Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture" but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actor - Drama.

The formal title has varied since its inception and as of 2005 is officially called: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy".

1950s

* 1951 - Fred Astaire, "Three Little Words"
* 1952 - Danny Kaye, "On the Riviera"
* 1953 - Donald O'Connor, "Singin' in the Rain"
* 1954 - David Niven, "The Moon is Blue"
* 1955 - James Mason, "A Star Is Born"
* 1956 - Tom Ewell, "The Seven Year Itch"
* 1957 - Cantinflas, "Around the World in Eighty Days"
* 1958 - Frank Sinatra, "Pal Joey"
* 1959 - Danny Kaye, "Me and the Colonel"

1960s

* 1960 - Jack Lemmon, "Some Like It Hot"
* 1961 - Jack Lemmon, "The Apartment"
* 1962 - Glenn Ford, "Pocketful of Miracles"
* 1963 - Marcello Mastroianni, "Divorce, Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana)"
* 1964 - Alberto Sordi, "To Bed or Not to Bed"
* 1965 - Rex Harrison, "My Fair Lady"
* 1966 - Lee Marvin, "Cat Ballou"
* 1967 - Alan Arkin, "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming"
* 1968 - Richard Harris, "Camelot"
* 1969 - Ron Moody, "Oliver!" as "Fagin"

1970s

* 1970 - Peter O'Toole, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
* 1971 - Albert Finney, "Scrooge" as "Ebenezer Scrooge"
* 1972 - Topol, "Fiddler on the Roof"
* 1973 - Jack Lemmon, "Avanti!"
* 1974 - George Segal, "A Touch of Class"
* 1975 - Art Carney, "Harry and Tonto" as "Harry"
* 1976 - Walter Matthau, "The Sunshine Boys"
* 1977 - Kris Kristofferson, "A Star Is Born"
* 1978 - Richard Dreyfuss, "The Goodbye Girl" as "Elliott Garfield"
* 1979 - Warren Beatty, "Heaven Can Wait"

1980s

* 1980 - Peter Sellers, "Being There"
* 1981 - Ray Sharkey, "The Idolmaker"
* 1982 - Dudley Moore, "Arthur"
* 1983 - Dustin Hoffman, "Tootsie" as "Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels"
* 1984 - Michael Caine, "Educating Rita"
* 1985 - Dudley Moore, "Micki and Maude"
* 1986 - Jack Nicholson, "Prizzi's Honor"
* 1987 - Paul Hogan, "Crocodile Dundee" as "Crocodile Dundee"
* 1988 - Robin Williams, "Good Morning, Vietnam" as Adrian Cronauer
* 1989 - Tom Hanks, "Big" as "Josh Baskin"

1990s

* 1990 - Morgan Freeman, "Driving Miss Daisy" as "Hoke Colburn"
** Billy Crystal - "When Harry Met Sally..." as "Harry"
** Michael Douglas - "The War of the Roses"
** Steve Martin - "Parenthood"
** Jack Nicholson - "Batman as "The Joker"
* 1991 - Gérard Depardieu, "Green Card"
** Macaulay Culkin - "Home Alone" as "Kevin McCallister"
** Johnny Depp - "Edward Scissorhands" as "Edward Scissorhands"
** Richard Gere - "Pretty Woman" as "Edward Lewis"
** Patrick Swayze - "Ghost" as "Sam Wheat"
* 1992 - Robin Williams, "The Fisher King"
** Jeff Bridges - "The Fisher King"
** Billy Crystal - "City Slickers"
** Dustin Hoffman - "Hook" as "Captain Hook"
** Kevin Kline - "Soapdish"
* 1993 - Tim Robbins, "The Player"
** Nicolas Cage - "Honeymoon in Vegas"
** Billy Crystal - "Mr. Saturday Night"
** Marcello Mastroianni - "Used People"
** Tim Robbins - "Bob Roberts"
* 1994 - Robin Williams, "Mrs. Doubtfire"
** Johnny Depp - "Benny & Joon" as "Sam"
** Tom Hanks - "Sleepless in Seattle"
** Kevin Kline - "Dave"
** Colm Meaney - "The Snapper"
* 1995 - Hugh Grant, "Four Weddings and a Funeral"
** Jim Carrey - "The Mask" as "Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask"
** Johnny Depp - "Ed Wood" as Ed Wood
** Arnold Schwarzenegger - "Junior"
** Terence Stamp - "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"
* 1996 - John Travolta, "Get Shorty"
** Michael Douglas - "The American President"
** Harrison Ford - "Sabrina" as "Linus"
** Steve Martin - "Father of the Bride Part II"
** Patrick Swayze - "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar"
* 1997 - Tom Cruise, "Jerry Maguire" as "Jerry Maguire"
** Antonio Banderas - "Evita"
** Kevin Costner - "Tin Cup"
** Nathan Lane - "The Birdcage"
** Eddie Murphy - "The Nutty Professor" as "Sherman Klump"
* 1998 - Jack Nicholson, "As Good as It Gets"
** Jim Carrey - "Liar Liar" as "Fletcher Reed"
** Dustin Hoffman - "Wag the Dog"
** Samuel L. Jackson - "Jackie Brown"
** Kevin Kline - "In & Out"
* 1999 - Michael Caine, "Little Voice"
** Antonio Banderas - "The Mask of Zorro" as "Zorro"
** Warren Beatty - "Bulworth"
** John Travolta - "Primary Colors"
** Robin Williams - "Patch Adams" as "Patch Adams"

2000s

* 2000 - Jim Carrey, "Man on the Moon" as Andy Kaufman
** Robert De Niro - "Analyze This"
** Rupert Everett - "An Ideal Husband"
** Hugh Grant - "Notting Hill"
** Sean Penn - "Sweet and Lowdown"
* "'2001 George Clooney - "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
** Jim Carrey - "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" as "The Grinch"
** John Cusack - "High Fidelity"
** Robert De Niro - "Meet the Parents" as "Jack Byrnes"
** Mel Gibson - "What Women Want"
* "'2002 Gene Hackman - "The Royal Tenenbaums" as "Royal Tenenbaum"
** Hugh Jackman - "Kate & Leopold"
** Ewan McGregor - "Moulin Rouge!"
** John Cameron Mitchell - "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
** Billy Bob Thornton - "Bandits"
* "'2003 Richard Gere - "Chicago" as "Billy Flynn"
** Nicolas Cage - "Adaptation." as "Charlie Kaufman/Donald Kaufman"
** Kieran Culkin - "Igby Goes Down" as "Jason 'Igby' Slocumb, Jr."
** Hugh Grant - "About a Boy" as "Will"
** Adam Sandler - "Punch-Drunk Love" as "Barry Egan"
* "'2004 Bill Murray - "Lost in Translation" as "Bob Harris"
** Jack Black - "School of Rock" as "Dewey Finn"
** Johnny Depp - "" as "Jack Sparrow"
** Jack Nicholson - "Something's Gotta Give" as "Harry Sanborn"
** Billy Bob Thornton - "Bad Santa" as "Willie"
* "'2005 Jamie Foxx - "Ray" as Ray Charles
** Jim Carrey - "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" as "Joel Barish"
** Paul Giamatti - "Sideways" as "Miles"
** Kevin Kline - "De-Lovely" as "Cole Porter"
** Kevin Spacey - "Beyond the Sea" as Bobby Darin
* "'2006 Joaquin Phoenix - "Walk the Line" as Johnny Cash
** Pierce Brosnan - "The Matador" as "Julian Noble"
** Jeff Daniels - "The Squid and the Whale" as "Bernard Berkman"
** Johnny Depp - "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as "Willy Wonka"
** Nathan Lane - "The Producers" as "Max Bialystock"
** Cillian Murphy - "Breakfast on Pluto" as "Patrick 'Kitten' Braden"
* 2007 Sacha Baron Cohen - ' as "Borat Sagdiyev"
** Johnny Depp - "" as "Jack Sparrow"
** Aaron Eckhart - "Thank You for Smoking" as "Nick Naylor"
** Chiwetel Ejiofor - "Kinky Boots" as "Lola"
** Will Ferrell - "Stranger than Fiction" as "Harold Crick"
* 2008 Johnny Depp - ' as "Sweeney Todd" "'
** Ryan Gosling - "Lars and the Real Girl" as "Lars Lindstrom"
** Tom Hanks - "Charlie Wilson's War" as "Charlie Wilson"
** Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Savages" as "Jon Savage"
** John C. Reilly - "" as "Dewey Cox"