Academy Award for Best Actor

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The Academy Award for Best Actor is a prestigious Oscar presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honor an outstanding leading performance by a male actor in a film.


Statements (44)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Academy Award
acting award
film award
administeredBy AMPAS Board of Governors
alsoKnownAs Oscar for Best Actor
awardFor best performance by an actor in a leading role
awardType competitive award
ceremonyFrequency annual
country United States
eligibilityMedium feature films
eligibilityScope primarily English-language and U.S.-released films
field film acting
firstAwardedForYear 1927–1928
genderRestriction male
hasCategoryCode Best Actor in a Leading Role
hasGenderedCounterpart Academy Award for Best Actress
hasNomineesPerYear typically five nominees
inception 1929
isConsidered one of the most prestigious acting awards in cinema
languageOfCeremony English
notableMultipleWinners Daniel Day-Lewis
Jack Nicholson
Spencer Tracy
Tom Hanks
notableRecord Daniel Day-Lewis holds the record with three Best Actor wins
officialWebsite https://www.oscars.org
organizer Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
partOf Academy Awards
presentedBy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
relatedAward Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
selectionCriterion artistic merit of the leading performance
selectionProcess voted on by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
statuetteMaterial gold-plated bronze
statuetteShape knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a film reel
timePeriodCovered previous calendar year’s film releases
trophyName Oscar statuette
typicalAnnouncementMonth February
typicalCeremonyLocation Los Angeles
typicalCeremonyVenue Dolby Theatre
votingBody Academy actors branch (nominations)
entire Academy membership (winners)

Referenced by (251)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
...And Justice for All
127 Hours
A Star Is Born (1954 film)
A Star Is Born (2018 film)
Adam Driver
Adaptation
Al Pacino ("Academy Award for Best Actor for ...And Justice for All")
Alan Arkin
Albert Finney
Andrew Garfield
Antonio Banderas
Babes in Arms
Benedict Cumberbatch
Bill Murray
Bill Nighy
Billy Bob Thornton
Birdman of Alcatraz
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Blood Diamond
Bob Hoskins
Bonnie and Clyde
Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bryan Cranston
Cary Grant ("Academy Award for Best Actor for None but the Lonely Heart")
Cast Away
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Citizen Kane
Colin Farrell
Dead Poets Society
Dog Day Afternoon
East of Eden
Fences (2016 film)
Flight
Frank Langella
Frank Morgan
Frost/Nixon
Gentleman's Agreement
Get Out
Good Will Hunting
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Harrison Ford
Jacob Julius Garfinkle
James Franco
James Stewart
James Woods
Jesse Eisenberg
John Garfield
John Garfield ("Oscar for Best Actor for Body and Soul")
John Garfield
John Hurt
Johnny Depp
Jude Law
Kirk Douglas
Laurence Olivier ("Academy Award for Best Actor for The Entertainer (1960 film)")
Lawrence of Arabia
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Les Misérables (2012 film)
Lew Ayres
Lost in Translation
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Marriage Story
Matt Damon
Michael Caine
Michael Fassbender
Michael Keaton
Midnight Cowboy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Jon Voight")
Montgomery Clift
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
None but the Lonely Heart
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Paul Giamatti
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pulp Fiction
Quills
Ralph Fiennes
Rebecca (1940 film)
Richard Burton
Robert Downey Jr.
Rock Hudson
Rocky
Roy Scheider ("Academy Award for Best Actor for All That Jazz")
Saving Private Ryan
Silver Linings Playbook
Sleuth (1972 film) ("Academy Award for Best Actor – Laurence Olivier")
Some Like It Hot
Spencer Tracy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner")
Spencer Tracy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Judgment at Nuremberg")
Spencer Tracy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Inherit the Wind")
Spencer Tracy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Father of the Bride")
Spencer Tracy ("Academy Award for Best Actor for San Francisco")
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007 film)
Sylvester Stallone
The Apartment
The Aviator
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Danish Girl
The Descendants
The Dresser
The Entertainer (1960 film)
The Fisher King
The Graduate
The Great Dictator
The Hurricane ("Academy Award for Best Actor (Denzel Washington)")
The Imitation Game
The Lion in Winter
The Madness of King George
The Martian
The Power of the Dog (2021 film)
The Pride of the Yankees
The Shawshank Redemption
The Social Network
The Wolf of Wall Street
The Yearling (1946 film)
Tom Jones (1963 film)
Tom Wilkinson
Tootsie
True Grit (2010 film)
Twelve O’Clock High
Viva Zapata!
Warren Beatty
Willem Dafoe
William James Murray
Woody Harrelson
nominatedFor
Adrien Brody
Al Pacino
American Beauty
Anthony Hopkins
Ben-Hur
Bing Crosby
Bohemian Rhapsody
Boys Town
Burt Lancaster
Capote (film)
Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Charly
Cillian Murphy
Clark Gable
Clark Gable
Colin Firth
Colin Firth
Coming Home
Daniel Day-Lewis
David Niven
Denzel Washington
Ed Harris ("Academy Award for Best Actor (nominations)")
Eldred Gregory Peck
Forest Whitaker
Gary Cooper
Gary Oldman
Geoffrey Rush
George C. Scott
Gladiator
Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Hamlet (1948 film)
Henry Fonda
Humphrey Bogart
It Happened One Night
Jack Lemmon
Jack Nicholson
James Stewart
Jamie Foxx
Joaquin Phoenix
Kevin Spacey
Kramer vs. Kramer
Laurence Olivier
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Lilies of the Field
Manchester by the Sea
Marlon Brando
Marty
Matthew McConaughey
Michael Douglas
On the Waterfront
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Oppenheimer (2023 film)
Peter Finch
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Rami Malek
Ray Milland
Richard Dreyfuss
Robert De Niro
Rod Steiger
Ronald Colman
Russell Crowe
Sean Penn
Separate Tables (1958 film)
Shine
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy ("Best Actor Academy Award for Captains Courageous")
The King’s Speech
The Lost Weekend
There Will Be Blood
Tom Hanks
Training Day
awardReceived
Five Easy Pieces
Gangs of New York
Good Night, and Good Luck
Invictus
James Dean ("Academy Award for Best Actor for East of Eden")
Louis Calhern
Roy Scheider
The Keys of the Kingdom
Witness for the Prosecution
awardNomination
Captains Courageous (1937 film)
High Noon
In the Heat of the Night ("Academy Award for Best Actor (Rod Steiger)")
Sergeant York
The Artist
The Godfather
The Silence of the Lambs
academyAward
Casey Affleck ("Academy Award for Best Actor – Manchester by the Sea")
Clark Gable ("Academy Award for Best Actor for "It Happened One Night"")
Colin Firth ("Academy Award for Best Actor – The King’s Speech")
Russell Crowe ("Academy Award for Best Actor for Gladiator")
awardReceivedForWork
Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
relatedAward
A Single Man
Gaslight (1944 film)
academyAwardNomination
American Hustle
Up in the Air
awardNominatedFor
The English Patient
The Godfather Part II
nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
relatedCategory
On Golden Pond
AcademyAward
Fiddler on the Roof
academyAwardNominations
Academy Award for Best Actor ("Oscar for Best Actor")
alsoKnownAs
Academy Award for Best Director
associatedWith
Joker (2019 film)
awarded
The Insider
awardNominated
Joaquin Phoenix ("Academy Award for Best Actor – Joker")
awardReceivedFor
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
awardsPresented
The African Queen
awardWon
César Award for Best Actor
equivalentTo
Forrest Gump
hasAward
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
hasRelatedCategory
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
isDistinctFrom
Peter Finch
isPosthumousAwardRecipientOf
The Pursuit of Happyness
leadActorNomination
Raging Bull
leadActorWon
The Remains of the Day
notableAwardNomination

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