BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

British film industry award

Best Actor in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.

Superlatives

Winners and nominees

From 1952 to 1967, there were two Best Actor awards: one for a British actor and another for a foreign actor. In 1968, the two prizes of British and Foreign actor were combined to create a single Best Actor award. Its current title, for Best Actor in a Leading Role, has been used since 1995.

  indicates the winner

Ralph Richardson won for The Sound Barrier (1952)

Marlon Brando won three times for Viva Zapata! (1952), Julius Caesar (1953), and On the Waterfront (1954)

John Gielgud won for Julius Caesar (1953)

Laurence Olivier won for Richard III (1955)

Peter Finch has won five awards from seven nominations for his roles in A Town Like Alice (1956), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), No Love for Johnnie (1961), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and Network (1976)

Alec Guinness won for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Henry Fonda won for 12 Angry Men (1957)

Peter Sellers won for I'm All Right Jack (1959)

Sidney Poitier won in 1958 for his performance in The Defiant Ones, thus becoming the first black actor to win in this category^[1][2]

Jack Lemmon won three times for Some Like It Hot (1959), The Apartment (1960) and The China Syndrome (1979)

Richard Burton won for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold / Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Paul Newman won for The Hustler (1961)

Peter O'Toole won for Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Burt Lancaster won for Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)

Marcello Mastroianni won twice in Divorce Italian Style (1963), and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1964)

Lee Marvin won for The Killers / Cat Ballou (1965)

Spencer Tracy won for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1968)

Dustin Hoffman won twice for Midnight Cowboy / John and Mary (1969), and Tootsie (1983)

Gene Hackman won for The French Connection and The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Jack Nicholson won twice for The Last Detail / Chinatown (1974), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Al Pacino won for The Godfather Part II / Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Ben Kingsley won for Gandhi (1982)

Michael Caine won for Educating Rita (1983)

Daniel Day-Lewis is the first actor to win this award four times, in 1989, 2002, 2007, and 2012, for his performances in My Left Foot, Gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood and Lincoln, respectively

Anthony Hopkins won three times for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Remains of the Day (1993) and The Father (2020) ^[3]

Robert Downey Jr. won for his performances as Charlie Chaplin in 1992's Chaplin

Hugh Grant won for his performance in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Geoffrey Rush won for his performance in Shine (1996)

Roberto Benigni won in 1998 for Life Is Beautiful

Kevin Spacey won for his performance in American Beauty (1999)

Russell Crowe won once from three consecutive nominations for playing John Forbes Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Bill Murray won for his role in Lost in Translation (2003)

Jamie Foxx won for Ray (2004).

Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Capote (2005)

Forest Whitaker won for his performance as Idi Amin in the 2006 film, The Last King of Scotland

Mickey Rourke won for The Wrestler (2008)

Colin Firth won two consecutive Best Actor awards for his performances in 2009's A Single Man and 2010's The King's Speech

Jean Dujardin became the first French actor to win for The Artist (2011)^[4]

Chiwetel Ejiofor became the first black-British actor to win this category for his performance in 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Eddie Redmayne won for The Theory of Everything (2014)

Leonardo DiCaprio won for The Revenant (2015)

Casey Affleck won for Manchester by the Sea (2016).

Gary Oldman won for Darkest Hour (2017)

Rami Malek won Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Joaquin Phoenix won for his portrayal of the title character in Joker (2019)

Will Smith won for King Richard (2021)

Austin Butler won for Elvis (2022)

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations

Multiple wins

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actor
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor
• Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Notes

A1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 : Rules from the 1960s to the 1970s allowed for a performer to receive a single citation which could honor their work in more than one film. Richard Attenborough, Peter Sellers, Lee Marvin, Jack Lemmon, Richard Burton, Dirk Bogarde, Dustin Hoffman, Walter Matthau, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, George C. Scott, Donald Sutherland, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino were all nominated for their roles in two different films in the same category, while Ralph Richardson and Robert Redford were both nominated for three films. Matthau received dual nominations three times, with Hackman and Hoffman both accomplishing this feat twice.

B1 2 : Michael Caine and Dustin Hoffman received the same number of votes, resulting in both actors receiving the award, according to Academy rules.

References

1. Crouse, Richard (2005). Reel Winners: Movie Award Trivia. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3.
2. "Sir Sidney Poitier - BAFTA Fellowship in 2016". BAFTA.org. 26 January 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
3. "Film in 1994 | BAFTA Awards".
4. Patel, Tara (February 27, 2012). "'The Artist' Wins Top Oscar Honors in Bow to Silent Film". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
5. According to Ronald Bergan and Robyn Karney in the Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide (London: Bloomsbury, 1988, p.224) and Melissa E. Biggs (French Films, 1945–1993, Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996, p.221) the film has these two alternate English titles. The English title used on the original British release is unclear.
6. "American Beauty shines at Baftas". BBC News. 9 April 2000. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
7. "Gladiator, Crouching Tiger do battle in Bafta nominations". The Guardian. 31 January 2001. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
8. "Gladiator conquers the Baftas". BBC News. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
9. "'Lord of the Rings' dominates BAFTAs, wins best film award". The Irish Times. 22 February 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
10. Hernandez, Eugene (24 February 2003). "Top BAFTA Awards For "The Pianist"". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
11. "Rings rule at Bafta film awards". BBC News. 16 February 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
12. "Aviator flies off with Bafta for Best Film". The Scotsman. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
13. Hernandez, Eugene (20 February 2006). ""Brokeback Mountain" Wins 4 BAFTA Awards, Including Best Picture". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
14. "Baftas 2007: The winners". BBC News. 11 February 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
15. Dawtrey, Adam (10 February 2008). "'Atonement' tops BAFTA Awards". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
16. Turner, Mimi (8 February 2009). "'Slumdog Millionaire' wins 7 BAFTA nods". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
17. King, Susan (21 February 2010). "'Hurt Locker' wins big at BAFTA Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
18. Brown, Mark (14 February 2011). "Baftas 2011: The King's Speech sweeps the board". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
19. Reynolds, Simon (12 February 2012). "Orange BAFTA Film Awards 2012 winners list - in full". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
20. Brooks, Xan (11 February 2013). "Baftas 2013 – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
21. "Baftas: Gravity and 12 Years a Slave share glory". BBC News. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
22. Brown, Mark (8 February 2015). "Baftas 2015: Boyhood wins top honours but Grand Budapest Hotel checks out with most". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
23. Lodderhose, Diana (14 February 2016). "'The Revenant,' Leonardo DiCaprio Dominate BAFTA Awards". Variety. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
24. Grater, Tom. "Baftas 2017: 'La La Land' scoops five as 'Moonlight', 'Nocturnal Animals' are shutout". Screendaily. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
25. "Bafta Film Awards 2018: Three Billboards wins top prizes". BBC. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
26. Nordine, Michael (10 February 2019). "BAFTA Awards 2019: 'Roma' Wins Best Film as 'The Favourite' Takes Home the Most Prizes". Indiewire. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
27. "Baftas 2020: Sam Mendes film 1917 dominates awards". BBC. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
28. Shoard, Catherine (12 April 2021). "Baftas 2021: Nomadland wins big as Promising Young Woman and Anthony Hopkins surprise". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
29. "2022 EE British Academy Film Awards: Nominations". BAFTA. 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
30. "Film | Original Screenplay in 2023". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 18 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
31. Sandwell, Ian (19 February 2023). "Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front has set a new BAFTA record". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 February 2023.

External links

• BAFTA Awards Database