The Oscar Quest: Rankings – Best Actor
Here is my subset of The Oscar Quest Rankings, specifically for Best Actor. Just in case the one big article is too much for you and you just want one specific category.
(Underlined means that’s what won. An asterisk (*) means that’s what I’d have voted for. Anything in RED means I haven’t seen the film yet.)
Best Actor
2011 – 1. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy *
2. Jean Dujardin, The Artist
3. George Clooney, The Descendants
4. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
5. Demián Bichir, A Better Life
2010 – 1. Colin Firth, The King’s Speech *
2. Jeff Bridges, True Grit
3. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
4. Javier Bardem, Biutiful
5. James Franco, 127 Hours
2009 – 1. George Clooney, Up in the Air *
2. Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
3. Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
4. Colin Firth, A Single Man
5. Morgan Freeman, Invictus
2008 – 1. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler *
2. Sean Penn, Milk
3. Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
5. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
2007 – 1. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood *
2. George Clooney, Michael Clayton
3. Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
5. Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
2006 – 1. Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
2. Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
3. Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
4. Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond *
5. Peter O’Toole, Venus
2005 – 1. David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck *
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
3. Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
4. Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
5. Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
2004 – 1. Jamie Foxx, Ray *
2. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator
3. Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
4. Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
5. Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
2003 – 1. Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl *
2. Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
3. Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
4. Sean Penn, Mystic River
5. Jude Law, Cold Mountain
2002 – 1. Nicolas Cage, Adaptation. *
2. Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
3. Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
4. Adrien Brody, The Pianist
5. Michael Caine, The Quiet American
2001 – 1. Denzel Washington, Training Day *
2. Sean Penn, I Am Sam
3. Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind
4. Will Smith, Ali
5. Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom
2000 – 1. Tom Hanks, Cast Away
2. Russell Crowe, Gladiator *
3. Geoffrey Rush, Quills
4. Ed Harris, Pollock
5. Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls
1999 – 1. Kevin Spacey, American Beauty *
2. Russell Crowe, The Insider
3. Denzel Washington, The Hurricane
4. Sean Penn, Sweet and Lowdown
5. Richard Farnsworth, The Straight Story
1998 – 1. Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters *
2. Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan
3. Edward Norton, American History X
4. Roberto Benigni, Life is Beautiful
5. Nick Nolte, Affliction
1997 – 1. Jack Nicholson, As Good as It Gets *
2. Dustin Hoffman, Wag the Dog
3. Matt Damon, Good Will Hunting
4. Robert Duvall, The Apostle
5. Peter Fonda, Ulee’s Gold
1996 – 1. Billy Bob Thornton, Sling Blade *
2. Tom Cruise, Jerry Maguire
3. Woody Harrelson, The People vs. Larry Flynt
4. Ralph Fiennes, The English Patient
5. Geoffrey Rush, Shine
1995 – 1. Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas *
2. Anthony Hopkins, Nixon
3. Richard Dreyfuss, Mr. Holland’s Opus
4. Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking
5. Massimo Troisi, Il Postino
1994 – 1. Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump *
2. John Travolta, Pulp Fiction
3. Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption
4. Nigel Hawthorne, The Madness of King George
5. Paul Newman, Nobody’s Fool
1993 – 1. Liam Neeson, Schindler’s List *
2. Anthony Hopkins, The Remains of the Day
3. Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father
4. Tom Hanks, Philadelphia
5. Laurence Fishburne, What’s Love Got to Do with It
1992 –1. Robert Downey Jr., Chaplin *
2. Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman
3. Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
4. Denzel Washington, Malcolm X
5. Stephen Rea, The Crying Game
1991 – 1. Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs *
2. Warren Beatty, Bugsy
3. Robert De Niro, Cape Fear
4. Robin Williams, The Fisher King
5. Nick Nolte, The Prince of Tides
1990 – 1. Richard Harris, The Field *
2. Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune
3. Robert De Niro, Awakenings
4. Kevin Costner, Dances with Wolves
5. Gérard Depardieu, Cyrano de Bergerac
1989 – 1. Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot *
2. Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July
3. Kenneth Branagh, Henry V
4. Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy
5. Robin Williams, Dead Poet’s Society
1988 – 1. Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man *
2. Tom Hanks, Big
3. Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning
4. Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver
5. Max von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror
1987 – 1. Michael Douglas, Wall Street *
2. William Hurt, Broadcast News
3. Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam
4. Jack Nicholson, Ironweed
5. Marcello Mastroianni, Dark Eyes
1986 – 1. Paul Newman, The Color of Money *
2. William Hurt, Children of a Lesser God
3. Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa
4. Dexter Gordon, Round Midnight
5. James Woods, Salvador
1985 – 1. William Hurt, Kiss of the Spider Woman *
2. Jon Voight, Runaway Train
3. Jack Nicholson, Prizzi’s Honor
4. Harrison Ford, Witness
5. James Garner, Murphy’s Romance
1984 – 1. F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus *
2. Tom Hulce, Amadeus
3. Albert Finney, Under the Volcano
4. Jeff Bridges, Starman
5. Sam Waterston, The Killing Fields
1983 – 1. Michael Caine, Educating Rita
2. Tom Courtenay, The Dresser
3. Albert Finney, The Dresser
4. Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies *
5. Tom Conti, Reuben, Reuben
1982 – 1. Paul Newman, The Verdict *
2. Peter O’Toole, My Favorite Year
3. Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie
4. Ben Kingsley, Gandhi
5. Jack Lemmon, Missing
1981 – 1. Dudley Moore, Arthur *
2. Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond
3. Warren Beatty, Reds
4. Burt Lancaster, Atlantic City
5. Paul Newman, Absence of Malice
1980 – 1. Robert De Niro, Raging Bull *
2. John Hurt, The Elephant Man
3. Peter O’Toole, The Stunt Man
4. Robert Duvall, The Great Santini
5. Jack Lemmon, Tribute
1979 – 1. Roy Scheider, All That Jazz
2. Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer *
3. Peter Sellers, Being There
4. Jack Lemmon, The China Syndrome
5. Al Pacino, …And Justice for All
1978 – 1. Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter *
2. Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait
3. Jon Voight, Coming Home
4. Laurence Olivier, The Boys From Brazil
5. Gary Busey, The Buddy Holly Story
1977 – 1. Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl *
2. John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever
3. Woody Allen, Annie Hall
4. Richard Burton, Equus
5. Marcello Mastroianni, A Special Day
1976 – 1. Sylvester Stallone, Rocky
2. Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver
3. William Holden, Network *
4. Peter Finch, Network
5. Giancarlo Giannini, Seven Beauties
1975 – 1. Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest *
2. Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
3. Walther Matthau, The Sunshine Boys
4. James Whitmore, Give ‘em Hell, Harry!
5. Maximilian Schell, The Man in the Glass Booth
1974 – 1. Al Pacino, The Godfather, Part II *
2. Jack Nicholson, Chinatown
3. Dustin Hoffman, Lenny
4. Albert Finney, Murder on the Orient Express
5. Art Carney, Harry and Tonto
1973 – 1. Jack Lemmon, Save the Tiger *
2. Jack Nicholson, The Last Detail
3. Robert Redford, The Sting
4. Al Pacino, Serpico
5. Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris
1972 – 1. Marlon Brando, The Godfather *
2. Michael Caine, Sleuth
3. Laurence Olivier, Sleuth
4. Peter O’Toole, The Ruling Class
5. Paul Winfield, Sounder
1971 – 1. Gene Hackman, The French Connection *
2. Chaim Topol, Fiddler on the Roof
3. Walther Matthau, Kotch
4. George C. Scott, The Hospital
5. Peter Finch, Sunday Bloody Sunday
1970 – 1. George C. Scott, Patton *
2. James Earl Jones, The Great White Hope
3. Ryan O’Neal, Love Story
4. Jack Nicholson, Five Easy Pieces
5. Melvyn Douglas, I Never Sang for My Father
1969 – 1. John Wayne, True Grit *
2. Richard Burton, Anne of the Thousand Days
3. Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy
4. Jon Voight, Midnight Cowboy
5. Peter O’Toole, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
1968 – 1. Ron Moody, Oliver!
2. Peter O’Toole, The Lion in Winter *
3. Alan Arkin, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
4. Cliff Robertson, Charly
5. Alan Bates, The Fixer
1967 – 1. Paul Newman, Cool Hand Luke *
2. Dustin Hoffman, The Graduate
3. Warren Beatty, Bonnie and Clyde
4. Spencer Tracy, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
5. Rod Steiger, In the Heat of the Night
1966 – 1. Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons *
2. Richard Burton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
3. Michael Caine, Alfie
4. Alan Arkin, The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming
5. Steve McQueen, The Sand Pebbles
1965 – 1. Richard Burton, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold *
2. Rod Steiger, The Pawnbroker
3. Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou
4. Laurence Olivier, Othello
5. Oskar Werner, Ship of Fools
1964 – 1. Peter Sellers, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb *
2. Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady
3. Peter O’Toole, Becket
4. Anthony Quinn, Zorba the Greek
5. Richard Burton, Becket
1963 – 1. Richard Harris, This Sporting Life *
2. Rex Harrison, Cleopatra
3. Paul Newman, Hud
4. Albert Finney, Tom Jones
5. Sidney Poitier, Lilies of the Field
1962 – 1. Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird *
2. Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia
3. Jack Lemmon, Days of Wine and Roses
4. Burt Lancaster, Birdman of Alcatraz
5. Marcello Mastroianni, Divorce, Italian Style
1961 – 1. Paul Newman, The Hustler *
2. Maximilian Schell, Judgment at Nuremberg
3. Spencer Tracy, Judgment at Nuremberg
4. Charles Boyer, Fanny
5. Stuart Whitman, The Mark
1960 – 1. Jack Lemmon, The Apartment
2. Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry *
3. Spencer Tracy, Inherit the Wind
4. Trevor Howard, Sons and Lovers
5. Laurence Olivier, The Entertainer
1959 – 1. James Stewart, Anatomy of a Murder *
2. Jack Lemmon, Some Like it Hot
3. Paul Muni, The Last Angry Man
4. Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur
5. Laurence Harvey, Room at the Top
1958 – 1. Paul Newman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof *
2. Tony Curtis, The Defiant Ones
3. Sidney Poitier, The Defiant Ones
4. David Niven, Separate Tables
5. Spencer Tracy, The Old Man and the Sea
1957 – 1. Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai *
2. Charles Laughton, Witness for Prosecution
3. Anthony Franciosa, A Hatful of Rain
4. Anthony Quinn, Wild is the Wind
5. Marlon Brando, Sayonara
1956 – 1. Rock Hudson, Giant *
2. James Dean, Giant
3. Yul Brynner, The King and I
4. Kirk Douglas, Lust for Life
5. Laurence Olivier, Richard III
1955 – 1. Frank Sinatra, The Man with the Golden Arm *
2. Ernest Borgnine, Marty
3. James Dean, East of Eden
4. James Cagney, Love Me or Leave Me
5. Spencer Tracy, Bad Day at Black Rock
1954 – 1. Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront *
2. Bing Crosby, The Country Girl
3. Humphrey Bogart, The Caine Mutiny
4. James Mason, A Star is Born
5. Dan O’Herlihy, Robison Crusoe
1953 – 1. William Holden, Stalag 17
2. Burt Lancaster, From Here to Eternity
3. Montgomery Clift, From Here to Eternity *
4. Marlon Brando, Julius Caesar
5. Richard Burton, The Robe
1952 – 1. Kirk Douglas, The Bad and the Beautiful *
2. Gary Cooper, High Noon
3. Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob
4. José Ferrer – Moulin Rouge
5. Marlon Brando, Viva Zapata!
1951 – 1. Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire *
2. Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen
3. Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun
4. Arthur Kennedy, Bright Victory
5. Fredric March, Death of a Salesman
1950 – 1. James Stewart, Harvey
2. William Holden, Sunset Boulevard *
3. Spencer Tracy, Father of the Bride
4. José Ferrer, Cyrano de Bergerac
5. Louis Calhern, The Magnificent Yankee
1949 – 1. Broderick Crawford, All the King’s Men *
2. Richard Todd, The Hasty Heart
3. John Wayne, Sands of Iwo Jima
4. Gregory Peck, Twelve O’Clock High
5. Kirk Douglas, Champion
1948 – 1. Laurence Olivier, Hamlet *
2. Lew Ayres, Johnny Belinda
3. Clifton Webb, Sitting Pretty
4. Montgomery Clift, The Search
5. Dan Dailey, When My Baby Smiles at Me
1947 – 1. Gregory Peck, Gentleman’s Agreement *
2. Michael Redgrave, Mourning Becomes Electra
3. John Garfield, Body and Soul
4. Ronald Colman, A Double Life
5. William Powell, Life with Father
1946 – 1. Fredric March, The Best Years of Our Lives *
2. James Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life
3. Gregory Peck, The Yearling
4. Laurence Olivier, Henry V
5. Larry Parks, The Jolson Story
1945 – 1. Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend *
2. Gene Kelley, Anchors Aweigh
3. Bing Crosby, The Bells of St. Mary’s
4. Gregory Peck, The Keys of the Kingdom
5. Cornel Wilde, A Song to Remember
1944 – 1. Bing Crosby, Going My Way *
2. Barry Fitzgerald, Going My Way
3. Alexander Knox, Wilson
4. Cary Grant, None But the Lonely Heart
5. Charles Boyer, Gaslight
1943 – 1. Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca *
2. Mickey Rooney, The Human Comedy
3. Gary Cooper, For Whom the Bell Tolls
4. Walter Pidgeon, Madame Curie
5. Paul Lukas, Watch on the Rhine
1942 – 1. James Cagney, Yankee Doodle Dandy *
2. Gary Cooper, The Pride of the Yankees
3. Monty Woolley, The Pied Piper
4. Ronald Colman, Random Harvest
5. Walter Pidgeon, Mrs. Miniver
1941 – 1. Orson Welles, Citizen Kane *
2. Walter Huston, The Devil and Daniel Webster
3. Gary Cooper, Sergeant York
4. Cary Grant, Penny Serenade
5. Robert Montgomery, Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1940 – 1. Henry Fonda, The Grapes of Wrath *
2. Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator
3. Laurence Olivier, Rebecca
4. James Stewart, The Philadelphia Story
5. Raymond Massey, Abe Lincoln in Illinois
1939 – 1. James Stewart, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington *
2. Clark Gable, Gone With the Wind
3. Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
4. Laurence Olivier, Wuthering Heights
5. Mickey Rooney, Babes in Arms
1938 – 1. Leslie Howard, Pygmalion *
2. James Cagney, Angels with Dirty Faces
3. Robert Donat, The Citadel
4. Charles Boyer, Algiers
5. Spencer Tracy, Boys Town
1937 – 1. Fredric March, A Star is Born *
2. Paul Muni, The Life of Emile Zola
3. Spencer Tracy, Captains Courageous
4. Robert Montgomery, Night Must Fall
5. Charles Boyer, Conquest
1936 – 1. Walter Huston, Dodsworth
2. William Powell, My Man Godfrey *
3. Paul Muni, The Story of Louis Pasteur
4. Gary Cooper, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
5. Spencer Tracy, San Francisco
1935 – 1. Victor McLaglen, The Informer *
2. Charles Laughton, Mutiny on the Bounty
3. Clark Gable, Mutiny on the Bounty
4. Paul Muni, Black Fury
5. Franchot Tone, Mutiny on the Bounty
1934 – 1. William Powell, The Thin Man *
2. Clark Gable, It Happened One Night
3. Frank Morgan, The Affairs of Cellini
1932-1933 – 1. Paul Muni, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang *
2. Charles Laughton, The Private Life of Henry VIII
3. Leslie Howard, Berkeley Square
1931-1932 – 1. Wallace Beery, The Champ *
2. Fredric March, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3. Alfred Lunt, The Guardsman
1930-1931 – 1. Jackie Cooper, Skippy *
2. Richard Dix, Cimarron
3. Lionel Barrymore, A Free Soul
4. Adolphe Menjou, The Front Page
5. Fredric March, The Royal Family of Broadway
1929-1930 – 1. Maurice Chevalier, The Love Parade
2. Maurice Chevalier, The Big Pond
3. George Arliss, Disraeli *
4. Wallace Beery, The Big House
5. Ronald Colman, Condemned
6. Ronald Colman, Bulldog Drummond
7. George Arliss, The Green Goddess
8. Lawrence Tibbett, The Rogue Song
1928-1929 – 1. Warner Baxter, In Old Arizona *
2. George Bancroft, Thunderbolt
3. Paul Muni, The Valiant
4. Chester Morris, Alibi
5. Lewis Stone, The Patriot (LOST)
1927-1928 – 1. Emil Jannings, The Last Command & The Way of All Flesh (LOST)*
2. Richard Barthelmess, The Noose & The Patent Leather Kid
