Best Actor in the 80s: An Alternative Oscar History
Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 7:30PM 
Your eyes don't deceive you. At long last, AMPAs and I can find common ground and award the same performance. Well, two out of ten. It's something!
This November, we've been celebrating the 1980s with a series of throwback articles. To contribute and inspired by Nathaniel's top tens, I decided to share my alternative Oscar ballots, the idealized lineups that would have come to pass in a world where my taste prevailed over the Academy's. We've already looked at Best Actress, Supporting Actress, and Supporting Actor, so now it's time for the leading men. As always, I welcome all recommendations – it's been a great pleasure to read all your own ideal lineups and jot down films to watch in the future. To repeat some critical details, these lists include my personal Oscar lineup according to the eligibility established by the Academy. There are also honorable mentions, ineligible gems, and some notable titles I already have on my watchlist…
1980
Richard Gere, AMERICAN GIGOLO
Timothy Hutton, ORDINARY PEOPLE
Tatsuya Nakadai, KAGEMUSHA
Robert De Niro, RAGING BULL *winner*
Donald Sutherland, ORDINARY PEOPLE
Honorable Mentions: Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt in THE ELEPHANT MAN, Lee Marvin in THE BIG RED ONE, Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING.
Ineligible: Gérard Depardieu in THE LAST METRO, Michel Piccoli in LEAP INTO THE VOID.
On the Watchlist: Brad Dourif in WISE BLOOD, William Hurt in ALTERED STATES, Jack Lemmon in TRIBUTE, Ken Ogata in VENGEANCE IS MINE, Kan Takakura and Hidetaka Yoshioka in A DISTANT CRY OF SPRING, Jack Thompson and Edward Woodward in BREAKER MORANT.
1981
James Caan, THIEF
Gérard Depardieu, LOULOU
Harrison Ford, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Burt Lancaster, ATLANTIC CITY *winner*
Steve Martin, PENNIES FROM HEAVEN
Honorable Mentions: Henry Fonda in ON GOLDEN POND, William Hurt in BODY HEAT, Jeremy Irons in THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN.
Ineligible: Klaus Maria Brandauer in MEPHISTO, Sam Neil in POSSESSION.
On the Watchlist: Jeff Bridges and John Heard in CUTTER'S WAY, Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe in SOUTHERN COMFORT, Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn in MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, Timothy Hutton in TRAPS, Sam Neill in OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT.
1982
Albert Finney, SHOOT THE MOON
Dustin Hoffman, TOOTSIE
Bob Hoskins, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY
Klaus Kinski, FITZCARRALDO
Paul Newman, THE VERDICT *winner*
Honorable Mentions: Jeremy Irons in MOONLIGHTING, Ben Kingsley in GANDHI, Jack Lemmon in MISSING, Armin Mueller-Stahl in LOLA, Kurt Russell in THE THING, Peter O'Toole in MY FAVORITE YEAR.
Ineligible: Tim Roth in MADE IN BRITAIN.
On the Watchlist: André Dussollier in A GOOD MARRIAGE, Michael Keaton and Henry Winkler in NIGHT SHIFT, Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte in 48 HRS., Ken Takakura in STATION, Ugo Tognazzi in TRAGEDY OF A RIDICULOUS MAN.
1983
Tom Courtenay, THE DRESSER
Robert De Niro, THE KING OF COMEDY *winner*
Eric Roberts, STAR 80
Christopher Walken, THE DEAD ZONE
James Woods, VIDEODROME
Honorable Mentions: Albert Finney in THE DRESSER, Keith Gordon in CHRISTINE, Michael Keaton in MR. MOM, Marcello Mastroianni in THE NIGHT OF VARENNES, Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES.
Ineligible: Nate Hardman in BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS, Ken Ogata in THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in MEANTIME, Oleg Yankovsky in NOSTALGIA.
On the Watchlist: Tom Conti in REUBEN, REUBEN, Gérard Depardieu and Wojciech Pszoniak in DANTON, Richard Farnsworth in THE GREY FOX, William Hurt and Lee Marvin in GORKY PARK, Timothy Hutton in DANIEL, Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley in BETRAYAL, Burt Lancaster in LOCAL HERO, Anthony Perkins in PSYCHO II.
1984
F. Murray Abraham, AMADEUS *winner*
Victor Banerjee, A PASSAGE TO INDIA
Albert Finney, UNDER THE VOLCANO
Haing S. Ngor, THE KILLING FIELDS
Harry Dean Stanton, PARIS, TEXAS
Honorable Mentions: Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine in BIRDY, Tom Hulce in AMADEUS, John Hurt in NINETEEN-EIGHTY-FOUR, Erland Josephson in AFTER THE REHEARSAL, Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP.
Ineligible: Victor Banerjee and Soumitra Chatterjee in THE HOME AND THE WORLD, John Hurt and Michael York in SUCCESS IS THE BEST REVENGE.
On the Watchlist: Jeff Bridges in STARMAN, Willem Dafoe in THE LOVELESS, Gene Hackman in EUREKA, Philip Baker Hall in SECRET HONOR, Anthony Hopkins in THE BOUNTY, John Hurt in CHAMPIONS, Timothy Hutton and John Lone in ICEMAN, Steve Martin ALL OF ME, Joe Morton in THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET.
1985
Raul Julia, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN *winner*
James Mason, THE SHOOTING PARTY
Marcello Mastroianni, HENRY IV
Tatsuya Nakadai, RAN
Eric Stolz, MASK
Honorable Mentions: Tim Curry in CLUE, Jeff Daniels in THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO, James Garner in MURPHY'S ROMANCE, Michael J. Fox in BACK TO THE FUTURE, William Hurt in KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, Judd Nelson in THE BREAKFAST CLUB.
Ineligible: Jeffrey Combs in RE-ANIMATOR.
On the Watchlist: Klaus Maria Brandauer in COLONEL REDL, Albert Brooks in LOST IN AMERICA, Louis Ducreux in A SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY, John Hurt and Terence Stamp in THE HIT, Alfredo Landa and Francisco Rabal in THE HOLY INNOCENTS, Paul Reubens in PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE.
1986
Daniel Day-Lewis, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE *winner*
Jeff Goldblum, THE FLY
Bob Hoskins, MONA LISA
Erland Josephson, THE SACRIFICE
Gary Oldman, SID AND NANCY
Honorable Mentions: Michael Caine in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, Jeff Daniels in SOMETHING WILD, Harrison Ford in THE MOSQUITO COAST, James Woods in SALVADOR.
Ineligible: Denis Lavant in MAUVAIS SANG.
On the Watchlist: Roberto Benigni in DOWN BY LAW, Michel Blanc and Gérard Depardieu in MÉNAGE, Tom Hanks in THE MONEY PIT, Harvey Keitel in CAMORRA, Victor Love in NATIVE SON, Marcello Mastroianni in GINGER AND FRED, Aleksey Petrenko in AGONY.
1987
Christian Bale, EMPIRE OF THE SUN
Aleksei Kravchenko, COME AND SEE
Gaspard Manesse, AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS *winner*
Jack Nicholson, IRONWEED
James Wilby, MAURICE
Honorable Mentions: Albert Brooks and William Hurt in BROADCAST NEWS, Michael Douglas in WALL STREET, John Lone in THE LAST EMPEROR, Steve Martin in ROXANNE, Marcello Mastroianni in DARK EYES.
Ineligible: Bruce Campbell in EVIL DEAD II, Bruno Ganz in WINGS OF DESIRE, Ken Ogata in ZEGEN.
On the Watchlist: John Candy and Steve Martin in PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, Gérard Depardieu and Yves Montand in JEAN DE FLORETTE, Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann in WITHNAIL AND I, Ed Harris in WALKER, Avtandil Makharadze in REPENTANCE.
1988
Willem Dafoe, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
Tom Hanks, BIG
Jeremy Irons, DEAD RINGERS *winner*
Forest Whitaker, BIRD
Bruce Willis, DIE HARD
Honorable Mentions: Daniel Day-Lewis in THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, Bob Hoskins in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, Max von Sydow in PELLE THE CONQUEROR.
Ineligible: Morio Kazama in THE DISCARNATES, Jacques Perrin in CINEMA PARADISO.
On the Watchlist: Eric Bogosian in TALK RADIO, Harvey Fierstein in TORCH SONG TRILOGY, Charles Grodin and Robert De Niro in MIDNIGHT RUN, Ben Kingsley in PASCALI'S ISLAND and TESTIMONY, Edward James Olmos in STAND AND DELIVER, River Phoenix in RUNNING ON EMPTY, Sidney Poitier in SHOOT TO KILL.
1989
Kenneth Branagh, HENRY V
Nicolas Cage, VAMPIRE'S KISS *winner*
Daniel Day-Lewis, MY LEFT FOOT
Gérard Depardieu, UNDER THE SUN OF SATAN
Martin Landau, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
Honorable Mentions: Jeff Bridges in THE FABULOUS BAER BOYS, Ed Harris in THE ABYSS, Donald Sutherland in A DRY WHITE SEASON, Billy Zane in DEAD CALM.
Ineligible: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Soumitra Chatterjee in AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Tony Leung in A CITY OF SADNESS.
On the Watchlist: John Candy in UNCLE BUCK, Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn in CASUALTIES OF WAR, Tom Hanks in THE 'BURBS, John Hurt in SCANDAL, Raul Julia in ROMERO, Thomas Mogotlane in MAPANTSULA.
Please share your own Best Actor lineups from the 1980s! Is there any overlap with mine?
Reader Comments (1)
1980: Robert de Niro-Raging Bull/John Hurt-The Elephant Man (tie)
1981: James Caan-Thief
1982: Jack Lemmon-Missing
1983: Al Pacino-Scarface
1984: Harry Dean Stanton-Paris, Texas
1985: Jonathan Pryce-Brazil/Tatsuya Nakadai-Ran (tie)
1986: Erland Josephson-The Sacrfice
1987: Bruno Ganz-Wings of Desire
1988: Eddie Murphy-Coming to America
1989: John Candy-Uncle Buck