Year Actor Film
2019 Joaquin Phoenix Joker
2018 Rami Malek Bohemian Rhapsody
2017 Gary Oldman Darkest Hour
2016 Casey Affleck Manchester by the Sea
2015 Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant
2014 Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything
2013 Matthew McConaughey Dallas Buyers Club
2012 Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
2011 Jean Dujardin The Artist
2010 Colin Firth The King's Speech
2009 Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart
2008 Sean Penn Milk
2007 Daniel Day-Lewis There Will Be Blood
2006 Forest Whitaker The Last King of Scotland

2005

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Capote
2004 Jamie Foxx Ray

2003

Sean Penn

Mystic River

2002

Adrien Brody

The Pianist

2001

Denzel Washington

Training Day

2000

Russell Crowe

Gladiator

1999

Kevin Spacey

American Beauty

1998

Roberto Benigni

Vita è bella, La

1997

Jack Nicholson

As Good As It Gets

1996

Geoffrey Rush

Shine

1995

Nicolas Cage

Leaving Las Vegas

1994

Tom Hanks

Forrest Gump

1993

Tom Hanks

Philadelphia

1992

Al Pacino

Scent of a Woman

1991

Anthony Hopkins

Silence of the Lambs, The

1990

Jeremy Irons

Reversal of Fortune

1989

Daniel Day-Lewis

My Left Foot

1988

Dustin Hoffman

Rain Man

1987

Michael Douglas

Wall Street

1986

Paul Newman

Color of Money, The

1985

William Hurt

Kiss of the Spider Woman

1984

F. Murray Abraham

Amadeus

1983

Robert Duvall

Tender Mercies

1982

Ben Kingsley

Gandhi

1981

Henry Fonda

On Golden Pond

1980

Robert De Niro

Raging Bull

1979

Dustin Hoffman

Kramer vs. Kramer

1978

Jon Voight

Coming Home

1977

Richard Dreyfuss

Goodbye Girl, The

1976

Peter Finch

Network

1975

Jack Nicholson

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1974

Art Carney

Harry and Tonto

1973

Jack Lemmon

Save the Tiger

1972

Marlon Brando

Godfather, The

1971

Gene Hackman

French Connection, The

1970

George C. Scott

Patton

1960

John Wayne

True Grit

1968

Cliff Robertson

Charly

1967

Rod Steiger

In the Heat of the Night

1966

Paul Scofield

Man for All Seasons, A

1965

Lee Marvin

Cat Ballou

1964

Rex Harrison

My Fair Lady

1963

Sidney Poitier

Lilies of the Field

1962

Gregory Peck

To Kill a Mockingbird

1961

Maximilian Schell

Judgment at Nuremberg

1960

Burt Lancaster

Elmer Gantry

1950

Charlton Heston

Ben-Hur

1958

David Niven

Separate Tables

1957

Alec Guinness

Bridge on the River Kwai, The

1956

Yul Brynner

King and I, The

1955

Ernest Borgnine

Marty

1954

Marlon Brando

On the Waterfront

1953

William Holden

Stalag 17

1952

Gary Cooper

High Noon

1951

Humphrey Bogart

African Queen, The

1950

José Ferrer

Cyrano de Bergerac

1949

Broderick Crawford

All the King's Men

1948

Laurence Olivier

Hamlet

1947

Ronald Colman

Double Life, A

1946

Fredric March

Best Years of Our Lives, The

1945

Ray Milland

Lost Weekend, The

1944

Bing Crosby

Going My Way

1943

Paul Lukas

Watch on the Rhine

1942

James Cagney

Yankee Doodle Dandy

1941

Gary Cooper

Sergeant York

1940

James Stewart

Philadelphia Story, The

1939

Robert Donat

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

1938

Spencer Tracy

Boys Town

1937

Spencer Tracy

Captains Courageous

1936

Paul Muni

Story of Louis Pasteur, The

1935

Victor McLaglen

Informer, The

1934

Clark Gable

It Happened One Night

1933

Charles Laughton

Private Life of Henry VIII, The
1932 Frederick March* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1932 Wallace Beery* The Champ

1931

Lionel Barrymore

Free Soul, A

1930

George Arliss

Disraeli
1929 Warner Baxter Old Arizona

1928

Emil Jannings

Last Command, The
*NOTE: Two awards given in 1932