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- 8 different actors have won this award twice
- No actor has won this award 3 times
- Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier are tied for most all-time nominations with 9 each
- Peter O'Toole has been nominated the most times without winning (8)
- 1970: George C. Scott famously refused his award
- 1972: Marlon Brando also famously refused his award
- Spencer Tracy and Tom Hanks are only actors to win consecutively
- There have been 24 non-American winners
- 6 actors have won both this award and the Best Supporting Actor award
- Peter Finch is the only posthumous winner in 1976
- Laurence Olivier in 1948 and Roberto Benigni in 1998 are only winners to direct themselves in their performances
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Each year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out a variety of awards for the best performances in the film industry both in front of and behind the camera. Since their inception in 1928, one of the most sought after awards is the Academy Award for performance by an actor in a leading role. During the first three years, nominees had their entire body of work in all of their films for that calendar year in consideration. The first ever winner was Emil Jannings, who received the award for his work in two films. Also in 1928, Charlie Chaplin was given a special award. By 1931, the voting procedure was changed to recognize only one film per nominee, making the system of determining the best performance less confusing for voters. In 1932, Wallace Beery won the voting, but Fredric March came within 1 vote, at the time this meant both men won awards. The most recent winner of the award was Daniel Day-Lewis for his 2007 portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. No actor has ever won this specific award more than twice in history. In addition to Day-Lewis, the other two-time award winners are: Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, and Jack Nicholson. Tracy and Hanks are the only men to win the award in consecutive years.
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List of Previous Best Actor Winners
Best Actor Year Winner Film Role 2008 Sean Penn Milk Harvey Milk 2007 Daniel Day-Lewis There Will Be Blood Daniel Plainview 2006 Forest Whitaker The Last King of Scotland Idi Amin 2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman Capote Truman Capote 2004 Jamie Foxx Ray Ray Charles 2003 Sean Penn Mystic River Jimmy Markum 2002 Adrien Brody The Pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman 2001 Denzel Washington Training Day Alonzo 2000 Russell Crowe Gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius 1999 Kevin Spacey American Beauty Lester Burnham 1998 Roberto Benigni Life Is Beautiful Guido 1997 Jack Nicholson As Good As It Gets Melvin Udall 1996 Geoffrey Rush Shine David Helfgott 1995 Nicolas Cage Leaving Las Vegas Ben Sanderson 1994 Tom Hanks Forrest Gump Forrest Gump 1993 Tom Hanks Philadelphia Andrew Beckett 1992 Al Pacino Scent of a Woman Lt. Col. Frank Slade 1991 Anthony Hopkins The Silence of the Lambs Dr. Hannibal Lecter 1990 Jeremy Irons Reversal of Fortune Claus Von Bulow 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot Christy Brown 1988 Dustin Hoffman Rain Man Raymond Babbitt 1987 Michael Douglas Wall Street Gordon Gekko 1986 Paul Newman The Color of Money Eddie Felson 1985 William Hurt Kiss of the Spider Woman Luis Molina 1984 F. Murray Abraham Amadeus Antonio Salieri 1983 Robert Duvall Tender Mercies Mac Sledge 1982 Ben Kingsley Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi 1981 Henry Fonda On Golden Pond Norman Thayer, Jr. 1980 Robert DeNiro Raging Bull Jake LaMotta 1979 Dustin Hoffman Kramer vs. Kramer Ted Kramer 1978 Jon Voight Coming Home Luke Martin 1977 Richard Dreyfuss The Goodbye Girl Elliot Garfield 1976 Peter Finch Network Howard Beale 1975 Jack Nicholson One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Randle Patrick McMurphy 1974 Art Carney Harry and Tonto Harry 1973 Jack Lemmon Save the Tiger Harry Stoner 1972 Marlon Brando The Godfather Don Vito Corleone 1971 Gene Hackman The French Connection Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle 1970 George C. Scott Patton Gen. George S. Patton Jr. 1969 John Wayne True Grit Rooster Cogburn 1968 Cliff Robertson Charly Charly Gordon 1967 Rod Steiger In the Heat of the Night Police Chief Bill Gillespie 1966 Paul Scofield A Man for All Seasons Sir Thomas More 1965 Lee Marvin Cat Ballou Kid Shelleen / Tim Strawn 1964 Rex Harrison My Fair Lady Professor Henry Higgins 1963 Sidney Poitier Lilies of the Field Homer Smith 1962 Gregory Peck To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch 1961 Maximilian Schell Judgement at Nuremberg Hans Rolfe 1960 Burt Lancaster Elmer Gantry Elmer Gantry 1959 Charlton Heston Ben-Hur Judah Ben-Hur 1958 David Niven Separate Tables Major Pollock 1957 Alec Guinness The Bridge on the River Kwai Col. Nicholson 1956 Yul Brynner The King and I The King 1955 Ernest Borgnine Marty Marty Pilletti 1954 Marlon Brando On the Waterfront Terry Malloy 1953 William Holden Stalag 17 Sefton 1952 Gary Cooper High Noon Will Kane 1951 Humphrey Bogart The African Queen Charlie Allnut 1950 Jose Ferrer Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac 1949 Broderick Crawford All the King's Men Willie Stark 1948 Laurence Olivier Hamlet Hamlet 1947 Ronald Coleman A Double Life Anthony John 1946 Fredric March The Best Years of Our Lives Al Stephenson 1945 Ray Milland The Lost Weekend Don Birnam 1944 Bing Crosby Going My Way Father O'Malley 1943 Paul Lukas Watch on the Rhine Kurt Muller 1942 James Cagney Yankee Doodle Dandy George M. Cohan 1941 Gary Cooper Sergeant York Alvin C. York 1940 James Stewart The Philadelphia Story Mike Connor 1939 Robert Donat Goodbye, Mr. Chips Arthur Chipping 1938 Spencer Tracy Boys Town Father Flanagan 1937 Spencer Tracy Captains Courageous Manuel 1936 Paul Muni The Story of Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur 1935 Victor McLaglen The Informer Gypo Nolan 1934 Clark Gable It Happened One Night Peter Warne 1933 The Private Life of Henry VIII Henry VIII 1932 Wallace Beery The Champ Champ Fredric March Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde 1931 Lionel Barrymore A Free Soul Stephen Ashe 1930 George Arliss Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli 1929 Warner Baxter In Old Arizona The Cisco Kid 1928 Emil Jannings The Last Command Gen. Dolgorucki Emil Jannings The Way of All Flesh August Schilling
Best Actor Oscar Winners Questions
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Oscar Winners leaked? 14 AnswersI doubt it very much. Firstly the text looks like its been added in, the logo looks fake (way to cheezy to be the real deal) and finally, why in Gods name would... read more
Oscar winners between 1990 and 2000? 3 Answers1990 Best Picture: Dances with Wolves Lead Actor: Jeremy Irons in Reversal of Fortune Lead Acress: Kathy Bates in Misery Best Director: Kevin Costner in Dan... read more
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