- Richard Dreyfuss won best actor award for movie The Goodbye Girl at 50th annual award
- Jon Voight won best actor award for movie Coming Home at 51st annual award
- Dustin Hoffman won best actor award for movie Kramer vs. Kramer at 52nd annual award
- Robert De Niro won best actor award for movie Raging Bull at 53rd annual award
- Henry Fonda won best actor award for movie On Golden Pond at 54th annual award
- Ben Kingsley won best actor award for movie Gandhi at 55th annual award
- Robert Duvall won best actor award for movie Tender Mercies at 56th annual award
- F. Murray Abraham won best actor award for movie Amadeus at 57th annual award
- William Hurt won best actor award for movie Kiss of the Spider Woman at 58th annual award
- Paul Newman won best actor award for movie The Color of Money at 59th annual award
- Michael Douglas won best actor award for movie Wall Street at 60th annual award
- Dustin Hoffman won best actor award for movie Rain Man at 61st annual award
- Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor award for movie My Left Foot at 62nd annual award
- Jeremy Irons won best actor award for movie Reversal of Fortune at 63rd annual award
- Anthony Hopkins won best actor award for movie The Silence of the Lambs at 64th annual award
- Al Pacino won best actor award for movie Scent of a Woman at 65th annual award
- Tom Hanks won best actor award for movie Philadelphia at 66th annual award
- Tom Hanks again won best actor award for movie Forrest Gump at 67th annual award
- Nicolas Cage won best actor award for movie Leaving Las Vegas at 68th annual award
- Geoffrey Rush won best actor award for movie Shine at 69th annual award
- Jack Nicholson won best actor award for movie As Good As It Gets at 70th annual award
- Roberto Benigni won best actor award for movie Life Is Beautiful at 71st annual award
- Kevin Spacey won best actor award for movie American Beauty at 72nd annual award
- Russell Crowe won best actor award for movie Gladiator at 73rd annual award
- Denzel Washington won best actor award for movie Training Day at 74th annual award
- Adrien Brody won best actor award for movie The Pianist at 75th annual award
- Sean Penn won best actor award for movie Mystic River at 76th annual award
- Jamie Foxx won best actor award for movie Ray at 77th annual award
- Philip Seymour Hoffman won best actor award for movie Capote at 78th annual award
- Forest Whitaker won best actor award for movie The Last King of Scotland at 79th annual award
- Daniel Day-Lewis again won best actor award for movie There Will Be Blood at 80th annual award