The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the
1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a
leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's
Best Actress winner.
In the first three years of the awards, actors and actresses were nominated as the best individuals in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award.[3] Despite this, at the
3rd Academy Awards, held in 1930, only one film was cited in each winner's award regardless of how many they were eligible to be considered for during that span.[4] The current system, in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film, was introduced for the
4th Academy Awards.[3] Starting with the
9th Academy Awards, held in 1937, the category was limited to a maximum five nominations per year.[3]
In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in
Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year.[5] For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31.[6] For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933.[6] Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.[6]
The following were nominated for their portrayals of the same fictional or non-fictional character in separate films (including variations of the original).
A^ : According to longstanding Hollywood legend,[107] reported by
Susan Orlean,[108]Rin Tin Tin actually received the most Best Actor votes, but the Academy (not wishing to give the first award to a dog) refactored the votes to ensure that Jannings won.[109]
B^ :The Circus originally received three nominations: Best Director (Comedy Picture), Best Actor, and Best Writing (Original Story) – for
Charles Chaplin. However, the
Academy subsequently decided to remove Chaplin's name from the competitive award categories and instead to confer upon him a
Special Award "for acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus".[8]
C123 : Rules at the time of the first three ceremonies allowed for a performer to receive a single nomination which could honor their work in more than one film.
George Arliss,
Maurice Chevalier, and
Ronald Colman were all nominated for two different roles in the same category. Current Academy rules forbid this from happening. No official reason was ever given as to why Arliss won the award for only one of the two films he was listed for.[110]
D12 :
Fredric March received one more vote than
Wallace Beery. Academy rules at that time considered such a close margin to be a tie, so both March and Beery received the award. Under the current rules, it is stipulated that a tie must result in the exact same number of votes.[111]
E^ : As with the previous year, when the Academy relaxed the rules to allow write-in votes following the outcry over
Bette Davis's snub for Of Human Bondage, the Academy permitted write-in votes this year as well. Thus,
Paul Muni received a write-in nomination for his performance in Black Fury, and actually finished second in the votes. Although as with Davis the previous year, the Academy does not recognize these two as "official nominees", they are nevertheless listed on the official website amongst their respective years' nominations for posterity's sake.[112]
F^ : Due to category confusion,
Barry Fitzgerald received nominations (each for the same performance as Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way) in both the leading and
supporting actor categories for 1944, winning the Oscar for the latter. As a result of this fiasco, the Academy amended its rules so that if any actor or actress received enough votes to land in the final five nominees for both again, they would only receive the nomination for the category in which they obtained the largest percentage of recognition.[113]
^The 2nd Academy Awards is unique in being the only occasion where there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by AMPAS has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges.
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the
1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a
leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's
Best Actress winner.
In the first three years of the awards, actors and actresses were nominated as the best individuals in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award.[3] Despite this, at the
3rd Academy Awards, held in 1930, only one film was cited in each winner's award regardless of how many they were eligible to be considered for during that span.[4] The current system, in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film, was introduced for the
4th Academy Awards.[3] Starting with the
9th Academy Awards, held in 1937, the category was limited to a maximum five nominations per year.[3]
In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in
Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year.[5] For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31.[6] For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933.[6] Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.[6]
The following were nominated for their portrayals of the same fictional or non-fictional character in separate films (including variations of the original).
A^ : According to longstanding Hollywood legend,[107] reported by
Susan Orlean,[108]Rin Tin Tin actually received the most Best Actor votes, but the Academy (not wishing to give the first award to a dog) refactored the votes to ensure that Jannings won.[109]
B^ :The Circus originally received three nominations: Best Director (Comedy Picture), Best Actor, and Best Writing (Original Story) – for
Charles Chaplin. However, the
Academy subsequently decided to remove Chaplin's name from the competitive award categories and instead to confer upon him a
Special Award "for acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus".[8]
C123 : Rules at the time of the first three ceremonies allowed for a performer to receive a single nomination which could honor their work in more than one film.
George Arliss,
Maurice Chevalier, and
Ronald Colman were all nominated for two different roles in the same category. Current Academy rules forbid this from happening. No official reason was ever given as to why Arliss won the award for only one of the two films he was listed for.[110]
D12 :
Fredric March received one more vote than
Wallace Beery. Academy rules at that time considered such a close margin to be a tie, so both March and Beery received the award. Under the current rules, it is stipulated that a tie must result in the exact same number of votes.[111]
E^ : As with the previous year, when the Academy relaxed the rules to allow write-in votes following the outcry over
Bette Davis's snub for Of Human Bondage, the Academy permitted write-in votes this year as well. Thus,
Paul Muni received a write-in nomination for his performance in Black Fury, and actually finished second in the votes. Although as with Davis the previous year, the Academy does not recognize these two as "official nominees", they are nevertheless listed on the official website amongst their respective years' nominations for posterity's sake.[112]
F^ : Due to category confusion,
Barry Fitzgerald received nominations (each for the same performance as Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way) in both the leading and
supporting actor categories for 1944, winning the Oscar for the latter. As a result of this fiasco, the Academy amended its rules so that if any actor or actress received enough votes to land in the final five nominees for both again, they would only receive the nomination for the category in which they obtained the largest percentage of recognition.[113]
^The 2nd Academy Awards is unique in being the only occasion where there were no official nominees. Subsequent research by AMPAS has resulted in a list of unofficial or de facto nominees, based on records of which films were evaluated by the judges.