Oscar al miglior attore
Questo premio viene assegnato all'attore votato come migliore dall'Academy. L'elenco mostra il vicitore di ogni anno, seguito dagli attori che hanno ricevuto una nomination. Per ogni attore viene indicato il film che gli è valso la nomination (titolo originale e titolo italiano tra parentesi). Gli anni indicati sono quelli di produzione, quindi 1967 indica un Oscar vinto nel 1968 per ruolo interpretato nel 1967.
- 1928 Emil Jannings - The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh
- Richard Barthelmess - The Noose and The Patent Leather Kid
- Charlie Chaplin - The Circus
- 1929 Warner Baxter - In Old Arizona
- George Bancroft - Thunderbolt
- Chester Morris - Alibi
- Paul Muni - The Valiant
- Lewis Stone - The Patriot
- 1930 George Arliss - Disraeli
- George Arliss - The Green Goddess
- Wallace Beery - The Big House
- Maurice Chevalier - The Big Pond and The Love Parade
- Ronald Colman - Bulldog Drummond and Condemned
- Lawrence Tibbett - The Rogue Song
- 1931 Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul
- Adolphe Menjou - The Front Page
- Jackie Cooper - Skippy
- Richard Dix - Cimarron (I pionieri del west)
- Fredric March - The Royal Family of Broadway
- 1932 Wallace Beery - The Champ and Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
- Alfred Lunt - The Guardsman
- 1933 Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII
- Leslie Howard - Berkeley Square
- Paul Muni - I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
- 1934 Clark Gable - It Happened One Night
- Frank Morgan - The Affairs of Cellini
- William Powell - The Thin Man
- 1935 Victor McLaglen - The Informer
- Clark Gable - Mutiny on the Bounty
- Charles Laughton - Mutiny on the Bounty
- Franchot Tone - Mutiny on the Bounty
- 1936 Paul Muni - The Story of Louis Pasteur
- Gary Cooper - Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
- Walter Huston - Dodsworth
- William Powell - My Man Godfrey
- Spencer Tracy - San Francisco
- 1937 Spencer Tracy - Captains Courageous
- Charles Boyer - Conquest
- Fredric March - A Star Is Born (E' nata una stella)
- Robert Montgomery - Night Must Fall
- Paul Muni - The Life of Emile Zola (Emilio Zola)
- 1938 Spencer Tracy - Boys Town
- Charles Boyer - Algiers
- James Cagney - Angels with Dirty Faces (Angeli con la faccia sporca)
- Robert Donat - The Citadel
- Leslie Howard - Pygmalion
- 1939 Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Clark Gable - Gone With the Wind (Via col vento)
- Laurence Olivier - Wuthering Heights (Cime tempestose)
- Mickey Rooney - Babes in Arms
- James Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- 1940 James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story
- Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator
- Henry Fonda - The Grapes of Wrath
- Raymond Massey - Abe Lincoln in Illinois
- Laurence Olivier - Rebecca (Rebecca - La prima moglie)
- 1941 Gary Cooper - Sergeant York
- 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
- Ronald Colman - Random Harvest
- Gary Cooper - The Pride of the Yankees
- Walter Pidgeon - Mrs. Miniver (La signora Miniver)
- Monty Woolley - The Pied Piper
- 1943 Paul Lukas - Watch on the Rhine
- Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca
- Gary Cooper - For Whom the Bell Tolls (Per chi suona la campana)
- Walter Pidgeon - Madame Curie
- Mickey Rooney - The Human Comedy
- 1944 Bing Crosby - Going My Way
- Charles Boyer - Gaslight
- Barry Fitzgerald - Going My Way
- Cary Grant - None but the Lonely Heart
- Alexander Knox - Wilson
- 1945 Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend (I giorni perduti)
- 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
- 1946 Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives (I migliori anni della nostra vita)
- Laurence Olivier - Henry V
- Larry Parks - The Jolson Story
- Gregory Peck - The Yearling
- James Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life (La vita è una cosa meravigliosa)
- 1947 Ronald Colman - A Double Life
- John Garfield - Body and Soul
- Gregory Peck - Gentleman's Agreement
- Michael Redgrave - Mourning Becomes Electra
- William Powell - Life with Father
- 1948 Laurence Olivier - Hamlet
- Lew Ayres - Johnny Belinda
- Montgomery Clift - The Search
- Dan Dailey - When My Baby Smiles at Me
- Clifton Webb - Sitting Pretty
- 1949 Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men
- Kirk Douglas - Champion
- Gregory Peck - Twelve O'Clock High
- Richard Todd - The Hasty Heart
- John Wayne - Sands of Iwo Jima
- 1950 José Ferrer - Cyrano de Bergerac
- Louis Calhern - The Magnificent Yankee
- William Holden - Sunset Boulevard (Il viale del tramonto)
- James Stewart - Harvey
- Spencer Tracy - Father of the Bride
- 1951 Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen (La regina d'Africa)
- Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire (Un tram chiamato desiderio)
- Montgomery Clift - A Place in the Sun (Un posto al sole)
- Arthur Kennedy - Bright Victory
- Fredric March - Death of a Salesman (Morte di un commesso viaggiatore)
- 1952 Gary Cooper - High Noon (Mezzogiorno di fuoco)
- Marlon Brando - Viva Zapata!
- Kirk Douglas - The Bad and the Beautiful
- José Ferrer - Moulin Rouge
- Alec Guinness - The Lavender Hill Mob
- 1953 William Holden - Stalag 17
- Marlon Brando - Julius Caesar
- Richard Burton - The Robe
- Montgomery Clift - From Here to Eternity (Da qui all'eternità )
- Burt Lancaster - From Here to Eternity (Da qui all'eternità )
- 1954 Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront (Fronte del porto)
- Humphrey Bogart - The Caine Mutiny
- Bing Crosby - The Country Girl
- James Mason - A Star Is Born (E' nata una stella)
- Dan O'Herlihy - The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
- 1955 Ernest Borgnine - Marty
- 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
- James Dean - Giant (Il gigante)
- Kirk Douglas - Lust for Life
- Rock Hudson - Giant (Il gigante)
- Laurence Olivier - Richard III
- 1957 Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River Kwai (Il ponte sul fiume Kwai)
- Marlon Brando - Sayonara
- Anthony Franciosa - A Hatful of Rain
- Charles Laughton - Witness for the Prosecution
- Anthony Quinn - Wild Is the Wind
- 1958 David Niven - Separate Tables
- 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 (Il vecchio e il mare)
- 1959 Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur
- Laurence Harvey - Room at the Top
- Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot (A qualcuno piace caldo)
- Paul Muni - The Last Angry Man
- James Stewart - Anatomy of a Murder
- 1960 Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry
- Trevor Howard - Sons and Lovers
- Jack Lemmon - The Apartment (L'appartamento)
- Laurence Olivier - The Entertainer
- Spencer Tracy - Inherit the Wind
- 1961 Maximilian Schell - Judgment at Nuremberg
- Charles Boyer - Fanny
- Paul Newman - The Hustler
- Spencer Tracy - Judgment at Nuremberg
- Stuart Whitman - The Mark
- 1962 Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird
- Burt Lancaster - Birdman of Alcatraz
- Jack Lemmon - Days of Wine and Roses
- Marcello Mastroianni - Divorzio all'italiana
- Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia (Lawrence d'Arabia)
- 1963 Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field
- Albert Finney - Tom Jones
- Richard Harris - This Sporting Life
- Rex Harrison - Cleopatra
- Paul Newman - Hud
- 1964 Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady
- Richard Burton - Becket
- Peter O'Toole - Becket
- Anthony Quinn - Zorba the Greek (Zorba li greco)
- Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb ()
- 1965 Lee Marvin - Cat Ballou
- Richard Burton - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
- Laurence Olivier - Othello
- Rod Steiger - The Pawnbroker
- Oskar Werner - Ship of Fools
- 1966 Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons (Un uomo per tutte le stagioni)
- 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
- 1967 Rod Steiger - In the Heat of the Night (La calda notte dell'ispettore Tibbs)
- Warren Beatty - Bonnie and Clyde
- Dustin Hoffman - The Graduate (Il laureato)
- Paul Newman - Cool Hand Luke
- Spencer Tracy - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Indovina chi viene a cena)
- 1968 Cliff Robertson - Charly
- Alan Arkin - The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
- Alan Bates - The Fixer
- Ron Moody - Oliver!
- Peter O'Toole - The Lion in Winter
- 1969 John Wayne - True Grit
- Richard Burton - Anne of the Thousand Days
- Dustin Hoffman - Midnight Cowboy (Un uomo da marciapiede)
- Peter O'Toole - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
- Jon Voight - Midnight Cowboy (Un uomo da marciapiede)
- 1970 George C. Scott (rifiutato)- Patton (Patton, generale d'acciaio)
- Melvyn Douglas - I Never Sang for My Father
- James Earl Jones - The Great White Hope
- Jack Nicholson - Five Easy Pieces (Cinque pezzi facili)
- Ryan O'Neal - Love Story
- 1971 Gene Hackman - The French Connection (Il braccio violento della legge)
- Peter Finch - Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Walter Matthau - Kotch
- George C. Scott - The Hospital
- Topol - Fiddler on the Roof
- 1972 Marlon Brando (rifiutato) - The Godfather (Il padrino )
- Michael Caine - Sleuth
- Laurence Olivier - Sleuth
- Peter O'Toole - The Ruling Class
- Paul Winfield - Sounder
- 1973 Jack Lemmon - Save the Tiger
- Marlon Brando - Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo tango a Parigi)
- Jack Nicholson - The Last Detail
- Al Pacino - Serpico
- Robert Redford - The Sting (La stangata)
- 1974 Art Carney - Harry and Tonto
- Albert Finney - Murder on the Orient Express
- Dustin Hoffman - Lenny
- Jack Nicholson - Chinatown
- Al Pacino - The Godfather, Part II (Il padrino, parte II)
- 1975 Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Qualcuno volò sul nido del cuculo)
- Walter Matthau - The Sunshine Boys
- Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon (Quel pomeriggio di un giorno da cani)
- Maximilian Schell - The Man in the Glass Booth
- James Whitmore - Give 'em Hell, Harry!
- 1976 Peter Finch - Network
- Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
- Giancarlo Giannini - Pasqualino Settebellezze
- William Holden - Network
- Sylvester Stallone - Rocky
- 1977 Richard Dreyfuss - The Goodbye Girl
- Woody Allen - Annie Hall (Io e Annie)
- Richard Burton - Equus
- Marcello Mastroianni - A Special Day
- John Travolta - Saturday Night Fever (La febbre del sabato sera)
- 1978 Jon Voight - Coming Home
- Warren Beatty - Heaven Can Wait (Il paradiso può attendere)
- Gary Busey - The Buddy Holly Story
- Robert De Niro - The Deer Hunter (Il cacciatore)
- Laurence Olivier - The Boys from Brazil
- 1979 Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer (Kramer contro Kramer)
- Jack Lemmon - The China Syndrome (La sindrome cinese)
- Roy Scheider - All That Jazz
- Peter Sellers - Being There
- Al Pacino - ...And Justice for All
- 1980 Robert De Niro - Raging Bull (Toro scatenato)
- Robert Duvall - The Great Santini
- John Hurt - The Elephant Man
- Jack Lemmon - Tribute
- Peter O'Toole - The Stunt Man
- 1981 Henry Fonda - On Golden Pond
- Warren Beatty - Reds
- Burt Lancaster - Atlantic City
- Dudley Moore - Arthur (Arturo)
- Paul Newman - Absence of Malice
- 1982 Ben Kingsley - Gandhi
- Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie
- Jack Lemmon - Missing
- Paul Newman - The Verdict
- Peter O'Toole - My Favorite Year
- 1983 Robert Duvall - Tender Mercies
- Michael Caine - Educating Rita
- Tom Conti - Reuben, Reuben
- Tom Courtenay - The Dresser
- Albert Finney - The Dresser
- 1984 F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus
- Jeff Bridges - Starman
- Albert Finney - Under the Volcano
- Tom Hulce - Amadeus
- Sam Waterston - The Killing Fields
- 1985 William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman (Il bacio della donna ragno)
- Harrison Ford - Witness
- James Garner - Murphy's Romance
- Jack Nicholson - Prizzi's Honor (L'onore dei Prizzi)
- Jon Voight - Runaway Train
- 1986 Paul Newman - The Color of Money (Il colore dei soldi)
- Dexter Gordon - Round Midnight
- Bob Hoskins - Mona Lisa
- William Hurt - Children of a Lesser God (Figli di un dio minore)
- James Woods - Salvador
- 1987 Michael Douglas - Wall Street
- William Hurt - Broadcast News
- Marcello Mastroianni - Dark Eyes
- Jack Nicholson - Ironweed
- Robin Williams - Good Morning, Vietnam
- 1988 Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man (Rain Man - L'uomo della pioggia)
- Gene Hackman - Mississippi Burning
- Tom Hanks - Big
- Edward James Olmos - Stand and Deliver
- Max von Sydow - Pelle the Conqueror
- 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot (Il mio piede sinistro)
- Kenneth Branagh - Henry V
- Tom Cruise - Born on the Fourth of July (Nato il 4 luglio)
- Morgan Freeman - Driving Miss Daisy (A spasso con Daisy)
- Robin Williams - Dead Poets Society (L'attimo fuggente)
- 1990 Jeremy Irons - Reversal of Fortune
- Kevin Costner - Dances with Wolves (Balla coi lupi)
- Robert De Niro - Awakenings
- Gerard Depardieu - Cyrano de Bergerac
- Richard Harris - The Field
- 1991 Anthony Hopkins - The Silence of the Lambs (Il silenzio degli innocenti)
- Warren Beatty - Bugsy
- Robert De Niro - Cape Fear
- Nick Nolte - The Prince of Tides (Il principe delle maree)
- Robin Williams - The Fisher King
- 1992 Al Pacino - Scent of a Woman
- Robert Downey Jr - Chaplin
- Clint Eastwood - Unforgiven (Gli spietati)
- Stephen Rea - The Crying Game
- Denzel Washington - Malcolm X
- 1993 Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
- Laurence Fishburne - What's Love Got to Do with It?
- Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day (Quel che resta del giorno)
- Daniel Day-Lewis - In the Name of the Father (Nel nome del padre)
- Liam Neeson - Schindler's List
- 1994 Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
- Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption
- Nigel Hawthorne - The Madness of King George
- Paul Newman - Nobody's Fool
- John Travolta - Pulp Fiction
- 1995 Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas
- Richard Dreyfuss - Mr. Holland's Opus
- Anthony Hopkins - Nixon
- Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking
- Massimo Troisi - Il postino
- 1996 Geoffrey Rush - Shine
- Tom Cruise - Jerry Maguire
- Ralph Fiennes - The English Patient (Il paziente inglese)
- Billy Bob Thornton - Sling Blade
- Woody Harrelson - The People vs. Larry Flynt (Larry Flint - Oltre lo scandalo)
- 1997 Jack Nicholson - As Good As It Gets
- Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting (Will Hunting - genio ribelle)
- Robert Duvall - The Apostle
- Peter Fonda - Ulee's Gold
- Dustin Hoffman - Wag the Dog
- 1998 Roberto Benigni - La vita è bella
- Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters
- Nick Nolte - Affliction
- Edward Norton - American History X
- Tom Hanks - Saving Private Ryan (Salvate il soldato Ryan)
- 1999 Kevin Spacey - American Beauty
- Denzel Washington - The Hurricane
- Russell Crowe - The Insider
- Richard Farnsworth - The Straight Story
- Sean Penn - Sweet and Lowdown
- 2000 Russell Crowe - Gladiator (Il Gladiatore)
- Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls
- Tom Hanks - Cast Away
- Ed Harris - Pollock
- Geoffrey Rush - Quills
- 2001 Denzel Washington - Training Day
- Will Smith - Alì
- Russell Crowe - A beautiful mind
- Sean Penn - I Am Sam
- Tom Wilkinson - In the Bedroom
- 2002 Adrien Brody - The Pianist (Il pianista)
- Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt (A proposito di Schmidt)
- Nicolas Cage - Adaptation
- Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
- Michael Caine - The Quiet American
- 2003 Sean Penn - Mystic River'''
- Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (La maledizione della prima luna)
- Ben Kingsley - House of Sand and Fog (La casa di sabbia e nebbia)
- Jude Law - Cold Mountain (Ritorno a Cold Mountain)
- Bill Murray - Lost in Translation