Best Actor Performances (1939 and Beyond)
by idonnowho | created - 13 Jan 2014 | updated - 04 Dec 2017 | Public
1. Frank Morgan
Actor | The Wizard of Oz
Jovial, somewhat flamboyant Frank Morgan (born Francis Wuppermann) will forever be remembered as the title character in The Wizard of Oz (1939), but he was a veteran and respected actor long before he played that part, and turned in outstanding performances both before and after that film. One of ...
Best Actor of 1939 (for "The Wizard" in "The Wizard of Oz").
2. Cliff Edwards
Actor | His Girl Friday
Becoming popular with playing the ukulele, his unique singing and supplying the voice of animated movies, Cliff Edwards was one of the most popular singers in America.
Born in Hannibal, Missouri, Edwards left school at the age of 14, moved to St. Louis, and started to work as a singer in saloons. ...
Best Actor of 1940 (for "Jiminy Cricket" in "Pinocchio")
3. Fred Shields
Actor | The Three Caballeros
In Kansas City, Shields owned a theatre group, The Playmakers, and performed in stage plays. He also worked as a newscaster for WDAF radio. In 1929, he announced the plane flight of Germany's Graf Zeppelin over the U.S. In 1930, he came to Hollywood, CA, with Ger, his wife, Karena, and daughter, ...
Best Actor of 1942 (for "The Great Prince" in "Bambi").
4. James Baskett
Actor | Song of the South
James Baskett was born on February 16, 1904 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA as James Franklin Baskett. He was an actor, known for Song of the South (1946), Revenge of the Zombies (1943) and Policy Man (1938). He was married to Margaret. He died on July 9, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Best Actor of 1946 (for "Uncle Remus" and "Br'er Fox" in "Song of the South").
5. Burl Ives
Actor | The Big Country
Burl Ives was one of six children born to a farming family in Hunt City, Jasper, Illinois, the son of Cordellia "Dellie" (White) and Levi Franklin Ives. He first sang in public for a soldiers' reunion when he was age 4. In high school, he learned the banjo and played fullback, intending to become a...
Best Actor of 1949 (for "Uncle Hiram Douglas" in "So Dear to My Heart").
6. Ed Wynn
Actor | Alice in Wonderland
An old-fashioned comedian, who, by recommendation by his son Keenan Wynn, became one of the world's most beloved clowns, and one of the best actors of his time. He was born on November 9, 1886. He performed in the Ziegfeld Follies, and later had a son Keenan in 1916. He later wrote his own shows, ...
Best Actor of 1951 (for "The Mad Hatter" in "Alice in Wonderland").
7. Bobby Driscoll
Actor | Peter Pan
Bobby Driscoll was a natural-born actor. Discovered by chance at the age of five-and-a-half in a barber shop in Altadena, CA. and then convincing in anything he ever undertook on the movie screen and on television throughout his career spanning 17 years (1943-1960). Includes such notable movie ...
Best Actor of 1953 (for "Peter Pan" in "Peter Pan").
8. Kirk Douglas
Actor | The Final Countdown
Cleft-chinned, steely-eyed and virile star of international cinema who rose from being "the ragman's son" (the name of his best-selling 1988 autobiography) to become a bona fide superstar, Kirk Douglas, also known as Issur Danielovitch Demsky, was born on December 9, 1916 in Amsterdam, New York. ...
Best Actor of 1954 (for "Ned Land" in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea").
9. Larry Roberts
Actor | Lady and the Tramp
Larry Roberts was born Lawrence Saltzman on September 28, 1926. He was the only child of Robert E. and Mabel (Haber) Saltzman. Larry was a native of Cleveland, Ohio. After Larry's parents divorced, his father moved to Los Angeles. During World War II, Larry served with General Patton's Third Army ...
Best Actor of 1955 (for "The Tramp" in "Lady and the Tramp"; it was his only acting role, but he did a damn good job with it).
10. Kevin Corcoran
Actor | Old Yeller
Kevin Corcoran was born on June 10, 1949 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Old Yeller (1957), Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Pollyanna (1960). He was married to Laura Soltwedel. He died on October 6, 2015 in Burbank, California, USA.
Best Actor of 1960 (for "Jimmy Bean" in "Pollyanna").
11. Dick Van Dyke
Actor | Mary Poppins
Dick Van Dyke was born Richard Wayne Van Dyke in West Plains, Missouri, to Hazel Victoria (McCord), a stenographer, and Loren Wayne Van Dyke, a salesman. His younger brother was entertainer Jerry Van Dyke. His ancestry includes English, Dutch, Scottish, German and Swiss-German. Although he had ...
Best Actor of 1964 (for "Bert the Chimney Sweep" in "Mary Poppins").
12. Christopher Plummer
Actor | Beginners
Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, perhaps Canada's greatest thespian, delivered outstanding performances as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), the iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A ...
Best Actor of 1965 (for "Captain Georg Von Trapp" in "The Sound of Music").
13. Louis Prima
Actor | The Jungle Book
Born in New Orleans' French Quarter, Louis Prima longed to play jazz. When he was a child, he studied the violin. His older brother Leon took up trumpet while Louis was still quite young, and he soon followed in his brother's footsteps. He played in clubs like "The Famous Door" in the 1930s, and by...
Best Actor of 1967 (for "King Louie" in "The Jungle Book").
14. Ron Moody
Actor | Oliver!
Equipped with a crooked, leering smirk and devilish gleam in his eye, actor Ron Moody will be most assuredly remembered for one signature role, despite the fact that the talented comedian had much, much more to offer. Carol Channing may have had her Dolly Levi and Yul Brynner his King of Siam, but ...
Best Actor of 1968 (for "Fagin" in "Oliver!").
15. Gene Wilder
Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
When he was 11, he wanted to be a comedian like Sid Caesar. Then, when he was 15 and saw Lee J. Cobb in 'Death of a Salesman,' he decided he would be a comedy actor and found that Mel Brooks was a great influence on his screen writing. He combined both talents with directing in The World's Greatest...
Best Actor of 1971 (for "Willy Wonka" in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory").
16. Peter Ustinov
Actor | Spartacus
Peter Ustinov was a two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, director, writer, journalist and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage plays and led numerous international theatrical productions.
He was born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinow on April 16, 1921 in Swiss Cottage, ...
Best Actor of 1973 (for "Prince John" in "Robin Hood").
17. Graham Chapman
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Graham Chapman was born on January 8, 1941 in Leicester, England while a German air raid was in progress. Graham's father was a chief police inspector and probably inspired the constables Graham often portrayed later in comedy sketches. Graham studied medicine in college and earned an M.D., but he ...
Best Actor of 1975 (for "King Arthur" in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail").
18. Bob Newhart
Actor | Elf
Bob Newhart is an American actor and stand-up comedian. His comedic style involves deadpan delivery of dialogue, a slight stammer when talking, and comedic monologues. He has cited earlier comedians George Gobel (1919-1991), Ray Goulding (1922-1990), and Bob Elliott (1923-2016) as his main ...
Best Actor of 1977 (for "Bernard" in "The Rescuers").
19. Keith Coogan
Actor | Adventures in Babysitting
Keith Coogan was born Keith Eric Mitchell on January 13, 1970 in Palm Springs, California. The grandson of legendary character actor Jackie Coogan, Keith began his acting career doing TV commercials -- his first gig was as a stand-in in a McDonald's TV spot -- as well various TV shows and ...
Best Actor of 1981 (for "Young Tod" in "The Fox and the Hound").
20. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
Best Actor of 1985 (for "Police Officer" in "Follow That Bird").
21. Vincent Price
Actor | The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Actor, raconteur, art collector and connoisseur of haute cuisine are just some of the attributes associated with Vincent Price. He was born Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri, to Marguerite Cobb "Daisy" (Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, who was President of the National Candy ...
Best Actor of 1986 (for "Professor Ratigan" in "The Great Mouse Detective").
22. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
Best Actor of 1988 (for "Don the Horse" in "Hot to Trot").
23. Ken Page
Actor | The Nightmare Before Christmas
Ken Page is an African-American actor who is widely known for voicing Oogie Boogie from Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas and it's various spin-offs and video games including Kingdom Hearts. He also acted in various movies and stage productions including All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Little ...
Best Actor of 1989 (for "King Gator" in "All Dogs Go to Heaven").
24. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
Best Actor of 1990 (for "Wilbur" in "The Rescuers 2 Down Under").
25. Robby Benson
Actor | Beauty and the Beast
Robby Benson is an American writer, director, composer, lyricist, actor, professor of film, filmmaker and novelist. He began his career in the theater, (Oliver, The King and I); on Broadway (co-starring in Zelda, The Rothschilds and Joseph Papp's The Pirates of Penzance, where he met and fell in ...
Best Actor of 1991 (for "The Beast" in "Beauty and the Beast").
26. Robin Williams
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...
Best Actor of 1992 (for "The Genie" in "Aladdin").
27. Ken Page
Actor | The Nightmare Before Christmas
Ken Page is an African-American actor who is widely known for voicing Oogie Boogie from Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas and it's various spin-offs and video games including Kingdom Hearts. He also acted in various movies and stage productions including All Dogs Go to Heaven, The Little ...
Best Actor of 1993 (for "Oogie Boogie" in "The Nightmare Before Christmas").
28. James Earl Jones
Actor | Rogue One
Widely regarded as the one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native USA and internationally, James Earl Jones was born on January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla, Mississippi. At an early age, he started to take dramatic lessons to calm himself down. It appeared to work as he has since starred ...
Best Actor of 1994 (for "Mufasa" in "The Lion King").
29. Tim Allen
Actor | Toy Story
Timothy Allen Dick was born on June 13, 1953, in Denver, Colorado, to Martha Katherine (Fox) and Gerald M. Dick. His father, a real estate salesman, was killed in a collision with a drunk driver while driving his family home from a University of Colorado football game, when Tim was eleven years old...
Best Actor of 1995 (for "Buzz Lightyear" in "Toy Story").
30. Charlie Sheen
Actor | Two and a Half Men
Charlie Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estévez on September 3, 1965, in New York City. His father, actor Martin Sheen (born Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez), was at the time just breaking into the business, with performances on Broadway. His mother, Janet Sheen (née Templeton), was a former New York art ...
Best Actor of 1996 (for "Charlie Barkin" in "All Dogs Go to Heaven 2").
31. James Woods
Actor | Vampires
James Howard Woods was born on April 18, 1947 in Vernal, Utah, the son of Martha A. (Smith) and Gail Peyton Woods, a U.S. Army intelligence officer who died during Woods' childhood. James is of Irish, English, and German descent. He grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, with his mother and stepfather ...
Best Actor of 1997 (for "Hades" in "Hercules").
32. Andy Dick
Actor | Road Trip
Andrew Dick is an American actor, producer and comedian. He is known for playing Boingo from Hoodwinked, Kramer from Inspector Gadget, Mr. Sheepman from Clone High, Mambo from Happily N'Ever After, Dylan from The Reef, Barry from Old School and Nuka from The Lion King II. He was married to Ivone ...
Best Actor of 1998 (for "Nuka" in "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride").
33. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
Best Actor of 1999 (for "Woody" in "Toy Story 2").
34. John Goodman
Actor | 10 Cloverfield Lane
John Stephen Goodman's an American film, TV & stage actor. He was born in Affton, Missouri to Virginia Roos (Loosmore), a waitress and saleswoman & Leslie Francis Goodman, a postal worker who died when he was a small child. He's of English, Welsh & German ancestry. He's best known for his role as ...
Best Actor of 2001 (for "James P. Sullivan" in "Monsters, Inc.").
35. Denis Leary
Writer | Rescue Me
Denis Leary was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Nora (Sullivan) and John Leary, Irish immigrants who had grown up together. His mother was a maid and his father was an auto mechanic. After a childhood in the 1960s, Leary went to Emerson College in Boston, where he tried his ...
Best Actor of 2002 (for "Diego" in "Ice Age").
36. Paul Walker
Actor | The Fast and the Furious
Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California. He grew up together with his brothers, Caleb and Cody, and sisters, Ashlie and Amie. Their parents, Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor, and Cheryl (Crabtree) Walker, a model, separated around September 2004. His grandfather, William ...
Best Actor of 2006 (for "Jerry Shepherd" in "Eight Below").
37. Brian Posehn
Actor | Run Ronnie Run
Brian Posehn was born on July 6, 1966 in Sacramento, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Run Ronnie Run (2002), The Sarah Silverman Program. (2007) and Knights of Badassdom (2013). He has been married to Melanie Truhett since September 4, 2004. They have one child.
Best Actor of 2007 (for "Glen Maverick" in "Surf's Up").
38. Jim Carrey
Actor | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: ...
Best Actor of 2008 (for "Horton" in "Horton Hears a Who!")
39. David Cross
Actor | Arrested Development
David Cross is an American actor, writer and comedian who is known for playing Tobias Fünke from Arrested Development, Minion from Megamind, Crane from Kung Fu Panda, Ian Hawke from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Yivo from Futurama and Happy Time Harry from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He also acted in Grand ...
Best Actor of 2011 (for "Ian Hawke" in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked").
40. Peter Dinklage
Actor | Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage is an American actor. Since his breakout role in The Station Agent (2003), he has appeared in numerous films and theatre plays. Since 2011, Dinklage has portrayed Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011) . For this he won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a...
Best Actor of 2012 (for "Captain Gutt" in "Ice Age 4: Continental Drift").
41. Tom Hanks
Producer | Cast Away
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has ...
Best Actor of 2013 (for "Walt Disney" in "Saving Mr. Banks").
42. Scott Adsit
Actor | Big Hero 6
Scott Adsit performed on the mainstage of Chicago's Second City, between 1994 and 1998, and, alongside Saturday Night Live (1975)'s Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey, was one of the driving forces behind such groundbreaking revues as "Pinata Full of Bees" and "Paradigm Lost". An in-depth look at his craft...
Best Actor of 2014 (for "Baymax" in "Big Hero 6").
43. Lewis Black
Actor | Inside Out
Lewis Black was born on August 30, 1948 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Inside Out (2015), Man of the Year (2006) and Accepted (2006).
Best Actor of 2015 (for "Anger" in "Inside Out").
44. Idris Elba
Actor | Beasts of No Nation
An only child, Idrissa Akuna Elba was born and raised in London, England. His father, Winston, is from Sierra Leone and worked at Ford Dagenham; his mother, Eve, is from Ghana and had a clerical duty. Idris attended school in Canning Town, where he first became involved in acting, before he dropped...
Best Actor of 2016 (for "Shere Kahn" in "The Jungle Book")
45. Diedrich Bader
Actor | Office Space
Diedrich Bader was born in Alexandria, Virginia, but moved to Paris, France, with his family at age two. While in the "City of Light" he developed an appreciation for movie legends like Fred Astaire and Charles Chaplin. So, when a fragile "Chaplin" movie reel burned in the theater's projector, ...
Best Actor of 2017 (for "Batman/Bruce Wayne" in "Lego Batman")
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