Academy Award for Best Actor

This gallery contains a complete collection of all Academy Award winners in the category of Best Actor. Only one portrait is included per actor, for their first winning year. All winning film roles are included as Wikipedia article links in the captions for each actor, along with a brief account of any additional Best Actor nominations they may have received.

See also: Academy Award for Best Actress.

1920s

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  1927–28: Emil Jannings was the first Best Actor winner for his roles in 1927's The Way of All Flesh and 1928's The Last Command.
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  1928–29: Warner Baxter won for his performance in the 1928 film In Old Arizona.
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  1929–30: George Arliss won for his role in 1929's Disraeli.

1930s

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  1930–31: Lionel Barrymore won for his performance in the 1930 film A Free Soul.
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  1931–32: Fredric March won for 1931's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde receiving one more vote than Wallace Beery. March won again for the 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives and was nominated for three other films.
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  1931–32: Wallace Beery received his award for the 1931 film The Champ, though he was not the outright winner. The close margin of one vote was considered a tie. Also nominated for 1930's The Big House.
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  1932–33: Charles Laughton won for 1933's The Private Life of Henry VIII, and was nominated for 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty and 1957's Witness for the Prosecution.
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  1934: Clark Gable won for his performance in It Happened One Night and was nominated for two other performances, 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty and 1939's Gone with the Wind.
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  1935: Victor McLaglen won for his performance in The Informer (shown here with Margot Grahame).
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  1936: Paul Muni won for his portrayal of the title character in The Story of Louis Pasteur, and was nominated for five other films, once as a write-in candidate when he took second place for 1935's Black Fury.
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  1937: Spencer Tracy was the first actor to win this category two consecutive years, having won for his roles in 1937's Captains Courageous and 1938's Boys Town. He had seven other nominations over a 31-year span from 1936 to 1967.
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  1939: Robert Donat won for his portrayal of the title character in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and was nominated the year before for The Citadel (shown with Elissa Landi in another film).

1940s

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  1940: James Stewart won for his performance in The Philadelphia Story, and was nominated four other times between 1939 and 1959.
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  1941: Gary Cooper won for Sergeant York and again for the 1952 film High Noon. He was nominated three other times between 1936 and 1943.
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  1942: James Cagney won for Yankee Doodle Dandy, and was nominated in 1938 and 1955.
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  1943: Paul Lukas won for his performance in Watch on the Rhine (shown with Ruth Chatterton in another film).
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  1944: Bing Crosby won for Going My Way, and was nominated in 1945 and 1954.
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  1945: Ray Milland won for his performance in The Lost Weekend.
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  1946: Fredric March won his second Best Actor award for The Best Years of Our Lives (see portrait for 1931–32 win).
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  1947: Ronald Colman won for A Double Life and was nominated in 1929–30 and 1942.
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  1948: Laurence Olivier won for his role as the title character in Hamlet which he also directed. He was nominated eight other times from the 1930s to the 1970s.
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  1949: Broderick Crawford won for his performance in All the King's Men.

1950s

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  1950: José Ferrer won for his portrayal of the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac (shown here with Mala Powers). He was nominated for 1952's Moulin Rouge.
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  1951: Humphrey Bogart won for his role in The African Queen, and was nominated for 1942's Casablanca and 1954's The Caine Mutiny.
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  1952: Gary Cooper won his second Best Actor award for High Noon (see portrait for 1941).
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  1953: William Holden won for Stalag 17, and was nominated for 1950's Sunset Boulevard and 1976's Network.
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  1954: Marlon Brando won for his role in On the Waterfront, and won a second time for the 1972 film The Godfather. He was nominated five other times between 1951 and 1973.
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  1955: Ernest Borgnine won for his portrayal of the title role in Marty.
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  1956: Yul Brynner won for his portrayal of King Mongkut in The King and I.
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  1957: Alec Guinness won for The Bridge on the River Kwai and was nominated for 1952's The Lavender Hill Mob.
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  1958: David Niven won for his role in Separate Tables.
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  1959: Charlton Heston won for his portrayal of the title role in Ben-Hur.

1960s

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  1960: Burt Lancaster won for the title role in Elmer Gantry and was nominated for three other roles.
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  1961: Maximilian Schell won for Judgment at Nuremberg and was nominated for 1975's The Man in the Glass Booth.
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  1962: Gregory Peck won for To Kill a Mockingbird and was nominated four other times from 1945 to 1949.
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  1963: Sidney Poitier won for Lilies of the Field, becoming the first black actor to win in this category. He was nominated for 1958's The Defiant Ones.
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  1964: Rex Harrison won for My Fair Lady and was nominated for Cleopatra the year before.
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  1965: Lee Marvin won for his role in Cat Ballou.
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  1966: Paul Scofield won for his portrayal of Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons.
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  1967: Rod Steiger won for In the Heat of the Night and was nominated two years earlier for The Pawnbroker.
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  1968: Cliff Robertson won for his portrayal of the title role in Charly.
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  1969: John Wayne won for True Grit and was nominated 20 years earlier for Sands of Iwo Jima.

1970s

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  1970: George C. Scott refused the award after winning for his portrayal of George S. Patton in the film Patton. He was nominated again for 1971's The Hospital.
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  1971: Gene Hackman won for The French Connection and was nominated for 1988's Mississippi Burning.
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  1972: Marlon Brando won his second Best Actor award for The Godfather (see portrait for 1954).
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  1973: Jack Lemmon won for Save the Tiger and was nominated six other times over a 23-year span from 1959 to 1982.
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  1974: Art Carney won for his role in Harry and Tonto.
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  1975: Jack Nicholson won for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and for the 1997 film As Good as It Gets. He has six other nominations over a 32-year span from 1970 to 2002.
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  1976: Peter Finch won for Network and was nominated five years earlier for Sunday Bloody Sunday.
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  1977: Richard Dreyfuss won for The Goodbye Girl and was nominated for 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus.
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  1978: Jon Voight won for Coming Home and was nominated for 1969's Midnight Cowboy and 1985's Runaway Train.
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  1979: Dustin Hoffman won for Kramer vs. Kramer and for the 1988 film Rain Man. He has five other nominations over a 30-year span from 1967 to 1997.

1980s

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  1980: Robert De Niro won for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. He was nominated four other times including 1976's Taxi Driver and the 1991 remake of Cape Fear.
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  1981: Henry Fonda won for his role in On Golden Pond. He was nominated for The Grapes of Wrath 41 years earlier.
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  1982: Ben Kingsley won for his portrayal of the title role in Gandhi. He was nominated for 2003's House of Sand and Fog.
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  1983: Robert Duvall won for Tender Mercies and was nominated for 1980's The Great Santini and 1997's The Apostle.
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  1984: F. Murray Abraham won for his performance in Amadeus.
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  1985: William Hurt won for 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman and was nominated for 1986's Children of a Lesser God and 1987's Broadcast News.
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  1986 Paul Newman won for The Color of Money and was nominated for seven other roles between 1958's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and 1994's Nobody's Fool.
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  1987: Michael Douglas won for his performance in Wall Street.
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  1988: Dustin Hoffman won his second Best Actor award for Rain Man (see portrait for 1979).
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  1989: Daniel Day-Lewis won for his performance in My Left Foot. He is the only actor to win the Best Actor award three times, also for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012). He was nominated three other times.

1990s

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  1990: Jeremy Irons won for his portrayal of Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune.
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  1991: Anthony Hopkins won twice from four nominations for his roles as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs and Anthony in 2020's The Father, becoming the oldest winner in this category for the latter. Hopkins also disclosed a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome in 2017, making him the only openly autistic Oscar winner.
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  1992: Al Pacino won once from five nominations for his performance in Scent of a Woman.
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  1993: Tom Hanks won two consecutive awards for his roles in 1993's Philadelphia and 1994's Forrest Gump and was nominated three other times.
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  1995: Nicolas Cage won for Leaving Las Vegas and was nominated for his role in the 2002 film Adaptation.
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  1996: Geoffrey Rush won for his portrayal of David Helfgott in Shine.
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  1997: Jack Nicholson won his second Best Actor award for As Good as It Gets (see portrait for 1975).
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  1998 Roberto Benigni became the second actor to win for a role in a film he directed himself, Life Is Beautiful.
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  1999: Kevin Spacey won for his role in American Beauty.

2000s

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  2000: Russell Crowe won for Gladiator and was nominated for 1999's The Insider and 2001's A Beautiful Mind.
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  2001: Denzel Washington won for his role in Training Day and was nominated five other times between 1992 and 2017.
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  2002: Adrien Brody became the youngest Best Actor winner for his performance in The Pianist at age 29.
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  2003: Sean Penn won twice from five nominations for his roles in 2003's Mystic River and 2008's Milk.
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  2004: Jamie Foxx won for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray.
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  2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman won for his portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote.
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  2006: Forest Whitaker won for his performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
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  2007: Daniel Day-Lewis won his second Best Actor award for his performance in There Will Be Blood (see 1989 portrait).
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  2008: Sean Penn won his second Best Actor award for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in Milk (see 2003 portrait).
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  2009: Jeff Bridges won for his performance in Crazy Heart and was nominated for 1984's Starman and the 2010 remake of True Grit.

2010s

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  2010: Colin Firth won for his portrayal of King George VI in The King's Speech and was nominated for A Single Man (2009).
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  2011: Jean Dujardin became the first French actor to win the Best Actor award for his performance in The Artist.
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  2012: Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Best Actor award for his portrayal of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (see 1989 portrait).
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  2013: Matthew McConaughey won for his performance as Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club.
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  2014: Eddie Redmayne won for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, and was nominated the next year for his performance as Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl.
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  2015: Leonardo DiCaprio won for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant. He was nominated for The Aviator (2004), Blood Diamond (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
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  2016: Casey Affleck won for his performance in Manchester by the Sea.
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  2017: Gary Oldman won for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and was nominated for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011).
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  2018: Rami Malek won for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
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  2019: Joaquin Phoenix won for his performance in Joker and was nominated for Walk the Line (2005) and The Master (2012).

2020s

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  2020: Anthony Hopkins won his second Best Actor award for his performance in The Father (see portrait for 1991).
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  2021: Will Smith won for his performance in King Richard.
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  2022: Brendan Fraser won for his performance in The Whale.
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  2023: Cillian Murphy won for his portrayal of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.

Bibliography

• Crouse, Richard (2005) Reel Winners: Movie Award Trivia, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press ISBN: 978-1-55002-574-3.