On his second best actor nomination, Sidney Poitier became the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor. “It is a long journey to this moment,” Poitier said, accepting his statuette. A Black actor would not win the category again for almost 40 years.
Gregory Peck – 1963
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Mockingbird marked Peck’s fifth Oscar nomination. When asked how he felt about being nominated again—after failing to win four times—he replied “I feel like a male Susan Hayward,” write Wiley and Bona. Peck attended the ceremony accessorized with a pocket watch and chain previously owned by the inspiration for his Atticus Finch: the father of Mockingbird author, Harper Lee.
Maximillian Schell – 1962
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Adapted from a teleplay episode of CBS Playhouse 90, Maximilian Schell reprised his role as defense attorney Rolfe, making him the first best actor to win for a role originated on television. “I know this award honors not only me but also the picture,” Schell said onstage, tributing his costar and fellow nominee, “that great old man” Spencer Tracy.
Burt Lancaster – 1961
Elmer Gantry (1960)
“Some parts you fall into like an old glove,” Lancaster said of his role as a religious con man, Wiley and Bona write in Inside Oscar. “Elmer wasn’t really acting, that was me!” After winning, Lancaster was reported to have caught the ailing best-actress winner, Elizabeth Taylor, when she fainted in the pressroom while posing for photographers.
Charlton Heston – 1960
Ben-Hur (1959)
The mega-remake Ben-Hur matched its giant budget with the most Oscar wins of all time (which wouldn’t be approached for almost 40 years, when Titanic matched its 11 wins). Naturally, its headliner Charlton Heston was caught in that tide, despite some middling reviews for his performance. When asked backstage after winning the Oscar what he most enjoyed about filming, Heston responded, “I didn’t enjoy any of it. It was hard work.”
David Niven – 1959
Separate Tables (1958)
Here might be the rare case of reverse category fraud: David Niven’s performance as a man accused of sexual harassment clocks in at under 24 minutes of screen time, making his the shortest best-actor-winning performance of all time. According to Wiley and Bona, Niven also self-funded part of his awards campaign, taking out trade ads that modestly featured only his photo and advertised his win from the New York Film Critics Circle.
Alec Guinness – 1958
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
David Lean’s epic became the year’s biggest box office earner, and made a major name out of Guiness as the haughty Colonel Nicholson. In Variety, Mike Kaplan wrote that “the film is unquestionably Guinness,” and he was dubbed “Alec the Great” by Life magazine. Perhaps the highest praise came from his fellow nominee and the actor originally considered for the role, Charles Laughton: In campaigning for Guinness to win, Laughton said, “I never understood the part until I saw Guinness play it.” Guinness did not attend the ceremony.
Yul Brynner – 1957
The King and I (1956)
Another actor awarded by the Academy for a role he had created on the stage, Russian-born Yul Brynner’s performance as King Mongut of Siam became his calling card. He would play the role over 4600 times in later Broadway revivals and tours. Though Brynner had starred in two other Oscar winners that year (The Ten Commandments and Anastasia), he said in his speech, “I hope this isn’t a mistake, because I won’t give it back for anything in the world.” James Dean was also nominated once again this year, this time for Giant, making him the only actor to ever receive multiple posthumous nominations.
Ernest Borgnine – 1956
Marty (1955)
After critical raves and winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the film’s producers mounted a $400,000 Oscar campaign for the film—more than the film’s production cost. Borgnine had inherited the titular role from Rod Steiger’s performance in the earlier teleplay version of Marty, and he became a star in the process. Wiley and Bona recount in Inside Oscar that, on his way to the stage to accept his Oscar, Borgnine was seen slipping something to Jerry Lewis. Lewis allegedly later joked: “$1.41 in a sock—we had a bet and he lost.” Elsewhere in the best-actor lineup, James Dean became the first man to earn a posthumous acting nomination for his performance in East of Eden.
Marlon Brando – 1955
On the Waterfront (1954)
After four consecutive bids at best actor, Marlon Brando finally won for his role as Terry Malloy, a longshore union worker standing up to corruption. Today, his performance in On the Waterfront is frequently cited as one of the greatest of all time. Throughout the ceremony, Brando had been chewing gum, but discarded it when he saw who would be presenting best actor: a bald Bette Davis in a fashionable skullcap.
William Holden – 1954
Stalag 17 (1953)
Billy Wilder struggled to cast the lead of Stalag 17, settling on his Sunset Boulevard star Holden. Life magazine would eventually effuse that “as acted by William Holden, Stalag 17’s hero-heel emerges as the most memorable character to come out of Hollywood this year.” Accepting his award while being rushed by a producer who said that the ceremony was running overtime, Holden’s speech was simple: “Thank you, thank you.”
Gary Cooper – 1953
High Noon (1952)
Bosley Crowther raved about Cooper’s performance in The New York Times, writing, “Mr. Cooper is at the top of his form in a type of role that has trickled off his back for years.” Reviews like that helped the star become only the third actor to win twice as best actor. Cooper was unable to attend the ceremony and asked John Wayne (who had turned down High Noon) to accept it on his behalf. In a later Playboy interview, Wayne called High Noon “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”
Humphrey Bogart – 1952
The African Queen (1951)
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