# BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles

The British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles is a discontinued British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) until 1984.
The category has had several name changes throughout its history, as detailed on the recipient's list below:
* 1952–1959: Most Promising Newcomer to Film
* 1960–1979: Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
* 1980–1982: Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
* 1983–1984: Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film
Note: The BAFTA site differs on what the category title is for the 1980s, with the actors own pages on the site using the titles given above, while other pages use Most Promising Newcomer to Film.
A similar award honoring new acting talent, the Rising Star Award, was introduced in 2006. Even though its nominees are selected by the BAFTA juries, the eventual Rising Star winner is decided by public votes via text, internet, or phone.
In the following lists, the titles and names in bold with a gold background are the winners and recipients respectively; those not in bold are the nominees. The years given are those in which the films under consideration were released, not the year of the ceremony, which always takes place the following year.

## Winners and nominees
### 1950s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| Most Promising Newcomer to Film ||||
| 1952 (6th) | Claire Bloom | Limelight | Terry |
| 1952 (6th) | Dorothy Alison | Mandy | Miss Stockston |
| 1952 (6th) | Mandy Miller | Mandy | Mandy Garland |
| 1952 (6th) | Dorothy Tutin | The Importance of Being Earnest | Cecily Cardew |
| 1953 (7th) | Norman Wisdom | Trouble in Store | Norman |
| 1953 (7th) | Colette Marchand | Moulin Rouge | Marie Charlet |
| 1954 (8th) | David Kossoff | The Young Lovers | Geza Szobek |
| 1954 (8th) | Maggie McNamara | The Moon is Blue | Patty O'Neill |
| 1954 (8th) | Eva Marie Saint | On the Waterfront | Edie Doyle |
| 1955 (9th) | Paul Scofield | That Lady | King Philip II of Spain |
| 1955 (9th) | Jo Van Fleet | East of Eden | Kate |
| 1956 (10th) | Eli Wallach | Baby Doll | Silva Vaccara |
| 1956 (10th) | Stephen Boyd | The Man Who Never Was | Patrick O'Reilly |
| 1956 (10th) | Don Murray | Bus Stop | Beauregard "Bo" Decker |
| 1956 (10th) | Susan Strasberg | Picnic | Millie Owens |
| 1956 (10th) | Elizabeth Wilson | Patterns of Power | Marge Fleming |
| 1957 (11th) | Eric Barker | Brothers in Law | Alec Blair |
| 1957 (11th) | Mylène Demongeot | The Witches of Salem | Abigail Williams |
| 1957 (11th) | Elvi Hale | True as a Turtle | Ann |
| 1957 (11th) | James MacArthur | The Young Stranger | Harold "Hal" Ditmar |
| 1957 (11th) | Keith Michell | True as a Turtle | Harry Bell |
| 1958 (12th) | Paul Massie | Orders to Kill | Gene Summers |
| 1958 (12th) | Red Buttons | Sayonara | Joe Kelly |
| 1958 (12th) | Teresa Iżewska | Kanał | Stokrotka |
| 1958 (12th) | Mary Peach | Room at the Top | June Samson |
| 1958 (12th) | Ronald Radd | The Camp on Blood Island | Commander Yamamitsu |
| 1958 (12th) | Maggie Smith | Nowhere to Go | Bridget Howard |
| 1958 (12th) | Gwen Verdon | What Lola Wants | Lola |
| 1959 (13th) | Hayley Mills | Tiger Bay | Gillie Evans |
| 1959 (13th) | Gerry Duggan | The Siege of Pinchgut | Pat Fulton |
| 1959 (13th) | Liz Fraser | I'm All Right Jack | Cynthia Kite |
| 1959 (13th) | Joseph N. Welch | Anatomy of a Murder | Judge Weaver |

### 1960s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles ||||
| 1960 (14th) | Albert Finney | Saturday Night and Sunday Morning | Arthur Seaton |
| 1960 (14th) | Lelia Goldoni | Shadows | Lelia |
| 1960 (14th) | Jean-Pierre Léaud | The 400 Blows | Antoine Doinel |
| 1960 (14th) | George Peppard | Home from the Hill | Raphael "Rafe" Copley |
| 1960 (14th) | Joan Plowright | The Entertainer | Jean Rice |
| 1960 (14th) | Anthony Ray | Shadows | Tony |
| 1960 (14th) | Billie Whitelaw | Hell Is a City | Chloe Hawkins |
| 1961 (15th) | Rita Tushingham | A Taste of Honey | Josephine "Jo" |
| 1961 (15th) | Tony Hancock | The Rebel | Anthony Hancock |
| 1961 (15th) | Murray Melvin | A Taste of Honey | Geoffrey Ingham |
| 1962 (16th) | Tom Courtenay | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Colin Smith |
| 1962 (16th) | Mariette Hartley | Guns in the Afternoon | Elsa Knudsen |
| 1962 (16th) | Ian Hendry | Live Now, Pay Later | Albert |
| 1962 (16th) | Sarah Miles | Term of Trial | Shirley Taylor |
| 1962 (16th) | Terence Stamp | Billy Budd | Billy Budd |
| 1963 (17th) | James Fox | The Servant | Tony |
| 1963 (17th) | Wendy Craig | The Servant | Susan |
| 1963 (17th) | Keir Dullea | David and Lisa | David Clemens |
| 1963 (17th) | Janet Margolin | David and Lisa | Lisa Brandt |
| 1964 (18th) | Julie Andrews | Mary Poppins | Mary Poppins |
| 1964 (18th) | Elizabeth Ashley | The Carpetbaggers | Monica Winthrop |
| 1964 (18th) | The Beatles | A Hard Day's Night | The Beatles |
| 1964 (18th) | Lynn Redgrave | Girl with Green Eyes | Baba Brennan |
| 1965 (19th) | Judi Dench | Four in the Morning | Wife |
| 1965 (19th) | Michael Crawford | The Knack...and How to Get It | Colin |
| 1965 (19th) | Barbara Ferris | Catch Us If You Can | Dinah |
| 1965 (19th) | Tom Nardini | Cat Ballou | Jackson Two-Bears |
| 1966 (20th) | Vivien Merchant | Alfie | Lily |
| 1966 (20th) | Alan Arkin | The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | Lt. Yuri Rozanov |
| 1966 (20th) | Frank Finlay | Othello | Iago |
| 1966 (20th) | Jeremy Kemp | The Blue Max | Lt. Willi von Klugermann |
| 1967 (21st) | Faye Dunaway | Bonnie and Clyde Hurry Sundown | Bonnie Parker Lou McDowell |
| 1967 (21st) | Peter Kastner | You're A Big Boy Now | Bernard Chanticleer |
| 1967 (21st) | Milo O'Shea | Ulysses | Leopold Bloom |
| 1967 (21st) | Michael J. Pollard | Bonnie and Clyde | C.W Moss |
| 1968 (22nd) | Dustin Hoffman | The Graduate | Benjamin Braddock |
| 1968 (22nd) | Pia Degermark | Elvira Madigan | Hedvig Jensen "Elvira Madigan" |
| 1968 (22nd) | Katharine Ross | The Graduate | Elaine Robinson |
| 1968 (22nd) | Jack Wild | Oliver! | The Artful Dodger |
| 1969 (23rd) | Jon Voight | Midnight Cowboy | Joe Buck |
| 1969 (23rd) | Kim Darby | True Grit | Mattie Ross |
| 1969 (23rd) | Jennie Linden | Women in Love | Ursula Brangwen |
| 1969 (23rd) | Ali MacGraw | Goodbye, Columbus | Brenda Patimkin |

### 1970s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1970 (24th) | David Bradley | Kes | Billy Casper |
| 1970 (24th) | Liza Minnelli | Pookie | Mary Ann "Pookie" Adams |
| 1970 (24th) | Michael Sarrazin | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | Robert Syverton |
| 1970 (24th) | Sally Thomsett | The Railway Children | Phyllis Waterbury |
| 1971 (25th) | Dominic Guard | The Go-Between | Leo Colston |
| 1971 (25th) | Gary Grimes | Summer of '42 | Hermie |
| 1971 (25th) | Carrie Snodgress | Diary of a Mad Housewife | Tina Balser |
| 1971 (25th) | Janet Suzman | Nicholas and Alexandra | Alexandra |
| 1972 (26th) | Joel Grey | Cabaret | Emcee |
| 1972 (26th) | Bud Cort | Harold and Maude | Harold Parker Chason |
| 1972 (26th) | Al Pacino | The Godfather | Michael Corleone |
| 1972 (26th) | Simon Ward | Young Winston | Winston Churchill |
| 1973 (27th) | Peter Egan | The Hireling | Captain Hugh Cantrip |
| 1973 (27th) | Jim Dale | Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall | Terence "Spike" Milligan |
| 1973 (27th) | David Essex | That'll Be the Day | Jim MacLain |
| 1973 (27th) | Kris Kristofferson | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | Billy the Kid |
| 1974 (28th) | Georgina Hale | Mahler | Alma Werfel |
| 1974 (28th) | Cleavon Little | Blazing Saddles | Sheriff Bart |
| 1974 (28th) | Sissy Spacek | Badlands | Holly Sargis |
| 1975 (29th) | Valerie Perrine | Lenny | Honey Bruce |
| 1975 (29th) | Robert De Niro | The Godfather Part II | Vito Corleone |
| 1975 (29th) | Alfred Lutter | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Tommy |
| 1975 (29th) | Lily Tomlin | Nashville | Linnea Reese |
| 1976 (30th) | Jodie Foster | Bugsy Malone Taxi Driver | Tallulah Iris Steensma |
| No nominees were recognized |||
| 1977 (31st) | Isabelle Huppert | The Lacemaker | Pomme |
| 1977 (31st) | Olimpia Carlisi | The Middle of the World | Adriana |
| 1977 (31st) | Jeannette Clift | The Hiding Place | Corrie ten Boom |
| 1977 (31st) | Saverio Marconi | Padre Padrone | Gavino |
| 1978 (32nd) | Christopher Reeve | Superman | Clark Kent / Superman |
| 1978 (32nd) | Brad Davis | Midnight Express | Billy Hayes |
| 1978 (32nd) | Mary Beth Hurt | Interiors | Joey |
| 1978 (32nd) | Melanie Mayron | Girlfriends | Susan Weinblatt |
| 1979 (33rd) | Dennis Christopher | Breaking Away | Dave Stoller |
| 1979 (33rd) | Gary Busey | The Buddy Holly Story | Buddy Holly |
| 1979 (33rd) | Sigourney Weaver | Alien | Ellen Ripley |
| 1979 (33rd) | Ray Winstone | That Summer! | Steve Brody |

### 1980s

| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles ||||
| 1980 (34th) | Judy Davis | My Brilliant Career | Sybylla Melvyn |
| 1980 (34th) | Sônia Braga | Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands | Flor |
| 1980 (34th) | John Gordon Sinclair | Gregory's Girl | Gregory Underwood |
| 1980 (34th) | Debra Winger | Urban Cowboy | Sissy Davis |
| 1981 (35th) | Joe Pesci | Raging Bull | Joey LaMotta |
| 1981 (35th) | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Mephisto | Hendrik Hoefgen |
| 1981 (35th) | Timothy Hutton | Ordinary People | Conrad Jarrett |
| 1981 (35th) | Cathy Moriarty | Raging Bull | Vicki Thailer |
| 1982 (36th) | Ben Kingsley | Gandhi | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1982 (36th) | Drew Barrymore | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Gertie |
| 1982 (36th) | Henry Thomas | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Elliott |
| 1982 (36th) | Kathleen Turner | Body Heat | Matty Walker |
| Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film ||||
| 1983 (37th) | Phyllis Logan | Another Time, Another Place | Janie |
| 1983 (37th) | Kevin Kline | Sophie's Choice | Nathan Landau |
| 1983 (37th) | Greta Scacchi | Heat and Dust | Olivia Rivers |
| 1983 (37th) | Julie Walters | Educating Rita | Susan "Rita" White |
| 1984 (38th) | Haing S. Ngor | The Killing Fields | Pran |
| 1984 (38th) | Rupert Everett | Another Country | Guy Bennett |
| 1984 (38th) | John Lynch | Cal | Cal |
| 1984 (38th) | Tim Roth | The Hit | Myron |