| Year |
Winner |
Film(s) |
Role(s) |
| 1966 | Caine, MichaelMichael Caine | Alfie | Alfred "Alfie" Elkins |
| 1967 | Steiger, RodRod Steiger | In the Heat of the Night | Police Chief Bill Gillespie |
| 1968 | Oscarsson, PerPer Oscarsson | Hunger | Pontus |
| 1969 | Voight, JonJon Voight | Midnight Cowboy | Joe Buck |
| 1970 | Scott, George C.George C. Scott | Patton | George S. Patton |
| 1971 | Finch, PeterPeter Finch | Sunday Bloody Sunday | Daniel Hirsh |
| 1972 | Pacino, AlAl Pacino | The Godfather | Michael Corleone |
| 1973 | Brando, MarlonMarlon Brando | Last Tango in Paris | Paul |
| 1974 | Nicholson, JackJack Nicholson | Chinatown | J.J. "Jake" Gittes |
| The Last Detail | Signalman 1st Class Billy "Badass" Buddusky |
| 1975 | Nicholson, JackJack Nicholson | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Randle McMurphy |
| 1976 | De Niro, RobertRobert De Niro | Taxi Driver | Travis Bickle |
| 1977 | Carney, ArtArt Carney | The Late Show | Ira Wells |
| 1978 | Busey, GaryGary Busey | The Buddy Holly Story | Buddy Holly |
| 1979 | Hoffman, DustinDustin Hoffman | Agatha | Wally Stanton |
| Kramer vs. Kramer | Ted Kramer |
| 1980 | O'Toole, PeterPeter O'Toole | The Stunt Man | Eli Cross |
| 1981 | Lancaster, BurtBurt Lancaster | Atlantic City | Lou Pascal |
| 1982 | Hoffman, DustinDustin Hoffman | Tootsie | Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels |
| 1983 | Depardieu, GérardGérard Depardieu | Danton | Georges Danton |
| The Return of Martin Guerre | Arnaud de Tihl |
| 1984 | Martin, SteveSteve Martin | All of Me | Roger Cobb |
| 1985 | Nicholson, JackJack Nicholson | Prizzi's Honor | Charley Partanna |
| 1986 | Hoskins, BobBob Hoskins | Mona Lisa | George |
| 1987 | Martin, SteveSteve Martin | Roxanne | Charlie "C.D." Bales |
| 1988 | Keaton, MichaelMichael Keaton | Beetlejuice | Beetlejuice |
| Clean and Sober | Daryl Poynter |
| 1989 | Day-Lewis, DanielDaniel Day-Lewis | My Left Foot | Christy Brown |
| 1990 | Irons, JeremyJeremy Irons | Reversal of Fortune | Claus von Bülow |
| 1991 | Phoenix, RiverRiver Phoenix | My Own Private Idaho | Mikey Waters |
| 1992 | Rea, StephenStephen Rea | The Crying Game | Fergus |
| 1993 | Thewlis, DavidDavid Thewlis | Naked | Johnny |
| 1994 | Newman, PaulPaul Newman | Nobody's Fool | Donald "Sully" Sullivan |
| 1995 | Cage, NicolasNicolas Cage | Leaving Las Vegas | Ben Sanderson |
| 1996 | Murphy, EddieEddie Murphy | The Nutty Professor | Sherman Klump / Buddy Love |
| 1997 | Duvall, RobertRobert Duvall | The Apostle | Euliss "Sonny" Dewey / The Apostle E.F. |
| 1998 | Nolte, NickNick Nolte | Affliction | Wade Whitehouse |
| 1999 | Crowe, RussellRussell Crowe | The Insider | Jeffrey Wigand |
| 2000 | Bardem, JavierJavier Bardem | Before Night Falls | Reinaldo Arenas |
| 2001 | Hackman, GeneGene Hackman | The Royal Tenenbaums | Royal Tenenbaum |
| 2002 | Brody, AdrienAdrien Brody | The Pianist | Władysław Szpilman |
| 2003 | Murray, BillBill Murray | Lost in Translation | Bob Harris |
| 2004 | Foxx, JamieJamie Foxx | Collateral | Max Durocher |
| Ray | Ray Charles |
| 2005 | Hoffman, Philip SeymourPhilip Seymour Hoffman | Capote | Truman Capote |
| 2006 | Whitaker, ForestForest Whitaker | The Last King of Scotland | Idi Amin |
| 2007 | Day-Lewis, DanielDaniel Day-Lewis | There Will Be Blood | Daniel Plainview |
| 2008 | Penn, SeanSean Penn | Milk | Harvey Milk |
| 2009 | Renner, JeremyJeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker | Sergeant First Class William James |
| 2010 | Eisenberg, JesseJesse Eisenberg | The Social Network | Mark Zuckerberg |
| 2011 | Pitt, BradBrad Pitt | Moneyball | Billy Beane |
| The Tree of Life | Mr. O'Brien |
| 2012 | Day-Lewis, DanielDaniel Day-Lewis | Lincoln | Abraham Lincoln |
| 2013 | Isaac, OscarOscar Isaac | Inside Llewyn Davis | Llewyn Davis |
| 2014 | Spall, TimothyTimothy Spall | Mr. Turner | J. M. W. Turner |
| 2015 | Jordan, Michael B.Michael B. Jordan | Creed | Adonis Creed |