Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.
His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.
Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.
At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935) make up the rest of the bottom five.
Recent Gold Derby polls of cinema experts declared The Godfather (1972) as the greatest Best Picture Oscar winner of all time (view the full rankings) and Meryl Streep the greatest Best Actress for Sophie's Choice (view the full rankings).
The photo gallery above features the top 10. Here is the complete rankings of all 97 performances.
1. Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
2. Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
3. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972)
4. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (2007)
5. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
6. F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus (1984)
7. Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront (1953)
8. Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot (1989)
9. Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
10. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (2005)
11. Peter Finch for Network (1976)
12. Gene Hackman for The French Connection (1971)
13. Ben Kingsley for Gandhi (1982)
14. George C. Scott for Patton (1970)
15. Adrien Brody for The Pianist (2002)
16. Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)
17. Anthony Hopkins for The Father (2020)
18. Clark Gable for It Happened One Night (1934)
19. Dustin Hoffman for Rain Man (1988)
20. Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen (1951)
21. Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer (2023)
22. Laurence Olivier for Hamlet (1948)
23. Dustin Hoffman for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
24. Sean Penn for Milk (2008)
25. Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
26. Alec Guinness for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
27. Gary Cooper for High Noon (1952)
28. Tom Hanks for Philadelphia (1993)
29. Henry Fonda for On Golden Pond (1981)
30. Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night (1967)
31. Jeremy Irons for Reversal of Fortune (1990)
32. Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (1963)
33. Paul Scofield for A Man for All Seasons (1966)
34. Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady (1964)
35. Denzel Washington for Training Day (2001)
36. Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
37. Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006)
38. Robert Duvall for Tender Mercies (1983)
39. Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump (1994)
40. Jack Nicholson for As Good as It Gets (1997)
41. Ernest Borgnine for Marty (1955)
42. Charlton Heston for Ben-Hur (1959)
43. Michael Douglas for Wall Street (1987)
44. Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004)
45. Broderick Crawford for All the King's Men (1949)
46. Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything (2014)
47. James Stewart for The Philadelphia Story (1940)
48. Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010)
49. Yul Brynner for The King and I (1956)
50. James Cagney for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
51. William Hurt for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
52. Burt Lancaster for Elmer Gantry (1960)
53. Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996)
54. Joaquin Phoenix for Joker (20)
55. Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea (2019)
56. Russell Crowe for Gladiator (2000)
57. Maximilian Schell for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
58. Fredric March for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
59. Ray Milland for The Lost Weekend (1945)
60. Paul Newman for The Color of Money (1986)
61. Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour (2017)
62. Jack Lemmon for Save the Tiger (1973)
63. Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
64. Sean Penn for Mystic River (2003)
65. Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (2015)
66. Jose Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
67. Robert Donat for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
68. Jon Voight for Coming Home (1978)
69. Art Carney for Harry and Tonto (1974)
70. William Holden for Stalag 17 (1953)
71. Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (20)
72. Richard Dreyfuss for The Goodbye Girl (1977)
73. John Wayne for True Grit (1969)
74. Bing Crosby for Going My Way (1944)
75. Gary Cooper for Sergeant York (1941)
76. Brendan Fraser for The Whale (2022)
77. Ronald Colman for A Double Life (1947)
78. Charles Laughton for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
79. Kevin Spacey for American Beauty (1999)
80. Spencer Tracy for Boys Town (1938)
81. Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman (1992)
82. Spencer Tracy for Captains Courageous (1937)
83. Roberto Benigni for Life Is Beautiful (1998)
84. Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011)
85. Victor McLaglen for The Informer (1935)
86. Cliff Robertson for Charly (1968)
87. David Niven for Separate Tables (1958)
88. Wallace Beery for The Champ (1931)
89. Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou (1965)
90. Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
91. Will Smith for King Richard (2021)
92. Emil Jannings for The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh (1928)
93. Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)
94. Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1943)
95. Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1931)
96. George Arliss for Disraeli (1929)
97. Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928)
Will Smith should NOT have been in the list. He’s the worst.
For me, the greatest Best Actor winner is George C. Scott in Patton.
Brendan Fraser should be higher, Denzel lower. Daniel Day Lewis overrated.
That Peck is on this list at all is ridiculous.
Peter O’Toole’s performance as Lawrence remains transcendent.
But sadly was not recongnized in its time.
De Niro in Raging Bull?
Gregory Peck was so brilliant in “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
It’s the winners, O’Toole did not win.
Gregory Peck’s To Kill A Mocking Bird was one of the most powerful best actor winning performances in the history of cinema.
Brando in “On The Waterfront ” is the greatest performance ever put on film. So geat that a pale imitation could get you nominated.
Gene Hackman should have been higher for ‘The French Connection’….in the early 70’s he was also amazing in Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’ (truly robbed!), ‘Scarecrow’ w/Al Pacino, and also Arthur Penn’s ‘Night Moves’ (which unfortunately was released the same day as 2 of his other films- ‘French Connection 2’ & ‘Bite The Bullet’ ….I also respect the fact that he retired in his early 70’s, and is enjoying a normal life in New Mexico with his wife. A true legend!!
Sean Penn should be much higher for Mystic River.
This list is more of a popularity contest. Roberto Benigni should be much, much higher. Adrien Brody is top 5. I could keep going…
It’s all so subjective. Two of my favorite male perfs were Supporting: Chris Walken, Deerhunter; Chris Cooper, Adaptation.
I’m glad to see Will Smith so low in the list
Joaquin Phoenix should be higher, Will Smith should be higher, Russel Crowe should be higher, Al Pacino should be higher (his performance was unforgettable) Cillian Murphy should be lower ( a nothing performance) Begnini should be at the bottom.
A tough choice between Gregory Peck and Peter O’Toole running against each other! Two amazing performances!
Paul Lukas’ performance in WATCH ON THE RHINE is one of the best ever
Philip S. Hoffman should be top 3 or 4. (Capote)
Laurence Ollivier?
Jack Nicholson, Chinatown seriously not in the top 70
This list is only for Oscar winners. He did not win for Chinatown.
Marlon brando number 1+2 the greatest actor to ever walk on to a film set
I agree with George C Scott! Performers shouldn’t be competing with one another for awards! They should be concentrating on doing their best under any circumstances.