Winners Only by Category:
Best Actor

Listed below are the Academy Award winners in the category of Best Actor (non-winning nominations have been omitted from this list). Click on the name of a film or person in the list to display more information about that film or person. Or, click on a category in the column on the right to display the winners in that category.

1927-28  (1st)

Emil Jannings in The Last Command, Paramount Famous Lasky, and in The Way of All Flesh, Paramount Famous Lasky.

1928-29  (2nd)

Warner Baxter in In Old Arizona, Fox.

1929-30  (3rd)

George Arliss in Disraeli, Warner Bros., and in The Green Goddess, Warner Bros.

1930-31  (4th)

Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1931-32  (5th)

Wallace Beery in The Champ, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Fredric March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Paramount Publix.

1932-33  (6th)

Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII, London Films; United Artists (British).

1934  (7th)

Clark Gable in It Happened One Night, Columbia.

1935  (8th)

Victor McLaglen in The Informer, RKO Radio.

1936  (9th)

Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur, Cosmopolitan; Warner Bros.-First National.

1937  (10th)

Spencer Tracy in Captains Courageous, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1938  (11th)

Spencer Tracy in Boys Town, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1939  (12th)

Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (British).

1940  (13th)

James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1941  (14th)

Gary Cooper in Sergeant York, Warner Bros.

1942  (15th)

James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, Warner Bros.

1943  (16th)

Paul Lukas in Watch on the Rhine, Warner Bros.

1944  (17th)

Bing Crosby in Going My Way, Paramount.

1945  (18th)

Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend, Paramount.

1946  (19th)

Fredric March in The Best Years of Our Lives, Samuel Goldwyn Productions; RKO Radio.

1947  (20th)

Ronald Colman in A Double Life, Kanin Productions; Universal-International.

1948  (21st)

Laurence Olivier in Hamlet, J. Arthur Rank-Two Cities Films; Universal-International (British).

1949  (22nd)

Broderick Crawford in All the King’s Men, Robert Rossen Productions; Columbia.

1950  (23rd)

Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac, Stanley Kramer Productions; United Artists.

1951  (24th)

Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, Horizon Enterprises, Inc.; United Artists.

1952  (25th)

Gary Cooper in High Noon, Stanley Kramer Productions; United Artists.

1953  (26th)

William Holden in Stalag 17, Paramount.

1954  (27th)

Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, Horizon-American Corporation; Columbia.

1955  (28th)

Ernest Borgnine in Marty, Hecht and Lancaster’s Steven Productions; United Artists.

1956  (29th)

Yul Brynner in The King and I, 20th Century-Fox.

1957  (30th)

Alec Guinness in The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Horizon Pictures Production; Columbia. (United Kingdom)

1958  (31st)

David Niven in Separate Tables, Clifton Productions, Inc.; United Artists.

1959  (32nd)

Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

1960  (33rd)

Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry, Burt Lancaster-Richard Brooks Production; United Artists.

1961  (34th)

Maximilian Schell in Judgment at Nuremberg, Stanley Kramer Productions; United Artists.

1962  (35th)

Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Universal-International-Pakula-Mulligan-Brentwood Production; Universal-International.

1963  (36th)

Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, Rainbow Productions; United Artists.

1964  (37th)

Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, Warner Bros.

1965  (38th)

Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou, Harold Hecht Productions; Columbia.

1966  (39th)

Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons, Highland Films, Ltd. Production; Columbia. (United Kingdom)

1967  (40th)

Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night, Mirisch Corporation Production; United Artists.

1968  (41st)

Cliff Robertson in Charly, American Broadcasting Companies-Selmur Pictures Production; Cinerama.

1969  (42nd)

John Wayne in True Grit, Hal Wallis Productions; Paramount.

1970  (43rd)

George C. Scott in Patton, 20th Century-Fox.

1971  (44th)

Gene Hackman in The French Connection, Philip D’Antoni Production in association with Schine-Moore Productions; 20th Century-Fox.

1972  (45th)

Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Albert S. Ruddy Production; Paramount.

1973  (46th)

Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger, Filmways-Jalem-Cirandinha Productions; Paramount.

1974  (47th)

Art Carney in Harry and Tonto, 20th Century-Fox.

1975  (48th)

Jack Nicholson in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Fantasy Films Production; United Artists.

1976  (49th)

Peter Finch in Network, Howard Gottfried-Paddy Chayefsky Production; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists.

1977  (50th)

Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl, Ray Stark Production; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros.

1978  (51st)

Jon Voight in Coming Home, Jerome Hellman Enterprises Production; United Artists.

1979  (52nd)

Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer, Stanley Jaffe Productions; Columbia.

1980  (53rd)

Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, Robert Chartoff-Irwin Winkler Production; United Artists.

1981  (54th)

Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, ITC Films/IPC Films Production; Universal.

1982  (55th)

Ben Kingsley in Gandhi, Indo-British Film Production; Columbia. (United Kingdom)

1983  (56th)

Robert Duvall in Tender Mercies, EMI Presentation of an Antron Media Production; Universal/A.F.D.

1984  (57th)

F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, Saul Zaentz Company Production; Orion.

1985  (58th)

William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman, H.B. Filmes Production in association with Sugarloaf Films; Island Alive. (Brazil)

1986  (59th)

Paul Newman in The Color of Money, Touchstone Pictures Production in association with Silver Screen Partners II; Buena Vista.

1987  (60th)

Michael Douglas in Wall Street, Oaxatal Production; 20th Century Fox.

1988  (61st)

Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Guber-Peters Company Production; United Artists.

1989  (62nd)

Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot, Ferndale/Granada Production; Miramax Films. (Ireland)

1990  (63rd)

Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune, Reversal Films Production; Warner Bros.

1991  (64th)

Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, Strong Heart/Demme Production; Orion.

1992  (65th)

Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman, Universal Release/City Light Films Production; Universal.

1993  (66th)

Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, TriStar Pictures Production; TriStar.

1994  (67th)

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, Steve Tisch/Wendy Finerman Production; Paramount.

1995  (68th)

Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, Initial Productions; MGM/UA.

1996  (69th)

Geoffrey Rush in Shine, Momentum Films Production; Fine Line Features. (Australia)

1997  (70th)

Jack Nicholson in As Good as It Gets, Gracie Films Production; TriStar.

1998  (71st)

Roberto Benigni in Life Is Beautiful, Melampo Cinematografica Production; Miramax Films. (Italy)

1999  (72nd)

Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, Jinks/Cohen Company Production; DreamWorks.

2000  (73rd)

Russell Crowe in Gladiator, Douglas Wick in association with Scott Free Production; DreamWorks and Universal.

2001  (74th)

Denzel Washington in Training Day, Training Day Production; Warner Bros.

2002  (75th)

Adrien Brody in The Pianist, R. P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runtime LTD. Production; Focus Features. (France/Poland/Germany/United Kingdom)

2003  (76th)

Sean Penn in Mystic River, Warner Bros. Pictures Production; Warner Bros.

2004  (77th)

Jamie Foxx in Ray, Universal Pictures/Bristol Bay Production; Universal.

2005  (78th)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, A-Line Pictures/Cooper’s Town/Infinity Media Production; UA/Sony Pictures Classics.

2006  (79th)

Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland, Cowboy Films/Slate Films Production; Fox Searchlight. (United Kingdom/Germany)

2007  (80th)

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production; Paramount Vantage and Miramax.

2008  (81st)

Sean Penn in Milk, Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production; Focus Features.

2009  (82nd)

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, Informant Media/Butcher’s Run Films Production; Fox Searchlight.

2010  (83rd)

Colin Firth in The King’s Speech, See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production; The Weinstein Company. (United Kingdom)

2011  (84th)

Jean Dujardin in The Artist, Le Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Américaine/JD Prod/France 3 Cinéma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production; The Weinstein Company. (France)

2012  (85th)

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, DreamWorks Pictures/20th Century Fox Production; Walt Disney/20th Century Fox.

2013  (86th)

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club, A Voltage Pictures, R2 Films, Evolution Independent Production; Focus Features.

2014  (87th)

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, a Working Title Films Production; Focus Features.

2015  (88th)

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, a Regency Enterprises Production; 20th Century Fox.

2016  (89th)

Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea, A K Period Media/B Story/CMP/Pearl Street Films production; Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios.

2017  (90th)

Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour, A Working Title Films Production; Focus Features.

2018  (91st)

Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody, A 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises Production; 20th Century Fox.

2019  (92nd)

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, A Joint Effort Production; Warner Bros.

2020  (93rd)

Anthony Hopkins in The Father, A Trademark Films/F Comme Film/Ciné-@ Production; Sony Pictures Classics.

2021  (94th)

Will Smith in King Richard, A Star Thrower Entertainment/Westbrook Production; Warner Bros.

2022  (95th)

Brendan Fraser in The Whale, Palouse Prod.; A24.

2023  (96th)

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, Universal Pictures/Syncopy/Atlas Entertainment Production; Universal.

2024  (97th)

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist.