Ranking all the Best Actor Oscar winners (the ones I’ve watched anyway)

Before giving you a mile long list (I’ve seen 58 of the 94 winners), let’s fast forward to the top 10:

• Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in (2018)

• Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in (1972)

• Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in

(1991)

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown in (1989)

• Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in (1994)

• Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in (2008)

• Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt in (1988)

• Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in (2019)

• Roberto Benigni as Guido Orefice in (1998)

• Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in (2007)

My bottom 6 are only where they are based on one qualifier: I couldn’t remember the actor’s performance. They are simply ranked in order of how well I remember the movie itself, if at all. The rest are ranked according to the impact and impression the actor’s performance made on me, as well as my sense of “rewatchability” of their performance. Here’s how the rest of the list shakes down:

1. Frederic March as Sgt. Al Stephenson in (1946)

2. Clark Gable as Peter Warne, (1934)

3. Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in (1965) — I wish this one was higher, because I have a childhood memory of watching this with my parents and siblings. It was a movie my parents watched on a date when they were just wee nippers.

4. Peter Finch as Howard Beale in (1976)

5. Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More in (1966)

6. Maximilian Schell as Hans Rolfe in (1961)

7. Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in (1964)

8. Frank Sinatra as Father Chuck O’Malley in (1944) — #’s 52 and 51 were performances I didn’t like at all… but they did make an impression.

9. John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in (1969) — It blows my mind that John Wayne got an Oscar for this. He was so much better in other movies.

10. Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle in (1971)

11. Dustin Hoffman as Ted Kramer in (1979)

12. Gary Cooper as Will Kane in (1952)

13. Al Pacino as Frank Slade in (1992)

14. Laurence Olivier as Hamlet in (1948) — This was my least liked best picture winner, but I have to admit that the great Sir Olivier was good in it.

15. Broderick Crawford as Willie Stark in (1949)

16. Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum in (2003)

17. Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in (1982)

18. Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in (2011)

19. Rod Steiger as Bill Gillespie in (1967)

20. Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in (2017)

21. Yul Brynner as King Mongkut of Siam in (1956)

22. Marlon Brando as Terry Malloy in (1954)

23. Colin Firth as King George VI in (2010)

24. Ray Milland as Don Birnam in (1945)

25. Adrien Brody as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist (2002)

26. Alec Guiness as Lt. Col. Nicholson in (1957)

27. Ernest Borgnine as Marty Piletti in (1955) — It’s such a simple movie and a simple performance, but I really enjoyed it.

28. Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott in (1996)

29. Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall in (1997) — For my money, Robert Duvall should have been the winner for this year for his role as Sonny/E.F. in The Apostle. Not many people have seen the movie, let alone rave about it, but I swear if you were to watch the two back to back you would agree he was better than Jack.

30. Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur in (1959)

31. Jeff Bridges as Otis “Bad” Blake in (2009)

32. Will Smith as Richard Williams in (2021) — I don’t believe this was his best performance, though it was admittedly really good. My favourites of his are in Pursuit of Happyness (2006) and Emancipation (2022).

33. Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof in (2013)

34. George C. Scott as Gen. George S. Patton in (1970)

35. Russell Crowe as Maximus Meridius in (2000)

36. Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in (1999)

37. Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler in (2016)

38. Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in (2006)

39. Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta in (1980)

40. Denzel Washington as Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris in (2001)

41. Marray Abraham as Antonio Salieri in (1984)

42. Tom Hanks as Andy Beckett in (1993)

43. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in (2005) — I recommend watching 2-5 minutes of the real Truman Capote on YouTube, then watching this. It’s so good.

44. Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy in (1975)

45. Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in (2015)

46. Anthony Hopkins as Anthony in (2020)

47. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in (1962)

48. Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in (2012)

49. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in (2018)

50. Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in (1972)

51. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in (1991)

52. Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown in (1989)

53. Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump in (1994)

54. Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in (2008)

55. Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt in (1988)

56. Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in (2019)

57. Roberto Benigni as Guido Orefice in (1998)

58. Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in (2007) — Yes I am obviously a fan of DDL. And in my own perspective, I would have given him the best actor in 2003 for his role as Bill the Butcher Cutting in Gangs of New York.

Congratulations (Harrison Ford Captain John Book). This is your week.

Best Actress:

Kathleen Turner as Irene Walker in (I’ve added this one to my watchlist.)

Best Actor: Harrison Ford as Captain John Book in (Now that’s one of the most memorable kisses in movies.

Best Quote: “The nicest thing about feeling happy is that you think you’ll never be unhappy again.” – William Hurt as Luis Molina in (Another one I’ve added to my watchlist.)

If any of you are looking for a movie podcast to listen to, I’m in one with two friends (Debby Clements and Glen Monroe) called “Skip the Trailer.” You can find it on Spotify, and don’t worry if you don’t have an account. All you need is a wifi connection and either the app or the website. 100% free. And any feedback you might have would be highly valued. 🙂