| Year |
Winnner |
| 1944 |
Paul Lukas, Watch on the Rhine |
| 1945 |
Alexander Knox, Wilson |
| 1946 |
Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend |
| 1947 |
Gregory Peck, The Yearling |
| 1948 |
Ronald Colman, A Double Life |
| 1949 |
Laurence Olivier, Hamlet |
| 1950 |
Broderick Crawford, All the King's Men |
| 1951 |
José Ferrer, Cyrano de Bergerac |
| 1952 |
Fredric March, Death of a Salesman |
| 1953 |
Gary Cooper, High Noon |
| 1954 |
Spencer Tracy, The Actress |
| 1955 |
Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront |
| 1956 |
Ernest Borgnine, Marty |
| 1957 |
Kirk Douglas, Lust for Life |
| 1958 |
Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1959 |
David Niven, Separate Tables |
| 1960 |
Anthony Franciosa, Career |
| 1961 |
Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry |
| 1962 |
Maximilian Schell, Judgment at Nuremberg |
| 1963 |
Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird |
| 1964 |
Sidney Poitier, Lilies of the Field |
| 1965 |
Peter O'Toole, Becket |
| 1966 |
Omar Sharif, Doctor Zhivago |
| 1967 |
Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons |
| 1968 |
Rod Steiger, In the Heat of the Night |
| 1969 |
Peter O'Toole, The Lion in Winter |
| 1970 |
John Wayne, True Grit |
| 1971 |
George C. Scott, Patton |
| 1972 |
Gene Hackman, The French Connection |
| 1973 |
Marlon Brando, The Godfather |
| 1974 |
Al Pacino, Serpico |
| 1975 |
Jack Nicholson, Chinatown |
| 1976 |
Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 1977 |
Peter Finch, Network |
| 1978 |
Richard Burton, Equus |
| 1979 |
Jon Voight, Coming Home |
| 1980 |
Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer |
| 1981 |
Robert De Niro, Raging Bull |
| 1982 |
Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond |
| 1983 |
Ben Kingsley, Gandhi |
| 1984 |
Tom Courtenay, The Dresser; Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies |
| 1985 |
F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus |
| 1986 |
Jon Voight, Runaway Train |
| 1987 |
Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa |
| 1988 |
Michael Douglas, Wall Street |
| 1989 |
Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man |
| 1990 |
Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July |
| 1991 |
Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune |
| 1992 |
Nick Nolte, The Prince of Tides |
| 1993 |
Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman |
| 1994 |
Tom Hanks, Philadelphia |
| 1995 |
Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump |
| 1996 |
Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas |
| 1997 |
Geoffrey Rush, Shine |
| 1998 |
Peter Fonda, Ulee's Gold |
| 1999 |
Jim Carrey, The Truman Show |
| 2000 |
Denzel Washington, The Hurricane |
| 2001 |
Tom Hanks, Cast Away |
| 2002 |
Denzel Washington, Training Day |
| 2003 |
Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt |
| 2004 |
Sean Penn, Mystic River |
| 2005 |
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator |
| 2006 |
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote |
| 2007 |
Forest Whitaker, The Last King Of Scotland |
| 2008 |
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood |
| 2009 |
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler |
