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Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Prior to the 49th Academy Awards...
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| x Year | x Award Winner | x Winning work | x Notes/Description | |||
| x name | x image | x article | ||||
| 2008 | Sean Penn |
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Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American film actor and director, also known for being a political activist. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River and Milk, as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award...
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Milk | Role: Harvey Milk | |
| 2007 | Daniel Day-Lewis |
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Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor with British and Irish citizenship. He is known as one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only five films since 1997, with as many as five...
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There Will Be Blood | Role: Daniel Plainview | |
| 2006 | Forest Whitaker |
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Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor, producer, and director. Whitaker won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker has also won a Golden Globe...
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The Last King of Scotland | Role: Idi Amin | |
| 2005 | Philip Seymour Hoffman |
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Philip Seymour Hoffman (born July 23, 1967) is an Academy Award winning American actor, as well as a film and stage director, and is widely regarded as being one of the finest actors of his generation for his impressive resume and remarkable...
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Capote | Role: Truman Capote | |
| 2004 | Jamie Foxx |
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Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and singer. For his work in the film Ray, Foxx won the Academy Award and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA...
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Ray | Role: Ray Charles | |
| 2003 | Sean Penn |
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Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American film actor and director, also known for being a political activist. He is a two-time Academy Award winner for his roles in Mystic River and Milk, as well as the recipient of a Golden Globe Award...
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Mystic River | Role: Jimmy Markum | |
| 2002 | Adrien Brody |
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Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and subsequent acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). He is notable as the youngest actor ever to receive an Academy Award for Best...
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The Pianist | Role: Wladyslaw Szpilman | |
| 2001 | Denzel Washington |
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Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s, including for his portrayals of real-life figures, such...
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Training Day | Role: Alonzo | |
| 2000 | Russell Crowe |
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Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is a New Zealand actor and musician. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as Police Rescue and films such as Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in...
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Gladiator | Role: Maximus Decimus Meridius | |
| 1999 | Kevin Spacey |
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Kevin Spacey (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He...
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American Beauty | Role: Lester Burnham | |
| 1998 | Roberto Benigni |
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Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.
Benigni was born in Manciano, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy, the son of Isolina...
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Life Is Beautiful | Role: Guido | |
| 1997 | Jack Nicholson |
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John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor, film director and producer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters.
Nicholson has been nominated for Academy Awards twelve times. He won the...
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As Good as It Gets | Role: Melvin Udall | |
| 1996 | Geoffrey Rush |
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Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. As of November 2009, he is one of 22 people to have won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award, and has also won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the...
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Shine | Role: David Helfgott | |
| 1996 | Nicolas Cage |
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Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an American actor.
Cage pursued acting as a career, making his debut on television in 1981. Cage has been featured in "bad boy" roles, and has won awards, beginning in 1989 with his...
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Leaving Las Vegas | Role: Ben Sanderson | |
| 1995 | Syriana | |||||
| 1994 | Tom Hanks |
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Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American film actor, director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles,...
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Forrest Gump | Role: Forrest Gump | |
| 1993 | Tom Hanks |
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Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American film actor, director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles,...
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Philadelphia | Role: Andrew Beckett | |
| 1992 | Al Pacino |
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Alfredo James "Al" Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an American film and stage actor and director. He is best known for his roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon, Tony Montana in Scarface, Carlito...
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Scent of a Woman | Role: Lt. Col. Frank Slade | |
| 1991 | Anthony Hopkins |
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Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, CBE (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh film, stage and television actor. Considered to be one of film's greatest living actors, he is known for his portrayal of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence...
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The Silence of the Lambs | Role: Dr. Hannibal Lecter | |
| 1990 | Jeremy Irons |
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Jeremy John Irons (born 19 September 1948) is an English film, television, and stage actor. He has won the Academy Award, the Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to many other awards and...
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Reversal of Fortune | Role: Claus Von Bulow | |
| 1989 | Daniel Day-Lewis |
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Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor with British and Irish citizenship. He is known as one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only five films since 1997, with as many as five...
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My Left Foot | Role: Christy Brown | |
| 1988 | Dustin Hoffman |
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Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an Academy Award Winning American actor who has had an active career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He first drew critical praise for the 1966 Off-Broadway play Eh? for which he won a Theatre...
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Rain Man | Role: Raymond Babbitt | |
| 1987 | Michael Douglas |
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Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. Douglas's first television exposure was that of Karl Malden's young college-educated partner, Insp. Steve Keller, in the 1970s...
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Wall Street | Role: Gordon Gekko | |
| 1986 | Paul Newman |
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Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for his performance in the 1986 Martin...
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The Color of Money | Role: Eddie Felson | |
| 1985 | William Hurt |
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William M. Hurt (born March 20, 1950) is an American actor. He won both the Academy and BAFTA Awards for his work in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Claire Isabel (née McGill), who worked at Time, Inc., and...
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Kiss of the Spider Woman | Role: Luis Molina | |
| 1984 | F. Murray Abraham |
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Fahrid Murray Abraham (in Arabic: فريد مراد ابراهيم الاحمد Farīd Murād Ibrāhīm Al-Aḥmad; born October 24, 1939) is an American actor. He became known during the 1980s, after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Amadeus, and has since...
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Amadeus | Role: Antonio Salieri | |
| 1983 | Robert Duvall |
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Robert Selden Duvall (born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
He began his career appearing in theatre during the late 1950s, moving into small to...
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Tender Mercies | Role: Mac Sledge | |
| 1982 | Ben Kingsley |
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Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji, 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has won Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for...
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Gandhi | Role: Mahatma Gandhi | |
| 1981 | Henry Fonda |
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Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American film and stage actor, best known for his roles as plain-speaking idealists. Fonda's subtle, naturalistic acting style preceded by many years the popularization of method acting....
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On Golden Pond | Role: Norman Thayer, Jr. | |
| 1980 | Robert De Niro |
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Robert De Niro, Jr. (born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and producer.
De Niro won his first Academy Award as best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for Raging Bull (1980)...
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Raging Bull | Role: Jake LaMotta | |
| 1979 | Dustin Hoffman |
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Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an Academy Award Winning American actor who has had an active career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He first drew critical praise for the 1966 Off-Broadway play Eh? for which he won a Theatre...
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Kramer vs. Kramer | Role: Ted Kramer | |
| 1978 | Jon Voight |
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Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight (born December 29, 1938) is an American film and television actor. He came to prominence at the end of the 1960s, with a performance as a would-be hustler in 1969's Best Picture winner, Midnight Cowboy, for which he...
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Coming Home | Role: Luke Martin | |
| 1977 | Richard Dreyfuss |
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Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close...
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The Goodbye Girl | Role: Elliot Garfield | |
| 1976 | Peter Finch |
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Peter Finch (28 September 1916 – 14 January 1977) was a British - born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as 'crazed' television anchorman Howard Beale in the film, Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best...
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Network | Role: Howard Beale | |
| 1975 | Jack Nicholson |
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John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor, film director and producer. He is renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters.
Nicholson has been nominated for Academy Awards twelve times. He won the...
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Role: Randle Patrick McMurphy | |
| 1974 | Art Carney |
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Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. Carney portrayed the upstairs neighbor and sewer worker Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the...
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Harry and Tonto | Role: Harry | |
| 1973 | Jack Lemmon |
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John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts, Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple,...
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Save the Tiger | Role: Harry Stoner | |
| 1972 | Marlon Brando |
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Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The...
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The Godfather | Role: Don Vito Corleone -- Mr. Brando refused the award | |
| 1971 | Gene Hackman |
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Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is an American actor and novelist.
Hackman has made 80 films. He came to fame in 1967 when his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde earned him his first Oscar nomination. His major roles...
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The French Connection | Role: Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle | |
| 1970 | George C. Scott |
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George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an Academy Award-winning American stage and film actor, director, and producer. He was best known for his bravura stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in...
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Patton | Role: General George S. Patton, Jr. - Mr. Scott refused the award | |
| 1969 | John Wayne |
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Marion Mitchell Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged individualism, patriotism, selflessness,...
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True Grit | Role: Rooster Cogburn | |
| 1968 | Cliff Robertson |
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Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III (born September 9, 1923) is an American actor with a film and television career that spans half of a century. Robertson won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly. In addition to...
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Charly | Role: Charly Gordon | |
| 1967 | Rod Steiger |
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Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger (April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor known for his performances in such films as In the Heat of the Night, Waterloo, The Pawnbroker, On the Waterfront, and Doctor Zhivago.
Steiger was born in Westhampton...
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In the Heat of the Night | Role: Police Chief Bill Gillespie | |
| 1966 | Paul Scofield |
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David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008), better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen. Noted for his distinctive voice and delivery, Scofield received an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for his...
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A Man for All Seasons | Role: Sir Thomas More | |
| 1965 | Lee Marvin |
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Lee Marvin (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after...
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Cat Ballou | Role: Kid Shelleen/Tim Strawn | |
| 1964 | Rex Harrison |
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Sir Reginald “Rex” Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won both an Academy Award and a Tony Award.
Harrison was born in Huyton, then part of Lancashire, and educated at Liverpool College....
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My Fair Lady | Role: Professor Henry Higgins | |
| 1963 | Sidney Poitier |
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Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE (pronounced /ˈpwɑːtjeɪ/ or /ˈpwɑːtieɪ/; born February 20, 1924) is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author, and diplomat. He broke through as a star in acclaimed performances in American films and plays, which, by...
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Lilies of the Field | Role: Homer Smith | |
| 1962 | Gregory Peck |
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Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor.
One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1990s. His notable performances included that of...
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To Kill a Mockingbird | Role: Atticus Finch | |
| 1961 | Maximilian Schell |
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Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Swiss actor. He is also a writer, director and producer of several films.
Schell was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Margarethe (née Noe von Nordberg), an actress who ran an...
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Judgment at Nuremberg | Role: Hans Rolfe | |
| 1960 | Burt Lancaster |
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Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American film actor and star, noted for his athletic physique, distinct smile (which he called "The Grin") and, later, his willingness to play roles that went against his...
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Elmer Gantry | Role: Elmer Gantry | |
| 1959 | Charlton Heston |
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Heston was born John Charles Carter in No Man's Land, an unincorporated area between Evanston and Wilmette, Illinois, the son of Lilla (née Charlton) and Russell Whitford Carter, a mill operator. (However, the 1930 Census for Richfield,...
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Ben-Hur | Role: Judah Ben-Hur | |
| 1958 | David Niven |
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James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983), known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink...
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Separate Tables | Role: Major Pollock | |
| 1957 | Alec Guinness |
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Sir Alec Guinness, CH, CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. He featured in several of the Ealing Comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets in which he played eight different characters. Guinness later won the Academy Award for...
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The Bridge on the River Kwai | Role: Colonel Nicholson | |
| 1956 | Yul Brynner |
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Yuliy Borisovich "Yul" Brynner (Russian: Юлий Борисович Бринер, Ûlij Borisovič Briner; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born actor of stage and film, best known for his portrayal of the Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers &...
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The King and I | Role: The King | |
| 1955 | Ernest Borgnine |
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Ernest Borgnine (born January 24, 1917) is an actor of television and the big screen. His career has spanned for over five decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film...
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Marty | Role: Marty Pilletti | |
| 1954 | Marlon Brando |
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Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The...
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On the Waterfront | Role: Terry Malloy | |
| 1953 | William Holden |
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William Holden (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American film actor.
Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954, and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974. One of the top stars of the 1950s, he was named one of the "Top 10 stars...
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Stalag 17 | Role: Sefton | |
| 1952 | Gary Cooper |
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Frank James “Gary” Cooper (May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was...
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High Noon | Role: Will Kane | |
| 1951 | Humphrey Bogart |
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Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957) was an American actor.
After trying various jobs, Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929...
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The African Queen | Role: Charlie Allnut | |
| 1950 | José Ferrer |
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José Vincente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992), best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director.
Ferrer was born in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of...
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Cyrano de Bergerac | Role: Cyrano de Bergerac | |
