
Also nominatedPaul Newman (Absence of Malice), Dudley Moore (Arthur), Burt Lancaster (Atlantic City), Warren Beatty (Reds)
- 1981
- Robert De Niro · Jake LaMotta
Also nominatedJohn Hurt (The Elephant Man), Robert Duvall (The Great Santini), Peter O'Toole (The Stunt Man), Jack Lemmon (Tribute)
- 1980
- Dustin Hoffman · Ted Kramer
Also nominatedRoy Scheider (All That Jazz), Al Pacino (And Justice for All), Peter Sellers (Being There), Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome)
1970s10 ceremonies, tap to open
- 1979
- Jon Voight · Luke Martin
Also nominatedWarren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait), Laurence Olivier (The Boys from Brazil), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story), Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter)
- 1978
- Richard Dreyfuss · Elliot Garfield
Also nominatedMarcello Mastroianni (A Special Day), Woody Allen (Annie Hall), Richard Burton (Equus), John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever)
- 1977
- Peter Finch · Howard Beale
Also nominatedWilliam Holden (Network), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)
- 1976
- Jack Nicholson · Randle Patrick McMurphy
Also nominatedAl Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon), James Whitmore (Give 'em Hell, Harry!), Maximilian Schell (The Man in the Glass Booth), Walter Matthau (The Sunshine Boys)
- 1975
- Art Carney · Harry
Also nominatedJack Nicholson (Chinatown), Dustin Hoffman (Lenny), Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express), Al Pacino (The Godfather Part II)
- 1974
- Jack Lemmon · Harry Stoner
Also nominatedMarlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris), Al Pacino (Serpico), Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail), Robert Redford (The Sting)
- 1973Also nominated
Laurence Olivier (Sleuth), Michael Caine (Sleuth), Paul Winfield (Sounder), Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class)
- 1972
- Gene Hackman · Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Also nominatedTopol (Fiddler on the Roof), Walter Matthau (Kotch), Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday), George C. Scott (The Hospital)
- 1971Also 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)
- 1970
- John Wayne · Rooster Cogburn
Also nominatedRichard 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
- 1969
- Cliff Robertson · Charly Gordon
Also nominatedRon Moody (Oliver!), Alan Bates (The Fixer), Alan Arkin (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), Peter O'Toole (The Lion in Winter)
- 1968
- Rod Steiger · Police Chief Bill Gillespie
Also nominatedWarren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde), Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke), Spencer Tracy (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate)
- 1967
- Paul Scofield · Sir Thomas More
Also nominatedMichael 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?)
- 1966
- Lee Marvin · Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn
Also nominatedLaurence Olivier (Othello), Oskar Werner (Ship of Fools), Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker), Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
- 1965
- Rex Harrison · Professor Henry Higgins
Also nominatedRichard 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)
- 1964
- Sidney Poitier · Homer Smith
Also nominatedRex Harrison (Cleopatra), Paul Newman (Hud), Richard Harris (This Sporting Life), Albert Finney (Tom Jones)
- 1963
- Gregory Peck · Atticus Finch
Also nominatedBurt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz), Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses), Marcello Mastroianni (Divorce Italian Style), Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)
- 1962
- Maximilian Schell · Hans Rolfe
Also nominatedCharles Boyer (Fanny), Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg), Paul Newman (The Hustler), Stuart Whitman (The Mark)
- 1961
- Burt Lancaster · Elmer Gantry
Also nominatedSpencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind), Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers), Jack Lemmon (The Apartment), Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer)
- 1960
- Charlton Heston · Judah Ben-Hur
Also nominatedJames 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
- 1959
- David Niven · Major Pollock
Also nominatedPaul 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)
- 1958
- Alec Guinness · Colonel Nicholson
Also nominatedAnthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain), Marlon Brando (Sayonara), Anthony Quinn (Wild Is the Wind), Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution)
- 1957
- Yul Brynner · The King
Also nominatedJames Dean (Giant), Rock Hudson (Giant), Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life), Sir Laurence Olivier (Richard III)
- 1956
- Ernest Borgnine · Marty Pilletti
Also nominatedSpencer 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)
- 1955
- Marlon Brando · Terry Malloy
Also nominatedJames Mason (A Star Is Born), Dan O'Herlihy (Robinson Crusoe), Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny), Bing Crosby (The Country Girl)
- 1954
- William Holden · Sefton
Also nominatedBurt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity), Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity), Marlon Brando (Julius Caesar), Richard Burton (The Robe)
- 1953
- Gary Cooper · Will Kane
Also nominatedJosé Ferrer (Moulin Rouge), Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful), Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob), Marlon Brando (Viva Zapata!)
- 1952
- Humphrey Bogart · Charlie Allnut
Also nominatedMontgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun), Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire), Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory), Fredric March (Death of a Salesman)
- 1951
- José Ferrer · Cyrano de Bergerac
Also nominatedSpencer Tracy (Father of the Bride), James Stewart (Harvey), William Holden (Sunset Boulevard), Louis Calhern (The Magnificent Yankee)
- 1950
- Broderick Crawford · Willie Stark
Also nominatedKirk Douglas (Champion), John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima), Richard Todd (The Hasty Heart), Gregory Peck (Twelve O'Clock High)
1940s10 ceremonies, tap to open
- 1949
- Laurence Olivier · Hamlet
Also nominatedLew Ayres (Johnny Belinda), Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty), Montgomery Clift (The Search), Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles at Me)
- 1948
- Ronald Colman · Anthony John
Also nominatedJohn Garfield (Body and Soul), Gregory Peck (Gentleman's Agreement), William Powell (Life with Father), Michael Redgrave (Mourning Becomes Electra)
- 1947
- Fredric March · Al Stephenson
Also nominatedLaurence Olivier (Henry V), James Stewart (It's a Wonderful Life), Larry Parks (The Jolson Story), Gregory Peck (The Yearling)
- 1946
- Ray Milland · Don Birnam
Also nominatedCornel Wilde (A Song to Remember), Gene Kelly (Anchors Aweigh), Bing Crosby (The Bells of St. Mary's), Gregory Peck (The Keys of the Kingdom)
- 1945
- Bing Crosby · Father O'Malley
Also nominatedCharles Boyer (Gaslight), Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way), Cary Grant (None But the Lonely Heart), Alexander Knox (Wilson)
- 1944
- Paul Lukas · Kurt Muller
Also nominatedHumphrey Bogart (Casablanca), Gary Cooper (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Walter Pidgeon (Madame Curie), Mickey Rooney (The Human Comedy)
- 1943
- James Cagney · George M. Cohan
Also nominatedWalter Pidgeon (Mrs. Miniver), Ronald Colman (Random Harvest), Monty Woolley (The Pied Piper), Gary Cooper (The Pride of the Yankees)
- 1942
- Gary Cooper · Alvin C. York
Also nominatedOrson Welles (Citizen Kane), Robert Montgomery (Here Comes Mr. Jordan), Cary Grant (Penny Serenade), Walter Huston (The Devil and Daniel Webster)
- 1941
- James Stewart · Mike Connor
Also nominatedRaymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), Laurence Olivier (Rebecca), Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath), Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator)
- 1940
- Robert Donat · Mr. Chips
Also nominatedMickey 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
- 1939
- Spencer Tracy · Father Flanagan
Also nominatedCharles Boyer (Algiers), James Cagney (Angels with Dirty Faces), Leslie Howard (Pygmalion), Robert Donat (The Citadel)
- 1938
- Spencer Tracy · Manuel
Also nominatedFredric March (A Star Is Born), Charles Boyer (Conquest), Robert Montgomery (Night Must Fall), Paul Muni (The Life of Emile Zola)
- 1937
- Paul Muni · Louis Pasteur
Also nominatedWalter Huston (Dodsworth), Gary Cooper (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), William Powell (My Man Godfrey), Spencer Tracy (San Francisco)
- 1936
- Victor McLaglen · Gypo Nolan
Also nominatedPaul Muni (Black Fury), Clark Gable (Mutiny on the Bounty), Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty), Franchot Tone (Mutiny on the Bounty)
- 1935
- Clark Gable · Peter Warne
Also nominatedFrank Morgan (The Affairs of Cellini), William Powell (The Thin Man)
- 1934
- Charles Laughton · Henry VIII
Also nominatedLeslie Howard (Berkeley Square), Paul Muni (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang)
- 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 nominatedAlfred Lunt (The Guardsman)
- 1931
- Lionel Barrymore · Stephen Ashe
Also nominatedRichard Dix (Cimarron), Jackie Cooper (Skippy), Adolphe Menjou (The Front Page), Fredric March (The Royal Family of Broadway)
- 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 nominatedRonald Colman (Bulldog Drummond), Wallace Beery (The Big House), Maurice Chevalier (The Big Pond), George Arliss (The Green Goddess), Lawrence Tibbett (The Rogue Song)
- 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 nominatedChester Morris (Alibi), Lewis Stone (The Patriot), Paul Muni (The Valiant), George Bancroft (Thunderbolt)
1920s1 ceremonies, tap to open
- 1929
- Emil Jannings · General Dolgorucki [Grand Duke Sergius Alexander]; August Schilling
Also nominatedRichard Barthelmess (The Noose)