And The Winner Was...
Odds are you didn't watch the Academy Awards the year you were born. But if you had, this is who you would've seen take home the Oscar for Best Actor...
Note: The movies nominated are from the year previous to when the Oscar ceremony takes place. For our purposes here, we've gone with the year of the actual ceremony—not the year the films came out.
1951: José Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac)
The Other Nominees Were:
Louis Calhern (The Magnificent Yankee)
William Holden (Sunset Boulevard)
James Stewart (Harvey)
Spencer Tracy (Father of the Bride)
Ferrer wasn't expected to win and was, at the time, under investigation by the House Un-American Activities Committee over suspected Communist ties.
United Artists, Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
1952: Humphrey Bogart (The African Queen)
The Other Nominees Were:
Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire)
Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun)
Arthur Kennedy (Bright Victory)
Fredric March (Death of a Salesman)
Brando was the favorite to win but Bogey took it home. He was the last man born in the 19th century to win the award.
United Artists, The African Queen (1951)
1953: Gary Cooper (High Noon)
The Other Nominees Were:
Marlon Brando (Viva Zapata!)
Kirk Douglas (The Bad and the Beautiful)
José Ferrer (Moulin Rouge)
Alec Guinness (The Lavender Hill Mob)
This was the first Oscar ceremony broadcast on television.
United Artists, High Noon (1952)
1954: William Holden (Stalag 17)
The Other Nominees Were:
Marlon Brando (Julius Caesar)
Richard Burton (The Robe)
Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity)
Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity)
The TV broadcast cut to commercial during Holden's speech. Thus entire acceptance speech was "Thank you".
1955: Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
The Other Nominees Were:
Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny)
Bing Crosby (The Country Girl)
James Mason (A Star Is Born)
Dan O'Herlihy (Robinson Crusoe)
Brando's fourth consecutive nomination is a record that still stands to this day.
Columbia, On the Waterfront (1954)
1956: Ernest Borgnine (Marty)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
That year Borgnine also won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, the National Board of Review Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award.
1957: Yul Brynner (The King and I)
The Other Nominees Were:
James Dean (Giant)
Kirk Douglas (Lust for Life)
Rock Hudson (Giant)
Laurence Olivier (Richard III)
Brynner had previously won two Tony Awards for the stage production of The King and I
Twentieth Century, The King and I (1956)
1958: Alec Guinness (The Bridge on the River Kwai)
The Other Nominees Were:
Marlon Brando (Sayonara)
Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain)
Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution)
Anthony Quinn (Wild Is the Wind)
Guinness was nominated for 4 acting Oscars in his career—this was his only win.
Columbia, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
1959: David Niven (Separate Tables)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
Niven was also one of the ensemble of actors who co-hosted the ceremony—including Jerry Lewis, Mort Sahl, Tony Randall, Bob Hope and Laurence Olivier.
United Artists, Separate Tables (1958)
1960: Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur)
The Other Nominees Were:
Laurence Harvey (Room at the Top)
Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot)
Paul Muni (The Last Angry Man)
James Stewart (Anatomy of a Murder)
Ben-Hur set the record with 11 wins—one of which was Heston's acting trophy.
1961: Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry)
The Other Nominees Were:
Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers)
Jack Lemmon (The Apartment)
Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer)
Spencer Tracy (Inherit the Wind)
It was Lancaster's only win (he was nominated 4 times in his career)
United Artists, Elmer Gantry (1960)
1962: Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg)
The Other Nominees Were:
Charles Boyer (Fanny)
Paul Newman (The Hustler)
Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg)
Stuart Whitman (The Mark)
Schell also took home the Golden Globe that year, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor prize.
United Artists, Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
1963: Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird)
The Other Nominees Were:
Burt Lancaster (Birdman of Alcatraz)
Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses)
Marcello Mastroianni (Divorce Italian Style)
Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia)
Peck finally won the Oscar after being nominated 4 times previously.
Universal, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
1964: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field)
The Other Nominees Were:
Albert Finney (Tom Jones)
Richard Harris (This Sporting Life)
Rex Harrison (Cleopatra)
Paul Newman (Hud)
Poitier was the first African American actor to win a Best Actor Oscar.
United Artists, Lilies of the Field (1963)
1965: Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady)
The Other Nominees Were:
Richard Burton (Becket)
Peter O'Toole (Becket)
Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek)
Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove)
Harrison was nominated 2 years in a row—winning it this year after not taking it home the previous year for Cleopatra.
Warner Bros., My Fair Lady (1964)
1966: Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou)
The Other Nominees Were:
Richard Burton (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold)
Laurence Olivier (Othello)
Rod Steiger (The Pawnbroker)
Oskar Werner (Ship of Fools)
Marvin played two characters in Cat Ballou: Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn
1967: Paul Scofield (A Man for All Seasons)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
Scofield won the acting triple crown during his career: Oscar, Tony, Emmy
Columbia, A Man for All Seasons (1966)
1968: Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night)
The Other Nominees Were:
Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde)
Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate)
Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke)
Spencer Tracy (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)
Steiger had been nominated twice before, but this was his first—and only—win.
United Artists, In the Heat of the Night (1967)
1969: Cliff Robertson (Charly)
The Other Nominees Were:
Alan Arkin (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter)
Alan Bates (The Fixer)
Ron Moody (Oliver!)
Peter O'Toole (The Lion in Winter)
To quote TIME magazine: ""many members agreed that Robertson's award was based more on promotion than on performance."
1970: John Wayne (True Grit)
The Other Nominees Were:
Richard Burton (Anne of the Thousand Days)
Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy)
Peter O'Toole (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)
Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy)
Wayne won his one and only Best Actor Oscar that night—20 year after his first, and only other, nomination for the 1949 film Sands of Iwo Jima.
1971: George C. Scott (Patton)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
Scott declined his award (the first actor to ever do so). He had also protested a previous nomination of his, by calling the awards, "a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons."
Twentieth Century, Patton (1970)
1972: Gene Hackman (The French Connection)
The Other Nominees Were:
Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday)
Walter Matthau (Kotch)
George C. Scott (The Hospital)
Topol (Fiddler on the Roof)
Having previously been nominated for two Best Supporting Actor awards, this was Hackman's first Best Actor nod and his first Oscar win.
Twentieth Century, French Connection II (1975)
1973: Marlon Brando (The Godfather)
The Other Nominees Were:
Michael Caine (Sleuth)
Laurence Olivier (Sleuth)
Peter O'Toole (The Ruling Class)
Paul Winfield (Sounder)
Brando boycotted the Oscars and sent Sacheen Littlefeather to explain why he could not show up to collect his award.
Paramount, The Godfather (1972)
1974: Jack Lemmon (Save the Tiger)
The Other Nominees Were:
Marlon Brando (Last Tango in Paris)
Jack Nicholson (The Last Detail)
Al Pacino (Serpico)
Robert Redford (The Sting)
This was Lemmon's second and last Oscar win (he would be nominated a total of 8 times).
Paramount, Save the Tiger (1973)
1975: Art Carney (Harry and Tonto)
The Other Nominees Were:
Albert Finney (Murder on the Orient Express)
Dustin Hoffman (Lenny)
Jack Nicholson (Chinatown
Al Pacino (The Godfather Part II)
This was Carney's first, and only, Oscar nomination. He did win 6 Emmy Awards.
Twentieth Century, Harry and Tonto (1974)
1976: Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
The Other Nominees Were:
Walter Matthau (The Sunshine Boys)
Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
Maximilian Schell (The Man in the Glass Booth)
James Whitmore (Give 'em Hell, Harry!)
After being nominated 4 times before, the 5th time was the charm for Nicholson to take home his first Oscar.
United Artists, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
1977: Peter Finch (Network)
The Other Nominees Were:
Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver)
Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties)
William Holden (Network)
Sylvester Stallone (Rocky)
Finch sadly had a heart attack in January of 1977 and was the first ever winner to receive his award posthumously.
1978: Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl)
The Other Nominees Were:
Woody Allen (Annie Hall)
Richard Burton (Equus)
Marcello Mastroianni (A Special Day)
John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever)
Richard Dreyfuss was 30 years, 125 days old when he won—making him the youngest Best Actor winner ever (at the time).
Warner Bros., The Goodbye Girl (1977)
1979: Jon Voight (Coming Home)
The Other Nominees Were:
Warren Beatty (Heaven Can Wait)
Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story)
Robert De Niro (The Deer Hunter)
Laurence Olivier (The Boys from Brazil)
He has been nominated four times—but his win for Coming Home is Jon Voight's only Oscar win.
United Artists, Coming Home (1978)
1980: Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jack Lemmon (The China Syndrome)
Al Pacino (...And Justice for All)
Roy Scheider (All That Jazz)
Peter Sellers (Being There)
Hoffman took home his first Oscar (having been nominated 3 times previously).
Columbia, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
1981: Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)
The Other Nominees Were:
Robert Duvall (The Great Santini)
John Hurt (The Elephant Man)
Jack Lemmon (Tribute)
Peter O'Toole (The Stunt Man)
This was De Niro's second Oscar (he took home the Best Supporting Actor award for The Godfather Part II six years earlier). It is also, to this point, the last Oscar De Niro has won.
United Artists, Raging Bull (1980)
1982: Henry Fonda (On Golden Pond)
The Other Nominees Were:
Warren Beatty (Reds)
Burt Lancaster (Atlantic City)
Dudley Moore (Arthur)
Paul Newman (Absence of Malice)
On Golden Pond was Henry Fonda's final film role.
Universal, On Golden Pond (1981)
1983: Ben Kingsley (Gandhi)
The Other Nominees Were:
Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie)
Jack Lemmon (Missing)
Paul Newman (The Verdict)
Peter O'Toole (My Favorite Year)
This was Kingsley's first Oscar nomination and, thus far, his only win.
1984: Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies)
The Other Nominees Were:
Michael Caine (Educating Rita)
Tom Conti (Reuben, Reuben)
Tom Courtenay (The Dresser)
Albert Finney (The Dresser)
He had been nominated 3 times before, and he was nominated 3 times afterwards—but his win for his performance in Tender Mercies is Duvall's only Oscar victory.
Universal, Tender Mercies (1983)
1985: F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus)
The Other Nominees Were:
Jeff Bridges (Starman)
Albert Finney (Under the Volcano)
Tom Hulce (Amadeus)
Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields)
It was, at still is, F. Murray Abraham's only Oscar nomination.
1986: William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
The Other Nominees Were:
Harrison Ford (Witness)
James Garner (Murphy's Romance)
Jack Nicholson (Prizzi's Honor)
Jon Voight (Runaway Train)
He was nominated for 3 more acting Oscars, but Kiss of the Spider Woman was Hurt's first nomination (and his only win).
HB Filmes, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
1987: Paul Newman (The Color of Money)
The Other Nominees Were:
Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight)
Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa)
William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God)
James Woods (Salvador)
Paul Newman was the 4th actor to be nominated for portraying the same character in two different films. He had played the same "Fast Eddie" Felson character in 1961's The Hustler.
Touchstone, The Color of Money (1986)
1988: Michael Douglas (Wall Street)
The Other Nominees Were:
William Hurt (Broadcast News)
Marcello Mastroianni (Dark Eyes)
Jack Nicholson (Ironweed)
Robin Williams (Good Morning, Vietnam)
This was Douglas' second Oscar—having previously won one for his co-producer role on Best Picture winner, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Twentieth Century, Wall Street (1987)
1989: Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man)
The Other Nominees Were:
Gene Hackman (Mississippi Burning)
Tom Hanks (Big)
Edward James Olmos (Stand and Deliver)
Max von Sydow (Pelle the Conqueror)
With his win, Hoffman became the 5th person to win two Best Actor awards.
United Artists, Rain Man (1988)
1990: Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot)
The Other Nominees Were:
Kenneth Branagh (Henry V)
Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July)
Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy)
Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society)
Widely regarded as one of the greatest actors to have ever lived—this was Daniel Day-Lewis' first nomination and first Oscar win.
1991: Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune)
The Other Nominees Were:
Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves)
Robert De Niro (Awakenings)
Gérard Depardieu (Cyrano de Bergerac)
Richard Harris (The Field)
Surprisingly Irons has only ever been been nominated for one Oscar.
Warner Bros., Reversal of Fortune (1990)
1992: Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs)
The Other Nominees Were:
Warren Beatty (Bugsy)
Robert De Niro (Cape Fear)
Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides)
Robin Williams (The Fisher King)
Hopkins won the Oscar with just under 25 minutes of screen time in the almost 2-hour long film.
Orion, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1993: Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman)
The Other Nominees Were:
Robert Downey Jr. (Chaplin)
Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)
Stephen Rea (The Crying Game)
Denzel Washington (Malcolm X)
After being nominated 7 times before, the 8th time was finally the charm for one of the greatest actors of all time, Al Pacino.
Universal, Scent of a Woman (1992)
1994: Tom Hanks (Philadelphia)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
Hanks won his first, of two, Best Actor Oscars in a row....Spoiler Alert!
1995: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
The Other Nominees Were:
Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)
Nigel Hawthorne (The Madness of King George)
Paul Newman (Nobody's Fool)
John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)
Hanks' second in a row matched a feat only accomplished by one other actor ever: Spencer Tracy.
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
1996: Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas)
The Other Nominees Were:
Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus)
Anthony Hopkins (Nixon)
Sean Penn (Dead Man Walking)
Massimo Troisi (Il Postino: The Postman)
Cage also took home the Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his brilliant performance in Leaving Las Vegas.
United Artists, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
1997: Geoffrey Rush (Shine)
The Other Nominees Were:
Tom Cruise (Jerry Maguire)
Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient)
Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flynt)
Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade)
He would be nominated 3 more times, but this was Rush's first Oscar nom—and his only win.
1998: Jack Nicholson (As Good as It Gets)
The Other Nominees Were:
Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting)
Robert Duvall (The Apostle)
Peter Fonda (Ulee's Gold)
Dustin Hoffman (Wag the Dog)
That made 3 Oscars for Jack.
Columbia, As Good as It Gets (1997)
1999: Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful)
The Other Nominees Were:
Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan)
Ian McKellen (Gods and Monsters)
Nick Nolte (Affliction)
Edward Norton (American History X)
With the win, Benigni became the third person to win an Oscar for a non-English speaking role.
Miramax, Life Is Beautiful (1997)
2000: Kevin Spacey (American Beauty)
The Other Nominees Were:
Russell Crowe (The Insider)
Richard Farnsworth (The Straight Story)
Sean Penn (Sweet and Lowdown)
Denzel Washington (The Hurricane)
Including his prior Supporting Actor win for The Usual Suspects, Spacey became the 10th performer to win acting Oscars in both lead and supporting categories.
DreamWorks, American Beauty (1999)
2001: Russell Crowe (Gladiator)
The Other Nominees Were:
Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls)
Tom Hanks (Cast Away)
Ed Harris (Pollock)
Geoffrey Rush (Quills)
This was Crowe's second, of three nominations in 3 consecutive years. It was his only win of the three.
2002: Denzel Washington (Training Day)
The Other Nominees Were:
Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind)
Sean Penn (I Am Sam)
Will Smith (Ali)
Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom)
Washington became the second African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Warner Bros., Training Day (2001)
2003: Adrien Brody (The Pianist)
The Other Nominees Were:
Nicolas Cage (Adaptation)
Michael Caine (The Quiet American)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York)
Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt)
At 29 years, 343 days old—Brody is still he youngest person to ever win the award.
2004: Sean Penn (Mystic River)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
With his 4th Best Actor nomination Penn finally won his first, of 2, Best Actor Oscars. The second one will come in a few years...
Warner Bros., Mystic River (2003)
2005: Jamie Foxx (Ray)
The Other Nominees Were:
Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda)
Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator)
Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby)
Foxx was also nominated in the Supporting Actor category for Collateral—making him the 3rd actor to earn two acting nominations in the same year.
2006: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
The Other Nominees Were:
Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow)
Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck)
Philip Seymour Hoffman would be nominated for 3 Supporting Actor Oscars in the following years, but this was his first and only Best Actor nomination(and win of course).
2007: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
The Other Nominees Were:
Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)
Peter O'Toole (Venus)
Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)
It's Whitaker's only win and only nomination (so far)
Film4, The Last King of Scotland (2006)
2008: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
The Other Nominees Were:
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)
Day-Lewis also won the BAFTA, A Golden Globe, A Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award, and....you get the idea.
Miramax, There Will Be Blood (2007)
2009: Sean Penn (Milk)
The Other Nominees Were:
Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Penn's second 5th Best Actor nomination and his second win.
2010: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
The Other Nominees Were:
George Clooney (Up in the Air)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
Bridges has been nominated for 7 acting Oscars—this is his only win thus far.
Searchlight Pictures, Crazy Heart (2009)
2011: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
The Other Nominees Were:
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
James Franco (127 Hours)
So far this is Firth's only Oscar (he was nominated the year prior as well).
UK Film Council, The King's Speech (2010)
2012: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
The Other Nominees Were:
Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
This was the first ever Best Actor win by a French actor.
Warner Bros., The Artist (2011)
2013: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
The Other Nominees Were:
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Denzel Washington (Flight)
The win made Day-Lewis the first ever 3-time Best Actor winner.
2014: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
The Other Nominees Were:
Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
McConaughey's first and only nomination to this point.
Focus Features, Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
2015: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
The Other Nominees Were:
Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Michael Keaton (Birdman)
Redmayne would be back the following year with another Best Actor nomination—But so far this is his only win.
Working Title, The Theory of Everything (2014)
2016: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
The Other Nominees Were:
Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Going back to his Best Supporting Actor nomination in the mid-90s for What's Eating Gilbert Grape, DiCaprio had been nominated for 4 acting oscars over that 20 year span. This was his 5th nom, and his first win.
Twentieth Century, The Revenant (2015)
2017: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
The Other Nominees Were:
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
Casey Affleck's win made him and his brother Ben the 16th pair of siblings to win Oscars.
Pearl Street, Manchester by the Sea (2016)
2018: Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
The Other Nominees Were:
Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
Oldman has so far been nominated for 3 Best Actor Oscars...This is his only win.
Working Title, Darkest Hour (2017)
2019: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
The Other Nominees Were:
Christian Bale (Vice)
Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)
Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
His performance as Freddie Mercury earned Malek an Oscar, A BAFTA, a SAG award, and a Golden Globe.
Twentieth Century, Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
2020: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
The Other Nominees Were:
Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes)
The second "Joker" acting Oscar (Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight)
2021: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
The Other Nominees Were:
Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
Gary Oldman (Mank)
Steven Yeun (Minari)
Anthony Hopkins became the oldest performer ever to win a competitive acting Oscar. He was 83.
2022: Will Smith (King Richard)
The Other Nominees Were:
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick... Boom!)
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
His win sure isn't what everyone remembers about Will Smith from that night.
Warner Bros., King Richard (2021)
2023: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
The Other Nominees Were:
Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)
Brendan Frasier has dual American-Canadian citizenship—and thus, his win made hi the first Canadian to win the award.
2024: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
The Other Nominees Were:
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Murphy had never been nominated for an Oscar before this.
2025: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)
The Other Nominees Were:
Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)
22 years after his first Best Actor nomination and win, Brody got his second nomination and his second win.
You might also like:
Quiz: Can You Name These Oscar-Winning Movies?
The Legendary Michael J. Fox—His Best Roles In Movies And Television
Actors Who Won Oscars For Their First Roles
Sources: 1
