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Oscar Best Actors

Can you guess the men who have won an Academy Award for Best Actor?
Year = year of the ceremony honoring the previous year's films
This quiz will be updated again in 2026
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 10, 2024
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First submittedFebruary 28, 2012
Times taken182,859
Average score34.9%
Rating4.46
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Year
Movie
Actor
2024
Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy
2023
The Whale
Brendan Fraser
2022
King Richard
Will Smith
2021
The Father
Anthony Hopkins
2020
Joker
Joaquin Phoenix
2019
Bohemian Rhapsody
Rami Malek
2018
Darkest Hour
Gary Oldman
2017
Manchester by the Sea
Casey Affleck
2016
The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio
2015
The Theory of Everything
Eddie Redmayne
2014
Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew
McConaughey
2013
Lincoln
Daniel Day-Lewis
2012
The Artist
Jean Dujardin
2011
The King's Speech
Colin Firth
2010
Crazy Heart
Jeff Bridges
2009
Milk
Sean Penn
2008
There Will Be Blood
Daniel Day-Lewis
2007
The Last King of Scotland
Forest Whitaker
2006
Capote
Philip Seymour
Hoffman
2005
Ray
Jamie Foxx
2004
Mystic River
Sean Penn
2003
The Pianist
Adrien Brody
2002
Training Day
Denzel Washington
2001
Gladiator
Russell Crowe
2000
American Beauty
Kevin Spacey
1999
Life Is Beautiful
Roberto Benigni
1998
As Good as It Gets
Jack Nicholson
1997
Shine
Geoffrey Rush
1996
Leaving Las Vegas
Nicolas Cage
1995
Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks
1994
Philadelphia
Tom Hanks
1993
Scent of a Woman
Al Pacino
1992
The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins
1991
Reversal of Fortune
Jeremy Irons
1990
My Left Foot
Daniel Day-Lewis
1989
Rain Man
Dustin Hoffman
1988
Wall Street
Michael Douglas
1987
The Color of Money
Paul Newman
1986
Kiss of the Spider Woman
William Hurt
1985
Amadeus
F. Murray Abraham
1984
Tender Mercies
Robert Duvall
1983
Gandhi
Ben Kingsley
1982
On Golden Pond
Henry Fonda
1981
Raging Bull
Robert De Niro
1980
Kramer vs. Kramer
Dustin Hoffman
1979
Coming Home
Jon Voight
1978
The Goodbye Girl
Richard Dreyfuss
1977
Network
Peter Finch
1976
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest
Jack Nicholson
Year
Movie
Actor
1975
Harry and Tonto
Art Carney
1974
Save the Tiger
Jack Lemmon
1973
The Godfather
Marlon Brando
1972
The French Connection
Gene Hackman
1971
Patton
George C. Scott
1970
True Grit
John Wayne
1969
Charly
Cliff Robertson
1968
In the Heat of the Night
Rod Steiger
1967
A Man for All Seasons
Paul Scofield
1966
Cat Ballou
Lee Marvin
1965
My Fair Lady
Rex Harrison
1964
Lilies of the Field
Sidney Poitier
1963
To Kill a Mockingbird
Gregory Peck
1962
Judgment at Nuremberg
Maximilian Schell
1961
Elmer Gantry
Burt Lancaster
1960
Ben-Hur
Charlton Heston
1959
Separate Tables
David Niven
1958
The Bridge
on the River Kwai
Alec Guinness
1957
The King and I
Yul Brynner
1956
Marty
Ernest Borgnine
1955
On the Waterfront
Marlon Brando
1954
Stalag 17
William Holden
1953
High Noon
Gary Cooper
1952
The African Queen
Humphrey Bogart
1951
Cyrano de Bergerac
José Ferrer
1950
All the King's Men
Broderick Crawford
1949
Hamlet
Laurence Olivier
1948
A Double Life
Ronald Colman
1947
The Best Years of
Our Lives
Fredric March
1946
The Lost Weekend
Ray Milland
1945
Going My Way
Bing Crosby
1944
Watch on the Rhine
Paul Lukas
1943
Yankee Doodle Dandy
James Cagney
1942
Sergeant York
Gary Cooper
1941
The Philadelphia Story
James Stewart
1940
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Robert Donat
1939
Boys Town
Spencer Tracy
1938
Captains Courageous
Spencer Tracy
1937
The Story of
Louis Pasteur
Paul Muni
1936
The Informer
Victor McLaglen
1935
It Happened One Night
Clark Gable
1934
The Private Life of
Henry VIII
Charles Laughton
1933
The Champ
Wallace Beery
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Fredric March
1932
A Free Soul
Lionel Barrymore
1931
Disraeli
George Arliss
1930
In Old Arizona
Warner Baxter
1929
The Last Command /
The Way of All Flesh
Emil Jannings
+2
Level 49
Feb 28, 2012
This is wonderful! So glad you did all the winners! Thanks!
+1
Level 62
Feb 28, 2012
thanks for making this quiz! would be great to have ones for all the oscar awards!
+3
Level 33
Feb 23, 2013
How the heck does Forest Whitaker keep getting into films? He's awful!
+4
Level 82
Feb 26, 2013
Really? I like him. I'd ask the same thing about Nicholas Cage. He gets more work than Whitaker does.
+5
Level 62
Mar 4, 2014
Can't even compare Cage and Whitaker. Cage is terrible
+4
Level 82
Feb 26, 2015
Right, and I wouldn't, except to contrast Oz's opinion for Whitaker with an actor who actually deserves it.
+4
Level 89
Feb 29, 2016
Cage was actually pretty good back in the day. Then I think he kinda fell apart with some of his later films like Ghost Rider, Knowing, The Wicker Man, Left Behind, etc.
+4
Level 78
Apr 16, 2018
Have you seen Cage in Raising Arizona, Red Rock West, Leaving Las Vegas, Bringing out the Dead, Adaptation, Lord of War, and Herzog's Bad Lieutenant? He makes many crap movies to pay for his debts, but he often teamed up with great directors in the past, and delivered good performances.
+10
Level 67
Jun 14, 2018
Cage is good in roles in which his weirdness is a strength rather than a weakness. He cannot control himself, so when he has to display the kind of inner tension that is common in (and crucial to) most dramas, he becomes a joke. But certain roles -- Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, Bad Lieutenant, Adaptation -- play to his nature, and then he's good. And another thing, the guy never mails it in. He treats every scene like it's life-and-death, which is definitely a huge part of the problem with him, but his terribleness is not for lack of effort.
+2
Level 82
Jun 14, 2018
Good observation, jmellor. I loved Cage in Raising Arizona. I think that's the only thing I've really loved him in. But he was pretty good in Adaptation and Matchstick Men, too.
+6
Level 72
Jun 21, 2019
I always saw cage as someone who just never said no to a roll. they just keep offering him movies and he's like O.K cool more money
+1
Level 75
Feb 10, 2020
Moonstruck is one of my favorites movies and I've seen it many times, but I'm still not sure whether I like Cage's performance or not. There's something really weird about him, yet something a little compelling too. At least he got Loretta away from his dull brother Johnny. (RIP Danny Aiello.)
+3
Level 61
Mar 9, 2020
I really hate Nicolas Cage. Not just the actor, and not even just the person, but the idea. Every time I see a picture of his face I want to destroy it and rage. Every time I think about him I think about how I vehemently hate him. I hate his awful monotone expression that makes him look like the worst person ever, which is what he is.
+1
Level 27
Feb 26, 2013
He was fantastic in The Shield, and I heard he should be brilliant in The Last King of Scotland.

---

This quiz was way more fun than the other oscar quizzes, but I don't know why...

+2
Level 82
Mar 5, 2014
QM: You couldn't find a picture of Daniel Day-Lewis?
+22
Level 83
May 5, 2014
Can you accept any random combination of letters with an m, a c, an n, and a y in it for Mcgaughnahey?
+2
Level 33
Aug 10, 2014
lmao i second this
+3
Level 82
Jun 14, 2018
I always just play it safe and go with mconahay. That works
+3
Level 51
Feb 27, 2015
Most typically you go by the year of the movie, not by the year of the ceremony. Therefore, the Best Actor of 2014 is Eddie Redmayne. Adjust the years and I'll like the quiz.
+1
Level 67
Feb 29, 2016
Yeah, that was confusing.
+8
Level ∞
Mar 5, 2018
I had it the other way before and the complaining was worse.
+1
Level 89
Sep 24, 2019
I somehow find that hard to believe, but if you say it's true then it probably is...
+1
Level 66
Jul 9, 2019
Wow.. some extorsion going on here...
+3
Level 66
Jul 9, 2019
This is not like googleplay or something. Do this or that and I ll give 5 stars. The quizmakers dont make money of the quizzes so you have nothing to bargain with.

not that i think the commentwriters on google play have the power they think they have. DO THIS OR THAT OR I WILL STOP PLAYING. You think they care? Sorry to rant haha, but some people truely think the rest of the world is there to cater to them, and actually believe others will do as they say (not as much about this comment anymore btw)

+1
Level 56
Oct 24, 2015
Love quizzes about the Oscars. But please, more time!!!!
+2
Level 67
Feb 29, 2016
Leonardo DiCaprio will never win an Oscar.
+2
Level 70
Feb 29, 2016
he did!
+8
Level 59
Feb 29, 2016
Did you seriously post this comment the day AFTER Leo won an Oscar?
+2
Level 67
Mar 1, 2016
My wry Irish humour. Or doing a bit of fishing, I don't know, you choose. Either way yes you're right I was aware he had just won one!
+1
Level 57
Feb 8, 2017
di Caprio´s Oscar was a "now we better give it to him" no matter what
+2
Level 75
Jun 14, 2018
I thought he deserved it - brutal movie but he was great.
+5
Level 67
Feb 29, 2016
Rod Steiger got credit for the lead of In The Heat of the Night? Seriously? That is 100% Sidney Poitier's movie.
+2
Level 54
Nov 6, 2016
I thought Sydney won!
+3
Level 46
Mar 27, 2016
79 films in this quiz and I've only seen 16 of them. Not good.
+7
Level 45
Jun 21, 2016
It's criminal that Morgan Freeman has never won best actor.
+2
Level 75
Jun 14, 2018
At least he won a Best Supporting for Million Dollar Baby.
+2
Level 22
Jun 27, 2016
And Freeman was up against Tom Hanks in '94.....Tom Hanks was good in FG but Morgan Freeman OWNED Shawshank!!
+5
Level 57
Feb 8, 2017
Shwashank was robbed in ewery way. But against american propaganda history Gump it sadly lost
+2
Level 82
Apr 10, 2019
wtf are you talking about?
+1
Level 61
Feb 10, 2020
lol...what??
+1
Level 57
Jan 13, 2017
71 out of 79 :-)
+1
Level 57
Feb 8, 2017
missed only Schofield in ´68
+1
Level 88
Mar 22, 2024
Possibly the best performance on the list.
+2
Level 57
Feb 8, 2017
the biggest robs;

1953:

winner: WIlliam Holden for Stalag 17 -

should have been; Burt Lancaster for Here to eternity

1956;

winner: Brynner for KIng and I

should have been: Dean for the Gigant

1954:

winner: Harrisn for my fair lady

should have been: Sellers for dr Strangelove

1969:

winner; Wayne for True Grit

Should have been: HOffman for midnight cowboy

1992:

winner; Pacino for scent of a woman

should have been: Downey jr for CHaplin

2013:

winner: McConaughey for Dallas buyers club

shoud have been: Bale for American Hustle

Biggest rob ever. NO nom+win for Robins in Shawshank

+15
Level 46
May 27, 2018
I disagree with almost everything you typed.
+1
Level 78
Feb 10, 2020
I'd rather put Denzel Washington (Malcolm X) or Harvey Keitel (Bad Lieutenant) over Pacino.
+5
Level 54
May 15, 2021
Bale was horrible in American Hustle and American Hustle was a crap film entirely.

I was going to go over the rest, but mostly you are just wrong on each of them.

+2
Level 63
Mar 29, 2022
Biggest rob/snub ever is that Bruno Ganz wasn’t nominated for playing Adolf Hitler in 2004’s fantastic ‘Downfall.’ Hitler’s one of the most played and thankless roles ever: you’re as evil as Voldemort or Palpatine but more real and less fun. Ganz CRUSHED it, and while Jamie Foxx was excellent as Ray Charles in ‘Ray,’ there’s just no topping Ganz.

I’d put his performance among the 10 best in the history of cinema, and he wasn’t even nominated.

+3
Level 88
Mar 29, 2022
Maybe someone could get an Oscar for best translation to his performance in Downfall? There's a vast field of nominees.
+1
Level 12
May 19, 2017
I bet you Leo's probably gone over to Anthony Hopkins' house and stolen one of his Oscars
+3
Level 89
Mar 5, 2018
If that were true, then Hopkins would be Oscar-less and Leo would have two.
+2
Level 66
Jun 7, 2017
How did Orson Welles never win best actor for Citizen Kane? I used to think Matthew Maconaughey couldn't act until I saw him in True Detective. I'll have to see Dallas Buyers Club. Haven't seen it yet.
+5
Level 76
Jan 22, 2019
Same reason it didn't win Best Picture, or any of its nine nominations other than Best Writing: because William Randolph Hearst, upon whose life Kane was largely inspired, did his best to destroy the film in any way he could.
+5
Level 75
Feb 10, 2020
I realize I'm committing movie sacrilege here since it's supposed to be the greatest film ever made - and I am not trolling - but I did not like Citizen Kane. I had to force myself to watch the whole thing. Maybe someone can explain to me what I'm missing that made it so great. I guess I'm just a Casablanca kind of girl.
+7
Level 89
Feb 10, 2020
I think the reason Citizen Kane is held in such high regard is because it did a lot of things that were considered brand new for the time. There are things like low-angle shots, dissolves, non-linear storytelling, people talking over another, newsreel/documentary footage providing exposition, etc.

Of course, Welles wasn’t the first person to use these techniques but he used so many of them and used them effectively. You can tell a lot about what’s going on in just one shot. Also, not super important but a lot of the actors in the film, including Welles himself, were either brand new or had little experience with acting, and a lot of the performances are amazing.

Compare this movie to other films of the time, where they felt more like plays than cinema. Citizen Kane practically changed the way films would be made and was more groundbreaking than movies like Jurassic Park or The Matrix or Avatar.

+2
Level 84
Apr 22, 2020
Wow, you & me both, ander217!!! I forced myself to watch it too, because it was "Citizen Kane". Afterward, I couldn't figure out what I'd missed that made it so fantabulous. And I will never get tired of watching "Casablanca".
+6
Level 67
May 16, 2021
I echo Jack's sentiment. It has everything to do with what the film meant at the time, and little to do with how the film reads now. If you look on AFI's "Greatest Films" list, you'll also see Toy Story, which, although a great movie, is really just on the list because it was the first fully computer-animated movie. Obviously pretty much everything is computer-animated now, but that movie was mind-blowing when it came out. Casablanca and the Godfather are much better films to watch and enjoy.
+1
Level 77
Mar 11, 2018
It might be nice to show your highscore on a quiz while you are taking it. So you know if you are remembering any new ones that round around. For these long ones at least.
+2
Level 89
Jun 6, 2018
+1
Level 93
Nov 6, 2018
Woah you changed the picture!
+1
Level 63
Mar 5, 2019
Just managed to get them all with 13 seconds remaining at 7:00:14 PM on March 5, 2019.
+2
Level 63
Feb 11, 2020
Congratulations to Joaquin Phoenix. So deserved and great speech.
+4
Level 84
Feb 14, 2020
Yep, really edgy and committed of him to only have a single tux for all of his awards shows. If only we could all be so brave...
+2
Level 82
Oct 1, 2020
I'm so brave that I don't even own a tux.
+1
Level 93
Apr 24, 2021
I'm really praying that Boseman is added tomorrow night!
+2
Level 89
May 15, 2021
Yeah, about that...

Honestly though I'm kind of surprised they didn't give it to him. I think nearly everyone expected him to win.

+2
Level 72
May 15, 2021
As good as Boseman was, Hopkins's performance was much stronger and was my personal favorite.
+1
Level 93
Jun 26, 2021
Same, but at the same time it kinda sucks that they passed over their last chance to award Boseman. But if I were voting for the award, I'd agree that Hopkins would have my vote. Strongest performance in the category in a long time.
+2
Level 54
May 15, 2021
Why? His performance was not deserving of an Oscar, but that doesn't really matter any more, does it?
+2
Level 67
May 16, 2021
It obviously does, since the guy who gave the best performance won, even though all the "non-performance" factors were working against him.
+1
Level 11
May 17, 2021
Best quizz ever !!!!!!!!!!
+1
Level 31
Dec 16, 2021
art carnet should be added, as well as jean duhardin, i tried both and it didn't work
+3
Level 93
Feb 19, 2023
But those aren't their names, or even how their names are pronounced. So no they shouldn't be added.
+16
Level 88
Mar 28, 2022
Best fight scene in 2022 goes to...
+1
Level 66
Mar 29, 2022
HAHAAHHA Once I saw the quiz's title, I already knew there'd be this comment
+1
Level 32
Mar 30, 2022
Only 14% getting Stalg 17 feels odd to me, but I was raised on that film, and not everybody was
+1
Level 57
Jun 30, 2022
Fantastic movie
+4
Level 63
Mar 31, 2022
Accept "Man who can be easily convinced into beating up another man by his wife" as a type if for Will Smith please?
+5
Level 81
Apr 2, 2022
I honestly don't see why this was such a big deal. I mean it's not like Smith slapped him twice or anything.
+1
Level 68
Sep 5, 2022
Lost too much time writing Mccoughnaghey or however it's spelled correctly.
+9
Level 46
Mar 14, 2023
can you update for this year Brendan Fraser please.
+3
Level 72
Apr 4, 2023
Why is this quiz not updated still?
+1
Level ∞
Apr 4, 2023
See the caveat. I decided to move to an every-other-year schedule for many Oscar quizzes due to their decreasing cultural relevance.
+4
Level 93
Apr 14, 2023
It makes no sense why some Oscar quizzes were updated but only two weren't... 5/7 featured Oscar quizzes were updated but the actor categories weren't? That doesn't make any sense if we're being honest.
+7
Level 95
May 18, 2023
I agree with TheodoreE45. Why some Oscar updates and not others? Meanwhile, every time a football player gets a touchdown, we get 45 updated football quizzes (a real joy to do those over and over again btw). It's arbitrary to say that the Oscars are decreasing in cultural relevance. As long as they are still shown to a national (worldwide?) audience every year, and they make front page news after the ceremony, I'd say they're still pretty relevant...especially to film buffs. I actually look forward to these resets, as opposed to many others on this site.
+5
Level 93
Jun 9, 2023
Thank you! I didn't want to point out the sports quiz resets because I didn't want to seem spiteful but when it comes to Oscar's there's only 7 featured quizzes, and those update once per year. There's easily several dozen sports quizzes that get updated at least once a year. Also I would have to say that the Oscar's are more culturally relevant than something like college basketball, or top-scoring members of Manchester United.
+2
Level 95
Jun 10, 2023
We are in total agreement! :-)
+7
Level 62
Sep 20, 2023
Decreased ratings is not a sign of falling cultural relevance. People simply don't watch broadcast TV as much anymore and can get their entertainment news online. Sure, plenty of people don't care about the Oscars, but that isn't new.
+1
Level 89
Mar 18, 2024
Coincidentally, I decided to update my featured quizzes every other year around the same time Quizmaster made his decision on these quizzes. But mine have nearly 500 answers each and take a bit more time to update. Relevance or lack thereof has never really been a factor of mine.
+1
Level 16
Mar 3, 2024
very, extremely proud to say i only got leonardo dicaprio.
+6
Level 93
Mar 9, 2024
I'll never understand the people on this site who brag about how ignorant they are on a subject. What pride is there to be had in not knowing something on a quiz site?
+3
Level 52
Mar 11, 2024
I think it's ironic but I agree with you
+1
Level 51
Mar 18, 2024
Once again, the years are wrong - they should be the year of the movie that won, not the year of the ceremony. Saying Cillian Murphy is the Best Actor of 2024, for instance, makes no sense.