Best Actor In a Leading Role, Oscar Winning Performance

The Top Ten
1 Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
2 Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
3 Marlon Brando - The Godfather Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor, film director, and activist. He is credited with bringing a gripping realism to film acting, and is often cited as one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time. He died on July 1, 2004 at the age of 80.
4 Robert DeNiro - Raging Bull
5 Anthony Hopkins - The Silence Of The Lambs Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. He was born on December 31, 1937 in Margam, Wales. He is known for winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992, and was nominated three additional times. Hopkins has also won three BAFTAs, two Emmys, and the Cecil B. DeMille ...read more.
6 Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

Yeah but his the the shining performance was the best!

7 Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor. He holds both British and Irish citizenship. He has won 3 Academy Awards for Best Actor for My Left Foot, There Will be Blood, and Lincoln.
8 Dustin Hoffman - Rain Man Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor and director with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters.
9 Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for his work in biopics and period films, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. As of 2019, his films have grossed over $7.2 billion worldwide, and he has been placed eight times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actors. ...read more.
10 Gregory Peck - To Kill A Mockingbird
The Contenders
11 Marlon Brando - On The Waterfront Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor, film director, and activist. He is credited with bringing a gripping realism to film acting, and is often cited as one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time. He died on July 1, 2004 at the age of 80.
12 Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor and producer who was born on October 28, 1974, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He comes from a family of performers and began his career as a child actor, appearing in various television shows and films. Phoenix's breakout role came in the 2000 film "Gladiator," for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He has since appeared in numerous critically acclaimed films, including "Walk the Line," "The Master," and "Joker," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Known for his intense and transformative performances, Phoenix is widely regarded as one of the most talented actors of his generation. In addition to his acting ...read more.
13 Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club Matthew David McConaughey (born November 4, 1969) is an American actor. He had his breakout role with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal drama A Time to Kill (1996). ...read more.
14 Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything Edward John David "Eddie" Redmayne is an English actor of stage and screen. His first role was in the 2006 movie The Good Shepherd, but it was only until 2011, when he became famous for his role as Colin Clark in the movie My Week with Marilyn. He won Best Actor for his role as Stephen Hawking in the ...read more.
15 Sean Penn - Milk
16 Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot
17 Kevin Spacey - American Beauty Kevin Spacey Fowler KBE (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles in film and television. Spacey has received various accolades for his performances on stage and screen including two Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received nominations for a Grammy Award as well as twelve Primetime Emmy Awards. Spacey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and was named an honorary Commander and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 and 2015, respectively. ...read more.
18 Sean Penn - Mystic River
19 Roberto Benigni - Life Is Beautiful Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director.
20 Russell Crowe - Gladiator
21 Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
22 Matt Damon - The Martian

Matt Damon didn't win the Oscar. Leonardo DiCaprio did.

23 Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend Ray Milland, born Alfred Reginald Jones (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945), a sophisticated leading man opposite ...read more.
24 Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives
25 Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American screen actor whose performances in iconic 1940s films noir such as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Big Sleep earned him status as a cultural icon.
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