This weekend I’ll be posting my favorite wins for Best Actor and Actress. Originally for both, I was going to try for just 10, and then 15, but I couldn’t narrow it down! So from both categories, I’ll be presenting my top 20 (as of now, there are still plenty more Oscar-winning performances that I need to see).

In chronological order, my 20 favorite Best Actor winners!

Clark Gable as Peter Warne in It Happened One Night
Competition: Frank Morgan for The Affairs of Cellini; William Powell for The Thin Man
Other Nominations: Mutiny on the Bounty; Gone with the Wind

James Stewart as Macaulay “Mike” Connor in The Philadelphia Story
Competition: Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator; Henry Fonda for The Grapes of Wrath; Raymond Massey for Abe Lincoln in Illinois; Laurence Olivier for Rebecca
Other Nominations: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; It’s a Wonderful Life; Harvey; Anatomy of a Murder

Ray Milland as Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend
Competition: Bing Crosby for The Bells of St. Mary’s; Gene Kelly for Anchors Aweigh; Gregory Peck for The Keys of the Kingdom; Cornel Wilde for A Song to Remember
Other Nominations: N/A

Humphrey Bogart as Charlie Allnut in The African Queen
Competition: Marlon Brando for A Streetcar Named Desire; Montgomery Clift for A Place in the Sun; Arthur Kennedy for Bright Victory; Fredric March for Death of a Salesman
Other Nominations: Casablanca; The Caine Mutiny

Gary Cooper as Marshal Will Kane in High Noon
Competition: Marlon Brando for Viva Zapata!; Kirk Douglas for The Bad and the Beautiful; José Ferrer for Moulin Rouge; Alec Guinness for The Lavender Hill Mob
Other Nominations: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town; Sergeant York (WON); The Pride of the Yankees; For Whom the Bell Tolls

William Holden as Sgt. J.J. Sefton in Stalag 17
Competition: Marlon Brando for Julius Caesar; Richard Burton for The Robe; Montgomery Clift for From Here to Eternity; Burt Lancaster for From Here to Eternity
Other Nominations: Sunset Blvd.; Network

Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront
Competition: Humphrey Bogart for The Caine Mutiny; Bing Crosby for The Country Girl; James Mason for A Star is Born; Dan O’Herlihy for Robinson Crusoe
Other Nominations: A Streetcar Named Desire; Viva Zapata!; Julius Caesar; Sayonara; The Godfather (WON); Last Tango in Paris; A Dry White Season (Best Actor in a Supporting Role)

Ernest Borgnine as Marty Piletti for Marty
Competition: James Cagney for Love Me or Leave Me; James Dean for East of Eden; Frank Sinatra for The Man with the Golden Arm; Spencer Tracy for Bad Day at Black Rock
Other Nominations: N/A

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird
Competition: Burt Lancaster for Birdman of Alcatraz; Jack Lemmon for Days of Wine and Roses; Marcello Mastroianni for Divorce Italian Style; Peter O’Toole for Lawrence of Arabia
Other Nominations: The Keys of the Kingdom; The Yearling; Gentleman’s Agreement; Twelve O’Clock High

Jack Nicolson as Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Competition: Walter Matthau for The Sunshine Boys; Al Pacino for Dog Day Afternoon; Maximilian Schell for The Man in the Glass Booth; James Whitmore for Give ’em Hell, Harry!
Other Nominations: Easy Rider (Best Actor in a Supporting Role); Five Easy Pieces; The Last Detail; Chinatown; Reds (Best Actor in a Supporting Role); Terms of Endearment (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, WON); Prizzi’s Honor; Ironweed; A Few Good Men (Best Actor in a Supporting Role); As Good as It Gets (WON); About Schmidt

Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot Garfield in The Goodbye Girl
Competition: Woody Allen for Annie Hall; Richard Burton for Equus; Marcello Mastroianni for A Special Day; John Travolta for Saturday Night Fever
Other Nominations: Mr. Holland’s Opus

Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull
Competition: Robert Duvall for The Great Santini; John Hurt for The Elephant Man; Jack Lemmon for Tribute; Peter O’Toole for The Stunt Man
Other Nominations: The Godfather: Part II (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, WON); Taxi Driver; The Deer Hunter; Awakenings; Cape Fear; Silver Linings Playbook (Best Actor in a Supporting Role)

Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer Jr. in On Golden Pond
Competition: Warren Beatty for Reds; Burt Lancaster for Atlantic City; Dudley Moore for Arthur; Paul Newman for Absence of Malice
Other Nominations: The Grapes of Wrath; 12 Angry Men (Best Picture)

Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man
Competition: Gene Hackman for Mississippi Burning; Tom Hanks for Big; Edward James Olmos for Stand and Deliver; Max von Sydow for Pelle the Conqueror
Other Nominations: The Graduate; Midnight Cowboy; Lenny; Kramer vs. Kramer (WON); Tootsie; Wag the Dog

Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs
Competition: Warren Beatty for Bugsy; Robert De Niro for Cape Fear; Nick Nolte for The Prince of Tides; Robin Williams for The Fisher King
Other Nominations: The Remains of the Day; Nixon; Amistad (Best Actor in a Supporting Role)

Tom Hanks as Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia
Competition: Daniel Day-Lewis for In the Name of the Father; Laurence Fishburne for What’s Love Got to Do with It; Anthony Hopkins for The Remains of the Day; Liam Neeson for Schindler’s List
Other Nominations: Big; Forrest Gump (WON); Saving Private Ryan; Cast Away

Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in American Beauty
Competition: Russell Crowe for The Insider; Richard Farnsworth for The Straight Story; Sean Penn for Sweet and Lowdown; Denzel Washington for The Hurricane
Other Nominations: The Usual Suspects (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, WON)

Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman for The Pianist
Competition: Jack Nicholson for About Schmidt; Nicolas Cage for Adaptation.; Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York; Michael Caine for The Quiet American
Other Nominations: N/A

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote
Competition: Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain; David Strathairn for Good Night, and Good Luck.; Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow; Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line
Other Nominations: Oddly enough, his other nominations came from performances in a supporting role!
Charlie Wilson’s War; Doubt; The Master

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood
Competition: Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises; Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah; George Clooney for Michael Clayton; Johnny Depp for Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Other Nominations: My Left Foot (WON); In the Name of the Father; Gangs of New York; Lincoln (WON)

Am I missing any good winners? Who are your favorite Best Actor winners in Oscar history?