Who Won Best Actor Academy Awards?
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) |  |