Academy Award for Best Actor

Information about Academy Award for Best Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Prior to the 49th Academy Awards ceremony (1976), this award was simply known as the Academy Award of Merit for Performance by an Actor. Since its inception, however, the award has commonly been referred to as the Oscar for Best Actor. While actors are nominated for this award by Academy members who are actors and actresses themselves, winners are selected by the Academy membership as a whole. Throughout the past 79 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, AMPAS has presented a total of 80 Best Actor awards to 73 different actors. Winners of this Academy Award of Merit receive the familiar Oscar statuette, depicting a gold-plated knight holding a crusader's sword and standing on a reel of film. The first recipient was Emil Jannings, who was honored at the 1st Academy Awards ceremony (1927/1928) for his performances in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. The most recent recipient was Forest Whitaker, who was honored at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony (2006) for his performance in The Last King of Scotland.

In the first three years of the Academy Awards, individuals such as actors and directors were nominated as the best in their categories. Then all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. However, during the 3rd Academy Awards ceremony (1929/1930), only one of those films was cited in each winner's final award, even though each of the acting winners had had two films following their names on the ballots. For the 4th Academy Awards ceremony (1930/1931), this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film. Such nominations are limited to five per year. Until the 8th Academy Awards ceremony (1935), nominations for the Best Actor award were intended to include all actors, whether the performance was in either a leading or supporting role. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony (1936), however, the Best Supporting Actor category was specifically introduced as a distinct award following complaints that the single Best Actor category necessarily favored leading performers with the most screen time. Nonetheless, Lionel Barrymore had received a Best Actor award (A Free Soul, 1931) and Franchot Tone a Best Actor nomination (Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935) for their performances in clear supporting roles. Currently, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role constitute the four Academy Awards of Merit for acting annually presented by AMPAS.

Seven men have won the Best Actor award twice. In chronological order, they are: Spencer Tracy (1937, 1938), Fredric March (1932, 1946), Gary Cooper (1941, 1952), Marlon Brando (1954, 1972), Dustin Hoffman (1979, 1988), Tom Hanks (1993, 1994), and Jack Nicholson (1975, 1997). Tracy and Hanks are the only actors to win their awards in consecutive years.

The actors with the most nominations in this category are Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier, with nine each. Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, and Peter O'Toole tie for third place with eight nominations each. Nicholson won his awards a record 22 years apart. O'Toole holds the record for the longest time span between his first and last nominations (44 years), and he also holds the record for the greatest number of nominations without ever winning the award (eight).

Six actors have won both the Best Actor and the Best Supporting Actor awards: Jack Lemmon, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, and Denzel Washington.

There has only been one tie in the history of this category, and it wasn't an exact tie. In 1932, Fredric March received one more vote than Wallace Beery. Academy rules at that time considered such a close margin to be a tie, so both March and Beery received the award. Under the current Academy rules, however, dual awards are only given for exact ties. While that has never happened for the Best Actor award, it did happen for the Best Actress award in 1968.

Peter Finch is the only posthumous winner, and James Dean, Spencer Tracy, and Massimo Troisi are the only other posthumously nominated performers in this category.

Three actors have been nominated for Best Actor more than once for the same character: Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's; Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in Becket and The Lion in Winter; and Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Hustler and The Color of Money. (Al Pacino was nominated in 1974 for a role for which he had previously been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part II.)

Several pairs of actors have been nominated for playing the same character or historical figure: Fredric March and James Mason as Norman Maine in A Star Is Born, Robert Donat and Peter O'Toole as Chipping in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, Charles Laughton and Richard Burton as Henry VIII, Leslie Howard and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, and José Ferrer and Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac. Robert De Niro won Best Supporting Actor for playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, the role for which Marlon Brando had previously won Best Actor.

Robert Downey Jr. is the only actor nominated for playing a previous nominee, Charles Chaplin, in Chaplin.

Two actors directed their own Oscar-winning performances: Laurence Olivier in Hamlet and Roberto Benigni in Life Is Beautiful. To date, however, no individual has won both Best Actor and Best Director.

Two winners have declined the award: George C. Scott, who won for Patton in 1970 (he had also declined his 1961 nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Hustler); and Marlon Brando, upon winning his second Oscar for The Godfather in 1972.

A few early winning and nominated performances have subsequently been lost, including Emil Jannings in The Way of All Flesh (1928), Lewis Stone in The Patriot (1928), and Lawrence Tibbett in The Rogue Song (1930), of which only a short fragment and the soundtrack survives.

Superlatives

Category Name Superlative Year Notes
Most AwardsSpencer Tracy2 awards (tie)1938Awards resulted from 9 nominations.
Most AwardsFredric March2 awards (tie)1946Awards resulted from 5 nominations.
Most AwardsGary Cooper2 awards (tie)1952Awards resulted from 5 nominations.
Most AwardsMarlon Brando2 awards (tie)1972Awards resulted from 7 nominations.
Most AwardsDustin Hoffman2 awards (tie)1988Awards resulted from 7 nominations.
Most AwardsTom Hanks2 awards (tie)1994Awards resulted from 5 nominations.
Most AwardsJack Nicholson2 awards (tie)1997Awards resulted from 8 nominations.
Most NominationsSpencer Tracy9 nominations (tie)1967Nominations resulted in 2 awards.
Most NominationsLaurence Olivier9 nominations (tie)1978Nominations resulted in 1 award.
Oldest WinnerHenry Fonda76 years old1981On Golden Pond
Oldest NomineeRichard Farnsworth79 years old1999The Straight Story
Youngest WinnerAdrien Brody29 years old2002The Pianist
Youngest NomineeJackie Cooper9 years old1930/31Skippy

Winners and nominees

Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by year of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) the film's year of release. For example, the Oscar for Best Actor of 1999 was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000. Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees.

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

See also

External links

Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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AMPAS
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Founded May 11,1927
Members 6,000
Country United States
Key people Sid Ganis, president
Office location Los Angeles,Beverly Hills, California

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actor, actress, or player (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity.
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The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and
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49th Academy Awards

Date Monday, March 28, 1977
Site Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles

Host Richard Pryor, Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn, Warren Beatty
Producer William Friedkin
Director Marty Pasetta
Duration 3 hours, 38 minutes The
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-1976- 1977 1978 1979  1980 .  1981 .  1982 .  1983  . 1984  . 1985  . 1986 
In home video: 1973 1974 1975 -1976- 1977 1978 1979     
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Emil Jannings

Birth name Theodor Friedrich Emil Janenz
Born July 23 1884(1884--)
Rorschach, Switzerland
Died January 3 1950 (aged 67)
Strobl, Austria

Awards
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1st Academy Awards

Date Thursday, May 16, 1929
Site Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, California

Host Douglas Fairbanks
William C. DeMille

The 1st Academy Awards
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-1927- 1928 1929 1930  1931 .  1932 .  1933 .  1934  . 1935  . 1936  . 1937 

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-1928- 1929 1930 1931  1932 .  1933 .  1934 .  1935  . 1936  . 1937  . 1938 

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The Last Command (1928) is a silent film, written by John F. Goodrich and Herman J. Mankiewicz, from a story by Lajos Biró, and directed by Josef von Sternberg.
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For the 1903 novel, see The Way of All Flesh.


The Way of All Flesh is a 1927 film that was written by Lajos Biró, Jules Furthman, Julian Johnson and Ernest Maas from a story by Perley Poore Sheehan.
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Forest Whitaker

Birth name Forest Steven Whitaker
Born July 15 1961 (1961--) (age 46)
Longview, Texas, U.S.
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79th Academy Awards

Date Sunday, February 25 2007
Site Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California
Preshow Chris Connelly
Lisa Ling
Shaun Robinson
Allyson Waterman
Host Ellen DeGeneres
Producer Laura Ziskin
Director Louis J.
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-2006- 2007 2008 2009  2010 .  2011 .  2012 .  2013  . 2014  . 2015  . 2016 
In home video: 2003 2004 2005 -2006- 2007 2008 2009     
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The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning 2006 film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name.
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3rd Academy Awards

Date November 5, 1930
Site Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California

Host Conrad Nagel

The 3rd Academy Awards were awarded to films completed and screened in 1929/1930, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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-1929- 1930 1931 1932  1933 .  1934 .  1935 .  1936  . 1937  . 1938  . 1939 

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-1930- 1931 1932 1933  1934 .  1935 .  1936 .  1937  . 1938  . 1939  . 1940 

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4th Academy Awards

Date November 10, 1931
Site Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California

Host Lawrence Grant

The 4th Academy Awards were awarded to films completed and screened in 1930/1931, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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-1930- 1931 1932 1933  1934 .  1935 .  1936 .  1937  . 1938  . 1939  . 1940 

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-1931- 1932 1933 1934  1935 .  1936 .  1937 .  1938  . 1939  . 1940  . 1941 

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Academy Awards

Date March 5, 1936
Site Biltmore Hotel

Host Frank Capra

The 8th Academy Awards were held on March 5, 1936 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Frank Capra.
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-1935- 1936 1937 1938  1939 .  1940 .  1941 .  1942  . 1943  . 1944  . 1945 

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Academy Awards

Date March 4, 1937
Site Biltmore Hotel

Host George Jessel

The 9th Academy Awards were held on March 4, 1937 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by George Jessel.
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-1936- 1937 1938 1939  1940 .  1941 .  1942 .  1943  . 1944  . 1945  . 1946 

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Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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Lionel Barrymore

Birth name Lionel Herbert Blythe
Born March 28 1878(1878--)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died November 15 1954 (aged 76)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
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A Free Soul is a 1931 Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had
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-1931- 1932 1933 1934  1935 .  1936 .  1937 .  1938  . 1939  . 1940  . 1941 

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