List of best actor Oscar winners
and other Academy Award nominees
Updated: March 15, 2026
Current nominees, and who beat who for best actor Oscar: Year indicates year/period for which films were judged, not year of ceremony. Sources: Oscars.org, Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia
2025: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners) — beat Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
2024: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) — beat Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
2023: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) — beat Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
2022: Brendan Fraser (The Whale) — beat Austin Butler (Elvis), Bill Nighy (Living), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
2021: Will Smith (King Richard) — beat Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick... Boom!)
2020: Anthony Hopkins (The Father) — beat Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Gary Oldman (Mank), Steven Yeun (Minari)
2019: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) — beat Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory)
2018: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) — beat Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Christian Bale (Vice), Viggo Mortensen (Green Book), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)
2017: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) — beat Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
2016: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) — beat Denzel Washington (Fences), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
2015: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) — beat Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
2014: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) — beat Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
2013: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) — beat Bruce Dern (Nebraska), Christian Bale (American Hustle), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
2012: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) — beat Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables), Denzel Washington (Flight), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
2011: Jean Dujardin (The Artist) — beat George Clooney (The Descendants), Brad Pitt (Moneyball), Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
2010: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) — beat Jeff Bridges (True Grit), James Franco (127 Hours), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
2009: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) — beat George Clooney (Up in the Air), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Colin Firth (A Single Man)
2008: Sean Penn (Milk) — beat Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
2007: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) — beat George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)
2006: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) — beat Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)
2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) — beat Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line), David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck)
2004: Jamie Foxx (Ray) — beat Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda)
2003: Sean Penn (Mystic River) — beat Bill Murray (Lost in Translation), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog), Jude Law (Cold Mountain)
2002: Adrien Brody (The Pianist) — beat Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt), Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York), Michael Caine (The Quiet American), Nicolas Cage (Adaptation)
2001: Denzel Washington (Training Day) — beat Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), Sean Penn (I Am Sam), Will Smith (Ali), Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom)
2000: Russell Crowe (Gladiator) — beat Tom Hanks (Cast Away), Ed Harris (Pollock), Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls), Geoffrey Rush (Quills)
1999: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty) — beat Denzel Washington (The Hurricane), Russell Crowe (The Insider), Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown), Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
1998: Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful) — beat Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan), Edward Norton (American History X), Nick Nolte (Affliction), Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters)
1997: Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets) — beat Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog), Robert Duvall (The Apostle), Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold)
1996: Geoffrey Rush (Shine) — beat Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire), Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade), Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Woody Harrelson (The People Vs. Larry Flynt)
1995: Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) — beat Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking), Anthony Hopkins (Nixon), Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus), Massimo Troisi (The Postman)
1994: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) — beat John Travolta (Pulp Fiction), Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption), Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool), Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George)
1993: Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) — beat Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day), Daniel Day-Lewis (In the Name of the Father), Liam Neeson (Schindler's List), Laurence Fishburne (What's Love Got to Do with It)
1992: Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman) — beat Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven), Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game)
1991: Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs) — beat Warren Beatty (Bugsy), Robert De Niro (Cape Fear), Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides), Robin Williams (The Fisher King)
1990: Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) — beat Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves), Robert De Niro (Awakenings), Richard Harris (The Field), Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac)
1989: Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot) — beat Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July), Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy), Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society), Kenneth Branagh (Henry V)
1988: Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) — beat Tom Hanks (Big), Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning), Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver), Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror)
1987: Michael Douglas (Wall Street) — beat Jack Nicholson (Ironweed), William Hurt (Broadcast News), Robin Williams (Good Morning, Vietnam), Marcello Mastroianni (Dark Eyes)
1986: Paul Newman (The Color of Money) — beat William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God), James Woods (Salvador), Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa), Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight)
1985: William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman) — beat Jack Nicholson (Prizzi’s Honor), Harrison Ford (Witness), Jon Voight (Runaway Train), James Garner (Murphy’s Romance)
1984: F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) — beat Tom Hulce (Amadeus), Jeff Bridges (Starman), Albert Finney (Under the Volcano), Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields)
1983: Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies) — beat Michael Caine (Educating Rita), Albert Finney (The Dresser), Tom Courtenay (The Dresser), Tom Conti (Reuben, Reuben)
1982: Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) — beat Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie), Paul Newman (The Verdict), Jack Lemmon (Missing), Peter O’Toole (My Favorite Year)
1981: Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond) — beat Warren Beatty (Reds), Dudley Moore (Arthur), Paul Newman (Absence of Malice), Burt Lancaster (Atlantic City)
1980: Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) — beat Robert Duvall (The Great Santini), Jack Lemmon (Tribute), Peter O’Toole (The Stunt Man), John Hurt (The Elephant Man)
1979: Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer) — beat Al Pacino (And Justice for All), Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome), Roy Scheider (All That Jazz), Peter Sellers (Being There)
1978: Jon Voight (Coming Home) — beat Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter), Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait), Laurence Olivier (The Boys from Brazil), Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story)
1977: Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl) — beat John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever), Woody Allen (Annie Hall), Richard Burton (Equus), Marcello Mastroianni (A Special Day)
1976: Peter Finch (Network) — beat Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver), William Holden (Network), Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties)
1975: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) — beat Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon), Maximilian Schell (The Man in the Glass Booth), Walter Matthau (The Sunshine Boys), James Whitmore (Give ’em Hell, Harry!)
1974: Art Carney (Harry and Tonto) — beat Al Pacino (The Godfather, Part II), Jack Nicholson (Chinatown), Dustin Hoffman (Lenny), Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express)
1973: Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger) — beat Al Pacino (Serpico), Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris), Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail), Robert Redford (The Sting)
1972: Marlon Brando (The Godfather) — beat Laurence Olivier (Sleuth), Michael Caine (Sleuth), Peter O’Toole (The Ruling Class), Paul Winfield (Sounder)
1971: Gene Hackman (The French Connection) — beat George C. Scott (The Hospital), Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday), Walter Matthau (Kotch), Topol (Fiddler on the Roof)
1970: George C. Scott (Patton) — beat Jack Nicholson (Five Easy Pieces), James Earl Jones (The Great White Hope), Ryan O’Neal (Love Story), Melvyn Douglas (I Never Sang for My Father)
1969: John Wayne (True Grit) — beat Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy), Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy), Peter O’Toole (Goodbye, Mr. Chips), Richard Burton (Anne of the Thousand Days)
1968: Cliff Robertson (Charly) — beat Peter O’Toole (The Lion in Winter), Alan Arkin (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), Alan Bates (The Fixer), Ron Moody (Oliver!)
1967: Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night) — beat Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate), Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke), Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde), Spencer Tracy (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner)
1966: Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons) — beat Steve McQueen (The Sand Pebbles), Michael Caine (Alfie), Alan Arkin (The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming), Richard Burton (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
1965: Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou) — beat Laurence Olivier (Othello), Rod Steiger (Pawnbroker), Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold), Oskar Werner (Ship of Fools)
1964: Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) — beat Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove), Peter O'Toole (Becket), Richard Burton (Becket), Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek)
1963: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field) — beat Paul Newman (Hud), Albert Finney (Tom Jones), Rex Harrison (Cleopatra), Richard Harris (This Sporting Life)
1962: Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird) — beat Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia), Burt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz), Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses), Marcello Mastroianni (Divorce — Italian Style)
1961: Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg) — beat Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg), Paul Newman (The Hustler), Charles Boyer (Fanny), Stuart Whitman (The Mark)
1960: Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry) — beat Jack Lemmon (The Apartment), Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer), Spencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind), Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers)
1959: Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur) — beat Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot), James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder), Laurence Harvey (Room at the Top), Paul Muni (The Last Angry Man)
1958: David Niven (Separate Tables) — beat Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Sidney Poitier (The Defiant Ones), Tony Curtis (The Defiant Ones), Spencer Tracy (The Old Man and the Sea)
1957: Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai) — beat Marlon Brando (Sayonara), Anthony Quinn (Wild Is the Wind), Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution), Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain)
1956: Yul Brynner (The King and I) — beat James Dean (Giant), Rock Hudson (Giant), Laurence Olivier (Richard III), Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life)
1955: Ernest Borgnine (Marty) — beat James Dean (East of Eden), Frank Sinatra (The Man with the Golden Arm), James Cagney (Love Me or Leave Me), Spencer Tracy (Bad Day at Black Rock)
1954: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront) — beat Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny), Bing Crosby (The Country Girl), James Mason (A Star Is Born), Dan O’Herlihy (Adventures of Robinson Crusoe)
1953: William Holden (Stalag 17) — beat Marlon Brando (Julius Caesar), Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity), Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity), Richard Burton (The Robe)
1952: Gary Cooper (High Noon) — beat Marlon Brando (Viva Zapata!), Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful), Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob), José Ferrer (Moulin Rouge)
1951: Humphrey Bogart (The African Queen) — beat Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire), Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun), Fredric March (Death of a Salesman), Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory)
1950: José Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac) — beat William Holden (Sunset Blvd.), Spencer Tracy (Father of the Bride), James Stewart (Harvey), Louis Calhern (The Magnificent Yankee)
1949: Broderick Crawford (All the King’s Men) — beat John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima), Kirk Douglas (Champion), Gregory Peck (Twelve O’Clock High), Richard Todd (The Hasty Heart)
1948: Laurence Olivier (Hamlet) — beat Montgomery Clift (The Search), Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda), Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles at Me), Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty)
1947: Ronald Colman (A Double Life) — beat Gregory Peck (Gentleman’s Agreement), John Garfield (Body and Soul), William Powell (Life with Father), Michael Redgrave (Mourning Becomes Electra)
1946: Fredric March (The Best Years of Our Lives) — beat James Stewart (It’s a Wonderful Life), Laurence Olivier (Henry V), Gregory Peck (The Yearling), Larry Parks (The Jolson Story)
1945: Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend) — beat Gregory Peck (The Keys of the Kingdom), Gene Kelly (Anchors Aweigh), Bing Crosby (The Bells of St. Mary’s), Cornel Wilde (A Song to Remember)
1944: Bing Crosby (Going My Way) — beat Cary Grant (None but the Lonely Heart), Charles Boyer (Gaslight), Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way), Alexander Knox (Wilson)
1943: Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine) — beat Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca), Gary Cooper (For Whom the Bell Tolls), Mickey Rooney (The Human Comedy), Walter Pidgeon (Madame Curie)
1942: James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) — beat Gary Cooper (The Pride of the Yankees), Walter Pidgeon (Mrs. Miniver), Ronald Colman (Random Harvest), Monty Woolley (The Pied Piper)
1941: Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) — beat Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), Cary Grant (Penny Serenade), Walter Huston (All That Money Can Buy), Robert Montgomery (Here Comes Mr. Jordan)
1940: James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story) — beat Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator), Laurence Olivier (Rebecca), Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath), Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois)
1939: Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips) — beat Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind), Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights), James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), Mickey Rooney (Babes in Arms)
1938: Spencer Tracy (Boys Town) — beat James Cagney (Angels with Dirty Faces), Leslie Howard (Pygmalion), Robert Donat (The Citadel), Charles Boyer (Algiers)
1937: Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous) — beat Fredric March (A Star Is Born), Paul Muni (The Life of Emile Zola), Charles Boyer (Conquest), Robert Montgomery (Night Must Fall)
1936: Paul Muni (The Story of Louis Pasteur) — beat Gary Cooper (Mr. Deeds Goes to Town), Walter Huston (Dodsworth), Spencer Tracy (San Francisco), William Powell (My Man Godfrey)
1935: Victor McLaglen (The Informer) — beat Clark Gable (Mutiny on the Bounty), Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty), Franchot Tone (Mutiny on the Bounty), Paul Muni (Black Fury)
1934: Clark Gable (It Happened One Night) — beat William Powell (The Thin Man), Frank Morgan (The Affairs of Cellini)
1932-33: Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII) — beat Leslie Howard (Berkeley Square), Paul Muni (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang)
1931-32: Fredric March (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and Wallace Beery (The Champ) — beat Alfred Lunt (The Guardsman)
1930-31: Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul) — beat Fredric March (The Royal Family of Broadway), Richard Dix (Cimarron), Jackie Cooper (Skippy), Adolphe Menjou (The Front Page)
1929-30: George Arliss (Disraeli) — beat George Arliss (The Green Goddess), Wallace Beery (The Big House), Maurice Chevalier (The Big Pond) (The Love Parade), Ronald Colman (Bulldog Drummond) (Condemned), Lawrence Tibbett (The Rogue Song)
1928-29: Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona) — beat Paul Muni (The Valiant), Lewis Stone (The Patriot), George Bancroft (Thunderbolt), Chester Morris (Alibi)
1927-28: Emil Jannings (The Last Command) (The Way of All Flesh) — beat Richard Barthelmess (The Noose) (The Patent Leather Kid)
