Leading Actor 1966

Some very strong names on this list which I feel like I say this every year for this category. It's such a memorable category usually. I'm just happy to see what these guys can bring.

1966 Best Actor

Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons

I had been waiting for this win for a long time because I enjoyed Scofield in Quiz Show in the 90s and wanted to know what else he brought to his Oscar win. This is one of those lived in performances. Scofield won the Tony Award for Best Actor for his work on this play. He wasn't the first pick for the film but they eventually went with him. It paid off as Scofield is one of the few to win a Tony and Oscar for the same role. Scofield plays Sir Thomas More, an advisor to Henry VIII who wants to be divorced from Catherine. I think we all know this story as it has been the subject of tons of films and TV shows and plays and books and is in the pop culture realm. More doesn't give the king the answers he wants and More has to hold his moral ground. I like that Scofield is so comfortable and assured in the role that he doesn't feel like an actor pretending to be someone - he is Sir Thomas More. Everyone else feels like they are acting and Scofield is quietly and calmly going about his duties. He's never some fanatical preacher shouting his beliefs everywhere. He believes in his Church and their ideals and wants to see those upheld and continued. He's a dutiful man who doesn't want to betray his beliefs even though his king orders him to and it could mean his death. It's a character that could easily become so rote and boring that you tire of his morally good characterization. But Scofield breathes life into the role and his performance is why we watch and to see how exactly he handles a king who only believes in what is convenient for him. Scofield also portrays More as not a saint, but as a man just trying to do right by his God and that's the power Scofield brings to the performance. It is never anything high and mighty or that seems put upon, but is dignified and rational. He believes that if he follows the laws and avoids saying anything controversial that he will be okay, but we know that's not how it ends for him. Watching Scofield in this moments is what makes the film for me. There is no panicking or overwrought pleas to God or the king or whoever. He intelligently tries to explain his reasoning and accepts his fate as something almost unavoidable at the end. There's a lot of talk of politics and religion yet it never feels preachy and most of that is due to Scofield being such a warm and steady actor. This is a quietly strong performance that is aided by how much Scofield got to live in and become this man and it's a really great thing to watch because of all the subtleties in his work.

Alan Arkin - The Russians are Coming, the Russian are Coming

This project has turned me into a big Alan Arkin fan, especially his early work such as this. I'm sure if I had seen these performances first, I would have really cherished his win and been advocating hard for it. Now, I might not be as enamored with this performance as I was his second nomination in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, but it's still a good performance nonetheless. In this film, Arkin portrays a Russian submarine Lieutenant who goes onto an island in the Northeast US after they have run aground. It's a comedy film and role and Arkin has to speak a lot of Russian throughout the film and make it look funny. He butchers English in a funny way and ends up helping the islanders by the end of the film who have been hunting him and US/Russian relations are thawed a little bit. It's a big farce with a big warm heart at the center and Arkin does a great job of balancing a Russian villain of sorts into becoming a well liked ambassador and translator of sorts. Arkin speaks Russian fluently and that adds to the touch of him being Russian and not just giving English words a poor accent. The performance is underplayed because this could have been a huge over the top figure who dominates the film, but it's all measured and calm with a lot of subtle comedic notes to it. A lot of those are looks and reactions which seems to be something that Arkin is really great at with his other performances as well. This won't be the winner but it's still a very entertaining performance to me and I can appreciate that this project helped me find the young Arkin and his string of great performances.

Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Oh, hey, here I am just becoming the biggest Burton fan because of this project. No big deal. I have yet to see him give anything other than a stellar performance and it's starting to annoy me that he never won a richly deserved Oscar. Many people will know this film and performance because many people consider it a great film with some legendary performances. Burton is part of the reason for that along with Elizabeth Taylor. The two were married at the time of the film and you can sense how comfortable they are with one another even when acting hostile. Burton's role is one that needs a skilled actor to pull off because it has so many dueling emotions to it. He plays a history professor married to the daughter of the university president. They are both alcoholics and cantankerous, which makes for a very volatile combo. They invite a young couple over for night cap and the night goes downhill from there. Burton's character can come off as cold to his wife and to the others, seemingly uncaring towards his fellow man and concerned with himself primarily. But he can also run hot in anger at his wife and his guests and control the room with his outbursts. We also can't really trust him, since he tells a bunch of stories that we can't quite tell if they are true or not, yet will goad out the truth from everyone else. By the end, we don't know as much as we thought we did about him as he gets the truth from everyone else but we are left to wonder who he really is. He has a commanding, charming presence in the film that demands you pay attention to him, yet he pretends to not know that George Segal's character is a biology teacher and purposefully gets wrong what he was just told as if he wasn't paying attention. For all of this perceived bravado, Burton is essentially hollow inside. He let's his wife walk all over him, he seems to hate the politics of the school faculty and says that the job is only good for sleeping around with other wives and students. He's jaded and we see why by the end of the film as his relationship is one that is heavily co-dependent on the other to not only put up with each other but go along with the insane depravity and lies they spew. Burton feels like a man that could go off at any second and murder everyone, but you can feel that he is so hopeless inside that even doing that wouldn't satisfy him. Instead, he enjoys his games with the guests and his wife and relishes in making them uncomfortable and pitting them against each other. This is a savage performance from Burton that showcases so much of what makes him a brilliant actor. There are so many emotions and subtle ways of getting them across that I just flat out love it. I love when an actor can do one small or simple thing or say something and it has so much depth and nuance to it that it means so much more underneath. I feel you'd have to watch this a second time knowing how it ends to fully digest the performances and see what exactly makes them so legendary. It's a fully realized character even though he comes off as a bit enigmatic, we still understand him. There's a humanity in there but this man has been beaten down so much that we get a haunting figure who brings others to his level. Many people consider this one the very best performances by an actor ever and I'll have to agree. It's so richly fulfilling with so much to enjoy that I can't wait to watch it again.

Michael Caine - Alfie

This is the film that kick started Caine's career and is still one people talk about when discussing his best performances. I will have to admit that I don't really like the film very much. I don't like the character of Alfie and how much of a womanizer he is. And that's what the film is about. Alfie sleeps with a whole bunch of women, married and unmarried, and discards them whenever he's done using them because they either get too attached or because he gets bored. Caine, though, is ever his charming and suave self. It's a bit hard not to like him as he constantly breaks the fourth wall and talks to us directly about how to ditch this woman or that and how to get this woman or that one. Caine perfectly executes that style and has all the charm and wit to make it work. For most, I think Caine will make the character likable enough for them. I didn't like him but not because of Caine. Caine also has to make the switch towards the end as a sympathetic character where wefeel for him and his sudden realization and his unfortunate situation. Caine is able to not only deliver the charisma and humor of the character, but also the introspective heartfelt moments where he questions his attitudes and what he's done with his life. The scene after the abortion is sufficiently emotional and Caine makes it believable to me. That's what makes this a very good performance to me is that I dislike the film, yet I like Caine's performance and what he is able to do in the film with such an unlikable character to me. I wish I had liked the film more because Caine would certainly be bumped up a bit in my ranking of him. He's great, the film isn't as much.

Steve McQueen - The Sand Pebbles

I know I'm probably not the only one who forgot or didn't realize that McQueen has an Oscar nomination to his credit. Everyone knows him for his other work, but this is a pretty interesting film for him to star in. McQueen plays a Navy engine mechanic who is assigned to a gunboat in China during the 20s. On the ship, the local Chinese do everything while the Navy guys let them due to that's how it's been for so long even before anyone on the ship was there. McQueen just wants to do his job and fix the ship the right way. This causes friction with some of the sailors and the Chinese, but he also makes some good friends on the ship. Much of the action of the film is because McQueen does what he wants at times which is usually the right thing. Standing up for his Chinese engine buddy and helping him box, with his shipmate who is in love with a Chinese woman who works at a brothel but isn't a prostitute there. His manner is rebellious for the Navy but we can see it for what it is which is being morally right. He's a bit racist in some of the names he uses for the Chinese but you can tell he respects them and appreciates them as long as they are good people. Now, McQueen's performance overall is a bit uneven. The guy oozes charisma and is one of those actors that can say one word and it just works for him. He has a magnetic, commanding presence at times like towards the end with the battle at the blockade. But he also has these moments where it's like he's trying out a different reading of the character. Weird, almost goofy or Southern or just odd ways he says some things. It took me out of the film briefly each time because I was wondering what the heck he was trying to do. There aren't a lot of these moments, but it still distracts from an otherwise very good performance from McQueen. It's got a lot of humanity in some of the quieter scenes and his manly heroics and leadership at the end goes beyond the typical machismo acting we know from him into something with way more depth. Definitely feel like people should check this one because it feels like it would normally get overlooked for his other star turns.


Absolutely a strong group. Not a bad performance in the bunch or even one that I would say was boring or anything like that. Caine brings up the rear because I can't stand the character though I can respect Caine's performance. But I like the rest more than this one. McQueen surprised with a pretty good performance. Not just relying on his movie star qualities, he delivers something with more depth than I thought he would. Plus it's cool he has a nomination. Arkin has quickly become a favorite in his early years. His three films in three years, two of which he was nominated for, are really great. I loved this because he's an actor that does so much while doing so little. Love that acting style. Scofield would have won and was my pick but then I watch Burton. I love how Scofield is so moral without being preachy and just stands out as a good person and character. Burton steals the show though. And I'll stan this man forever. Such a brilliant actor, it's a shame he doesn't have an Oscar to his name. I'd have given him like 80 by now! He's so terrific and in that discussion for one of the best male performances ever. Love it and this category.

Oscar Winner: Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons
My Winner:  Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Paul Scofield
Alan Arkin
Steve McQueen
Michael Caine