Ed Begley, Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Other nominees: Terence Stamp (Billy Budd), Telly Savalas (Birdman of Alcatraz), Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia), and Victor Buono (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?)

Melvyn Douglas, Hud (1963)

Other nominees: Bobby Darin (Captain Newman M.D.), John Huston (The Cardinal), Hugh Griffith (Tom Jones), and Nick Adams (Twlight of Honor)

Peter Ustinov, Topkapi (1964)

Other nominees: Lee Tracy (The Best Man), John Gielgud (Becket), Stanley Holloway (My Fair Lady), and Edmond O'Brien (Seven Days in May)

Martin Balsam, A Thousand Clowns (1965)

Other nominees: Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago), Ian Bannen (The Flight of the Phoenix), Frank Finlay (Othello), and Michael Dunn (Ship of Fools)

Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie (1966)

Other nominees: James Mason (Georgy Girl), Robert Shaw (A Man for All Seasons), Mako (The Sand Pebbles), and George Segal (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

George Kennedy, Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Other nominees: Gene Hackman (Bonnie and Clyde), Michael J. Pollard (Bonnie and Clyde), John Cassavetes (The Dirty Dozen), and Cecil Kellaway (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)

Jack Albertson, The Subject Was Roses (1968)

Other nominees: Seymour Cassel (Faces), Jack Wild (Oliver!), Gene Wilder (The Producers), and Daniel Massey (Star!)