1941 Gary Cooper - Sergeant York as Sergeant Alvin York

1942 James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy as George M. Cohan

1943 Paul Lukas - Watch on the Rhine as "Kurt Muller"

1944 Bing Crosby - Going My Way as "Father Chuck O'Malley

1945 Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend as "Don Birnam"

1946 Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives as "Al Stephenson"

1947 Ronald Colman - A Double Life as "Anthony John"

1948 Laurence Olivier - Hamlet as "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark"

1949 Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men as "Willie Stark"

1950 José Ferrer - Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano de Bergerac