BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented each year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a movie.

Winners and nominees

From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actor awards: one for a British actor and another for a foreign actor. In 1968, the two prizes of British and Foreign actor were combined to create a single Best Actor award. Its current title, for Best Actor in a Leading Role, has been used since 1995.

1950s

1952
- Best British Actor – Ralph Richardson – The Sound Barrier
  - Laurence Olivier – Carrie
  - Alastair Sim – Folly to Be Wise
  - Jack Hawkins – Mandy
  - James Hayter – The Pickwick Papers
  - Nigel Patrick – The Sound Barrier
- Best Foreign Actor – Marlon Brando – Viva Zapata!
  - Humphrey Bogart – The African Queen
  - Fredric March – Death of a Salesman
  - Pierre Fresnay – Dieu a besoin des hommes
  - Francesco Golisano – Miracolo a Milano

1953
- Best British Actor – John Gielgud – Julius Caesar
  - Jack Hawkins – The Cruel Sea
  - Kenneth More – Genevieve
  - Trevor Howard – The Heart of the Matter
  - Duncan Macrae – The Kidnappers'
- Best Foreign Actor – Marlon Brando – Julius Caesar
  - Spencer Tracy – The Actress
  - Claude Laydu – Journal d'un curé de campagne
  - Marcel Mouloudji – Nous sommes tous des assassins
  - Eddie Albert – Roman Holiday
  - Gregory Peck – Roman Holiday
  - Van Heflin – Shane

1954
- Best British Actor– Kenneth More – Doctor in the House
  - David Niven – Carrington V.C.
  - John Mills – Hobson's Choice
  - Robert Donat – Lease of Life
  - Maurice Denham – The Purple Plain
  - Donald Wolfit – Svengali
- Best Foreign Actor – Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront
  - José Ferrer – The Caine Mutiny
  - Fredric March – Executive Suite
  - James Stewart – The Glenn Miller Story
  - Neville Brand – Riot in Cell Block 11

1955
- Best British Actor – Laurence Olivier – Richard III
  - Alfie Bass – The Bespoke Overcoat
  - Kenneth More – The Deep Blue Sea
  - Michael Redgrave – The Night My Number Came Up
  - Alec Guinness – The Prisoner
  - Jack Hawkins – The Prisoner
- Best Foreign Actor – Ernest Borgnine – Marty
  - James Dean – East of Eden
  - Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts
  - Frank Sinatra – Not as a Stranger
  - Toshirô Mifune – Shichinin no samurai
  - Takashi Shimura – Shichinin no samurai

1956
- Best British Actor – Peter Finch – A Town Like Alice
  - Jack Hawkins – The Long Arm
  - Kenneth More – Reach for the Sky
- Best Foreign Actor – François Périer – Gervaise
  - Karl Malden – Baby Doll
  - Pierre Fresnay – Le Défroqué
  - Frank Sinatra – The Man with the Golden Arm
  - Spencer Tracy – The Mountain
  - William Holden – Picnic
  - James Dean – Rebel Without a Cause
  - Gunnar Björnstrand – Sommarnattens leende

1957
- Best British Actor – Alec Guinness – The Bridge on the River Kwai
  - Trevor Howard – Manuela
  - Laurence Olivier – The Prince and the Showgirl
  - Michael Redgrave – Time Without Pity
  - Peter Finch – Windom's Way
- Best Foreign Actor – Henry Fonda – 12 Angry Men
  - Sidney Poitier – Edge of the City
  - Ed Wynn – The Great Man
  - Robert Mitchum – Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
  - Pierre Brasseur – Porte des Lilas
  - Tony Curtis – Sweet Smell of Success
  - Richard Basehart – Time Limit
  - Jean Gabin – La Traversée de Paris

1958
- Best British Actor – Trevor Howard – The Key
  - I.S. Johar – Harry Black
  - Anthony Quayle – Ice Cold in Alex
  - Laurence Harvey – Room at the Top
  - Donald Wolfit – Room at the Top
  - Michael Craig – Sea of Sand
  - Terry-Thomas – tom thumb
- Best Foreign Actor – Sidney Poitier – The Defiant Ones
  - Paul Newman – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  - Tony Curtis – The Defiant Ones
  - Curd Jürgens – The Enemy Below
  - Curd Jürgens – The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
  - Spencer Tracy – The Last Hurrah
  - Glenn Ford – The Sheepman
  - Victor Sjöström – Smultronstället
  - Charles Laughton – Witness for the Prosecution
  - Marlon Brando – The Young Lions

1959
- Best British Actor – Peter Sellers – I'm All Right Jack
  - Laurence Olivier – The Devil's Disciple
  - Laurence Harvey – Expresso Bongo
  - Richard Burton – Look Back in Anger
  - Peter Finch – The Nun's Story
  - Stanley Baker – Yesterday's Enemy
  - Gordon Jackson – Yesterday's Enemy
- Best Foreign Actor – Jack Lemmon – Some Like It Hot
  - James Stewart – Anatomy of a Murder
  - Takashi Shimura – Ikiru
  - Jean Desailly – Maigret tend un piège
  - Jean Gabin – Maigret tend un piège
  - Zbigniew Cybulski – Popiól i diament

1960s

1960
- Best British Actor – Peter Finch – The Trials of Oscar Wilde
  - Richard Attenborough – The Angry Silence
  - Laurence Olivier – The Entertainer
  - Albert Finney – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
  - John Fraser – The Trials of Oscar Wilde
  - Alec Guinness – Tunes of Glory
  - John Mills – Tunes of Glory
- Best Foreign Actor – Jack Lemmon – The Apartment
  - George Hamilton – Crime & Punishment
  - Burt Lancaster – Elmer Gantry
  - Fredric March – Inherit the Wind
  - Spencer Tracy – Inherit the Wind
  - Yves Montand – Let's Make Love

1961
- Best British Actor – Peter Finch – No Love for Johnnie
  - Dirk Bogarde – Victim
- Best Foreign Actor – Paul Newman – The Hustler
  - Vladimir Ivashov – Ballada o soldate
  - Alberto Sordi – The Best of Enemies
  - Montgomery Clift – Judgment at Nuremberg
  - Maximilian Schell – Judgment at Nuremberg
  - Sidney Poitier – A Raisin in the Sun
  - Philippe Leroy – Le Trou

1962
- Best British Actor – Peter O'Toole – Lawrence of Arabia
  - Richard Attenborough – The Dock Brief
  - Alan Bates – A Kind of Loving
  - James Mason – Lolita
  - Peter Sellers – Only Two Can Play
  - Laurence Olivier – Term of Trial
- Best Foreign Actor – Burt Lancaster – Birdman of Alcatraz
  - Charles Laughton – Advise and Consent
  - Robert Ryan – Billy Budd
  - Anthony Quinn – Lawrence of Arabia
  - George Hamilton – Light in the Piazza
  - Kirk Douglas – Lonely Are the Brave
  - Jean-Paul Belmondo – Léon Morin, prêtre
  - Georges Wilson – Une aussi longue absence

1963
- Best British Actor – Dirk Bogarde – The Servant
  - Tom Courtenay – Billy Liar
  - Richard Harris – This Sporting Life
  - Albert Finney – Tom Jones
  - Hugh Griffith – Tom Jones
- Best Foreign Actor – Marcello Mastroianni – Divorzio all'italiana
  - Franco Citti – Accattone
  - Howard Da Silva – David and Lisa
  - Jack Lemmon – Days of Wine and Roses
  - Paul Newman – Hud
  - Gregory Peck – To Kill a Mockingbird

1964
- Best British Actor – Richard Attenborough – Guns at Batasi and Seance on a Wet Afternoon
  - Peter O'Toole – Becket
  - Peter Sellers – Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  - Tom Courtenay – King & Country
  - Peter Sellers – The Pink Panther
- Best Foreign Actor – Marcello Mastroianni – Ieri, oggi, domani
  - Cary Grant – Charade
  - Sterling Hayden – Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
  - Sidney Poitier – Lilies of the Field

1965
- Best British Actor – Dirk Bogarde – Darling
  - Harry Andrews – The Hill
  - Michael Caine – The Ipcress File
  - Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady
- Best Foreign Actor – Lee Marvin – Cat Ballou and The Killers
  - Anthony Quinn – Alexis Zorbas
  - Innokenti Smoktunovsky – Hamlet
  - Jack Lemmon – Good Neighbor Sam
  - Jack Lemmon – How to Murder Your Wife
  - Oskar Werner – Ship of Fools

1966
- Best British Actor – Richard Burton – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  - Michael Caine – Alfie
  - Ralph Richardson – Doctor Zhivago
  - Ralph Richardson – Khartoum
  - Ralph Richardson – The Wrong Box
  - David Warner – Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment
- Best Foreign Actor – Rod Steiger – The Pawnbroker
  - Sidney Poitier – A Patch of Blue
  - Jean-Paul Belmondo – Pierrot le fou
  - Oskar Werner – The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

1967
- Best British Actor – Paul Scofield – A Man for All Seasons
  - Dirk Bogarde – Accident
  - James Mason – The Deadly Affair
  - Dirk Bogarde – Our Mother's House
  - Richard Burton – The Taming of the Shrew
- Best Foreign Actor – Rod Steiger – In the Heat of the Night
  - Warren Beatty – Bonnie and Clyde
  - Orson Welles – Campanadas a medianoche
  - Sidney Poitier – In the Heat of the Night

1968 – Spencer Tracy – Guess Who's Coming to Dinner as Matt Drayton
- Ron Moody – Oliver!
- Trevor Howard – The Charge of the Light Brigade
- Nicol Williamson – The Bofors Gun

1969 – Dustin Hoffman – John and Mary as John, and Midnight Cowboy as Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo
- Walter Matthau – Hello, Dolly!
- Walter Matthau – The Secret Life of an American Wife
- Nicol Williamson – Inadmissible Evidence
- Alan Bates – Women in Love

1970s

1970 – Robert Redford – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as the Sundance Kid, Downhill Racer as David Chappellet, and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here as Deputy Sheriff Christopher Cooper
- Paul Newman – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- George C. Scott – Patton
- Elliott Gould – MASH
- Elliott Gould – Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

1971 – Peter Finch – Sunday Bloody Sunday as Dr. Daniel Hirsh
- Albert Finney – Gumshoe
- Dustin Hoffman – Little Big Man
- Dirk Bogarde – Morte a Venezia

1972 – Gene Hackman – The French Connection as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, and The Poseidon Adventure as Reverend Frank Scott
- Marlon Brando – The Godfather
- Marlon Brando – The Nightcomers
- George C. Scott – The Hospital
- George C. Scott – They Might Be Giants
- Robert Shaw – Young Winston

1973 – Walter Matthau – Charley Varrick as Charley Varrick, and Pete 'n' Tillie as Pete
- Marlon Brando – Ultimo tango a Parigi
- Donald Sutherland – Steelyard Blues
- Donald Sutherland – Don't Look Now
- Laurence Olivier – Sleuth

1974 – Jack Nicholson – Chinatown as J.J. 'Jake' Gittes, and The Last Detail as Billy Buddusky
- Gene Hackman – The Conversation
- Albert Finney – Murder on the Orient Express
- Al Pacino – Serpico

1975 – Al Pacino – The Godfather Part II as Michael Corleone, and Dog Day Afternoon as Sonny Wortzik
- Richard Dreyfuss – Jaws
- Gene Hackman – French Connection II
- Gene Hackman – Night Moves
- Dustin Hoffman – Lenny

1976 – Jack Nicholson – One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Randle McMurphy
- Robert De Niro – Taxi Driver
- Dustin Hoffman – All the President's Men
- Dustin Hoffman – Marathon Man
- Walter Matthau – The Bad News Bears
- Walter Matthau – The Sunshine Boys

1977 – Peter Finch – Network as Howard Beale
- William Holden – Network
- Woody Allen – Annie Hall
- Sylvester Stallone – Rocky

1978 – Richard Dreyfuss – The Goodbye Girl as Elliot Garfield
- Peter Ustinov – Death on the Nile
- Anthony Hopkins – Magic
- Brad Davis – Midnight Express

1979 – Jack Lemmon – The China Syndrome as Jack Godell
- Woody Allen – Manhattan
- Robert De Niro – The Deer Hunter
- Martin Sheen – Apocalypse Now

1980s

1980 – John Hurt – The Elephant Man as John Merrick
- Dustin Hoffman – Kramer vs. Kramer
- Roy Scheider – All That Jazz
- Peter Sellers – Being There

1981 – Burt Lancaster – Atlantic City as Lou Pascal
- Jeremy Irons – The French Lieutenant's Woman
- Robert De Niro – Raging Bull
- Bob Hoskins – The Long Good Friday

1982 – Ben Kingsley – Gandhi as Mahatma Gandhi
- Warren Beatty – Reds
- Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond
- Albert Finney – Shoot the Moon
- Jack Lemmon – Missing

1983 – Michael Caine – Educating Rita as Dr. Frank Bryant and Dustin Hoffman – Tootsie as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels
- Michael Caine – The Honorary Consul
- Robert De Niro – The King of Comedy

1984 – Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields as Dith Pran
- Sam Waterston – The Killing Fields
- Tom Courtenay – The Dresser
- Albert Finney – The Dresser

1985 – William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman as Luis Molina
- F. Murray Abraham – Amadeus
- Harrison Ford – Witness
- Victor Banerjee – A Passage to India

1986 – Bob Hoskins – Mona Lisa as George
- Woody Allen – Hannah and Her Sisters
- Michael Caine – Hannah and Her Sisters
- Paul Hogan – Crocodile Dundee

1987 – Sean Connery – Der Name der Rose as William of Baskerville
- Gérard Depardieu – Jean de Florette
- Yves Montand – Jean de Florette
- Gary Oldman – Prick Up Your Ears

1988 – John Cleese – A Fish Called Wanda as Archie Leach
- Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda as Otto West
- Michael Douglas – Fatal Attraction as Dan Gallagher
- Robin Williams – Good Morning, Vietnam as Adrian Cronauer

1989 – Daniel Day-Lewis – My Left Foot as Christy Brown
- Dustin Hoffman – Rain Man as Raymond Babbit
- Robin Williams – Dead Poets Society as John Keating
- Kenneth Branagh – Henry V as Henry V

1990s

1990 – Philippe Noiret – Nuovo cinema Paradiso as Alfredo
- Robert De Niro – Goodfellas as Jimmy Conway
- Sean Connery – The Hunt for Red October as Captain Marko Ramius
- Tom Cruise – Born on the Fourth of July as Ron Kovic

1991 – Anthony Hopkins – The Silence of the Lambs as Dr. Hannibal Lecter
- Kevin Costner – Dances with Wolves as Lieutenant Dunbar
- Alan Rickman – Truly, Madly, Deeply as Jamie
- Gérard Depardieu – Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano de Bergerac

1992 – Robert Downey, Jr. – Chaplin as Charlie Chaplin
- Stephen Rea – The Crying Game as Fergus
- Tim Robbins – The Player as Griffin Mill
- Daniel Day-Lewis – The Last of the Mohicans as Nathaniel Poe

1993 – Anthony Hopkins – Shadowlands as C. S. Lewis
- Anthony Hopkins – The Remains of the Day as James Stevens
- Liam Neeson – Schindler's List as Oskar Schindler
- Daniel Day-Lewis – In the Name of the Father as Gerry Conlon

1994 – Hugh Grant – Four Weddings and a Funeral as Charles
- Tom Hanks – Forrest Gump as Forrest Gump
- Terence Stamp – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as Ralph / Bernadette Bassenger
- John Travolta – Pulp Fiction as Vincent Vega

1995 – Nigel Hawthorne – The Madness of King George as George III
- Jonathan Pryce – Carrington as Lytton Strachey
- Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas as Ben Sanderson
- Massimo Troisi – Il Postino as Mario Ruoppolo

1996 – Geoffrey Rush – Shine as David Helfgott
- Ralph Fiennes – The English Patient as Count Laszlo de Almásy
- Ian McKellen – Richard III as Richard III
- Timothy Spall – Secrets & Lies as Maurice Purley

1997 – Robert Carlyle – The Full Monty as Gaz
- Kevin Spacey – L.A. Confidential as Jack Vincennes
- Billy Connolly – Mrs Brown as John Brown
- Ray Winstone – Nil by Mouth as Ray

1998 – Roberto Benigni – Life Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) as Guido
- Michael Caine – Little Voice as Ray Say
- Tom Hanks – Saving Private Ryan as Captain John H. Miller
- Joseph Fiennes – Shakespeare in Love as William Shakespeare

1999 – Kevin Spacey – American Beauty as Lester Burnham
- Om Puri – East Is East as George Khan
- Ralph Fiennes – The End of the Affair as Maurice Bendrix
- Russell Crowe – The Insider as Jeffrey Wigand
- Jim Broadbent – Topsy-Turvy as W. S. Gilbert

2000s

2000 – Jamie Bell as Billy Elliot – Billy Elliot
- Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius – Gladiator
- Michael Douglas as Grady Tripp – Wonder Boys
- Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland – Cast Away
- Geoffrey Rush as Marquis de Sade – Quills

2001 – Russell Crowe as John Nash – A Beautiful Mind
- Jim Broadbent as John Bayley – Iris
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- Kevin Spacey as Quoyle – The Shipping News
- Tom Wilkinson as Matt Fowler – In the Bedroom

2002 – Daniel Day-Lewis as William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting – Gangs of New York
- Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman – The Pianist
- Nicolas Cage as Charlie and Donald Kaufman – Adaptation.
- Michael Caine as Thomas Fowler – The Quiet American
- Jack Nicholson as Warren Schmidt – About Schmidt

2003 – Bill Murray as Bob Harris – Lost in Translation
- Benicio del Toro as Jack Jordan – 21 Grams
- Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Jude Law as W. P. Inman – Cold Mountain
- Sean Penn as Paul Rivers – 21 Grams
- Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum – Mystic River

2004 – Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles – Ray
- Jim Carrey as Joel Barish – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Johnny Depp as James M. Barrie – Finding Neverland
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes – The Aviator
- Gael García Bernal as Ernesto "Che" Guevara – The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)

2005 – Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote – Capote
- Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle – The Constant Gardener
- Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar – Brokeback Mountain
- Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash – Walk the Line
- David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow – Good Night, and Good Luck

2006 – Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin – The Last King of Scotland
- Daniel Craig as James Bond – Casino Royale
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan – The Departed
- Richard Griffiths as Hector – The History Boys
- Peter O'Toole as Maurice – Venus

2007 – Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview – There Will Be Blood
- George Clooney as Michael Clayton – Michael Clayton
- James McAvoy as Robbie Turner – Atonement
- Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai – Eastern Promises
- Ulrich Mühe as Gerd Wiesler – The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) (Posthumous)

2008 – Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson – The Wrestler
- Frank Langella as Richard Nixon – Frost/Nixon
- Dev Patel as Jamal Malik – Slumdog Millionaire
- Sean Penn as Harvey Milk – Milk
- Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009 – Colin Firth as George Falconer – A Single Man
- Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake – Crazy Heart
- George Clooney as Ryan Bingham – Up in the Air
- Jeremy Renner as SFC. William James – The Hurt Locker
- Andy Serkis as Ian Dury – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

2010s

2010 – Colin Firth as King George VI – The King's Speech
- Javier Bardem as Uxbal – Biutiful
- Jeff Bridges as Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn – True Grit
- Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg – The Social Network
- James Franco as Aron Ralston – 127 Hours

2011 - Jean Dujardin as George Valentin – The Artist
- George Clooney as Matt King – The Descendants
- Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan – Shame
- Gary Oldman as George Smiley – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Brad Pitt as Billy Beane – Moneyball

Other websites

BAFTA Awards Database