Greatest Film Performances by Year
(US/UK) 1950 - 1959

1959

  1. Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot
  2. Simone Signoret - Room at the Top
  3. Cary Grant - North by Northwest
  4. James Stewart - Anatomy of a Murder
  5. Doris Day - Pillow Talk
  6. Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly, Last Summer
  7. Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story
  8. Marilyn Monroe - Some Like It Hot
  9. Tony Curtis - Some Like It Hot
10. John Wayne - Rio Bravo
11. Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur
12. Katharine Hepburn - Suddenly, Last Summer
13. Laurence Harvey - Room at the Top
14. Peter Sellers - The Mouse That Roared
15. Rock Hudson - Pillow Talk
16. George C. Scott - Anatomy of a Murder
17. James Mason - North by Northwest
18. Dean Martin - Rio Bravo
19. Shelley Winters - The Diary of Anne Frank
20. Juanita Moore - Imitation of Life

1958

  1. Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  2. Susan Hayward - I Want to Live!
  3. David Niven - Separate Tables
  4. James Stewart - Vertigo
  5. Sidney Poitier - The Defiant Ones
  6. Paul Newman - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  7. Tony Curtis - The Defiant Ones
  8. Orson Welles - The Touch of Evil
  9. Spencer Tracy - The Last Hurrah
10. Ingrid Bergman - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
11. Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mame
12. Alec Guinness - The Horse's Mouth
13. Deborah Kerr - Separate Tables
14. Spencer Tracy - The Old Man and the Sea
15. Paul Newman - The Long, Hot Summer
16. Marlon Brando - The Young Lions
17. Kim Novak - Vertigo
18. Burl Ives - The Big Country
19. Robert Donat - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
20. Christopher Lee - The Horror of Dracula

1957

  1. Alec Guinness - The Bridge on the River Kwai
  2. Henry Fonda - 12 Angry Men
  3. Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve
  4. Burt Lancaster - The Sweet Smell of Success
  5. Marlon Brando - Sayonara
  6. Anna Magnani - Wild Is the Wind
  7. Kirk Douglas - Paths of Glory
  8. Charles Laughton - Witness for the Prosecution
  9. Tony Curtis - The Sweet Smell of Success
10. Lee J. Cobb - 12 Angry Men
11. Anthony Franciosa - A Hatful of Rain
12. Marlene Dietrich - Witness for the Prosecution
13. Eva Marie Saint - A Hatful of Rain
14. Sessue Hayakawa - The Bridge on the River Kwai
15. Anthony Quinn - Wild Is the Wind
16. Deborah Kerr - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
17. Elsa Lanchester - Witness for the Prosecution
18. William Holden - The Bridge on the River Kwai
19. Red Buttons - Sayonara
20. Robert Mitchum - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

1956

  1. John Wayne - The Searchers
  2. Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia
  3. Kirk Douglas - Lust for Life
  4. Deborah Kerr - The King and I
  5. Anthony Quinn - Lust for Life
  6. James Dean - Giant
  7. Yul Brynner - The King and I
  8. Carroll Baker - Baby Doll
  9. Rock Hudson - Giant
10. Cantinflas - Around the World in 80 Days
11. Marilyn Monroe - Bus Stop
12. Yul Brynner - The Ten Commandments
13. James Stewart - The Man Who Knew Too Much
14. Charlton Heston - The Ten Commandments
15. Katharine Hepburn - The Rainmaker
16. Nancy Kelly - The Bad Seed
17. Karl Malden - Baby Doll
18. Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind
19. Doris Day - The Man Who Knew Too Much
20. Helen Hayes - Anastasia

1955

  1. James Dean - Rebel Without a Cause
  2. Laurence Olivier - Richard lll
  3. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo
  4. Robert Mitchum - The Night of the Hunter
  5. Ernest Borgnine - Marty
  6. James Dean - East of Eden
  7. Spencer Tracy - Bad Day at Black Rock
  8. Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow
  9. Alec Guinness - The Ladykillers
10. James Cagney - Love Me or Leave Me
11. Katharine Hepburn - Summertime
12. Jack Lemmon - Mister Roberts
13. Sal Mineo - Rebel Without a Cause
14. Frank Sinatra - The Man with the Golden Arm
15. Jennifer Jones - Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
16. Marisa Pavan - The Rose Tattoo
17. Glenn Ford - The Blackboard Jungle
18. Julie Harris - East of Eden
19. Natalie Wood - Rebel Without a Cause
20. Katie Johnson - The Ladykillers

1954

  1. Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
  2. Judy Garland - A Star Is Born
  3. James Stewart - Rear Window
  4. Grace Kelly - The Country Girl
  5. Rod Steiger - On the Waterfront
  6. Humphrey Bogart - The Caine Mutiny
  7. James Mason - A Star Is Born
  8. Karl Malden - On the Waterfront
  9. Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina
10. Bing Crosby - The Country Girl
11. Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones
12. Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession
13. Lee J. Cobb - On the Waterfront
14. Grace Kelly - Rear Window
15. Eva Marie Saint - On the Waterfront
16. Ava Gardner - The Barefoot Contessa
17. Dan O'Herlihy - Robinson Crusoe
18. Grace Kelly - Dial M for Murder
19. Ray Milland - Dial M for Murder
20. Edmond O'Brien - The Barefoot Contessa

1953

  1. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday
  2. William Holden - Stalag 17
  3. Marlon Brando - Julius Caesar
  4. Montgomery Clift - From Here to Eternity
  5. Burt Lancaster - From Here to Eternity
  6. Marlon Brando - The Wild One
  7. Alan Ladd - Shane
  8. Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity
  9. Donna Reed - From Here to Eternity
10. James Mason - Julius Caesar
11. Leslie Caron - Lili
12. Grace Kelly - Mogambo
13. Jack Palance - Shane
14. Spencer Tracy - The Actress
15. Gregory Peck - Roman Holiday
16. Frank Sinatra - From Here to Eternity
17. Jean Simmons - The Actress
18. Ava Gardner - Mogambo
19. Fred Astaire - The Band Wagon
20. Marilyn Monroe - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

1952

  1. Gary Cooper - High Noon
  2. Marlon Brando - Viva Zapata!
  3. Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba!
  4. Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear
  5. Anthony Quinn - Viva Zapata!
  6. Gene Kelly - Singin' in the Rain
  7. Laurence Olivier - Carrie
  8. Charlie Chaplin - Limelight
  9. John Wayne - The Quiet Man
10. Susan Hayward - With a Song in My Heart
11. Kirk Douglas - The Bad and the Beautiful
12. Julie Harris - The Member of the Wedding
13. Donald O'Connor - Singin' In the Rain
14. José Ferrer - Moulin Rouge
15. Maureen O'Hara - The Quit Man
16. Bette Davis - Star
17. Colette Marchand - Moulin Rouge
18. Victor McLaglen - The Quiet Man
19. Debbie Reynolds - Singin' In the Rain
20. Jack Palance - Sudden Fear

1951

  1. Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named Desire
  2. Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen
  3. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire
  4. Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen
  5. Fredric March - Death of a Salesman
  6. Montgomery Clift - A Place in the Sun
  7. Alastair Sim - A Christmas Carol
  8. Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun
  9. Robert Walker - Strangers on a Train
10. Alec Guinness - The Lavender Hill Mob
11. Eleanor Parker - Detective Story
12. Elizabeth Taylor - A Place in the Sun
13. Lee Grant - Detective Story
14. Kim Hunter - A Streetcar Named Desire
15. Kirk Douglas - Detective Story
16. Karl Malden - A Streetcar Named Desire
17. Arthur Kennedy - Bright Victory
18. Kirk Douglas - Ace in the Hole
19. Jane Wyman - The Blue Veil
20. Peter Ustinov - Quo Vadis

1950

  1. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
  2. Bette Davis - All About Eve
  3. William Holden - Sunset Boulevard
  4. José Ferrer - Cyrano de Bergerac
  5. Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
  6. James Stewart - Harvey
  7. Anne Baxter - All About Eve
  8. Eleanor Parker - Caged
  9. George Sanders - All About Eve
10. Louis Calhern - The Magnificent Yankee
11. Sterling Hayden - The Asphalt Jungle
12. Josephine Hull - Harvey
13. Spencer Tracy - Father of the Bride
14. Marlon Brando - The Men
15. Sam Jaffe - The Asphalt Jungle
16. Humphrey Bogart - In a Lonely Place
17. John Dall - Gun Crazy
18. Richard Widmark - No Way Out
19. Peggy Cummins - Gun Crazy
20. Erich von Stroheim - Sunset Boulevard