From Emil Jannings in 1929 to Jeff Bridges in 2010, 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, and Marlon Brando.
Best Actor Academy Award Winners
| 2010 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 Sean Penn ("Milk") |    |
| Other Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor); Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon); Brad Pitt (Curious Case Of Benjamin Button); Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) | |
| 2008 Daniel Day-Lewis ("There Will Be Blood") |  |
| Other Nominees: George Clooney (Michael Clayton); Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd); Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah); Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) | |
| 2007 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 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 Jamie Foxx ("Ray") |  |
| Other Nominees: Don Cheadle; Johnny Depp; Leonardo DiCaprio; Clint Eastwood | |
| 2004 Sean Penn ("Mystic River") |  |
| Other Nominees: Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean); Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog); Jude Law (Cold Mountain); Bill Murray (Lost In Translation) | |
| 2003 Adrien Brody ("The Pianist") |  |
| Other Nominees: Nicholas Cage (Adaptation); Michael Caine (The Quiet American); Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York); Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt) | |
| 2002 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 Russell Crowe ("Gladiator") |  |
| Other Nominees: Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls); Tom Hanks (Castaway); Ed Harris (Pollock); Geoffrey Rush (Quills) | |
| 2000 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 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 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 Geoffrey Rush ("Shine") | |
| Other Nominees: Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire); Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient); Woody Harrelson (The People vs Larry Flint); Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) | |
| 1996 Nicolas Cage ("Leaving Las Vegas") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Dreyfuss (Mr Holland's Opus); Anthony Hopkins (Nixon); Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking); Massimo Troisi (The Postman) | |
| 1995 Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump") |  |
| Other Nominees: Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption); Nigel Hawthorne (Madness of King George); Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool); John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) | |
| 1994 Tom Hanks ("Philadelphia") | |
| Other Nominees: Daniel Day-Lewis (In the Name of the Father); Laurence Fishburne (What's Love Got To Do With It); Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day); Liam Neeson (Schindler's List) | |
| 1993 Al Pacino ("Scent of a Woman") | |
| Other Nominees: Robert Downey Jr (Chaplin); Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven); Stephen Rea (The Crying Game); Denzel Washington (Malcolm X) | |
| 1992 Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence Of The Lambs") |  |
| Other Nominees: Warren Beatty (Bugsy); Robert De Niro (Cape Fear); Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides); Robin Williams (The Fisher King) | |
| 1991 Jeremy Irons ("Reversal of Fortune") | |
| Other Nominees: Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves); Robert De Niro (Awakenings); Gerard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac); Richard Harris (The Field) | |
| 1990 Daniel Day-Lewis ("My Left Foot") | |
| Other Nominees: Kenneth Branagh (Henry V); Tom Cruise (Born On the Fourth of July); Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy); Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society) | |
| 1989 Dustin Hoffman ("Rain Man") |  |
| Other Nominees: Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning); Tom Hanks (Big); Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver); Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror) | |
| 1988 Michael Douglas ("Wall Street") | |
| Other Nominees: William Hurt (Broadcast News); Marcello Mastroianni (Dark Eyes); Jack Nicholson (Ironweed); Robin Williams (Good Morning Vietnam) | |
| 1987 Paul Newman ("The Color of Money") | |
| Other Nominees: Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight); Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa); William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God); James Woods (Salvador) | |
| 1986 William Hurt ("Kiss of the Spider Woman") | |
| Other Nominees: Harrison Ford (Witness); James Garner (Murphy's Romance); Jack Nicholson (Prizzi's Honor); Jon Voight (Runaway Train) | |
| 1985 F Murray Abraham ("Amadeus") |  |
| Other Nominees: Jeff Bridges (Starman); Albert Finney (Under the Volcano); Tom Hulce (Amadeus); Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields) | |
| 1984 Robert Duvall ("Tender Mercies") | |
| Other Nominees: Michael Caine (Educating Rita); Tom Conti (Reuben Reuben); Tom Courtenay (The Dresser); Albert Finney (The Dresser) | |
| 1983 Ben Kingsley ("Gandhi") | |
| Other Nominees: Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie); Jack Lemmon (Missing); Paul Newman (The Verdict); Peter O'Toole (My Favorite Year) | |
| 1982 Henry Fonda ("On Golden Pond") | |
| Other Nominees: Warren Beatty (Reds); Burt Lancaster (Atlantic City); Dudley Moore (Arthur); Paul Newman (Absense of Malice) | |
| 1981 Robert De Niro ("Raging Bull") | |
| Other Nominees: Robert Duvall (The Great Santini); John Hurt (The Elephant Man); Jack Lemmon (Tribute); Peter O'Toole (The Stunt Man) | |
| 1980 Dustin Hoffman ("Kramer vs Kramer") | |
| Other Nominees: Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome); Roy Scheider (All That Jazz); Peter Sellers (Being There); Al Pacino (And Justice For All) | |
| 1979 Jon Voight ("Coming Home") | |
| Other Nominees: Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait); Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story); Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter); Laurence Olivier (The Boys From Brazil) | |
| 1978 Richard Dreyfuss ("The Goodbye Girl") | |
| Other Nominees: Woody Allen (Annie Hall); Richard Burton (Equus); Marcello Masttroianni (A Special Day); John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever) | |
| 1977 Peter Finch ("Network") | |
| Other Nominees: Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver); Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties); William Holden (Network); Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) | |
| 1976 Jack Nicholson ("One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") | |
| Other Nominees: Walter Matthau (The Sunshine Boys); Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon); Maximilian Schell (The Man in the Glass Booth); James Whitmore (Give 'em Hell Harry!) | |
| 1975 Art Carney ("Harry and Tonto") | |
| Other Nominees: Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express); Dustin Hoffman (Lenny); Jack Nicholson (Chinatown); Al Pacino (The Godfather Part II) | |
| 1974 Jack Lemmon ("Save the Tiger") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlon Brando (Last Tango In Paris); Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail); Al Pacino (Serpico); Robert Redford (The Sting) | |
| 1973 Marlon Brando ("The Godfather") | |
| Other Nominees: Michael Caine (Sleuth); Laurence Olivier (Sleuth); Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class); Paul Winfield (Sounder) | |
| 1972 Gene Hackman ("The French Connection") | |
| Other Nominees: Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday); Walter Matthau (Kotch); George C Scott (The Hospital); Topol (Fiddler On the Roof) | |
| 1971 George C Scott ("Patton") | |
| Other Nominees: 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) | |
| 1970 John Wayne ("True Grit") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Burton (Anne of the Thousand Days); Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy); Peter O'Toole (Goodbye Mr Chips); Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy) | |
| 1969 Cliff Robertson ("Charly") | |
| Other Nominees: Alan Arkin (The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter); Alan Bates (The Fixer); Ron Moody (Oliver!); Peter O'Toole (The Lion In Winter) | |
| 1968 Rod Steiger ("In The Heat Of The Night") | |
| Other Nominees: Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde); Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate); Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke); Spencer Tracy (Guess Who's Coming To Dinner) | |
| 1967 Paul Scofield ("A Man For All Seasons") |  |
| Other Nominees: 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) | |
| 1966 Lee Marvin ("Cat Ballou") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came In From the Cold); Laurence Olivier (Othello); Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker); Oskar Werner (Ship of Fools) | |
| 1965 Rex Harrison ("My Fair Lady") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Burton (Becket); Peter O'Toole (Becket); Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek); Peter Sellers (Dr Strangelove) | |
| 1964 Sidney Poitier ("Lilies Of The Field") | |
| Other Nominees: Albert Finney (Tom Jones); Richard Harris (This Sporting Life); Rex Harrison (Cleopatra); Paul Newman (Hud) | |
| 1963 Gregory Peck ("To Kill A Mockingbird") | |
| Other Nominees: Burt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz); Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses); Marcello Mastroianni (Divorce - Italian Style); Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) | |
| 1962 Maximilian Schell ("Judgment at Nuremberg") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Boyer (Fanny); Paul Newman (The Hustler); Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg); Stuart Whitman (The Mark) | |
| 1961 Burt Lancaster ("Elmer Gantry") | |
| Other Nominees: Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers); Jack Lemmon (The Apartment); Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer); Spencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind) | |
| 1960 Charlton Heston ("Ben-Hur") |  |
| Other Nominees: Laurence Harvey (Room at the Top); Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot); Paul Muni (The Last Angry Man); James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder) | |
| 1959 David Niven ("Separate Tables") | |
| Other Nominees: Tony Curtis (The Defiant Ones); Paul Newman (Cat On A Hot Tin Roof); Sidney Poitier (The Defiant Ones); Spencer Tracy (The Old Man and the Sea) | |
| 1958 Alec Guinness ("The Bridge On The River Kwai") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlon Brando (Sayonara); Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain); Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution); Anthony Quinn (Wild Is the Wind) | |
| 1957 Yul Brynner ("The King and I") | |
| Other Nominees: James Dean (Giant); Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life); Rock Hudson (Giant); Laurence Olivier (Richard III) | |
| 1956 Ernest Borgnine ("Marty") | |
| Other Nominees: 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) | |
| 1955 Marlon Brando ("On The Waterfront") | |
| Other Nominees: Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny); Bing Crosby (The Country Girl); James Mason (A Star Is Born); Dan O'Herlihy (Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) | |
| 1954 William Holden ("Stalag 17") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlon Brando (Julius Caesar); Richard Burton (The Robe); Montgomery Clift (From Here To Eternity); Burt Lancaster (From Here To Eternity) | |
| 1953 Gary Cooper ("High Noon") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlin Brando (Viva Zapata!); Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful); Jose Ferrer (Moulin Rouge); Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob) | |
| 1952 Humphrey Bogart ("The African Queen") | |
| Other Nominees: Marlon Barndo (A Streetcar Named Desire); Montgomery Clift (A Place In the Sun); Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory); Fredric March (Death of a Salesman) | |
| 1951 Jose Ferrer ("Cyrano de Bergerac") | |
| Other Nominees: Louis Calhem (The Magnificent Yankee); William Holden (Sunset Blvd); James Stewart (Harvey); Spencer Tracy (Father of the Bride) | |
| 1950 Broderick Crawford ("All The King's Men") |  |
| Other Nominees: Kirk Douglas (Champion); Gregory Peck (Twelve O'Clock High); Richard Todd (The Hasty Heart); John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jima) | |
| 1949 Laurence Olivier ("Hamlet") | |
| Other Nominees: Lew Ayres (Johnny Belinda); Montgomery Clift (The Search); Dan Dailey (When My Baby Smiles At Me); Clifton Webb (Sitting Pretty) | |
| 1948 Ronald Colman ("A Double Life") |  |
| Other Nominees: Joihn Garfield (Body and Soul); Gregory Peck (Gentleman's Agreement); William Powell (Life With Father); Michael Redgrave (Mourning Becomes Electra) | |
| 1947 Fredric March ("The Best Years Of Our Lives") | |
| Other Nominees: Laurence Olivier (Henry V); Larry Parks (The Jolson Story); Gregory Peck (The Yearling); James Stewart (It's A Wonderful Life) | |
| 1946 Ray Milland ("The Lost Weekend") | |
| Other Nominees: Bing Crosby (The Bells of St Mary's); Gene Kelly (Anchors Aweigh); Gregory Peck (The Keys of the Kingdom); Cornel Wilde (A Song To Remember) | |
| 1945 Bing Crosby ("Going My Way") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Boyer (Gaslight); Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way); Cary Grant (None But the Lonely Heart); Alexander Knox (Wilson) | |
| 1944 Paul Lukas ("Watch on the Rhine") | |
| Other Nominees: Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca); Gary Cooper (For Whom the Bell Tolls); Walter Pidgeon (Madame Curie); Mickey Rooney (The Human Comedy) | |
| 1943 James Cagney ("Yankee Doodle Dandy") | |
| Other Nominees: Ronald Colman (Random Harvest); Gary Cooper (Pride of the Yankees); Walter Pidgeon (Mrs Miniver); Monty Woolley (The Pied Piper) | |
| 1942 Gary Cooper ("Sergeant York") | |
| Other Nominees: Cary Grant (Penny Serenade); Walter Huston (All That Money Can Buy); Robert Montgomery (Here Comes Mr Jordan); Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) | |
| 1941 James Stewart ("The Philadelphia Story") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Chaplin (The Great Dictator); Henry Fonda (The Grapes of Wrath); Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln In Illinois); Laurence Olivier (Rebecca) | |
| 1940 Robert Donat ("Goodbye Mr Chips") | |
| Other Nominees: Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind); Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights); Mickey Rooney (Babes In Arms); James Stewart (Mr Smith Goes To Washington) | |
| 1939 Spencer Tracy ("Boys Town") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Boyer (Algiers); James Cagney (Angels With Dirty Faces); Robert Donat (The Citadel); Leslie Howard (Pygmalion) | |
| 1938 Spencer Tracy ("Captains Courageous") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Boyer (Conquest); Fredric March (A Star Is Born); Robert Montgomery (Night Must Fall); Paul Muni (The Life of Emile Zola) | |
| 1937 Paul Muni ("The Story Of Louis Pasteur") | |
| Other Nominees: Gary Cooper (Mr Deeds Goes To Town); Walter Huston (Dodsworth); William Powell (My Man Godfrey); Spencer Tracy (San Francisco) | |
| 1936 Victor McLaglen ("The Informer") | |
| Other Nominees: Clark Gable (Mutiny on the Bounty); Charles Laughton (Mutiny on the Bounty); Franchot Tone (Mutiny on the Bounty) | |
| 1935 Clark Gable ("It Happened One Night") | |
| Other Nominees: Frank Morgan (The Affairs of Cellini); William Powell (The Thin Man) | |
| 1934 Charles Laughton ("The Private Life of Henry VIII") | |
| Other Nominees: Leslie Howard; Paul Muni | |
| 1932 Wallace Beery ("The Champ") | |
| 1932 Fredric March ("Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde") | |
| Other Nominees: Alfred Lunt (The Guardsman) | |
| 1931 Lionel Barrymore ("A Free Soul") | |
| Other Nominees: Jackie Cooper; Richard Dix; Fredric March; Adolphe Menjou | |
| 1930 George Arliss ("Disraeli") | |
| Other Nominees: Wallace Berry; Maurice Chevalier; Ronald Colman; Lawrence Tibbett | |
| 1930 Warner Baxter ("In Old Arizona") | |
| Other Nominees: George Bancroft; Chester Morris; Paul Muni; Lewis Stone | |
| 1929 Emil Jannings ("The Last Command; The Way of the Flesh") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Barthelmess | |
Movie Trailer for 'Crazy Heart'
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