Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture" but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actor - Musical or Comedy.
The formal title has varied since its inception and as of 2005 is officially called: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama".
Past winners
"Best Actor - Motion Picture:"
- 1944 - Paul Lukas, Watch on the Rhine
- 1945 - Alexander Knox, Wilson
- 1946 - Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend
- 1947 - Gregory Peck, The Yearling
- 1948 - Ronald Colman, A Double Life
- 1949 - Laurence Olivier, Hamlet
- 1950 - Broderick Crawford, All the King's Men
"Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama:"
- 1951 - José Ferrer, Cyrano de Bergerac
- 1952 - Fredric March, Death of a Salesman
- 1953 - Gary Cooper, High Noon
- 1954 - Spencer Tracy, The Actress
- 1955 - Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
- 1956 - Ernest Borgnine, Marty
- 1957 - Kirk Douglas, Lust for Life
- 1958 - Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai
- 1959 - David Niven, Separate Tables
- 1960 - Anthony Franciosa, Career
- 1961 - Burt Lancaster, Elmer Gantry
- 1962 - Maximilian Schell, Judgment at Nuremberg
- 1963 - Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird
- 1964 - Sidney Poitier, Lilies of the Field
- 1965 - Peter O'Toole, Becket
- 1966 - Omar Sharif, Doctor Zhivago
- 1967 - Paul Scofield, A Man for All Seasons
- 1968 - Rod Steiger, In the Heat of the Night
- 1969 - Peter O'Toole, The Lion in Winter
- 1970 - John Wayne, True Grit
- 1971 - George C. Scott, Patton
- 1972 - Gene Hackman, The French Connection
- 1973 - Marlon Brando, The Godfather
- 1974 - Al Pacino, Serpico
- 1975 - Jack Nicholson, Chinatown
- 1976 - Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- 1977 - Peter Finch, Network
- 1978 - Richard Burton, Equus
- 1979 - Jon Voight, Coming Home
- 1980 - Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer
- 1981 - Robert De Niro, Raging Bull
- 1982 - Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond
- 1983 - Ben Kingsley, Gandhi
- 1984 - Tom Courtenay, The Dresser; Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies
- 1985 - F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus
- 1986 - Jon Voight, Runaway Train
- 1987 - Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa
- 1988 - Michael Douglas, Wall Street
- 1989 - Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man
- 1990 - Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July
- 1991 - Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune
- 1992 - Nick Nolte, The Prince of Tides
- 1993 - Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman
- 1994 - Tom Hanks, Philadelphia
- 1995 - Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump
- 1996 - Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas
- 1997 - Geoffrey Rush, Shine
- 1998 - Peter Fonda, Ulee's Gold
- 1999 - Jim Carrey, The Truman Show
- 2000 - Denzel Washington, The Hurricane
- 2001 - Tom Hanks, Cast Away
- 2002 - Denzel Washington, Training Day
- 2003 - Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt
- 2004 - Sean Penn, Mystic River
- 2005 - Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator