Golden Globe Award / Best Actor - Drama
Winner and nominee for the Golden Globe Award in the category Best Actor - Drama (since 2005 Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama ), which honors the most outstanding acting achievements of the past calendar year. The category was launched in 1951. From 1944 to 1950 the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) awarded an Actor Award (Best Actor in a Motion Picture) without subdivision by film genre.
The best drama actor was later awarded an Oscar 52 times , most recently in 2020 when the award went to Joaquin Phoenix ( Joker ) . In 1954, 1960, 1966 and 1999 the award-winning film role was not considered for the Oscar. In 2007, the American Leonardo DiCaprio ( Blood Diamond , Departed - Unter Feinden ) was given the rare honor of being nominated for two different roles in one year.
American actors have won the Acting Award 53 times (including actors such as the Hungarian Paul Lukas who emigrated to the USA ), followed by their colleagues from Great Britain (17 wins) and Ireland (4 wins). Maximilian Schell was the only actor from German-speaking countries to win the 1962 award for his performance in the Hollywood production The Judgment of Nuremberg , for which he later won the Academy Award. He competed in vain with The Man in the Glass Booth in 1976 , while Oskar Werner was able to join the nominees list in 1966 for the English-language drama The Ship of Fools . The only nominations for non-English-language roles came from Marcello Mastroianni in 1978 for the Italian production A Special Day , in 2005 Javier Bardem for the Spanish film The Sea in Me, and in 2020 Antonio Banderas for the Spanish film Sorrow and Glory .
Peter O'Toole , Dustin Hoffman , Jack Nicholson , Tom Hanks , Tom Cruise , Jim Carrey , Gene Hackman , George Clooney , Leonardo DiCaprio and Joaquin Phoenix are the only actors who have won a Golden Globe for Best Actor - Drama and Best Actor - Won a comedy or musical .
Posthumous awards and nominations were given to James Dean in 1956 , Spencer Tracy in 1968 ( Guess who's coming to eat ), and in 1977 Peter Finch ( Network ) .
statistics | Surname | number | year |
---|---|---|---|
Most frequent awards | Tom Hanks | 3 | 1994, 1995, 2001 |
Jack Nicholson | 3 | 1975, 1976, 2003 | |
Most frequent nominations (* = victory) |
Al Pacino | 10 | 1973, 1974 *, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993 * |
Most frequent nominations without a win | Paul Newman | 7th | 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1983, 1987, 1995 |
The films listed below are given with their German distribution title (if this can be determined), followed by the foreign-language original title in brackets in italics. The original title is not mentioned if the German and foreign-language film titles are identical. The winners are highlighted first. Marked with an * are actors who later won the Oscar for Best Leading Role of the Year .
1940s
Paul Lukas * - Watch on the Rhine
Ray Milland * - The Lost Weekend (The Lost Weekend)
Gregory Peck - The Wilderness Calls (The Yearling)
Ronald Colman * - A Double Life (A Double Life)
1950s
Broderick Crawford * - The Man Who Wanted to Rule (All the King's Men)
- Richard Todd - Counted hours (The Hasty Heart)
José Ferrer * - The Last Musketeer (Cyrano de Bergerac)
- Louis Calhern - The Magnificent Yankee
- James Stewart - My Friend Harvey (Harvey)
Fredric March - The Death of a Salesman (Death of a Salesman)
- Kirk Douglas - Police Station 21 (Detective Story)
- Arthur Kennedy - victory over the darkness (Bright Victory)
Gary Cooper * - Twelve Noon (High Noon)
- Charles Boyer - My Son Discovers Love (The Happy Time)
- Ray Milland - I'm a Nuclear Spy (The Thief)
Spencer Tracy - Theaterfieber (The Actress)
Marlon Brando * - The Fist in the Neck (On the Waterfront)
Ernest Borgnine * - Marty
James Dean (posthumous honor, without giving a film title)
Kirk Douglas - Vincent van Gogh - A Life in Passion (Lust for Life)
- Gary Cooper - Alluring Temptation (Friendly Persuasion)
- Charlton Heston - The Ten Commandments (The Ten Commandments)
- Burt Lancaster - The Rainmaker (The Rainmaker)
- Karl Malden - Baby Doll - Do not desire the other woman (Baby Doll)
Alec Guinness * - The Bridge on the River Kwai (The Bridge on the River Kwai)
- Marlon Brando - Sayonara
- Henry Fonda - The Twelve Jurors (12 Angry Men)
- Anthony Franciosa - Poisonous Snow (A Hatful of Rain)
- Charles Laughton - Witness for the Prosecution (Witness for the Prosecution)
David Niven * - Separate from table and bed (Separate Tables)
- Tony Curtis - Escape In Chains (The Defiant Ones)
- Robert Donat - The Inn of the sixth happiness (The Inn of the Sixth Happiness)
- Sidney Poitier - Escape In Chains (The Defiant Ones)
- Spencer Tracy - The Old Man and the Sea (The Old Man and the Sea)
1960s
Anthony Franciosa - Many are called (Career)
- Richard Burton - Look Back in Anger (Look Back in Anger)
- Charlton Heston * - Ben Hur (Ben-Hur)
- Fredric March - middle of the night (Middle of the Night)
- Joseph Schildkraut - The Diary of Anne Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank)
Burt Lancaster * - Elmer Gantry
- Trevor Howard - Sons and Lovers (Sons and Lovers)
- Laurence Olivier - Spartacus
- Dean Stockwell - Sons and Lovers (Sons and Lovers)
- Spencer Tracy - who sows the wind (Inherit the Wind)
Maximilian Schell * - The Judgment at Nuremberg
- Warren Beatty - Splendor in the Grass (Splendor in the Grass)
- Maurice Chevalier - Fanny
- Paul Newman - Sharks of the City (The Hustler)
- Sidney Poitier - A Raisin in the Sun (A Raisin in the Sun)
Gregory Peck * - Who disturbs the nightingale (To Kill a Mockingbird)
- Bobby Darin - Pressure Point
- Jackie Gleason - Gigot, the mute from Montmartre (Gigot)
- Laurence Harvey - The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm)
- Burt Lancaster - The Prisoner of Alcatraz (Birdman of Alcatraz)
- Jack Lemmon - Days of Wine and Roses (Days of Wine and Roses)
- James Mason - Lolita
- Paul Newman - Sweet Bird of Youth (Sweet Bird of Youth)
- Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia (Lawrence of Arabia)
- Anthony Quinn - Lawrence of Arabia (Lawrence of Arabia)
Sidney Poitier * - lilies of the field (Lilies of the Field)
- Marlon Brando - The Ugly American (The Ugly American)
- Stathis Giallelis - The Indomitable (America, America)
- Rex Harrison - Cleopatra
- Steve McQueen - Love with the Proper Stranger (Love with the Proper Stranger)
- Paul Newman - The Wildest Among Thousand (Hud)
- Gregory Peck - Captain Newman (Captain Newman, MD)
- Tom Tryon - The Cardinal (The Cardinal)
- Richard Burton - Becket
- Anthony Franciosa - Rio Conchos
- Fredric March - Seven Days in May (Seven Days in May)
- Anthony Quinn - Alexis Sorbas (Alexis Zorbas)
1966
Omar Sharif - Doctor Zhivago (Doctor Zhivago)
- Rex Harrison - Michelangelo - Inferno and Ecstasy (The Agony and the Ecstasy)
- Sidney Poitier - Dreaming Lips (A Patch of Blue)
- Rod Steiger - The Pawnbroker (The Pawnbroker)
- Oskar Werner - The Ship of Fools
1967
Paul Scofield * - A Man for All Seasons (A Man for All Seasons)
- Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
- Michael Caine - The seducer sends his regards (Alfie)
- Steve McQueen - Gunboat on the Yangtze River (The Sand Pebbles)
- Max von Sydow - Hawaii
1968
Rod Steiger * - In the Heat of the Night
- Alan Bates - The Madding Crowd (Far from the Madding Crowd)
- Warren Beatty - Bonnie and Clyde (Bonnie and Clyde)
- Paul Newman - The Indomitable (Cool Hand Luke)
- Spencer Tracy - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)
1969
Peter O'Toole - The Lion in Winter (The Lion in Winter)
- Alan Arkin - The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter)
- Alan Bates - A Man Like Job (The Fixer)
- Tony Curtis - The Boston Strangler (The Boston Strangler)
- Cliff Robertson * - Charly
1970s
1970
John Wayne * - The Marshal (True Grit)
- Alan Arkin - Popi
- Richard Burton - Queen for a Thousand Days (Anne of the Thousand Days)
- Dustin Hoffman - Asphalt Cowboy (Midnight Cowboy)
- Jon Voight - Asphalt Cowboy (Midnight Cowboy)
1971
George C. Scott * - Patton - Rebel in Uniform (Patton)
- Melvyn Douglas - No Song for My Father (I Never Sang for My Father)
- James Earl Jones - The Great White Hope (The Great White Hope)
- Jack Nicholson - Five Easy Pieces - A man seeks himself (Five Easy Pieces)
- Ryan O'Neal - Love Story
1972
Gene Hackman * - Brooklyn Focal Point (French Connection)
- Peter Finch - Sunday, Bloody Sunday (Sunday Bloody Sunday)
- Malcolm McDowell - A Clockwork Orange (A Clockwork Orange)
- Jack Nicholson - The Art of Love (Carnal Knowledge)
- George C. Scott - Hospital (The Hospital)
1973
Marlon Brando * - The Godfather (The Godfather)
- Michael Caine - Murder with Small Flaws (Sleuth)
- Al Pacino - The Godfather (The Godfather)
- Laurence Olivier - Murder with Small Mistakes (Sleuth)
- Jon Voight - Everyone's Dying First (Deliverance)
1974
- Robert Blake - Harley Davidson 344 (Electra Glide in Blue)
- Jack Lemmon * - Save the Tiger
- Steve McQueen - Papillon
- Jack Nicholson - The Last Detail (The Last Detail)
1975
- James Caan - The Gambler (The Gambler)
- Gene Hackman - Dialogue (The Conversation)
- Dustin Hoffman - Lenny
- Al Pacino - The Godfather - Part II (The Godfather: Part II)
Jack Nicholson * - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
- Gene Hackman - French Connection II
- Al Pacino - Dog Days (Dog Day Afternoon)
- Maximilian Schell - The Man in the Glass Booth
- James Whitmore - Give 'em Hell, Harry!
1977
Peter Finch * - Network
- David Carradine - This Land is My Land (Bound for Glory)
- Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
- Dustin Hoffman - The Marathon Man
- Sylvester Stallone - Rocky
1978
Richard Burton - Equus - Blind Horses (Equus)
- Marcello Mastroianni - A Special Day (Una giornata particolare)
- Al Pacino - Bobby Deerfield
- Gregory Peck - MacArthur - Hero of the Pacific (MacArthur)
- Henry Winkler - heroes of today (Heroes)
1979
Jon Voight * - Coming Home - Coming Home (Coming Home)
- Brad Davis - Midnight Express (Midnight Express)
- Robert De Niro - Those Going Through Hell (The Deer Hunter)
- Anthony Hopkins - Magic - A sinister love story (Magic)
- Gregory Peck - The Boys from Brazil
1980s
1980
Dustin Hoffman * - Kramer vs. Kramer (Kramer vs. Kramer)
- Jack Lemmon - Das China Syndrome (The China Syndrome)
- Al Pacino - ... and Justice for All (... And Justice for All.)
- Jon Voight - The Champ (The Champ)
- James Woods - The Onion Field (The Onion Field)
1981
Robert De Niro * - Like a Wild Bull (Raging Bull)
- John Hurt - The Elephant Man (The Elephant Man)
- Jack Lemmon - A Summer in Manhattan (Tribute)
- Peter O'Toole - The Long Death of Stuntman Cameron (The Stunt Man)
- Donald Sutherland - Ordinary People (Ordinary People)
1982
Henry Fonda * - On Golden Pond (On Golden Pond)
- Warren Beatty - Reds
- Timothy Hutton - The Cadets of Bunker Hill (Taps)
- Burt Lancaster - Atlantic City, USA (Atlantic City)
- Treat Williams - Prince of the City
1983
Ben Kingsley * - Gandhi
- Albert Finney - You or Both (Shoot the Moon)
- Richard Gere - An Officer and a Gentleman
- Jack Lemmon - Missing (Missing)
- Paul Newman - The Verdict - The Truth and Nothing But the Truth (The Verdict)
1984
Tom Courtenay - An Unequal Couple (The Dresser)
Robert Duvall * - Comeback of Love (Tender Mercies)
- Tom Conti - Ruben, Ruben (Reuben, Reuben)
- Richard Farnsworth - The Fox (The Gray Fox)
- Albert Finney - An Unequal Couple (The Dresser)
- Al Pacino - Al Pacino - Scarface (Scarface)
- Eric Roberts - Star 80
1985
- Jeff Bridges - Starman
- Albert Finney - Under the Volcano (Under the Volcano)
- Tom Hulce - Amadeus
- Sam Waterston - The Killing Fields - Schreiendes Land (The Killing Fields)
Jon Voight - Express to Hell (Runaway Train)
- Harrison Ford - The Only Witness
- Gene Hackman - Twice in a Lifetime (Twice in a Lifetime)
- William Hurt * - Kiss of the Spider Woman (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
- Raúl Juliá - Kiss of the Spider Woman (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
- Harrison Ford - Mosquito Coast (The Mosquito Coast)
- Dexter Gordon - At midnight (Round Midnight)
- William Hurt - Children of a Lesser God (Children of a Lesser God)
- Jeremy Irons - Mission (The Mission)
- Paul Newman * - The Color of Money (The Color of Money)
Michael Douglas * - Wall Street
- John Lone - The Last Emperor (The Last Emperor)
- Jack Nicholson - Spurge (Ironweed)
- Nick Nolte - The Steel Curtain (Weeds)
- Denzel Washington - Cry Freedom (Cry Freedom)
- Gene Hackman - Mississippi Burning - The Root of Hatred (Mississippi Burning)
- Tom Hulce - Dominick & Eugene (Dominick and Eugene)
- Edward James Olmos - Stand and Deliver
- Forest Whitaker - Bird
1990s
Tom Cruise - Born on 4 July (Born on the Fourth of July)
- Daniel Day-Lewis * - My Left Foot (My Left Foot)
- Jack Lemmon - Dad
- Al Pacino - Sea of Love - Melody of Death (Sea of Love)
- Robin Williams - Dead Poets Society (Dead Poets Society)
Jeremy Irons * - The Affair of Sunny von B. (Reversal of Fortune)
- Kevin Costner - The Dances with Wolves (Dances with Wolves)
- Richard Harris - The field (The Field)
- Al Pacino - The Godfather - Part III (The Godfather: Part III)
- Robin Williams - Awakenings (Awakenings)
Nick Nolte - Lord of the Tides (The Prince of Tides)
- Warren Beatty - Bugsy
- Kevin Costner - JFK - Crime Scene Dallas (JFK)
- Robert De Niro - Cape Fear (Cape Fear)
- Anthony Hopkins * - The Silence of the Lambs (The Silence of the Lambs)
Al Pacino * - The Scent of a Woman
- Robert Downey Jr. - Chaplin
- Tom Cruise - A Matter of Honor (A Few Good Men)
- Jack Nicholson - Jimmy Hoffa (Hoffa)
- Denzel Washington - Malcolm X
- Daniel Day-Lewis - In the Name of the Father
- Harrison Ford - The Fugitive (The Fugitive)
- Anthony Hopkins - The Remains of the Day (The Remains of the Day)
- Liam Neeson - Schindler's List (Schindler's List)
- Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption (The Shawshank Redemption)
- Paul Newman - Nobody's Fool - Irresistible in the long run (Nobody's Fool)
- Brad Pitt - Legends of the Fall (Legends of the Fall)
- John Travolta - Pulp Fiction
Nicolas Cage * - Leaving Las Vegas
- Richard Dreyfuss - Mr. Holland's Opus
- Anthony Hopkins - Nixon
- Ian McKellen - Richard III. (Richard III)
- Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking - His Last Walk (Dead Man Walking)
Geoffrey Rush * - Shine - The Path into Light (Shine)
- Ralph Fiennes - The English Patient (The English Patient)
- Mel Gibson - Bounty - One Will Pay (Ransomware)
- Woody Harrelson - Larry Flynt - The Naked Truth (The People vs. Larry Flynt)
- Liam Neeson - Michael Collins
- Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting
- Daniel Day-Lewis - Der Boxer (The Boxer)
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Titanic
- Djimon Hounsou - Amistad
Jim Carrey - The Truman Show (The Truman Show)
- Stephen Fry - Oscar Wilde (Wilde)
- Tom Hanks - Saving Private Ryan (Saving Private Ryan)
- Ian McKellen - Gods and Monsters
- Nick Nolte - Der Haunted (The Affliction)
2000s
Denzel Washington - Hurricane (The Hurricane)
- Russell Crowe - Insider (The Insider)
- Matt Damon - The Talented Mr. Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
- Richard Farnsworth - A True Story - The Straight Story (The Straight Story)
- Kevin Spacey * - American Beauty
Tom Hanks - Cast Away - Lost (Castaway)
- Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls (Before Night Falls)
- Russell Crowe * - gladiator
- Michael Douglas - The WonderBoys (Wonder Boys)
- Geoffrey Rush - Quills - Power of Obsession (Quills)
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind - Genie und Wahnsinn (A Beautiful Mind)
- Will Smith - Ali
- Kevin Spacey - The Shipping News (The Shipping News)
- Billy Bob Thornton - The Man Who Wasn't There
- Denzel Washington * - Training Day
Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt
- Adrien Brody * - The Pianist (The Pianist)
- Michael Caine - The Quiet American (The Quiet American)
- Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Catch Me If You Can
- Russell Crowe - Master and Commander : The Far Side of the World
- Tom Cruise - Last Samurai (The Last Samurai)
- Ben Kingsley - House of Sand and Fog (House of Sand and Fog)
- Jude Law - On the Road to Cold Mountain (Cold Mountain)
Leonardo DiCaprio - Aviator (The Aviator)
- Javier Bardem - The Sea Within Me (Mar adentro)
- Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda (Hotel Rwanda)
- Johnny Depp - When Dreams Learn To Fly (Finding Neverland)
- Liam Neeson - Kinsey - The Truth About Sex (Kinsey)
Philip Seymour Hoffman * - Capote
- Russell Crowe - The Comeback (Cinderella Man)
- Terrence Howard - Hustle & Flow
- Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
- David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck (Good Night, and Good Luck.)
Forest Whitaker * - The Last King of Scotland - In the clutches of power (The Last King of Scotland)
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Departed (The Departed)
- Peter O'Toole - Venus
- Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness (The Pursuit of Happyness)
Daniel Day-Lewis * - There Will Be Blood
- George Clooney - Michael Clayton
- James McAvoy - Atonement (Atonement)
- Viggo Mortensen - Fatal Promises - Eastern Promises (Eastern Promises)
- Denzel Washington - American gangster
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler - Fame, Love, Pain (The Wrestler)
- Leonardo DiCaprio - Times of Turmoil ( Revolutionary Road )
- Frank Langella - Frost / Nixon
- Sean Penn * - Milk
- Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ( The Curious Case of Benjamin Button )
2010s
- George Clooney - Up in the Air
- Colin Firth - A Single Man
- Morgan Freeman - Invictus - Unconquered ( Invictus )
- Tobey Maguire - Brothers
Colin Firth * - The King's Speech
- Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
- James Franco - 127 Hours
- Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
- Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter
George Clooney - The Descendants - Family and Other Affairs (The Descendants)
- Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
- Michael Fassbender - Shame
- Ryan Gosling - The Ides of March - Days of Betrayal (The Ides of March)
- Brad Pitt - The Art of Winning - Moneyball (Moneyball)
- Richard Gere - Arbitrage
- John Hawkes - The Sessions - When Words Touch (The Sessions)
- Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
- Denzel Washington - Flight
Matthew McConaughey * - Dallas Buyers Club
- Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
- Idris Elba - Mandela - The Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
- Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
- Robert Redford - All Is Lost
Eddie Redmayne * - The Theory of Everything (The Theory of Everything)
- Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
- Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game - A Top Secret Life (The Imitation Game)
- Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler - Every night has its price (Nightcrawler)
- David Oyelowo - Selma
Leonardo DiCaprio * - The Revenant (The Revenant)
- Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
- Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
- Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
- Will Smith - Shattering Truth (Concussion)
Casey Affleck * - Manchester by the Sea
- Joel Edgerton - Loving
- Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge - The Decision (Hacksaw Ridge)
- Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic - Once Wilderness and Back (Captain Fantastic)
- Denzel Washington - Fences
Gary Oldman * - The Darkest Hour
- Timothée Chalamet - Call Me by Your Name
- Daniel Day-Lewis - The Silk Thread (Phantom Thread)
- Tom Hanks - The Publisher (The Post)
- Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel, Esq. - The truth and nothing but the truth (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
Rami Malek * - Bohemian Rhapsody
- Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born
- Willem Dafoe - At Eternity's Gate
- Lucas Hedges - The Prodigal Son (Boy Erased)
- John David Washington - BlacKkKlansman
2020s
Joaquin Phoenix * - Joker
- Adam Driver - Marriage Story
- Antonio Banderas - Sorrow and Glory (Dolor y Gloria)
- Christian Bale - Le Mans 66 - Against Every Chance (Ford v. Ferrari)
- Jonathan Pryce - The two popes (The Two Popes)
* = Actors who later won the Oscar for Best Leading Role of the Year .