This list is dedicated to the men who have been nominated for the Best Actor award. There have been many leading men over the years, and according to the Academy voters, thsese are the ones whose skill and talent have set them appart from their peers. Though the role of leading men in films has evolved over the decades, these actors have proven themselves to be adept in their profession, whether the movie is a drama, a comedy, a suspense thriller, a war film, or an action extraveganza.
- 1927-28 – Emil Jannings – The Last Command / The Way of All Flesh (WINNER)
- 1927-28 – Richard Barthelmess – The Noose / The Patent Leather Kid
- 1928-29 – Warner Baxter – In Old Arizona (WINNER)
- 1928-29 – George Bancroft – Thunderbolt
- 1928-29 – Chester Morris – Alibi
- 1928-29 – Paul Muni – The Valiant
- 1928-29 – Lewis Stone – The Patriot
- 1929-30 – George Arliss – Disraeli / The Green Goddess (WINNER)
- 1929-30 – Maurice Chevalier – The Love Parade / The Big Pond
- 1929-30 – Wallace Beery / The Big House
- 1929-30 – Lawrence Tibbett – The Rogue Song
- 1929-30 – Ronald Colman – Bulldog Drummond / Condemned
- 1930-31 – Lionel Barrymore – A Free Soul (WINNER)
- 1930-31 – Jackie Cooper – Skippy
- 1930-31 – Richard Dix – Cimerron
- 1930-31 – Fredric March – The Royal Family of Broadway
- 1930-31 – Adolphe Menjou – The Front Page
- 1931-32 – Fredric March – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (WINNER)
- 1931-32 – Wallace Beery = The Champ (WINNER)
- 1931-32 – Alfred Lunt – The Guardsman
- 1932-33 – Charles Laughton – The Private Life of Henry VIII (WINNER)
- 1932-33 – Leslie Howard – Berkley Square
- 1932-33 – Paul Muni – I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
- 1934 – Clark Gable – It Happened One Night (WINNER)
- 1934 – Frank Morgan – The Affairs of Cellini
- 1934 – William Powell – The Thin Man
- 1935 – Victor McLaglen – The Informer (WINNER)
- 1935 – Charles Laughton – Mutiny on the Bounty
- 1935 – Clark Gable – Mutiny on the Bounty
- 1935 – Franchot Tone – Mutiny on the Bounty
- 1936 – Gary Cooper – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
- 1936 – Walter Huston – Dodsworth
- 1936 – Paul Muni – The Story of Louis Pasteur (WINNER)
- 1936 – William Powell – My Man Godfrey
- 1936 – Spencer Tracy – San Francisco
- 1937 – Spencer Tracy – Captains Courageous (WINNER)
- 1937 – Charles Boyer – Conquest
- 1937 – Fredric March – A Star Is Born
- 1937 – Paul Muni – The Life of Emile Zola
- 1937 – Robert Montgomery – Night Must Fall
- 1938 – Spencer Tracy – Boys Town (WINNER)
- 1938 – Charles Boyer – Algiers
- 1938 – James Cagney – Angels With Dirty Faces
- 1938 – Robert Donat – The Citadel
- 1938 – Leslie Howard – Pygmalion
- 1939 – Robert Donat – Goodbye Mr. Chips (WINNER)
- 1939 – Clark Gable – Gone With the Wind
- 1939 – Laurence Olivier – Wuthering Heights
- 1939 – Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms
- 1939 – James Stewart – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
- 1940 – James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story (WINNER)
- 1940 – Charlie Chaplin – The Great Dictator
- 1940 – Henry Fonda – The Grapes of Wrath
- 1940 – Raymond Massey – Abe Lincoln in Illinois
- 1940 – Laurence Olivier – Rebecca
- 1941 – Gary Cooper – Sergeant York (WINNER)
- 1941 – Cary Grant – Penny Serenade
- 1941 – Walter Huston – The Devil and Daniel Webster
- 1941 – Robert Montgomery – Here Comes Mr. Jordan
- 1941 – Orson Welles – Citizen Kane