Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a musical or comedy film. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture", but the creation of the category in 1951 allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actor – Drama.

Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
The 2024 recipient: Sebastian Stan
Awarded for	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical or Comedy
Location	United States
Presented by	Hollywood Foreign Press Association
First award	1951 (for performance in films released during the 1950 film season)
Currently held by	Sebastian Stan for A Different Man 2024
Website	www.goldenglobes.com

The formal title has varied since its inception. In 2006, it was officially called: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy". As of 2013^[update], the wording is "Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy".

Winners and nominees

Fred Astaire is the first recipient of this award for Three Little Words (1950)

Donald O'Connor won for Singin' in the Rain (1952)

David Niven won for The Moon Is Blue (1953)

Frank Sinatra won for Pal Joey (1957)

Jack Lemmon won thrice for Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960), and Avanti! (1972)

Marcello Mastroianni won for Divorce Italian Style (1962)

Rex Harrison won for My Fair Lady (1964)

Alan Arkin won for The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Richard Harris won for Camelot (1967)

Peter O'Toole won for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)

Topol won for Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

George Burns won for The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Walter Matthau won for The Sunshine Boys (1975)

Kris Kristofferson won for A Star is Born (1976)

Richard Dreyfus won for The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Warren Beatty won for Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Peter Sellers won for Being There (1979)

Dudley Moore won twice for Arthur (1981) and Micki & Maude (1984)

Dustin Hoffman won for Tootsie (1982)

Michael Caine won for Educating Rita (1983) and Little Voice (1999)

Jack Nicholson won twice for Prizzi's Honor (1985) and As Good as It Gets (1997)

Paul Hogan won for Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Robin Williams won thrice for Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), The Fisher King (1991), and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Tom Hanks won for Big (1988)

Morgan Freeman won for Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Tim Robbins won for The Player (1992)

Hugh Grant won for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

John Travolta won for Get Shorty (1995)

Tom Cruise won for Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jim Carrey won for Man on the Moon (1999)

George Clooney won for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Gene Hackman won for The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Richard Gere won for Chicago (2002)

Bill Murray won for Lost in Translation (2003)

Jamie Foxx won for Ray (2004)

Joaquin Phoenix won for Walk the Line (2005)

Sacha Baron Cohen won twice for Borat (2006) and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

Johnny Depp won for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Colin Farrell won twice for In Bruges (2008) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Robert Downey Jr. won for Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Paul Giamatti won twice for Barney's Version (2010) and The Holdovers (2023)

Jean Dujardin won for The Artist (2011)

Hugh Jackman won for Les Misérables (2012)

Leonardo DiCaprio won for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Michael Keaton won for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Matt Damon won for The Martian (2015)

Ryan Gosling won for La La Land (2016)

Christian Bale won for Vice (2018)

Taron Egerton won for Rocketman (2019)

Andrew Garfield won for Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021)

1950s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
1950	Fred Astaire	Bert Kalmar	Three Little Words	[1][2]
1951	Danny Kaye	Jack Martin / Henri Duran	On the Riviera	[3][4]
	Gene Kelly	Jerry Mulligan	An American in Paris
1952	Donald O'Connor	Cosmo Brown	Singin' in the Rain	[5][6]
1953	David Niven	David Slater	The Moon Is Blue	[7][8]
1954	James Mason	Norman Maine	A Star Is Born	[9][10]
1955	Tom Ewell	Richard Sherman	The Seven Year Itch	[11][12]
1956	Cantinflas	Passepartout	Around the World in 80 Days	[13]
	Marlon Brando	Sakini	The Teahouse of the August Moon
	Glenn Ford	Captain Fisby
	Yul Brynner	King Mongkut of Siam	The King and I
	Danny Kaye	Hubert Hawkins	The Court Jester
1957	Frank Sinatra	Joey Evans	Pal Joey	[14]
	Maurice Chevalier	Claude Chavasse	Love in the Afternoon
	Glenn Ford	Lt. J. G. Max Siegel	Don't Go Near the Water
	David Niven	Godfrey Smith	My Man Godfrey
	Tony Randall	Rockwell P. Hunter	Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
1958	Danny Kaye	S. L. Jacobowsky	Me and the Colonel	[15]
	Maurice Chevalier	Honoré Lachaille	Gigi
	Louis Jourdan	Gaston Lachaille
	Clark Gable	James Gannon	Teacher's Pet
	Cary Grant	Philip Adams	Indiscreet
1959	Jack Lemmon	Jerry / Daphne	Some Like It Hot	[16]
	Clark Gable	Russell Ward	But Not for Me
	Cary Grant	Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman	Operation Petticoat
	Dean Martin	Michael Haney	Who Was That Lady?
	Sidney Poitier	Porgy	Porgy and Bess

1960s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
1960	Jack Lemmon	C. C. Baxter	The Apartment	[17]
	Dirk Bogarde	Franz Liszt	Song Without End
	Cantinflas	Pepe	Pepe
	Cary Grant	Victor, Earl of Rhyall	The Grass Is Greener
	Bob Hope	Larry Gilbert	The Facts of Life
1961	Glenn Ford	Dave, the Dude	Pocketful of Miracles	[18]
	Fred Astaire	Pogo Poole	The Pleasure of His Company
	Richard Beymer	Tony	West Side Story
	Bob Hope	Adam Niles	Bachelor in Paradise
	Fred MacMurray	Ned Brainard	The Absent-Minded Professor
1962	Marcello Mastroianni	Ferdinando Cefalù	Divorce Italian Style	[19]
	Stephen Boyd	Sam Rawlins	Billy Rose's Jumbo
	Jimmy Durante	Anthony Wonder / Pop
	Cary Grant	Philip Shayne	That Touch of Mink
	Charlton Heston	Captain Paul MacDougall / Benny the Snatch / Narrator	The Pigeon That Took Rome
	Karl Malden	Herbie Sommers	Gypsy
	Robert Preston	Harold Hill	The Music Man
	James Stewart	Roger Hobbs	Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
1963	Alberto Sordi	Amedeo Ferretti	To Bed or Not to Bed	[20]
	Albert Finney	Tom Jones	Tom Jones
	James Garner	Henry Tyroon	The Wheeler Dealers
	Cary Grant	Brian Cruikshank	Charade
	Jack Lemmon	Nestor Paptu / Lord X	Irma la Douce
	Mr. Hogan	Under the Yum Yum Tree
	Frank Sinatra	Alan Barker	Come Blow Your Horn
	Jonathan Winters	Lennie Pike	It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1964	Rex Harrison	Henry Higgins	My Fair Lady	[21]
	Marcello Mastroianni	Domenico Soriano	Marriage Italian-Style
	Peter Sellers	Inspector Jacques Clouseau	The Pink Panther
	Peter Ustinov	Arthur Simpson	Topkapi
	Dick Van Dyke	Bert / Mr. Dawes Sr.	Mary Poppins
1965	Lee Marvin	Kid Shelleen / Tim Strawn	Cat Ballou	[22]
	Jack Lemmon	Professor Fate / Prince Hapnick	The Great Race
	Jerry Lewis	Robert Reed	Boeing Boeing
	Jason Robards	Murray Burns	A Thousand Clowns
	Alberto Sordi	Count Emilio Ponticelli	Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines
1966	Alan Arkin	Lt. Yuri Rozanov	The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming	[23]
	Alan Bates	Jos Jones	Georgy Girl
	Michael Caine	Harry Dean	Gambit
	Lionel Jeffries	Stanley Farquhar	The Spy with a Cold Nose
	Walter Matthau	Willie Gingrich	The Fortune Cookie
1967	Richard Harris	King Arthur	Camelot	[24]
	Richard Burton	Petruchio	The Taming of the Shrew
	Rex Harrison	Doctor John Dolittle	Doctor Dolittle
	Dustin Hoffman	Benjamin Braddock	The Graduate
	Ugo Tognazzi	Sergio Masini	The Climax
1968	Ron Moody	Fagin	Oliver!	[25]
	Jack Lemmon	Felix Ungar	The Odd Couple
	Walter Matthau	Oscar Madison
	Fred Astaire	Finian McLonergan	Finian's Rainbow
	Zero Mostel	Max Bialystock	The Producers
1969	Peter O'Toole	Arthur Chipping	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	[26]
	Dustin Hoffman	John	John and Mary
	Lee Marvin	Ben Rumson	Paint Your Wagon
	Steve McQueen	Boon Hogganbeck	The Reivers
	Anthony Quinn	Italo Bombolini	The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1970s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
1970	Albert Finney	Ebenezer Scrooge	Scrooge	[27]
	Elliott Gould	Captain John "Trapper" McIntyre	M*A*S*H
	Donald Sutherland	Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce
	Richard Benjamin	Jonathan Balser	Diary of a Mad Housewife
	Jack Lemmon	George Kellerman	The Out-of-Towners
1971	Topol	Tevye	Fiddler on the Roof	[28]
	Bud Cort	Harold Chasen	Harold and Maude
	Dean Jones	Professor Dooley	The Million Dollar Duck
	Walter Matthau	Joseph P. Kotcher	Kotch
	Gene Wilder	Willy Wonka	Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
1972	Jack Lemmon	Wendell Armbruster	Avanti!	[29]
	Edward Albert	Don Baker	Butterflies Are Free
	Charles Grodin	Lenny Cantrow	The Heartbreak Kid
	Walter Matthau	Pete	Pete 'n' Tillie
	Peter O'Toole	Don Quixote de la Mancha / Miguel de Cervantes	Man of La Mancha
1973	George Segal	Steve Blackburn	A Touch of Class	[30]
	Carl Anderson	Judas Iscariot	Jesus Christ Superstar
	Ted Neeley	Jesus Christ
	Richard Dreyfuss	Curt Henderson	American Graffiti
	Ryan O'Neal	Moses Pray	Paper Moon
1974	Art Carney	Harry Coombes	Harry and Tonto	[31]
	Jack Lemmon	Hildy Johnson	The Front Page
	Walter Matthau	Walter Burns
	James Earl Jones	Rupert Marshall	Claudine
	Burt Reynolds	Paul "Wrecking" Crewe	The Longest Yard
1975	George Burns	Al Lewis	The Sunshine Boys	[32]
	Walter Matthau	Willy Clark
	Warren Beatty	George Roundy	Shampoo
	James Caan	Billy Rose	Funny Lady
	Peter Sellers	Inspector Jacques Clouseau	The Return of the Pink Panther
1976	Kris Kristofferson	John Howard	A Star Is Born	[33]
	Mel Brooks	Mel Funn	Silent Movie
	Peter Sellers	Inspector Jacques Clouseau	The Pink Panther Strikes Again
	Jack Weston	Gaetano Proclo	The Ritz
	Gene Wilder	George Caldwell	Silver Streak
1977	Richard Dreyfuss	Elliott Garfield	The Goodbye Girl	[34]
	Woody Allen	Alvy Singer	Annie Hall
	Mel Brooks	Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke	High Anxiety
	Robert De Niro	Jimmy Doyle	New York, New York
	John Travolta	Tony Manero	Saturday Night Fever
1978	Warren Beatty	Joe Pendleton	Heaven Can Wait	[35]
	Alan Alda	George	Same Time, Next Year
	Gary Busey	Buddy Holly	The Buddy Holly Story
	Chevy Chase	Detective Tony Carlson	Foul Play
	George C. Scott	Gloves Malloy / Spats Baxter	Movie Movie
	John Travolta	Danny Zuko	Grease
1979	Peter Sellers	Chance	Being There	[36]
	George Hamilton	Count Dracula	Love at First Bite
	Dudley Moore	George Webber	10
	Burt Reynolds	Phil Potter	Starting Over
	Roy Scheider	Joe Gideon	All That Jazz

1980s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
1980	Ray Sharkey	Vinnie Vacarri	The Idolmaker	[37]
	Neil Diamond	Yussel Rabinovitch	The Jazz Singer
	Tommy Lee Jones	Doolittle Mooney Lynn	Coal Miner's Daughter
	Paul Le Mat	Melvin Dummar	Melvin and Howard
	Walter Matthau	Miles Kendig	Hopscotch
1981	Dudley Moore	Arthur Bach	Arthur	[38]
	Alan Alda	Jack Burroughs	The Four Seasons
	George Hamilton	Don Diego Vega / Zorro / Wigglesworth / Ramon Vega	Zorro, The Gay Blade
	Steve Martin	Arthur Parker	Pennies from Heaven
	Walter Matthau	Dan Snow	First Monday in October
1982	Dustin Hoffman	Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels	Tootsie	[39]
	Peter O'Toole	Alan Swann	My Favorite Year
	Al Pacino	Ivan Travalian	Author! Author!
	Robert Preston	Caroll "Toddy" Todd	Victor Victoria
	Henry Winkler	Chuck Lumley	Night Shift
1983	Michael Caine	Frank Bryant	Educating Rita	[40]
	Woody Allen	Leonard Zelig	Zelig
	Tom Cruise	Joel Goodson	Risky Business
	Eddie Murphy	Billy Ray Valentine	Trading Places
	Mandy Patinkin	Avigdor	Yentl
1984	Dudley Moore	Rob Salinger	Micki & Maude	[41]
	Steve Martin	Roger Cobb	All of Me
	Eddie Murphy	Axel Foley	Beverly Hills Cop
	Bill Murray	Peter Venkman	Ghostbusters
	Robin Williams	Vladimir Ivanoff	Moscow on the Hudson
1985	Jack Nicholson	Charley Partanna	Prizzi's Honor	[42]
	Jeff Daniels	Tom Baxter / Gil Sheperd	The Purple Rose of Cairo
	Griffin Dunne	Paul Hackett	After Hours
	Michael J. Fox	Marty McFly	Back to the Future
	James Garner	Murphy Jones	Murphy's Romance
1986	Paul Hogan	Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee	Crocodile Dundee	[43]
	Matthew Broderick	Ferris Bueller	Ferris Bueller's Day Off
	Jeff Daniels	Charles Driggs	Something Wild
	Danny DeVito	Sam Stone	Ruthless People
	Jack Lemmon	Harvey Fairchild	That's Life!
1987	Robin Williams	Adrian Cronauer	Good Morning, Vietnam	[44]
	Nicolas Cage	Ronny Cammareri	Moonstruck
	Danny DeVito	Owen Lift	Throw Momma from the Train
	William Hurt	Tom Grunick	Broadcast News
	Steve Martin	C. D. Bales	Roxanne
	Patrick Swayze	Johnny Castle	Dirty Dancing
1988	Tom Hanks	Josh Baskin	Big	[45]
	Michael Caine	Lawrence Jamieson	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
	John Cleese	Archie Leach	A Fish Called Wanda
	Robert De Niro	Jack Walsh	Midnight Run
	Bob Hoskins	Eddie Valliant	Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989	Morgan Freeman	Hoke Colburn	Driving Miss Daisy	[46]
	Billy Crystal	Harry Burns	When Harry Met Sally...
	Michael Douglas	Oliver Rose	The War of the Roses
	Steve Martin	Gil Buckman	Parenthood
	Jack Nicholson	Jack Napier / The Joker	Batman

1990s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
1990	Gérard Depardieu	Georges Fauré	Green Card	[47]
	Macaulay Culkin	Kevin McCallister	Home Alone
	Johnny Depp	Edward Scissorhands	Edward Scissorhands
	Richard Gere	Edward Lewis	Pretty Woman
	Patrick Swayze	Sam Wheat	Ghost
1991	Robin Williams	Henry "Parry" Sagan	The Fisher King	[48]
	Jeff Bridges	Jack Lucas	The Fisher King
	Billy Crystal	Mitch Robbins	City Slickers
	Dustin Hoffman	Captain Hook	Hook
	Kevin Kline	Jeffrey Anderson / Rod Randall	Soapdish
1992	Tim Robbins	Griffin Mill	The Player	[49]
	Nicolas Cage	Jack Singer	Honeymoon in Vegas
	Billy Crystal	Buddy Young Jr.	Mr. Saturday Night
	Marcello Mastroianni	Joe Meledandri	Used People
	Tim Robbins	Bob Roberts	Bob Roberts
1993	Robin Williams	Daniel Hillard / Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire	Mrs. Doubtfire	[50]
	Johnny Depp	Sam	Benny & Joon
	Tom Hanks	Sam Baldwin	Sleepless in Seattle
	Kevin Kline	Dave Kovic / Bill Mitchell	Dave
	Colm Meaney	Dessie Curley	The Snapper
1994	Hugh Grant	Charles	Four Weddings and a Funeral	[51]
	Jim Carrey	Stanley Ipkiss / The Mask	The Mask
	Johnny Depp	Ed Wood	Ed Wood
	Arnold Schwarzenegger	Alex Hesse	Junior
	Terence Stamp	Ralph / Bernadette Bassenger	The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
1995	John Travolta	Chili Palmer	Get Shorty	[52]
	Michael Douglas	Andrew Shepherd	The American President
	Harrison Ford	Linus Larrabee	Sabrina
	Steve Martin	George Banks	Father of the Bride Part II
	Patrick Swayze	Vida Boheme	To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
1996	Tom Cruise	Jerry Maguire	Jerry Maguire	[53]
	Antonio Banderas	Ché	Evita
	Kevin Costner	Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy	Tin Cup
	Nathan Lane	Albert Goldman	The Birdcage
	Eddie Murphy	Professor Sherman Klump / Buddy Love / Papa Klump / Mama Klump / Granny Klump / Ernie Klump / Lance Perkins	The Nutty Professor
1997	Jack Nicholson	Melvin Udall	As Good as It Gets	[54]
	Jim Carrey	Fletcher Reed	Liar Liar
	Dustin Hoffman	Stanley Motss	Wag the Dog
	Samuel L. Jackson	Ordell Robbie	Jackie Brown
	Kevin Kline	Howard Brackett	In & Out
1998	Michael Caine	Ray Say	Little Voice	[55]
	Antonio Banderas	Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro	The Mask of Zorro
	Warren Beatty	Senator Jay Billington Bulworth	Bulworth
	John Travolta	Governor Jack Stanton	Primary Colors
	Robin Williams	Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams	Patch Adams
1999	Jim Carrey	Andy Kaufman / Tony Clifton	Man on the Moon	[56]
	Robert De Niro	Paul Vitti	Analyze This
	Rupert Everett	Lord Arthur Goring	An Ideal Husband
	Hugh Grant	William "Will" Thacker	Notting Hill
	Sean Penn	Emmet Ray	Sweet and Lowdown

2000s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
2000	George Clooney	Ulysses Everett McGill	O Brother, Where Art Thou?	[57]
	Jim Carrey	The Grinch	How the Grinch Stole Christmas
	John Cusack	Rob Gordon	High Fidelity
	Robert De Niro	Jack Byrnes	Meet the Parents
	Mel Gibson	Nick Marshall	What Women Want
2001	Gene Hackman	Royal Tenenbaum	The Royal Tenenbaums	[58]
	Hugh Jackman	Leopold Hausmann	Kate & Leopold
	Ewan McGregor	Christian	Moulin Rouge!
	John Cameron Mitchell	Hedwig Robinson	Hedwig and the Angry Inch
	Billy Bob Thornton	Terry Lee Collins	Bandits
2002	Richard Gere	Billy Flynn	Chicago	[59]
	Nicolas Cage	Charlie Kaufman / Donald Kaufman	Adaptation.
	Kieran Culkin	Jason "Igby" Slocumb Jr.	Igby Goes Down
	Hugh Grant	Will Freeman	About a Boy
	Adam Sandler	Barry Egan	Punch-Drunk Love
2003	Bill Murray	Bob Harris	Lost in Translation	[60]
	Jack Black	Dewey Finn	School of Rock
	Johnny Depp	Captain Jack Sparrow	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
	Jack Nicholson	Harry Sanborn	Something's Gotta Give
	Billy Bob Thornton	Willie T. Stokes	Bad Santa
2004	Jamie Foxx	Ray Charles	Ray	[61]
	Jim Carrey	Joel Barish	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
	Paul Giamatti	Miles Raymond	Sideways
	Kevin Kline	Cole Porter	De-Lovely
	Kevin Spacey	Bobby Darin	Beyond the Sea
2005	Joaquin Phoenix	Johnny Cash	Walk the Line	[62]
	Pierce Brosnan	Julian Noble	The Matador
	Jeff Daniels	Bernard Berkman	The Squid and the Whale
	Johnny Depp	Willy Wonka	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
	Nathan Lane	Max Bialystock	The Producers
	Cillian Murphy	Patrick "Kitten" Braden	Breakfast on Pluto
2006	Sacha Baron Cohen	Borat Sagdiyev	Borat
	Johnny Depp	Captain Jack Sparrow	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
	Aaron Eckhart	Nick Naylor	Thank You for Smoking
	Chiwetel Ejiofor	Lola Carter	Kinky Boots
	Will Ferrell	Harold Crick	Stranger than Fiction
2007	Johnny Depp	Sweeney Todd / Benjamin Barker	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	[63]
	Ryan Gosling	Lars Lindstrom	Lars and the Real Girl
	Tom Hanks	Charlie Wilson	Charlie Wilson's War
	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Jon Savage	The Savages
	John C. Reilly	Dewey Cox	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
2008	Colin Farrell	Ray	In Bruges	[64]
	Javier Bardem	Juan Antonio	Vicky Cristina Barcelona
	James Franco	Saul Silver	Pineapple Express
	Brendan Gleeson	Ken Daley	In Bruges
	Dustin Hoffman	Harvey Shine	Last Chance Harvey
2009	Robert Downey Jr.	Sherlock Holmes	Sherlock Holmes	[65]
	Matt Damon	Mark Whitacre	The Informant!
	Daniel Day-Lewis	Guido Contini	Nine
	Joseph Gordon-Levitt	Tom Hansen	(500) Days of Summer
	Michael Stuhlbarg	Larry Gopnik	A Serious Man

2010s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
2010	Paul Giamatti	Barney Panofsky	Barney's Version	[66]
	Johnny Depp	The Mad Hatter	Alice in Wonderland
	Frank Tupelo	The Tourist
	Jake Gyllenhaal	Jamie Randall	Love & Other Drugs
	Kevin Spacey	Jack Abramoff	Casino Jack
2011	Jean Dujardin	George Valentin	The Artist	[67]
	Brendan Gleeson	Sgt. Gerry Boyle	The Guard
	Joseph Gordon-Levitt	Adam Lerner	50/50
	Ryan Gosling	Jacob Palmer	Crazy, Stupid, Love.
	Owen Wilson	Gil Pender	Midnight in Paris
2012	Hugh Jackman	Jean Valjean	Les Misérables	[68]
	Jack Black	Bernie Tiede	Bernie
	Bradley Cooper	Patrizio "Pat" Solitano Jr.	Silver Linings Playbook
	Ewan McGregor	Dr. Alfred Jones	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
	Bill Murray	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Hyde Park on Hudson
2013	Leonardo DiCaprio	Jordan Belfort	The Wolf of Wall Street	[69]
	Christian Bale	Irving Rosenfeld	American Hustle
	Bruce Dern	Woodrow "Woody" Grant	Nebraska
	Oscar Isaac	Llewyn Davis	Inside Llewyn Davis
	Joaquin Phoenix	Theodore Twombly	Her
2014	Michael Keaton	Riggan Thomson	Birdman	[70]
	Ralph Fiennes	Monsieur Gustave H.	The Grand Budapest Hotel
	Bill Murray	Vincent MacKenna	St. Vincent
	Joaquin Phoenix	Larry "Doc" Sportello	Inherent Vice
	Christoph Waltz	Walter Keane	Big Eyes
2015	Matt Damon	Mark Watney	The Martian	[71]
	Christian Bale	Michael Burry	The Big Short
	Steve Carell	Mark Baum
	Al Pacino	Danny Collins	Danny Collins
	Mark Ruffalo	Cameron Stuart	Infinitely Polar Bear
2016	Ryan Gosling	Sebastian Wilder	La La Land	[72]
	Colin Farrell	David Matthews	The Lobster
	Hugh Grant	St. Clair Bayfield	Florence Foster Jenkins
	Jonah Hill	Efraim Diveroli	War Dogs
	Ryan Reynolds	Wade Wilson / Deadpool	Deadpool
2017	James Franco	Tommy Wiseau	The Disaster Artist	[73]
	Steve Carell	Bobby Riggs	Battle of the Sexes
	Ansel Elgort	Miles "Baby"	Baby Driver
	Hugh Jackman	P. T. Barnum	The Greatest Showman
	Daniel Kaluuya	Chris Washington	Get Out
2018	Christian Bale	Dick Cheney	Vice	[74]
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Jack	Mary Poppins Returns
	Viggo Mortensen	Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga	Green Book
	Robert Redford	Forrest Tucker	The Old Man & the Gun
	John C. Reilly	Oliver Hardy	Stan & Ollie
2019	Taron Egerton	Elton John	Rocketman	[75]
	Daniel Craig	Benoit Blanc	Knives Out
	Roman Griffin Davis	Johannes "Jojo" Betzler	Jojo Rabbit
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Rick Dalton	Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
	Eddie Murphy	Rudy Ray Moore	Dolemite Is My Name

2020s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film	Ref.
2020	Sacha Baron Cohen	Borat Sagdiyev	Borat Subsequent Moviefilm	[76]
	James Corden	Barry Glickman	The Prom
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Alexander Hamilton	Hamilton
	Dev Patel	David Copperfield	The Personal History of David Copperfield
	Andy Samberg	Nyles	Palm Springs
2021	Andrew Garfield	Jonathan Larson	Tick, Tick... Boom!	[77]
	Leonardo DiCaprio	Randall Mindy	Don't Look Up
	Peter Dinklage	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano
	Cooper Hoffman	Gary Valentine	Licorice Pizza
	Anthony Ramos	Usnavi de la Vega	In the Heights
2022	Colin Farrell	Pádraic Súilleabháin	The Banshees of Inisherin	[78]
	Diego Calva	Manny Torres	Babylon
	Daniel Craig	Benoit Blanc	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
	Adam Driver	Jack Gladney	White Noise
	Ralph Fiennes	Julian Slowik	The Menu
2023	Paul Giamatti	Paul Hunham	The Holdovers	[79]
	Nicolas Cage	Dr. Paul Matthews	Dream Scenario
	Timothée Chalamet	Willy Wonka	Wonka
	Matt Damon	Sonny Vaccaro	Air
	Joaquin Phoenix	Beau Wasserman	Beau Is Afraid
	Jeffrey Wright	Thelonious "Monk" Ellis	American Fiction
2024	Sebastian Stan	Edward Lemuel / Guy Moratz	A Different Man
	Jesse Eisenberg	David Kaplan	A Real Pain
	Hugh Grant	Mr. Reed	Heretic
	Gabriel LaBelle	Lorne Michaels	Saturday Night
	Jesse Plemons	Robert Fletcher / Daniel / Andrew	Kinds of Kindness
	Glen Powell	Gary Johnson	Hit Man

Multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins

Wins	Actor
3	Jack Lemmon[a]
	Robin Williams
2	Michael Caine
	Colin Farrell
	Paul Giamatti
	Danny Kaye
	Dudley Moore
	Jack Nicholson
	Sacha Baron Cohen[b]

Multiple nominations

Nominations	Actor
10	Jack Lemmon
9	Johnny Depp
8	Walter Matthau
6	Dustin Hoffman
5	Jim Carrey
	Cary Grant
	Hugh Grant
	Steve Martin
	Robin Williams
4	Nicolas Cage
	Michael Caine
	Robert De Niro
	Danny Kaye
	Kevin Kline
	Eddie Murphy
	Bill Murray
	Jack Nicholson
	Peter O'Toole
	Joaquin Phoenix
	Peter Sellers
	John Travolta
3	Christian Bale
	Warren Beatty
	Billy Crystal
	Matt Damon
	Jeff Daniels
	Leonardo DiCaprio
	Colin Farrell
	Albert Finney
	Paul Giamatti
	Ryan Gosling
	Tom Hanks
	Bob Hope
	Hugh Jackman
	Marcello Mastroianni
	Dudley Moore
	Patrick Swayze
	Glenn Ford
2	Alan Alda
	Woody Allen
	Fred Astaire
	Antonio Banderas
	Sacha Baron Cohen
	Jack Black
	Mel Brooks
	Steve Carell
	Daniel Craig
	Bing Crosby
	Tom Cruise
	Danny DeVito
	Michael Douglas
	Richard Dreyfuss
	Ralph Fiennes
	James Franco
	Clark Gable
	James Garner
	Richard Gere
	Brendan Gleeson
	Joseph Gordon-Levitt
	Charles Grodin
	George Hamilton
	Rex Harrison
	Charlton Heston
	Nathan Lane
	Harold Lloyd
	Lee Marvin
	Lin-Manuel Miranda
	James Mason
	Ewan McGregor
	David Niven
	Al Pacino
	Robert Preston
	John C. Reilly
	Burt Reynolds
	Tim Robbins
	Alberto Sordi
	Kevin Spacey
	Billy Bob Thornton
	Gene Wilder

Multiple character nominations

Winners are in bold.

• Inspector Jacques Clouseau from The Pink Panther (Peter Sellers, 1963), The Return of the Pink Panther (Peter Sellers, 1975), and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (Peter Sellers, 1976)
• Willy Wonka from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder, 1971), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp, 2005), and Wonka (Timothée Chalamet, 2023)

Firsts

• Cantinflas became the first Latino as well as the first Mexican actor to win in 1957.
• Marcello Mastroianni became the first actor to win for a foreign language/non-English language performance in 1963.
• Topol became the first actor of Asian descent to win in 1972.
• Morgan Freeman became the first actor of African descent to win in 1990.
• Sacha Baron Cohen became the first actor to win for playing the same character twice in 2006 and 2021.

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actor
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
• Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor in a Comedy
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Notes

1. Won the award in consecutive years
2. Won the award for playing the same character