From Emil Jannings in 1929 to Cillian Murphy in 2024, the Academy Awards have recognized great performances by leading actors throughout the years. Multiple winners have included Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Spencer Tracy, Marlon Brando and Anthony Hopkins.
| 2024 (96th) |
Cillian Murphy Oppenheimer Other Nominees: Bradley Cooper (Maestro); Colman Domingo (Rustin); Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers); Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) |
| 2023 (95th) |
Brendan Fraser The Whale Other Nominees: Austin Butler (Elvis); Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin); Paul Mescal (Aftersun); Bill Nighy (Living) |
| 2022 (94th) |
Will Smith King Richard Other Nominees: Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos); Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog); Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick... Boom!); Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth) |
| 2021 (93rd) |
Anthony Hopkins The Father Other Nominees: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal); Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom); Gary Oldman (Mank); Steven Yeun (Minari) |
| 2020 (92nd) |
Joaquin Phoenix Joker Other Nominees: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory); Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood); Adam Driver (Marriage Story); Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) |
| 2019 (91st) |
Remi Malek Bohemian Rhapsody Other Nominees: Christian Bale (Vice); Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born); Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate); Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) |
| 2018 (90th) |
Gary Oldman Darkest Hour Other Nominees: Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name); Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread); Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out); Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) |
| 2017 (89th) |
Casey Affleck Manchester By The Sea Other Nominees: Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge); Ryan Gosling (La La Land); Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic); Denzel Washington (Fences) |
| 2016 (88th) |
Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant Other Nominees: Bryan Cranston (Trumbo); Matt Damon (The Martian); Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs); Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) |
| 2015 (87th) |
Eddie Redmayne The Theory Of Everything Other Nominees: Steve Carell (Foxcatcher); Bradley Cooper (American Sniper); Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game); Michael Keaton (Birdman) |
| 2014 (86th) |
Matthew McConaughey Dallas Buyers Club Other Nominees: Christian Bale (American Hustle); Bruce Dern (Nebraska); Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street); Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) |
| 2013 (85th) |
Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln Other Nominees: Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook); Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables); Joaquin Phoenix (The Master); Denzel Washington (Flight) |
| 2012 (84th) |
Jean Dujardin The Artist Other Nominees: Demián Bichir (A Better Life); George Clooney (The Descendants); Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy); Brad Pitt (Moneyball) |
| 2011 (83rd) |
Colin Firth The King's Speech Other Nominees: Javier Bardem (Biutiful); Jeff Bridges (True Grit); Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network); James Franco (127 Hours) |
| 2010 (82nd) |
Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart Other Nominees: George Clooney (Up in the Air); Colin Firth (A Single Man); Morgan Freeman (Invictus); Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) |
| 2009 (81st) |
Sean Penn Milk Other Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor); Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon); Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) |
| 2008 (80th) |
Daniel Day-Lewis There Will Be Blood Other Nominees: 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) |
| 2007 (79th) |
Forest Whitaker The Last King Of Scotland Other Nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond); Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson); Peter O'Toole (Venus); Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) |
| 2006 (78th) |
Philip Seymour Hoffman Capote Other Nominees: Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow); Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain); Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line); David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) |
| 2005 (77th) |
Jamie Foxx Ray Other Nominees: Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda); Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland); Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator); Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) |
| 2004 (76th) |
Sean Penn Mystic River Other Nominees: Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl); Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog); Jude Law (Cold Mountain); Bill Murray (Lost in Translation) |
| 2003 (75th) |
Adrien Brody The Pianist Other Nominees: Nicolas Cage (Adaptation); Michael Caine (The Quiet American); Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York); Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt) |
| 2002 (74th) |
Denzel Washington Training Day Other Nominees: Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind); Sean Penn (I Am Sam); Will Smith (Ali); Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom) |
| 2001 (73rd) |
Russell Crowe Gladiator Other Nominees: Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls); Tom Hanks (Cast Away); Ed Harris (Pollock); Geoffrey Rush (Quills) |
| 2000 (72nd) |
Kevin Spacey American Beauty Other Nominees: Russell Crowe (The Insider); Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story); Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown); Denzel Washington (The Hurricane) |
| 1999 (71st) |
Roberto Benigni Life Is Beautiful Other Nominees: Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan); Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters); Nick Nolte (Affliction); Edward Norton (American History X) |
| 1998 (70th) |
Jack Nicholson As Good As It Gets Other Nominees: Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting); Robert Duvall (The Apostle); Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold); Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog) |
| 1997 (69th) |
Geoffrey Rush Shine Other Nominees: Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire); Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient); Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt); Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) |
| 1996 (68th) |
Nicholas Cage Leaving Las Vegas Other Nominees: Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus); Anthony Hopkins (Nixon); Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking); Massimo Troisi (Il Postino: The Postman) |
| 1995 (67th) |
Tom Hanks Forrest Gump Other Nominees: Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption); Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George); Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool); John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) |
| 1994 | Tom Hanks | (Philadelphia) |  |
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| 1993 | Al Pacino | (Scent Of A Woman) |  |
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| 1992 | Anthony Hopkins | (The Silence Of The Lambs) |  |
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| 1991 | Jeremy Irons | (Reversal Of Fortune) |  |
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| 1990 | Daniel Day-Lewis | (My Left Foot) |  |
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| 1989 | Dustin Hoffman | (Rain Man) |  |
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| 1988 | Michael Douglas | (Wall Street) |  |
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| 1987 | Paul Newman | (The Color Of Money) |  |
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| 1986 | William Hurt | (Kiss Of The Spider Woman) |  |
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| 1985 | F. Murray Abraham | (Amadeus) |  |
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| 1984 | Robert Duvall | (Tender Mercies) |  |
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| 1983 | Ben Kingsley | (Gandhi) |  |
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| 1982 | Henry Fonda | (On Golden Pond) |  |
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| 1981 | Robert De Niro | (Raging Bull) |  |
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| 1980 | Dustin Hoffman | (Kramer vs. Kramer) |  |
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| 1979 | Jon Voight | (Coming Home) |  |
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| 1978 | Richard Dreyfuss | (The Goodbye Girl) |  |
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| 1977 | Peter Finch | (Network) |  |
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| 1976 | Jack Nicholson | (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) |  |
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| 1975 | Art Carney | (Harry & Tonto) |  |
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| 1974 | Jack Lemmon | (Save The Tiger) |  |
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| 1973 | Marlon Brando | (The Godfather) |  |
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| 1972 | Gene Hackman | (The French Connection) |  |
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| 1971 | George C. Scott | (Patton) |  |
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| 1970 | John Wayne | (True Grit) |  |
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| 1969 | Cliff Robertson | (Charly) |  |
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| 1968 | Rod Steiger | (In The Heat Of The Night) |  |
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| 1967 | Paul Scofield | (A Man For All Seasons) |  |
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| 1966 | Lee Marvin | (Cat Ballou) |  |
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| 1965 | Rex Harrison | (My Fair Lady) |  |
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| 1964 | Sidney Poitier | (Lillies Of The Field) |  |
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| 1963 | Gregory Peck | (To Kill A Mockingbird) |  |
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| 1962 | Maximillian Schell | (Judgment At Nuremberg) |  |
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| 1961 | Burt Lancaster | (Elmer Gantry) |  |
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| 1960 | Charlton Heston | (Ben-Hur) |  |
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| 1959 | David Niven | (Separate Tables) |  |
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| 1958 | Alec Guinness | (The Bridge On The River Kwai) |  |
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| 1957 | Yul Brynner | (The King And I) |  |
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| 1956 | Ernest Borgnine | (Marty) |  |
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| 1955 | Marlon Brando | (On The Waterfront) |  |
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| 1954 | William Holden | (Stalag 17) |  |
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| 1953 | Gary Cooper | (High Noon) |  |
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| 1952 | Humphrey Bogart | (The African Queen) |  |
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| 1951 | Jose Ferrer | (Cyrano de Bergerac) |  |
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| 1950 | Broderick Crawford | (All The King's Men) |  |
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| 1949 | Laurence Olivier | (Hamlet) |  |
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| 1948 | Ronald Colman | (A Double Life) |  |
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| 1947 | Fredric March | (The Best Years Of Our Lives) |  |
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| 1946 | Ray Milland | (The Lost Weekend) |  |
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| 1945 | Bing Crosby | (Going My Way) |  |
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| 1944 | Paul Lukas | (Watch On The Rhine) |  |
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| 1943 | James Cagney | (Yankee Doodle Dandy) |  |
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| 1942 | Gary Cooper | (Sergeant York) |  |
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| 1941 | James Stewart | (The Philadelphia Story) |  |
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| 1940 | Robert Donat | (Goodbye, Mr. Chips) |  |
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| 1939 | Spencer Tracy | (Boys Town) |  |
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| 1938 | Spencer Tracy | (Captains Courageous) |  |
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| 1937 | Paul Muni | (The Story Of Louis Pasteur) |  |
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| 1936 | Victor McLaglen | (The Informer) |  |
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| 1935 | Clark Gable | (It Happened One Night) |  |
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| 1934 | Charles Laughton | (The Private Life Of Henry VIII) |  |
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| 1932 | Wallace Beery & Fredric March | (The Champ & Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde) |  |
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| 1931 | Lionel Barrymore | (A Free Soul) |  |
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| 1930 | George Arliss | (Disraeli) |  |
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| 1930 | Warner Baxter | (In Old Arizona) |  |
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| 1929 | Emil Jannings | (The Way Of All Flesh & The Last Command) |  |