1952

 British Ralph Richardson for his part in The Sound Barrier Foreign Marlon Brando for his part in Viva Zapata! 

1953

 British John Gielgud for his part in Julius Caesar Foreign Marlon Brando for his part in Julius Caesar 

1954

 British Kenneth More for his part in Doctor in the House Foreign Marlon Brando for his part in On the Waterfront 

1955

 British Laurence Olivier for his part in Richard III Foreign Ernest Borgnine for his part in Marty 

1956

 British Peter Finch for his part in A Town Like Alice Foreign François Perier for his part in Gervaise 

1957

 British Alec Guinness for his part in The Bridge on the River Kwai Foreign Henry Fonda for his part in 12 Angry Men 

1958

 British Trevor Howard for his part in The Key Foreign Sidney Poitier for his part in The Defiant Ones 

1959

 British Peter Sellers for his part in I'm All Right, Jack Foreign Jack Lemmon for his part in Some Like It Hot 

1960

 British Peter Finch for his part in The Trials of Oscar Wilde Foreign Jack Lemmon for his part in The Apartment 

1961

 British Peter Finch for his part in No Love for Johnnie Foreign Paul Newman for his part in The Hustler 

1962

 British Peter O'Toole for his part in Lawrence of Arabia Foreign Burt Lancaster for his part in The Bird Man of Alcatraz 

1963

 British Dirk Bogarde for his part in The Servant Foreign Marcello Mastroianni for his part in Divorce, Italian Style 

1964

 British Richard Attenborough for his parts in Guns at Batasi and Seance on a Wet Afternoon Foreign Marcello Mastroianni for his part in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 

1965

 British Dirk Bogarde for his part in Darling Foreign Lee Marvin for his parts in The Killers and Cat Ballou 

1966

 British Richard Burton for his part in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Foreign Rod Steiger for his part in The Pawnbroker 

1967

 British Paul Scofield for his part in A Man for All Seasons Foreign Rod Steiger for his part in In the Heat of the Night 

1966

 British Richard Burton for his part in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Foreign Rod Steiger for his part in The Pawnbroker 

this was the last year two awards were given; the two categories were combined

1968

 Spencer Tracy for his part in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? 

1969

 Dustin Hoffman for his parts in Midnight Cowboy and John and Mary 

1970

 Robert Redford for his parts in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here 

1971

 Peter Finch for his part in Sunday, Bloody Sunday 

1972

 Gene Hackman for his parts in The French Connection and The Poseidon Adventure 

1973

 Walter Matthau for his parts in Pete 'n' Tillie and Charley Varrick 

1974

 Jack Nicholson for his parts in Chinatown and The Last Detail 

1975

 Al Pacino for his parts in The Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon 

1976

 Jack Nicholson for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 

1977

 Peter Finch for his part in Network 

1978

 Richard Dreyfuss for his part in The Goodbye Girl 

1979

 Jack Lemmon for his part in The China Syndrome 

1980

 John Hurt for his part in The Elephant Man 

1981

 Burt Lancaster for his part in Atlantic City 

1982

 Ben Kingsley for his part in Gandhi 

1983

 Jointly Michael Caine for his part in Educating Rita and Dustin Hoffman for his part in Tootsie 

1984

 Haing S. Ngor for his part in The Killing Fields 

The award then became for Best Actor in a Leading Role

1985

 William Hurt for his part in Kiss of the Spider Woman 

1986

 Bob Hoskins for his part in Mona Lisa 

1987

 Sean Connery for his part in The Name of the Rose 

1988

 John Cleese for his part in A Fish Called Wanda 

1989

 Daniel Day Lewis for his part in My Left Foot 

1990

 Philippe Noiret for his part in Cinema Paradiso 

1991

 Anthony Hopkins for his part in The Silence of the Lambs 

1992

 Robert Downey Jr for his part in Chaplin 

1993

 Anthony Hopkins for his part in The Remains of the Day 

1994

 Hugh Grant for his part in Four Weddings and a Funeral 

1995

 Nigel Hawthorne for his part in The Madness of King George 

1996

 Geoffrey Rush for his part in Shine 

1997

 Robert Carlyle for his part in The Full Monty 

1998

 Roberto Benigni for his part in Life is Beautiful (La Vita è Bella) 

1999

 Kevin Spacey for his part in American Beauty 

2000

 Jamie Bell for his part in Billy Elliot 

2001

 Russell Crowe for his part in A Beautiful Mind 

2002

 Daniel Day Lewis for his part in Gangs of New York 

2003

 Bill Murray for his part in Lost In Translation