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, 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