| Year |
Winnner |
| 1944 |
Akim Tamiroff, For Whom the Bell Tolls |
| 1945 |
Barry Fitzgerald, Going My Way |
| 1946 |
J. Carrol Naish, A Medal for Benny |
| 1947 |
Clifton Webb, The Razor's Edge |
| 1948 |
Edmund Gwenn, Miracle On 34th Street |
| 1949 |
Walter Huston, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 1950 |
James Whitmore, Battleground |
| 1951 |
Edmund Gwenn, Mister 880 |
| 1952 |
Peter Ustinov, Quo Vadis? |
| 1953 |
Millard Mitchell, My Six Convicts |
| 1954 |
Frank Sinatra, From Here To Eternity |
| 1955 |
Edmond O'Brien, The Barefoot Contessa |
| 1956 |
Arthur Kennedy, Trial |
| 1957 |
Earl Holliman, The Rainmaker |
| 1958 |
Red Buttons, Sayonara |
| 1959 |
Burl Ives, The Big Country |
| 1960 |
Stephen Boyd, Ben-Hur |
| 1961 |
Sal Mineo, Exodus |
| 1962 |
George Chakiris, West Side Story |
| 1963 |
Omar Sharif, Lawrence Of Arabia |
| 1964 |
John Huston, The Cardinal |
| 1965 |
Edmond O'Brien, Seven Days in May |
| 1966 |
Oskar Werner, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold |
| 1967 |
Richard Attenborough, The Sand Pebbles |
| 1968 |
Richard Attenborough, Doctor Dolittle |
| 1969 |
Daniel Massey, Star! |
| 1970 |
Gig Young, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? |
| 1971 |
John Mills, Ryan's Daughter |
| 1972 |
Ben Johnson, The Last Picture Show |
| 1973 |
Joel Grey, Cabaret |
| 1974 |
John Houseman, The Paper Chase |
| 1975 |
Fred Astaire, The Towering Inferno |
| 1976 |
Richard Benjamin, The Sunshine Boys |
| 1977 |
Laurence Olivier, Marathon Man |
| 1978 |
Peter Firth, Equus |
| 1979 |
John Hurt, Midnight Express |
| 1980 |
Melvyn Douglas, Being There (Tie) Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now |
| 1981 |
Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People |
| 1982 |
John Gielgud, Arthur |
| 1983 |
Louis Gossett, Jr., An Officer and A Gentleman |
| 1984 |
Jack Nicholson, Terms of Endearment |
| 1985 |
Haing S. Ngor, The Killing Fields |
| 1986 |
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa |
| 1987 |
Tom Berenger, Platoon |
| 1988 |
Sean Connery, The Untouchables |
| 1989 |
Martin Landau, Tucker: The Man and His Dream |
| 1990 |
Denzel Washington, Glory |
| 1991 |
Bruce Davison, Longtime Companion |
| 1992 |
Jack Palance, City Slickers |
| 1993 |
Gene Hackman, Unforgiven |
| 1994 |
Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive |
| 1995 |
Martin Landau, Ed Wood |
| 1996 |
Brad Pitt, 12 Monkeys |
| 1997 |
Edward Norton, Primal Fear |
| 1998 |
Burt Reynolds, Boogie Nights |
| 1999 |
Ed Harris, The Truman Show |
| 2000 |
Tom Cruise, Magnolia |
| 2001 |
Benicio Del Toro, Traffic |
| 2002 |
Jim Broadbent, Iris |
| 2003 |
Chris Cooper, Adaptation |
| 2004 |
Tim Robbins, Mystic River |
| 2005 |
Clive Owen, Closer |
| 2006 |
George Clooney, Syriana |
| 2007 |
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls |
| 2008 |
Javier Bardemn No Country for Old Men |
| 2009 |
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight |
