The Academy Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. The winners are chosen by the Academy membership as a whole. Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by release year: for example, the Oscar for "Best Actor in 1999" was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000. Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees.

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

43rd	1970	George C. Scott	Patton (declined)
		Melvyn Douglas	I Never Sang for My Father
		James Earl Jones	The Great White Hope
		Jack Nicholson	Five Easy Pieces
		Ryan O'Neal	Love Story
44th	1971	Gene Hackman	The French Connection
		Peter Finch	Sunday Bloody Sunday
		Walter Matthau	Kotch
		George C. Scott	The Hospital
		Topol	Fiddler on the Roof
45th	1972	Marlon Brando	The Godfather (declined)
		Michael Caine	Sleuth
		Laurence Olivier	Sleuth
		Peter O'Toole	The Ruling Class
		Paul Winfield	Sounder
46th	1973	Jack Lemmon	Save the Tiger
		Marlon Brando	Last Tango in Paris
		Jack Nicholson	The Last Detail
		Al Pacino	Serpico
		Robert Redford	The Sting
47th	1974	Art Carney	Harry and Tonto
		Albert Finney	Murder on the Orient Express
		Dustin Hoffman	Lenny
		Jack Nicholson	Chinatown
		Al Pacino	The Godfather, Part II
	Results from FactBites:
	Academy Awards Best Actor (3846 words) The Best Actor award should actually be titled "the best performance by an actor in a leading role." The same rules that govern the Best Actor category apply to the Best Actress category. Mexican-born Anthony Quinn was nominated twice as Best Actor for Wild is the Wind (1957) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Laurence Olivier, Best Actor for Hamlet (1948), and Vivien Leigh, Best Actress for 2002 Best Supporting Actor/Actress Picks (1055 words) Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress races at this years Academy Awards are just loaded with talent. Reilly was actually in 3 of the 5 nominees for Best Picture this year, and he was fabulous in the films that I have seen him in. One of the best performances that will have you bouncing in your seat comes from her and I am ecstatic to see her be nominated.
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