The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film or Best Actor – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role on a miniseries or motion picture made for television for the calendar year. The award was first presented at the 39th Golden Globe Awards on January 30, 1982, to Mickey Rooney for his role on the made-for-television film Bill. Performances by an actor in a miniseries or television film were originally awarded in the Best Actor – Television Series Drama category before the creation of this category.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 44 actors. One notable moment happened at the 55th Golden Globe Awards ceremony, when Ving Rhames won for his portrayal of Don King in the HBO television film Don King: Only in America. During the ceremony, Rhames gave the award to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon, who was nominated for playing Juror #3 in the Showtime television film 12 Angry Men. Rhames called upon Lemmon from the audience and said "I feel that being an artist is about giving, and I'd like to give this to you."
Stephen Graham is the current recipient of the award for his performance in Adolescence. Robert Duvall, James Garner, and Al Pacino have won the most awards in this category with two each. James Woods has been nominated for the award on seven occasions, the most within the category.
Winners and nominees
Listed below are the winners of the award for each year, as well as the other nominees. Key Meaning Indicates the winning actor.
1980s + Year Actor Role Program Network Ref 1981 (39th) Mickey Rooney Bill Sackter Bill CBS Dirk Bogarde Roald Dahl The Patricia Neal Story CBS Timothy Hutton Donald Branch Booth A Long Way Home ABC Danny Kaye Max Feldman Skokie CBS Peter O'Toole Lucius Flavius Silva Masada ABC Ray Sharkey Bill Carney The Ordeal of Bill Carney CBS Peter Strauss Eleazar Ben Yair Masada ABC 1982 (40th) Anthony Andrews Sebastian Flyte Brideshead Revisited PBS Philip Anglim John Merrick The Elephant Man ABC Robby Benson Nolie Minor Two of a Kind CBS Jeremy Irons Charles Ryder Brideshead Revisited PBS Sam Waterston J. Robert Oppenheimer Oppenheimer 1983 (41st) Richard Chamberlain Ralph de Bricassart The Thorn Birds ABC Robert Blake James R. Hoffa Blood Feud Syndicated Louis Gossett Jr. Anwar al-Sadat Sadat OPT Martin Sheen John F. Kennedy Kennedy NBC Peter Strauss Emory Heart of Steel ABC 1984 (42nd) Ted Danson Steven Bennett Something About Amelia ABC James Garner Harold Lear Heartsounds ABC Sam Neill Sidney Reilly Reilly, Ace of Spies PBS Jason Robards Andrei Sakharov Sakharov HBO Treat Williams Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire ABC 1985 (43rd) Dustin Hoffman Willy Loman Death of a Salesman CBS Richard Chamberlain Raoul Wallenberg Wallenberg: A Hero's Story NBC Richard Crenna Richard Beck The Rape of Richard Beck ABC Kirk Douglas Amos Lasher Amos CBS Peter Strauss Abel Rosnovski Kane and Abel 1986 (44th) James Woods D.J. Promise CBS James Garner Bob Buehler Promise CBS Mark Harmon Ted Bundy The Deliberate Stranger NBC Jan Niklas Peter the Great Peter the Great John Ritter Frank Coleman Unnatural Causes 1987 (45th) Randy Quaid Lyndon B. Johnson LBJ: The Early Years NBC Alan Arkin Leon Feldhendler Escape from Sobibor CBS Mark Harmon Elmer Jackson After the Promise Jack Lemmon James Tyrone Long Day's Journey into Night Showtime Judd Nelson Joe Hunt Billionaire Boys Club NBC James Woods James Stockdale In Love and War 1988 (46th) Michael Caine Frederick Abberline Jack the Ripper CBS Stacy Keach Ernest Hemingway Hemingway Syndicated Richard Chamberlain Jason Bourne The Bourne Identity ABC Anthony Hopkins Chavel The Tenth Man CBS Jack Lemmon John M. Slaton The Murder of Mary Phagan NBC 1989 (47th) Robert Duvall Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae Lonesome Dove CBS John Gielgud Aaron Jastrow War and Remembrance ABC Ben Kingsley Simon Wiesenthal Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story HBO Lane Smith Richard Nixon The Final Days ABC James Woods Bill Wilson My Name Is Bill W. CBS
1990s + Year Actor Role Program Network Ref 1990 (48th) James Garner Albert Sidney Finch Decoration Day NBC Steven Bauer Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Drug Wars: The Camarena Story NBC Michael Caine Dr. Henry Jekyll / Harry Hyde Jekyll & Hyde ABC Tom Hulce Michael Schwerner Murder in Mississippi NBC Burt Lancaster Gerard Carriere The Phantom of the Opera Ricky Schroder Mark The Stranger Within ABC 1991 (49th) Beau Bridges James Brady Without Warning: The James Brady Story HBO Sam Elliott Conn Conagher Conagher TNT Peter Falk Columbo Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star ABC Sam Neill Major James Leggatt One Against the Wind CBS Sidney Poitier Thurgood Marshall Separate but Equal ABC 1992 (50th) Robert Duvall Joseph Stalin Stalin HBO Anthony Andrews William Whitfield Jewels NBC Philip Casnoff Frank Sinatra Sinatra CBS Jon Voight Professor Alfred Kroeber The Last of His Tribe HBO James Woods Roy Cohn Citizen Cohn 1993 (51st) James Garner F. Ross Johnson Barbarians at the Gate HBO Peter Falk Columbo Columbo: Its All in the Game ABC Jack Lemmon Robert A Life in the Theatre TNT Matthew Modine Dr. Don Francis And the Band Played On HBO Peter Strauss Ed MacAffrey Men Don't Tell CBS 1994 (52nd) Raúl Juliá Chico Mendes The Burning Season HBO Alan Alda Dan Cutler White Mile HBO James Garner Ira Moran Breathing Lessons CBS Rutger Hauer Xavier March Fatherland HBO Samuel L. Jackson Jamaal Against the Wall 1995 (53rd) Gary Sinise Harry S. Truman Truman HBO Alec Baldwin Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire CBS Charles S. Dutton Boy Willie Charles The Piano Lesson Laurence Fishburne Capt. Hannibal "Iowa" Lee, Jr. The Tuskegee Airmen HBO James Woods Danny Davis Indictment: The McMartin Trial 1996 (54th) Alan Rickman Grigori Rasputin Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny HBO Armand Assante John Gotti Gotti HBO Beau Bridges Richard Phillips Losing Chase Showtime Stephen Rea Bruno Hauptman Crime of the Century HBO James Woods Temple Rayburn The Summer of Ben Tyler CBS 1997 (55th) Ving Rhames Don King Don King: Only in America HBO Armand Assante Ulysses The Odyssey NBC Jack Lemmon Juror #8 12 Angry Men Showtime Matthew Modine Sammy Ayres What the Deaf Man Heard CBS Gary Sinise George C. Wallace George Wallace TNT 1998 (56th) Stanley Tucci Walter Winchell Winchell HBO Peter Fonda Gideon Prosper The Tempest NBC Sam Neill Merlin Merlin Bill Paxton John Paul Vann A Bright Shining Lie HBO Christopher Reeve Jason Kemp Rear Window ABC Patrick Stewart Captain Ahab Moby Dick USA 1999 (57th) Jack Lemmon Henry Drummond Inherit the Wind Showtime Jack Lemmon Morrie Schwartz Tuesdays with Morrie ABC Liev Schreiber Orson Welles RKO 281 HBO Sam Shepard Dashiell Hammett Dash and Lilly A&E Tom Sizemore Bobby Batton Witness Protection HBO
2000s + Year Actor Role Program Network Ref 2000 (58th) Brian Dennehy Willy Loman Death of a Salesman Showtime Alec Baldwin Robert H. Jackson Nuremberg TNT Brian Cox Hermann Göring Andy García Arturo Sandoval For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story HBO James Woods Dennis Barrie Dirty Pictures Showtime 2001 (59th) James Franco James Dean James Dean TNT Kenneth Branagh Reinhard Heydrich Conspiracy HBO Ben Kingsley Otto Frank Anne Frank: The Whole Story ABC Damian Lewis Richard Winters Band of Brothers HBO Barry Pepper Roger Maris 61* 2002 (60th) Albert Finney Winston Churchill The Gathering Storm HBO Michael Gambon Lyndon B. Johnson Path to War HBO Michael Keaton Robert Wiener Live from Baghdad William H. Macy Bill Porter Door to Door TNT Linus Roache Robert F. Kennedy RFK FX 2003 (61st) Al Pacino Roy Cohn Angels in America HBO Antonio Banderas Pancho Villa And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself HBO James Brolin Ronald Reagan The Reagans Showtime Troy Garity Barry Winchell Soldier's Girl Tom Wilkinson Ruth Applewood Normal HBO 2004 (62nd) Geoffrey Rush Peter Sellers The Life and Death of Peter Sellers HBO Mos Def Vivien Thomas Something the Lord Made HBO Jamie Foxx Stanley Tookie Williams Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story FX William H. Macy Gigot The Wool Cap TNT Patrick Stewart King Henry II The Lion in Winter Showtime 2005 (63rd) Jonathan Rhys Meyers Elvis Presley Elvis CBS Kenneth Branagh Franklin D. Roosevelt Warm Springs HBO Ed Harris Miles Roby Empire Falls Bill Nighy Lawrence The Girl in the Café Donald Sutherland Bill Meehan Human Trafficking Lifetime 2006 (64th) Bill Nighy Gideon Warner Gideon's Daughter BBC America Andre Braugher Nick Atwaler Thief FX Robert Duvall Prentice "Print" Ritter Broken Trail AMC Michael Ealy Darwyn al-Sayeed Sleeper Cell Showtime Chiwetel Ejiofor Ian Carter Tsunami: The Aftermath HBO Ben Kingsley Herman Tarnower Mrs. Harris Matthew Perry Ron Clark The Ron Clark Story TNT 2007 (65th) Jim Broadbent Lord Longford Longford HBO Adam Beach Charles Eastman Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee HBO Ernest Borgnine Bert O'Riley A Grandpa for Christmas Hallmark Channel Jason Isaacs Sir Mark Brydon The State Within BBC America James Nesbitt Doctor Tom Jackman / Mr. Hyde Jekyll 2008 (66th) Paul Giamatti John Adams John Adams HBO Ralph Fiennes Bernard Lafferty Bernard and Doris HBO Kevin Spacey Ron Klain Recount Kiefer Sutherland Jack Bauer 24: Redemption Fox Tom Wilkinson James Baker Recount HBO 2009 (67th) Kevin Bacon Michael Strobl Taking Chance HBO Kenneth Branagh Kurt Wallander Wallander: One Step Behind PBS Chiwetel Ejiofor Thabo Mbeki Endgame Brendan Gleeson Winston Churchill Into the Storm HBO Jeremy Irons Alfred Stieglitz Georgia O'Keeffe Lifetime
2010s