# Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a television limited series or television movie for the primetime network season.
The award was first presented at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards on March 7, 1955, to Robert Cummings, for his performance as Juror #8 on the Studio One episode "Twelve Angry Men". It has undergone several name changes, with the category split into two categories at the 25th Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy; and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. By the 31st Primetime Emmy Awards, the categories were merged into one, and it has since undergone several name changes, leading to its current title.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 59 actors. Richard Gadd is the current recipient of the award, for his portrayal of Donny Dunn on Baby Reindeer. Laurence Olivier has won the most awards in this category, with four, while Hal Holbrook has received the most nominations for the award, on seven occasions.

## Winners and nominations

Table key :
* Indicates the winner

### 1950s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Episode | Network |
| Best Actor in a Single Performance ||||||
| 1955 (7th) |
| 1955 (7th) | Robert Cummings | Juror #8 | Studio One | "Twelve Angry Men" | CBS |
| 1955 (7th) | Frank Lovejoy | Walter Neff | Lux Video Theatre | "Double Indemnity" | CBS |
| 1955 (7th) | Fredric March | Tony Cavendish | The Best of Broadway | "The Royal Family" | CBS |
| 1955 (7th) | Fredric March | Ebenezer Scrooge | Shower of Stars | "A Christmas Carol" | CBS |
| 1955 (7th) | Thomas Mitchell | Father Devlin | Ford Theatre | "The Good of His Soul" | NBC |
| 1955 (7th) | David Niven | Deacon | Four Star Playhouse | "The Answer" | CBS |
| 1956 (8th) |
| 1956 (8th) | Lloyd Nolan | Capt. Queeg | Ford Star Jubilee | "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" | CBS |
| 1956 (8th) | Ralph Bellamy | Father | The United States Steel Hour | "The Fearful Decision" | CBS |
| 1956 (8th) | José Ferrer | Cyrano de Bergerac | Producers' Showcase | "Cyrano de Bergerac" | NBC |
| 1956 (8th) | Everett Sloane | President | Kraft Television Theatre | "Patterns" | NBC |
| 1956 (8th) | Barry Sullivan | Defense Attorney Greenwald | Ford Star Jubilee | "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" | CBS |
| 1957 (9th) |
| 1957 (9th) | Jack Palance | Harlan "Mountain" McClintock | Playhouse 90 | "Requiem for a Heavyweight" | CBS |
| 1957 (9th) | Lloyd Bridges | Alec Beggs | The Alcoa Hour | "Tragedy in a Temporary Town" | NBC |
| 1957 (9th) | Fredric March | Sam Dodsworth | Producers' Showcase | "Dodsworth" | NBC |
| 1957 (9th) | Sal Mineo | Dino Minetta | Studio One | "Dino" | CBS |
| 1957 (9th) | Red Skelton | Buddy McCoy | Playhouse 90 | "The Big Slide" | CBS |
| Best Single Performance by an Actor - Lead or Support ||||||
| 1958 (10th) |
| 1958 (10th) | Peter Ustinov | Dr. Samuel Johnson | Omnibus | "The Life of Samuel Johnson" | NBC |
| 1958 (10th) | Lee J. Cobb | Dr. Joseph Pearson | Studio One | "No Deadly Medicine" | CBS |
| 1958 (10th) | Mickey Rooney | Sammy Hogarth | Playhouse 90 | "The Comedian" | CBS |
| 1958 (10th) | David Wayne | James Mennick | Suspicion | "Heartbeat" | NBC |
| 1958 (10th) | Ed Wynn | Gramps Northrup | On Borrowed Time | On Borrowed Time | | NBC |
| Best Single Performance by an Actor ||||||
| 1959 (11th) |
| 1959 (11th) | Fred Astaire | Himself | An Evening with Fred Astaire | An Evening with Fred Astaire | NBC |
| 1959 (11th) | Robert L. Crawford Jr. | Tanguy | Playhouse 90 | "Child of Our Time" | CBS |
| 1959 (11th) | Paul Muni | Sam Arlen | Playhouse 90 | "Last Clear Chance" | CBS |
| 1959 (11th) | Christopher Plummer | Kenneth Boyd | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Little Moon of Alban" | NBC |
| 1959 (11th) | Mickey Rooney | Eddie | Alcoa Theatre | "Eddie" | NBC |
| 1959 (11th) | Rod Steiger | Harvey Denton | Playhouse 90 | "A Town Has Turned to Dust" | CBS |

### 1960s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Episode | Network |
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor (Lead or Support) ||||||
| 1960 (12th) |
| 1960 (12th) | Laurence Olivier | Charles Strickland | The Moon and Sixpence | The Moon and Sixpence | NBC |
| 1960 (12th) | Lee J. Cobb | Dr. Lawrence Doner | Playhouse 90 | "Project Immortality" | CBS |
| 1960 (12th) | Alec Guinness | Jebal Deeks | Startime | "The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks" | NBC |
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role ||||||
| 1961 (13th) |
| 1961 (13th) | Maurice Evans | Macbeth | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Macbeth" | NBC |
| 1961 (13th) | Cliff Robertson | Charlie Gordon | The United States Steel Hour | "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" | CBS |
| 1961 (13th) | Ed Wynn | Himself | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | "The Man in the Funny Suit" | CBS |
| 1962 (14th) |
| 1962 (14th) | Peter Falk | Aristede Fresco | The Dick Powell Theatre | "The Price of Tomatoes" | NBC |
| 1962 (14th) | Milton Berle | Eddie Doyle | The Dick Powell Theatre | "Doyle Against the House" | NBC |
| 1962 (14th) | James Donald | Albert, Prince Consort | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Victoria Regina" | NBC |
| 1962 (14th) | Lee Marvin | Hughes | Alcoa Premiere | "People Need People" | ABC |
| 1962 (14th) | Mickey Rooney | Augie Miller | The Dick Powell Theatre | "Somebody's Waiting" | NBC |
| 1963 (15th) |
| 1963 (15th) | Trevor Howard | Benjamin Disraeli | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Invincible Mr. Disraeli" | NBC |
| 1963 (15th) | Bradford Dillman | Charlie Pont | Premiere, Presented by Fred Astaire | "The Voice of Charlie Pont" | ABC |
| 1963 (15th) | Don Gordon | Joey Tassili | The Defenders | "The Madman" | CBS |
| 1963 (15th) | Walter Matthau | Meredith | The DuPont Show of the Week | "Big Deal in Laredo" | NBC |
| 1963 (15th) | Joseph Schildkraut | Rabbi Gottlieb | Sam Benedict | "Hear the Mellow Wedding Bells" | NBC |
| 1964 (16th) |
| 1964 (16th) | Jack Klugman | Joe Larch | The Defenders | "Blacklist" | CBS |
| 1964 (16th) | James Earl Jones | Joe | East Side/West Side | "Who Do You Kill?" | CBS |
| 1964 (16th) | Roddy McDowall | Paul LeDoux | Arrest and Trial | "Journey Into Darkness" | ABC |
| 1964 (16th) | Jason Robards | Abraham Lincoln | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" | NBC |
| 1964 (16th) | Rod Steiger | Mike Kirsch | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | "A Slow Fade to Black" | NBC |
| 1964 (16th) | Harold J. Stone | Elihu Kaminsky | The Doctors and the Nurses | "Nurse Is a Feminine Noun" | CBS |
| Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment - Actors and Performers ||||||
| 1965 (17th) |
| 1965 (17th) | Alfred Lunt | Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Magnificent Yankee" | NBC |
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama ||||||
| 1966 (18th) |
| 1966 (18th) | Cliff Robertson | Quincey Parke | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | "The Game" | NBC |
| 1966 (18th) | Ed Begley | Matthew Harrison Brady | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Inherit the Wind" | NBC |
| 1966 (18th) | Melvyn Douglas | Henry Drummond | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Inherit the Wind" | NBC |
| 1966 (18th) | Trevor Howard | Napoleon | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Eagle in a Cage" | NBC |
| 1966 (18th) | Christopher Plummer | Hamlet | Hamlet | Hamlet | Syndicated |
| 1967 (19th) |
| 1967 (19th) | Peter Ustinov | Socrates | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Barefoot in Athens" | NBC |
| 1967 (19th) | Alan Arkin | Barney Kempinski | ABC Stage 67 | "The Love Song of Barney Kempinski" | ABC |
| 1967 (19th) | Lee J. Cobb | Willy Loman | Death of a Salesman | Death of a Salesman | CBS |
| 1967 (19th) | Ivan Dixon | Olly Winter | CBS Playhouse | "The Final War of Olly Winter" | CBS |
| 1967 (19th) | Hal Holbrook | Mark Twain | Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! | Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! | | CBS |
| 1968 (20th) |
| 1968 (20th) | Melvyn Douglas | Peter Schermann | CBS Playhouse | "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" | CBS |
| 1968 (20th) | Raymond Burr | Robert T. Ironside | Ironside | "Pilot" | NBC |
| 1968 (20th) | Van Heflin | Robert Sloane | A Case of Libel | A Case of Libel | ABC |
| 1968 (20th) | George C. Scott | John Proctor | The Crucible | The Crucible | CBS |
| 1968 (20th) | Eli Wallach | Douglas Lambert | CBS Playhouse | "Dear Friends" | CBS |
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role ||||||
| 1969 (21st) |
| 1969 (21st) | Paul Scofield | Emlyn Bowen | Prudiential's On Stage | "Male of the Species" | NBC |
| 1969 (21st) | Ossie Davis | Charles Carter | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Teacher, Teacher" | NBC |
| 1969 (21st) | David McCallum | Hamilton Cade | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "Teacher, Teacher" | NBC |
| 1969 (21st) | Bill Travers | Crichton | Hallmark Hall of Fame | "The Admirable Crichton" | NBC |

### 1970s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |||||
| 1970 (22nd) |
| 1970 (22nd) | Peter Ustinov | Abel Shaddick | A Storm in Summer | NBC |
| 1970 (22nd) | Al Freeman Jr. | Charles Roberts | My Sweet Charlie | NBC |
| 1970 (22nd) | Laurence Olivier | Mr. Creakle | David Copperfield | NBC |
| 1971 (23rd) |
| 1971 (23rd) | George C. Scott | Victor Franz | The Price | NBC |
| 1971 (23rd) | Jack Cassidy | Otis Baker | The Andersonville Trial | PBS |
| 1971 (23rd) | Hal Holbrook | Hays Stowe | A Clear and Present Danger | NBC |
| 1971 (23rd) | Richard Widmark | Paul Roudebush | Vanished | NBC |
| 1971 (23rd) | Gig Young | Jones | The Neon Ceiling | NBC |
| 1972 (24th) |
| 1972 (24th) | Keith Michell | Henry VIII | The Six Wives of Henry VIII | CBS |
| 1972 (24th) | James Caan | Brian Piccolo | Brian's Song | ABC |
| 1972 (24th) | Richard Harris | Philip Rhayadar | The Snow Goose | NBC |
| 1972 (24th) | George C. Scott | Edward Rochester | Jane Eyre | NBC |
| 1972 (24th) | Billy Dee Williams | Gale Sayers | Brian's Song | ABC |
| 1973 (25th) |
| 1973 (25th) | Laurence Olivier | James Tyrone, Sr. | Long Day's Journey Into Night | ABC |
| 1973 (25th) | Henry Fonda | Carl Tiflin | The Red Pony | NBC |
| 1973 (25th) | Hal Holbrook | Doug Salter | That Certain Summer | ABC |
| 1973 (25th) | Telly Savalas | Theo Kojak | Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders | CBS |
| Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Drama/Comedy - Limited Episodes) ||||
| 1973 (25th) | Anthony Murphy | Tom Brown | Tom Brown's Schooldays | PBS |
| 1973 (25th) | John Abineri | Chingachgook | The Last of the Mohicans | PBS |
| 1973 (25th) | Philippe Leroy | Leonardo da Vinci | The Life of Leonardo da Vinci | CBS |
| 1974 (26th) | Best Lead Actor in a Drama | Best Lead Actor in a Drama | Best Lead Actor in a Drama | Best Lead Actor in a Drama |
| 1974 (26th) | Hal Holbrook | Lloyd Bucher | Pueblo | ABC |
| 1974 (26th) | Alan Alda | Paul Friedman | 6 Rms Riv Vu | CBS |
| 1974 (26th) | Laurence Olivier | Shylock | The Merchant of Venice | ABC |
| 1974 (26th) | Martin Sheen | Eddie Slovik | The Execution of Private Slovik | NBC |
| 1974 (26th) | Dick Van Dyke | Charlie Lester | The Morning After | ABC |
| Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series ||||
| 1974 (26th) | William Holden | Bumper Morgan | The Blue Knight | NBC |
| 1974 (26th) | Peter Falk | Columbo | Columbo | NBC |
| 1974 (26th) | Dennis Weaver | Sam McCloud | McCloud | NBC |
| 1975 (27th) | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy |
| 1975 (27th) | Laurence Olivier | Arthur Glanville-Jones | Love Among the Ruins | ABC |
| 1975 (27th) | Richard Chamberlain | Edmond Dantès | The Count of Monte Cristo | NBC |
| 1975 (27th) | William Devane | John F. Kennedy | The Missiles of October | ABC |
| 1975 (27th) | Charles Durning | Al Green | Queen of the Stardust Ballroom | CBS |
| 1975 (27th) | Henry Fonda | Clarence Darrow | Clarence Darrow | NBC |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series ||||
| 1975 (27th) | Peter Falk | Columbo | Columbo | NBC |
| 1975 (27th) | Dennis Weaver | Sam McCloud | McCloud | NBC |
| 1976 (28th) | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy |
| 1976 (28th) | Anthony Hopkins | Richard Hauptmann | The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case | NBC |
| 1976 (28th) | William Devane | John Henry Faulk | Fear on Trial | CBS |
| 1976 (28th) | Edward Herrmann | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Eleanor and Franklin | ABC |
| 1976 (28th) | Jack Lemmon | Archie Rice | The Entertainer | NBC |
| 1976 (28th) | Jason Robards | James Tyrone, Jr. | A Moon for the Misbegotten | ABC |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series ||||
| 1976 (28th) | Hal Holbrook | Abraham Lincoln | Sandburg's Lincoln | NBC |
| 1976 (28th) | George Grizzard | John Adams | The Adams Chronicles | PBS |
| 1976 (28th) | Nick Nolte | Thomas Jordache | Rich Man, Poor Man | ABC |
| 1976 (28th) | Peter Strauss | Rudolph Jordache | Rich Man, Poor Man | ABC |
| 1977 (29th) | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Special Program – Drama or Comedy |
| 1977 (29th) | Ed Flanders | Harry S. Truman | Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking | PBS |
| 1977 (29th) | Peter Boyle | Joseph McCarthy | Tail Gunner Joe | NBC |
| 1977 (29th) | Peter Finch (post-humously) | Yitzhak Rabin | Raid on Entebbe | NBC |
| 1977 (29th) | Edward Herrmann | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years | ABC |
| 1977 (29th) | George C. Scott | The Beast | Beauty and the Beast | NBC |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series ||||
| 1977 (29th) | Christopher Plummer | Roscoe Heyward | The Moneychangers | NBC |
| 1977 (29th) | Stanley Baker | Gwilym Morgan | How Green Was My Valley | PBS |
| 1977 (29th) | Richard Jordan | Joseph Armagh | Captains and the Kings | NBC |
| 1977 (29th) | Steven Keats | Jay Blackman | Seventh Avenue | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama or Comedy Special |
| 1978 (30th) | Fred Astaire | Ted Long | A Family Upside Down | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Alan Alda | Caryl Chessman | Kill Me If You Can | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Hal Holbrook | Stage Manager | Our Town | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Martin Sheen | Taxi Driver | Taxi!!! | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | James Stacy | Kenny Briggs | Just a Little Inconvenience | NBC |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series ||||
| 1978 (30th) | Michael Moriarty | Erik Dorf | Holocaust | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Hal Holbrook | Portius Wheeler | The Awakening Land | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Jason Robards | Richard Monckton | Washington: Behind Closed Doors | ABC |
| 1978 (30th) | Fritz Weaver | Josef Weiss | Holocaust | NBC |
| 1978 (30th) | Paul Winfield | Martin Luther King, Jr. | King | NBC |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special |||||
| 1979 (31st) |
| 1979 (31st) | Peter Strauss | Larry Murphy | The Jericho Mile | ABC |
| 1979 (31st) | Ned Beatty | Gene Mullen | Friendly Fire | ABC |
| 1979 (31st) | Louis Gossett Jr. | Levi Mercer | Backstairs at the White House | NBC |
| 1979 (31st) | Kurt Russell | Elvis Presley | Elvis | ABC |

### 1980s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special |||||
| 1980 (32nd) |
| 1980 (32nd) | Powers Boothe | Jim Jones | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | CBS |
| 1980 (32nd) | Tony Curtis | David O. Selznick | The Scarlett O'Hara War | NBC |
| 1980 (32nd) | Henry Fonda | Clarence Earl Gideon | Gideon's Trumpet | CBS |
| 1980 (32nd) | Jason Robards | Franklin D. Roosevelt | F.D.R.: The Last Year | NBC |
| 1981 (33rd) |
| 1981 (33rd) | Anthony Hopkins | Adolf Hitler | The Bunker | CBS |
| 1981 (33rd) | Richard Chamberlain | John Blackthorne / "Anjin-san" | Shōgun | NBC |
| 1981 (33rd) | Toshiro Mifune | Lord Yoshi Toranaga | Shōgun | NBC |
| 1981 (33rd) | Peter O'Toole | Cornelius Flavius Silva | Masada | ABC |
| 1981 (33rd) | Peter Strauss | Eleazar Ben Yair | Masada | ABC |
| 1982 (34th) |
| 1982 (34th) | Mickey Rooney | Bill Sackter | Bill | CBS |
| 1982 (34th) | Anthony Andrews | Sebastian Flyte | Brideshead Revisited | PBS |
| 1982 (34th) | Philip Anglim | John Merrick | The Elephant Man | ABC |
| 1982 (34th) | Anthony Hopkins | Quasimodo | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | CBS |
| 1982 (34th) | Jeremy Irons | Charles Ryder | Brideshead Revisited | PBS |
| 1983 (35th) |
| 1983 (35th) | Tommy Lee Jones | Gary Gilmore | The Executioner's Song | NBC |
| 1983 (35th) | Robert Blake | Jimmy Hoffa | Blood Feud | OPT |
| 1983 (35th) | Richard Chamberlain | Ralph de Bricassart | The Thorn Birds | ABC |
| 1983 (35th) | Alec Guinness | George Smiley | Smiley's People | Syndicated |
| 1983 (35th) | Roger Rees | Nicholas Nickleby | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Syndicated |
| 1984 (36th) |
| 1984 (36th) | Laurence Olivier | King Lear | King Lear | Syndicated |
| 1984 (36th) | Ted Danson | Steven Bennett | Something About Amelia | ABC |
| 1984 (36th) | Louis Gossett Jr. | Anwar al-Sadat | Sadat | OPT |
| 1984 (36th) | Mickey Rooney | Bill Sackter | Bill: On His Own | CBS |
| 1984 (36th) | Daniel J. Travanti | John Walsh | Adam | NBC |
| 1985 (37th) |
| 1985 (37th) | Richard Crenna | Richard Beck | The Rape of Richard Beck | ABC |
| 1985 (37th) | Richard Chamberlain | Raoul Wallenberg | Wallenberg: A Hero's Story | NBC |
| 1985 (37th) | James Garner | Harold Lear | Heartsounds | ABC |
| 1985 (37th) | Richard Kiley | George Hollis | Do You Remember Love | CBS |
| 1985 (37th) | George C. Scott | Ebenezer Scrooge | A Christmas Carol | CBS |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special |||||
| 1986 (38th) |
| 1986 (38th) | Dustin Hoffman | Willy Loman | Death of a Salesman | CBS |
| 1986 (38th) | Kirk Douglas | Amos Lasher | Amos | CBS |
| 1986 (38th) | Ben Gazzara | Nick Pierson | An Early Frost | NBC |
| 1986 (38th) | John Lithgow | Maj. Kendall Laird | Resting Place | CBS |
| 1986 (38th) | Aidan Quinn | Michael Pierson | An Early Frost | NBC |
| 1987 (39th) |
| 1987 (39th) | James Woods | D. J. | Promise | CBS |
| 1987 (39th) | Alan Arkin | Leon Feldhendler | Escape from Sobibor | CBS |
| 1987 (39th) | James Garner | Bob Beuhler | Promise | CBS |
| 1987 (39th) | Louis Gossett Jr. | Mathu | A Gathering of Old Men | CBS |
| 1987 (39th) | Randy Quaid | Lyndon B. Johnson | LBJ: The Early Years | NBC |
| 1988 (40th) |
| 1988 (40th) | Jason Robards | Henry Drummond | Inherit the Wind | NBC |
| 1988 (40th) | Hume Cronyn | Hector Nations | Foxfire | CBS |
| 1988 (40th) | Danny Glover | Nelson Mandela | Mandela | HBO |
| 1988 (40th) | Stacy Keach | Ernest Hemingway | Hemingway | Syndicated |
| 1988 (40th) | Jack Lemmon | John M. Slaton | The Murder of Mary Phagan | NBC |
| 1989 (41st) |
| 1989 (41st) | James Woods | Bill Wilson | My Name Is Bill W. | ABC |
| 1989 (41st) | Robert Duvall | Gus McCrae | Lonesome Dove | CBS |
| 1989 (41st) | John Gielgud | Aaron Jastrow | War and Remembrance | ABC |
| 1989 (41st) | Tommy Lee Jones | Woodrow F. Call | Lonesome Dove | CBS |
| 1989 (41st) | Ben Kingsley | Simon Wiesenthal | Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story | HBO |

### 1990s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special |||||
| 1990 (42nd) |
| 1990 (42nd) | Hume Cronyn | Cooper | Age-Old Friends | HBO |
| 1990 (42nd) | Michael Caine | Dr. Henry Jekyll / Harry Hyde | Jekyll & Hyde | ABC |
| 1990 (42nd) | Art Carney | The Father | Where Pigeons Go to Die | NBC |
| 1990 (42nd) | Albert Finney | Jason Cromwell | The Image | HBO |
| 1990 (42nd) | Tom Hulce | Michael Schwerner | Murder in Mississippi | NBC |
| 1991 (43rd) |
| 1991 (43rd) | John Gielgud | Haverford Downs | Summer's Lease | PBS |
| 1991 (43rd) | James Garner | Albert Sidney Finch | Decoration Day | NBC |
| 1991 (43rd) | Dennis Hopper | Paris Trout | Paris Trout | Showtime |
| 1991 (43rd) | Sidney Poitier | Thurgood Marshall | Separate but Equal | ABC |
| 1991 (43rd) | Christopher Walken | Jacob Witting | Sarah, Plain and Tall | CBS |
| 1992 (44th) |
| 1992 (44th) | Beau Bridges | James Brady | Without Warning: The James Brady Story | HBO |
| 1992 (44th) | Rubén Blades | Ernesto Ontiveros | Crazy from the Heart | TNT |
| 1992 (44th) | Hume Cronyn | Cleveland Merriweather | Christmas on Division Street | CBS |
| 1992 (44th) | Brian Dennehy | John Wayne Gacy | To Catch a Killer | Syndicated |
| 1992 (44th) | Maximilian Schell | Mordechai Weiss | Miss Rose White | NBC |
| 1993 (45th) |
| 1993 (45th) | Robert Morse | Truman Capote | Tru | PBS |
| 1993 (45th) | Robert Blake | John List | Judgment Day: The John List Story | CBS |
| 1993 (45th) | Robert Duvall | Joseph Stalin | Stalin | HBO |
| 1993 (45th) | James Garner | F. Ross Johnson | Barbarians at the Gate | HBO |
| 1993 (45th) | James Woods | Roy Cohn | Citizen Cohn | HBO |
| 1994 (46th) |
| 1994 (46th) | Hume Cronyn | Sam Peek | To Dance with the White Dog | CBS |
| 1994 (46th) | Michael Caine | Joseph Stalin | World War II: When Lions Roared | NBC |
| 1994 (46th) | James Garner | Ira Moran | Breathing Lessons | CBS |
| 1994 (46th) | Matthew Modine | Don Francis | And the Band Played On | HBO |
| 1994 (46th) | Sam Waterston | Forrest Bedford | I'll Fly Away: Then and Now | PBS |
| 1995 (47th) |
| 1995 (47th) | Raul Julia (post-humously) | Chico Mendes | The Burning Season | HBO |
| 1995 (47th) | Charles S. Dutton | Boy Willie Charles | The Piano Lesson | CBS |
| 1995 (47th) | John Goodman | Huey P. Long | Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long | TNT |
| 1995 (47th) | John Lithgow | Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley | My Brother's Keeper | CBS |
| 1995 (47th) | James Woods | Danny Davis | Indictment: The McMartin Trial | HBO |
| 1996 (48th) |
| 1996 (48th) | Alan Rickman | Grigori Rasputin | Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny | HBO |
| 1996 (48th) | Alec Baldwin | Stanley Kowalski | A Streetcar Named Desire | CBS |
| 1996 (48th) | Beau Bridges | Richard Nixon | Kissinger and Nixon | TNT |
| 1996 (48th) | Laurence Fishburne | Hannibal Lee | The Tuskegee Airmen | HBO |
| 1996 (48th) | Gary Sinise | Harry S. Truman | Truman | HBO |
| 1997 (49th) |
| 1997 (49th) | Armand Assante | John Gotti | Gotti | HBO |
| 1997 (49th) | Beau Bridges | Bill Januson | Hidden in America | Showtime |
| 1997 (49th) | Robert Duvall | Adolf Eichmann | The Man Who Captured Eichmann | TNT |
| 1997 (49th) | Laurence Fishburne | Caleb Humphries | Miss Evers' Boys | HBO |
| 1997 (49th) | Sidney Poitier | Nelson Mandela | Mandela and de Klerk | Showtime |
| 1998 (50th) |
| 1998 (50th) | Gary Sinise | George Wallace | George Wallace | TNT |
| 1998 (50th) | Jack Lemmon | Juror #8 | 12 Angry Men | Showtime |
| 1998 (50th) | Sam Neill | Merlin | Merlin | NBC |
| 1998 (50th) | Ving Rhames | Don King | Don King: Only in America | HBO |
| 1998 (50th) | Patrick Stewart | Captain Ahab | Moby Dick | USA |
| 1999 (51st) |
| 1999 (51st) | Stanley Tucci | Walter Winchell | Winchell | HBO |
| 1999 (51st) | Don Cheadle | Grant Wiggins | A Lesson Before Dying | HBO |
| 1999 (51st) | Ian Holm | King Lear | King Lear | PBS |
| 1999 (51st) | Jack Lemmon | Henry Drummond | Inherit the Wind | Showtime |
| 1999 (51st) | Sam Shepard | Dashiell Hammett | Dash and Lilly | A&E |

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie |||||
| 2000 (52nd) |
| 2000 (52nd) | Jack Lemmon | Morrie Schwartz | Tuesdays with Morrie | ABC |
| 2000 (52nd) | Beau Bridges | P. T. Barnum | P. T. Barnum | A&E |
| 2000 (52nd) | Brian Dennehy | Willy Loman | Death of a Salesman | Showtime |
| 2000 (52nd) | William H. Macy | Terry Thorpe | A Slight Case of Murder | TNT |
| 2000 (52nd) | Liev Schreiber | Orson Welles | RKO 281 | HBO |
| 2001 (53rd) |
| 2001 (53rd) | Kenneth Branagh | Reinhard Heydrich | Conspiracy | HBO |
| 2001 (53rd) | Andy García | Arturo Sandoval | For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story | HBO |
| 2001 (53rd) | Gregory Hines | Bill "Bojangles" Robinson | Bojangles | Showtime |
| 2001 (53rd) | Ben Kingsley | Otto Frank | Anne Frank: The Whole Story | ABC |
| 2001 (53rd) | Barry Pepper | Roger Maris | 61* | HBO |
| 2002 (54th) |
| 2002 (54th) | Albert Finney | Winston Churchill | The Gathering Storm | HBO |
| 2002 (54th) | Kenneth Branagh | Ernest Shackleton | Shackleton | A&E |
| 2002 (54th) | Beau Bridges | Michael Mulvaney | We Were the Mulvaneys | Lifetime |
| 2002 (54th) | James Franco | James Dean | James Dean | TNT |
| 2002 (54th) | Michael Gambon | Lyndon B. Johnson | Path to War | HBO |
| 2003 (55th) |
| 2003 (55th) | William H. Macy | Bill Porter | Door to Door | TNT |
| 2003 (55th) | Brad Garrett | Jackie Gleason | Gleason | CBS |
| 2003 (55th) | Paul Newman | Stage Manager | Our Town | Showtime |
| 2003 (55th) | Tom Wilkinson | Roy Applewood | Normal | HBO |
| 2003 (55th) | James Woods | Rudy Giuliani | Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story | USA |
| 2004 (56th) |
| 2004 (56th) | Al Pacino | Roy Cohn | Angels in America | HBO |
| 2004 (56th) | Antonio Banderas | Pancho Villa | And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | HBO |
| 2004 (56th) | James Brolin | Ronald Reagan | The Reagans | Showtime |
| 2004 (56th) | Mos Def | Vivien Thomas | Something the Lord Made | HBO |
| 2004 (56th) | Alan Rickman | Dr. Alfred Blalock | Something the Lord Made | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) |
| 2005 (57th) | Geoffrey Rush | Peter Sellers | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) | Kenneth Branagh | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Warm Springs | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) | Ed Harris | Miles Roby | Empire Falls | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) | William H. Macy | Charles Gigot | The Wool Cap | TNT |
| 2005 (57th) | Jonathan Rhys Meyers | Elvis Presley | Elvis | CBS |
| 2006 (58th) |
| 2006 (58th) | Andre Braugher | Nick Atwater | Thief | FX |
| 2006 (58th) | Charles Dance | Mr. Tulkinghorn | Bleak House | PBS |
| 2006 (58th) | Ben Kingsley | Dr. Herman Tarnower | Mrs. Harris | HBO |
| 2006 (58th) | Donald Sutherland | Bill Meehan | Human Trafficking | Lifetime |
| 2006 (58th) | Jon Voight | Pope John Paul II | Pope John Paul II | CBS |
| 2007 (59th) |
| 2007 (59th) | Robert Duvall | Prentice "Prent" Ritter | Broken Trail | AMC |
| 2007 (59th) | Jim Broadbent | Lord Longford | Longford | HBO |
| 2007 (59th) | William H. Macy | Det. Clyde Umney / Sam Landry | Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King: Umney's Last Case | TNT |
| 2007 (59th) | Matthew Perry | Ron Clark | The Ron Clark Story | TNT |
| 2007 (59th) | Tom Selleck | Jesse Stone | Jesse Stone: Sea Change | CBS |
| 2008 (60th) |
| 2008 (60th) | Paul Giamatti | John Adams | John Adams | HBO |
| 2008 (60th) | Ralph Fiennes | Bernard Lafferty | Bernard and Doris | HBO |
| 2008 (60th) | Ricky Gervais | Andy Millman | Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale | HBO |
| 2008 (60th) | Kevin Spacey | Ron Klain | Recount | HBO |
| 2008 (60th) | Tom Wilkinson | James Baker | Recount | HBO |
| 2009 (61st) |
| 2009 (61st) | Brendan Gleeson | Winston Churchill | Into the Storm | HBO |
| 2009 (61st) | Kevin Bacon | Michael Strobl | Taking Chance | HBO |
| 2009 (61st) | Kenneth Branagh | Kurt Wallander | Wallander: One Step Behind | PBS |
| 2009 (61st) | Kevin Kline | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac | PBS |
| 2009 (61st) | Ian McKellen | King Lear | King Lear | PBS |
| 2009 (61st) | Kiefer Sutherland | Jack Bauer | 24: Redemption | Fox |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie |||||
| 2010 (62nd) |
| 2010 (62nd) | Al Pacino | Dr. Jack Kevorkian | You Don't Know Jack | HBO |
| 2010 (62nd) | Jeff Bridges | Jon Katz | A Dog Year | HBO |
| 2010 (62nd) | Ian McKellen | Number Two / Curtis | The Prisoner | AMC |
| 2010 (62nd) | Dennis Quaid | Bill Clinton | The Special Relationship | HBO |
| 2010 (62nd) | Michael Sheen | Tony Blair | The Special Relationship | HBO |
| 2011 (63rd) |
| 2011 (63rd) | Barry Pepper | Robert F. Kennedy | The Kennedys | Reelz |
| 2011 (63rd) | Idris Elba | John Luther | Luther | BBC America |
| 2011 (63rd) | Laurence Fishburne | Thurgood Marshall | Thurgood | HBO |
| 2011 (63rd) | William Hurt | Henry Paulson | Too Big to Fail | HBO |
| 2011 (63rd) | Greg Kinnear | John F. Kennedy | The Kennedys | Reelz |
| 2011 (63rd) | Édgar Ramírez | Ilich Ramírez Sánchez | Carlos | Sundance |
| 2012 (64th) |
| 2012 (64th) | Kevin Costner | Devil Anse Hatfield | Hatfields & McCoys | History |
| 2012 (64th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia | PBS |
| 2012 (64th) | Idris Elba | John Luther | Luther | BBC America |
| 2012 (64th) | Woody Harrelson | Steve Schmidt | Game Change | HBO |
| 2012 (64th) | Clive Owen | Ernest Hemingway | Hemingway & Gellhorn | HBO |
| 2012 (64th) | Bill Paxton | Randolph McCoy | Hatfields & McCoys | History |
| 2013 (65th) |
| 2013 (65th) | Michael Douglas | Liberace | Behind the Candelabra | HBO |
| 2013 (65th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Christopher Tietjens | Parade's End | HBO |
| 2013 (65th) | Matt Damon | Scott Thorson | Behind the Candelabra | HBO |
| 2013 (65th) | Toby Jones | Alfred Hitchcock | The Girl | HBO |
| 2013 (65th) | Al Pacino | Phil Spector | Phil Spector | HBO |
| 2014 (66th) |
| 2014 (66th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock: His Last Vow | PBS |
| 2014 (66th) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Louis Lester | Dancing on the Edge | Starz |
| 2014 (66th) | Idris Elba | John Luther | Luther | BBC America |
| 2014 (66th) | Martin Freeman | Lester Nygaard | Fargo | FX |
| 2014 (66th) | Mark Ruffalo | Ned Weeks | The Normal Heart | HBO |
| 2014 (66th) | Billy Bob Thornton | Lorne Malvo | Fargo | FX |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie |||||
| 2015 (67th) |
| 2015 (67th) | Richard Jenkins | Henry Kitteridge | Olive Kitteridge | HBO |
| 2015 (67th) | Adrien Brody | Harry Houdini | Houdini | History |
| 2015 (67th) | Ricky Gervais | Derek Noakes | Derek: The Special | Netflix |
| 2015 (67th) | Timothy Hutton | Russ Skokie | American Crime | ABC |
| 2015 (67th) | David Oyelowo | Peter Snowden | Nightingale | HBO |
| 2015 (67th) | Mark Rylance | Thomas Cromwell | Wolf Hall | PBS |
| 2016 (68th) |
| 2016 (68th) | Courtney B. Vance | Johnnie Cochran | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story | FX |
| 2016 (68th) | Bryan Cranston | Lyndon B. Johnson | All the Way | HBO |
| 2016 (68th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock: The Abominable Bride | PBS |
| 2016 (68th) | Idris Elba | John Luther | Luther | BBC America |
| 2016 (68th) | Cuba Gooding Jr. | O. J. Simpson | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story | FX |
| 2016 (68th) | Tom Hiddleston | Jonathan Pine | The Night Manager | AMC |
| 2017 (69th) |
| 2017 (69th) | Riz Ahmed | Nasir "Naz" Khan | The Night Of | HBO |
| 2017 (69th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Sherlock Holmes | Sherlock: The Lying Detective | PBS |
| 2017 (69th) | Robert De Niro | Bernie Madoff | The Wizard of Lies | HBO |
| 2017 (69th) | Ewan McGregor | Ray Stussy / Emmit Stussy | Fargo | FX |
| 2017 (69th) | Geoffrey Rush | Albert Einstein | Genius | Nat Geo |
| 2017 (69th) | John Turturro | John Stone | The Night Of | HBO |
| 2018 (70th) |
| 2018 (70th) | Darren Criss | Andrew Cunanan | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story | FX |
| 2018 (70th) | Antonio Banderas | Pablo Picasso | Genius: Picasso | Nat Geo |
| 2018 (70th) | Benedict Cumberbatch | Patrick Melrose | Patrick Melrose | Showtime |
| 2018 (70th) | Jeff Daniels | John O'Neill | The Looming Tower | Hulu |
| 2018 (70th) | John Legend | Jesus Christ | Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert | NBC |
| 2018 (70th) | Jesse Plemons | Captain Robert Daly | USS Callister (Black Mirror) | Netflix |
| 2019 (71st) |
| 2019 (71st) | Jharrel Jerome | Korey Wise | When They See Us | Netflix |
| 2019 (71st) | Mahershala Ali | Wayne Hays | True Detective | HBO |
| 2019 (71st) | Benicio del Toro | Richard Matt | Escape at Dannemora | Showtime |
| 2019 (71st) | Hugh Grant | Jeremy Thorpe | A Very English Scandal | Prime Video |
| 2019 (71st) | Jared Harris | Valery Legasov | Chernobyl | HBO |
| 2019 (71st) | Sam Rockwell | Bob Fosse | Fosse/Verdon | FX |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Role | Program | Network |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie |||||
| 2020 (72nd) |
| 2020 (72nd) | Mark Ruffalo | Dominick & Thomas Birdsey | I Know This Much Is True | HBO |
| 2020 (72nd) | Jeremy Irons | Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias | Watchmen | HBO |
| 2020 (72nd) | Hugh Jackman | Frank Tassone | Bad Education | HBO |
| 2020 (72nd) | Paul Mescal | Connell Waldron | Normal People | Hulu |
| 2020 (72nd) | Jeremy Pope | Archie Coleman | Hollywood | Netflix |
| Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie |||||
| 2021 (73rd) |
| 2021 (73rd) | Ewan McGregor | Halston | Halston | Netflix |
| 2021 (73rd) | Paul Bettany | Vision | WandaVision | Disney+ |
| 2021 (73rd) | Hugh Grant | Jonathan Fraser | The Undoing | HBO |
| 2021 (73rd) | Lin-Manuel Miranda | Alexander Hamilton | Hamilton | Disney+ |
| 2021 (73rd) | Leslie Odom Jr. | Aaron Burr | Hamilton | Disney+ |
| 2022 (74th) |
| 2022 (74th) | Michael Keaton | Dr. Samuel Finnix | Dopesick | Hulu |
| 2022 (74th) | Colin Firth | Michael Peterson | The Staircase | HBO Max |
| 2022 (74th) | Andrew Garfield | Detective Jeb Pyre | Under the Banner of Heaven | FX |
| 2022 (74th) | Oscar Isaac | Jonathan Levy | Scenes from a Marriage | HBO |
| 2022 (74th) | Himesh Patel | Jeevan Chaudhary | Station Eleven | HBO Max |
| 2022 (74th) | Sebastian Stan | Tommy Lee | Pam & Tommy | Hulu |
| 2023 (75th) |
| 2023 (75th) | Steven Yeun | Danny Cho | Beef | Netflix |
| 2023 (75th) | Taron Egerton | Jimmy Keene | Black Bird | Apple TV+ |
| 2023 (75th) | Kumail Nanjiani | Somen "Steve" Banerjee | Welcome to Chippendales | Hulu |
| 2023 (75th) | Evan Peters | Jeffrey Dahmer | Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story | Netflix |
| 2023 (75th) | Daniel Radcliffe | "Weird Al" Yankovic | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Roku |
| 2023 (75th) | Michael Shannon | George Jones | George & Tammy | Showtime |
| 2024 (76th) |
| 2024 (76th) | Richard Gadd | Donny Dunn | Baby Reindeer | Netflix |
| 2024 (76th) | Matt Bomer | Hawkins "Hawk" Fuller | Fellow Travelers | Showtime |
| 2024 (76th) | Jon Hamm | Sheriff Roy Tillman | Fargo | FX |
| 2024 (76th) | Tom Hollander | Truman Capote | Feud: Capote vs. The Swans | FX |
| 2024 (76th) | Andrew Scott | Tom Ripley | Ripley | Netflix |

## Programs with multiple wins
### 2 wins

* American Crime Story