Best Actor

This page lists all Oscar nominees for Best Actor. Reviews of films on the original 1001 Films list are linked here.
As I finish each set of films for a given year and category, I will revisit those films and determine which film I think should have won and why. Those posts will be linked here as well.

Best Actor
1928
Richard Barthelmess: The Noose
Richard Barthelmess: The Patent Leather Kid
Emil Jannings: The Last Command (winner)
Emil Jannings: Way of All Flesh (winner)

1929
George Bancroft: Thunderbolt
Warner Baxter: In Old Arizona (winner)
Chester Morris: Alibi
Paul Muni: The Valiant
Lewis Stone: The Patriot

1930
George Arliss: Disraeli (winner)
George Arliss: The Green Goddess
Wallace Beery: The Big House
Maurice Chevalier: The Big Pond
Maurice Chevalier: The Love Parade
Ronald Colman: Bulldog Drummond
Ronald Colman: Condemned
Lawrence Tibbett: The Rogue Song

1931
Lionel Barrymore: A Free Soul (winner)
Jackie Cooper: Skippy
Richard Dix: Cimarron
Fredric March: The Royal Family of Broadway
Adolphe Menjou: The Front Page

1932
Wallace Beery: The Champ (co-winner)
Alfred Lunt: The Guardsman
Fredic March: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1933
Leslie Howard: Berkeley Square
Charles Laughton: The Private Life of Henry VIII (winner)
Paul Muni: I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

1934
Clark Gable: It Happened One Night(winner)
Frank Morgan: Affairs of Cellini
William Powell: The Thin Man

1935
Clark Gable: Mutiny on the Bounty
Charles Laughton: Mutiny on the Bounty
Victor McLaglen: The Informer (winner)
Franchot Tone: Mutiny on the Bounty

1936
Gary Cooper: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Walter Huston: Dodsworth
Paul Muni: The Story of Louis Pasteur (winner)
William Powell: My Man Godfrey
Spencer Tracy: San Francisco

1937
Charles Boyer: Conquest
Fredric March: A Star is Born
Robert Montgomery: Night Must Fall
Paul Muni: The Life of Emile Zola
Spencer Tracy: Captains Courageous (winner)

1938
Charles Boyer: Algiers
James Cagney: Angels with Dirty Faces
Robert Donat: The Citadel
Leslie Howard: Pygmalion
Spencer Tracy: Boys Town (winner)

1939
Robert Donat: Goodbye, Mr. Chips (winner)
Clark Gable: Gone with the Wind
Laurence Olivier: Wuthering Heights
Mickey Rooney: Babes in Arms
James Stewart: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1940
Charlie Chaplin: The Great Dictator
Henry Fonda: The Grapes of Wrath
Raymond Massey: Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Laurence Olivier: Rebecca
James Stewart: The Philadelphia Story (winner)

1941
Gary Cooper: Sergeant York (winner)
Cary Grant: Penny Serenade
Walter Huston: The Devil and Daniel Webster
Robert Montgomery: Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Orson Welles: Citizen Kane

1942
James Cagney: Yankee Doodle Dandy (winner)
Ronald Colman: Random Harvest
Gary Cooper: The Pride of the Yankees
Walter Pidgeon: Mrs. Miniver
Monty Woolley: The Pied Piper

1943
Humphrey Bogart: Casablanca
Gary Cooper: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Paul Lukas: Watch on the Rhine (winner)
Walter Pidgeon: Madame Curie
Mickey Rooney: The Human Comedy

1944
Charles Boyer: Gaslight
Bing Crosby: Going My Way (winner)
Barry Fitzgerald: Going My Way
Cary Grant: None by the Lonely Heart
Alexander Knox: Wilson

1945
Bing Crosby: The Bell’s of St. Mary’s
Gene Kelly: Anchors Aweigh
Ray Milland: The Lost Weekend (winner)
Gregory Peck: The Keys of the Kingdom
Cornel Wilde: A Song to Remember

1946
Fredric March: The Best Years of Our Lives (winner)
Laurence Olivier: Henry V
Larry Parks: The Jolson Story
Gregory Peck: The Yearling
James Stewart: It’s a Wonderful Life

1947
Ronald Colman: A Double Life (winner)
John Garfield: Body and Soul
Gregory Peck: Gentleman’s Agreement
William Powell: Life with Father
Michael Redgrave: Mourning Becomes Electra

1948
Lew Ayres: Johnny Belinda
Montgomery Clift: The Search
Dan Dailey: When My Baby Smiles at Me
Laurence Olivier: Hamlet (winner)
Clifton Webb: Sitting Pretty

1949
Broderick Crawford: All the King’s Men (winner)
Kirk Douglas: Champion
Gregory Peck: Twelve O’Clock High
Richard Todd: The Hasty Heart
John Wayne: Sands of Iwo Jima

1950
Louis Calhern: The Magnificent Yankee
Jose Ferrer: Cyrano de Bergerac (winner)
William Holden: Sunset Boulevard
James Stewart: Harvey
Spencer Tracy: Father of the Bride

1951
Humphrey Bogart: The African Queen (winner)
Marlon Brando: A Streetcar Named Desire
Montgomery Clift: A Place in the Sun
Arthur Kennedy: Bright Victory
Fredric March: Death of a Salesman

1952
Marlon Brando: Viva Zapata!
Gary Cooper: High Noon (winner)
Kirk Douglas: The Bad and the Beautiful
Jose Ferrer: Moulin Rouge
Alec Guinness: The Lavender Hill Mob

1953
Marlon Brando: Julius Caesar
Richard Burton: The Robe
Montgomery Clift: From Here to Eternity
William Holden: Stalag 17 (winner)
Burt Lancaster: From Here to Eternity

1954
Humphrey Bogart: The Caine Mutiny
Marlon Brando: On the Waterfront (winner)
Bing Crosby: The Country Girl
James Mason: A Star is Born
Dan O’Herlihy: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

1955
Ernest Borgnine: Marty (winner)
James Cagney: Love Me or Leave Me
James Dean: East of Eden
Frank Sinatra: The Man with the Golden Arm
Spencer Tracy: Bad Day at Black Rock

1956
Yul Brynner: The King and I (winner)
James Dean: Giant
Kirk Douglas: Lust for LIfe
Rock Hudson: Giant
Laurence Olivier: Richard III

1957
Marlon Brando: Sayonara
Anthony Franciosa: A Hatful of Rain
Alec Guinness: The Bridge on the River Kwai (winner)
Anthony Quinn: Wild is the Wind
Charles Laughton: Witness for the Prosecution

1958
Tony Curtis: The Defiant Ones
Paul Newman: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
David Niven: Separate Tables (winner)
Sidney Poitier: The Defiant Ones
Spencer Tracy: The Old Man and the Sea

1959
Laurence Harvey: Room at the Top
Charlton Heston: Ben-Hur (winner)
Jack Lemmon: Some Like it Hot
Paul Muni: The Last Angry Man
James Stewart: Anatomy of a Murder

1960
Trevor Howard: Sons and Lovers
Burt Lancaster: Elmer Gantry (winner)
Jack Lemmon: The Apartment
Laurence Olivier: The Entertainer
Spencer Tracy: Inherit the Wind

1961
Charles Boyer: Fanny
Paul Newman: The Hustler
Maximilian Schell: Judgment at Nuremberg (winner)
Spencer Tracy: Judgment at Nuremberg
Stuart Whitman: The Mark

1962
Burt Lancaster: Birdman of Alcatraz
Jack Lemmon: Days of Wine and Roses
Marcello Mastroianni: Divorce, Italian Style
Peter O’Toole: Lawrence of Arabia
Gregory Peck: To Kill a Mockingbird (winner)

1963
Albert Finney: Tom Jones
Richard Harris: This Sporting Life
Rex Harrison: Cleopatra
Paul Newman: Hud
Sidney Poitier: Lillies of the Field (winner)

1964
Richard Burton: Becket
Rex Harrison: My Fair Lady (winner)
Peter O’Toole: Becket
Anthony Quinn: Zorba the Greek
Peter Sellers: Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

1965
Richard Burton: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Lee Marvin: Cat Ballou (winner)
Laurence Olivier: Othello
Rod Steiger: The Pawnbroker
Oskar Werner: Ship of Fools

1966
Alan Arkin: The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming
Richard Burton: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Michael Caine: Alfie
Steve McQueen: The Sand Pebbles
Paul Scofield: A Man for All Seasons (winner)

1967
Warren Beatty: Bonnie and Clyde
Dustin Hoffman: The Graduate
Paul Newman: Cool Hand Luke
Rod Steiger: In the Heat of the Night (winner)
Spencer Tracy: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

1968
Alan Arkin: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Alan Bates: The Fixer
Ron Moody: Oliver!
Peter O’Toole: The Lion in Winter
Cliff Robertson: Charly (winner)

1969
Richard Burton: Anne of the Thousand Days
Dustin Hoffman: Midnight Cowboy
Peter O’Toole: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Jon Voight: Midnight Cowboy
John Wayne: True Grit (winner)

1970
Melvyn Douglas: I Never Sang for My Father
James Earl Jones: The Great White Hope
Jack Nicholson: Five Easy Pieces
Ryan O’Neal: Love Story
George C. Scott: Patton (winner)

1971
Peter Finch: Sunday Bloody Sunday
Gene Hackman: The French Connection (winner)
Walter Matthau: Kotch
George C. Scott: The Hospital
Chaim Topol: Fiddler on the Roof

1972
Marlon Brando: The Godfather (winner)
Michael Caine: Sleuth
Laurence Olivier: Sleuth
Peter O’Toole: The Ruling Class
Paul Winfield: Sounder

1973
Marlon Brando: The Last Tango in Paris
Jack Lemmon: Save the Tiger (winner)
Jack Nicholson: The Last Detail
Al Pacino: Serpico
Robert Redford: The Sting

1974
Art Carney: Harry and Tonto (winner)
Albert Finney: Murder on the Orient Express
Dustin Hoffman: Lenny
Jack Nicholson: Chinatown
Al Pacino: The Godfather Part II

1975
Walter Matthau: The Sunshine Boys
Jack Nicholson: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (winner)
Al Pacino: Dog Day Afternoon
Maximilian Schell: Man in the Glass Booth
James Whitmore: Give ‘em Hell, Harry!

1976
Robert De Niro: Taxi Driver
Peter Finch: Network (winner)
Giancarlo Giannini: Seven Beauties
William Holden: Network
Sylvester Stallone: Rocky

1977
Woody Allen: Annie Hall
Richard Burton: Equus
Richard Dreyfus: The Goodbye Girl (winner)
Marcello Mastroianni: A Special Day
John Travolta: Saturday Night Fever

1978
Warren Beatty: Heaven Can Wait
Gary Busey: The Buddy Holly Story
Robert De Niro: The Deer Hunter
Laurence Olivier: The Boys from Brazil
Jon Voight: Coming Home (winner)

1979
Dustin Hoffman: Kramer vs. Kramer (winner)
Jack Lemmon: The China Syndrome
Al Pacino: ...And Justice for All
Roy Scheider: All That Jazz
Peter Sellers: Being There

1980
Robert De Niro: Raging Bull (winner)
Robert Duvall: The Great Santini
John Hurt: The Elephant Man
Jack Lemmon: Tribute
Peter O’Toole: The Stunt Man

1981
Warren Beatty: Reds
Henry Fonda: On Golden Pond (winner)
Burt Lancaster: Atlantic City
Dudley Moore: Arthur
Paul Newman: Absence of Malice

1982
Dustin Hoffman: Tootsie
Ben Kingsley: Gandhi (winner)
Jack Lemmon: Missing
Paul Newman: The Verdict
Peter O’Toole: My Favorite Year

1983
Michael Caine: Educating Rita
Tom Conti: Reuben, Reuben
Tom Courtenay: The Dresser
Robert Duvall: Tender Mercies (winner)
Albert Finney: The Dresser

1984
F. Murray Abraham: Amadeus (winner)
Jeff Bridges: Starman
Albert Finney: Under the Volcano
Tom Hulce: Amadeus
Sam Waterston: The Killing Fields

1985
Harrison Ford: Witness
James Garner: Murphy’s Romance
William Hurt: Kiss of the Spider Woman (winner)
Jack Nicholson: Prizzi’s Honor
Jon Voight: Runaway Train

1986
Dexter Gordon: Round Midnight
Bob Hoskins: Mona Lisa
William Hurt: Children of a Lesser God
Paul Newman: The Color of Money (winner)
James Woods: Salvador

1987
Michael Douglas: Wall Street (winner)
William Hurt: Broadcast News
Marcello Mastroianni: Dark Eyes
Jack Nicholson: Ironweed
Robin Williams: Good Morning, Vietnam

1988
Gene Hackman: Mississippi Burning
Tom Hanks: Big
Dustin Hoffman: Rain Man (winner)
Edward James Olmos: Stand and Deliver
Max von Sydow: Pelle the Conqueror

1989
Kenneth Branagh: Henry V
Tom Cruise: Born on the Fourth of July
Daniel Day-Lewis: My Left Foot (winner)
Morgan Freeman: Driving Miss Daisy
Robin Williams: Dead Poets Society

1990
Kevin Costner: Dances with Wolves
Robert De Niro: Awakenings
Gerard Depardieu: Cyrano de Bergerac
Richard Harris: The Field
Jeremy Irons: Reversal of Fortune (winner)

1991
Warren Beatty: Bugsy
Robert De Niro: Cape Fear
Anthony Hopkins: The Silence of the Lambs (winner)
Nick Nolte: The Prince of Tides
Robin Williams: The Fisher King

1992
Robert Downey, Jr.: Chaplin
Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven
Al Pacino: Scent of a Woman (winner)
Stephen Rea: The Crying Game
Denzel Washington: Malcolm X

1993
Daniel Day-Lewis: In the Name of the Father
Laurence Fishburne: What’s Love Got to Do with It?
Tom Hanks: Philadelphia (winner)
Anthony Hopkins: The Remains of the Day
Liam Neeson: Schindler’s List

1994
Morgan Freeman: The Shawshank Redemption
Tom Hanks: Forrest Gump (winner)
Nigel Hawthorne: The Madness of King George
Paul Newman: Nobody’s Fool
John Travolta: Pulp Fiction

1995
Nicolas Cage: Leaving Las Vegas (winner)
Richard Dreyfuss: Mr. Holland’s Opus
Anthony Hopkins: Nixon
Sean Penn: Dead Man Walking
Massimo Troisi: Il Postino

1996
Tom Cruise: Jerry Maguire
Ralph Fiennes: The English Patient
Woody Harrelson: The People vs. Larry Flynt
Geoffrey Rush: Shine (winner)
Billy Bob Thornton: Slingblade

1997
Matt Damon: Good Will Hunting
Robert Duvall: The Apostle
Peter Fonda: Ulee’s Gold
Dustin Hoffman: Wag the Dog
Jack Nicholson: As Good as it Gets (winner)

1998
Roberto Benigni: Life is Beautiful (winner)
Tom Hanks: Saving Private Ryan
Ian McKellen: Gods and Monsters
Nick Nolte: Affliction
Edward Norton: American History X

1999
Russell Crowe: The Insider
Richard Farnsworth: The Straight Story
Sean Penn: Sweet and Lowdown
Kevin Spacey: American Beauty (winner)
Denzel Washington: The Hurricane

2000
Javier Bardem: Before Night Falls
Russell Crowe: Gladiator (winner)
Tom Hanks: Cast Away
Ed Harris: Pollock
Geoffrey Rush: Quills

2001
Russell Crowe: A Beautiful Mind
Sean Penn: I am Sam
Will Smith: Ali
Denzel Washington: Training Day (winner)
Tom Wilkinson: In the Bedroom

2002
Adrien Brody: The Pianist (winner)
Nicolas Cage: Adaptation
Michael Caine: The Quiet American
Daniel Day-Lewis: Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson: About Schmidt

2003
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
Sean Penn: Mystic River (winner)

2004
Don Cheadle: Hotel Rwanda
Johnny Depp: Finding Neverland
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Aviator
Clint Eastwood: Million Dollar Baby
Jamie Foxx: Ray (winner)

2005
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Capote (winner)
Terrence Howard: Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger: Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix: Walk the Line
David Straithairn: Good Night and Good Luck

2006
Leonardo DiCaprio: Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling: Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole: Venus
Will Smith: The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker: The Last King of Scotland (winner)

2007
George Clooney: Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood (winner)
Johnny Depp: Sweeny Todd
Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises

2008
Richard Jenkins: The Visitor
Frank Langella: Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn: Milk (winner)
Brad Pitt: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke: The Wrestler

2009
Jeff Bridges: Crazy Heart (winner)
George Clooney: Up in the Air
Colin Firth: A Single Man
Morgan Freeman: Invictus
Jeremy Renner: The Hurt Locker

2010
Javier Bardem: Biutiful
Jeff Bridges: True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg: The Social Network
Colin Firth: The King’s Speech (winner)
James Franco: 127 Hours

2011
Demain Bichir: A Better Life
George Clooney: The Descendants
Jean Dujardin: The Artist (winner)
Gary Oldman: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt: Moneyball

2012
Bradley Cooper: Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis: Lincoln (winner)
Hugh Jackman: Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix: The Master
Denzel Washington: Flight