The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy is presented annually during the Golden Globe Awards ceremony by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization that comprise of journalists and photographers covering the US entertainment industry for publications mainly in non-US media markets. The accolade is conferred upon an actor to recognize and honor the remarkable performance he essayed in the lead role of a musical or comedy film that made his character more delightful, appealing and enchanting to the viewers setting him apart as the best performer in the category.

The six original categories of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony at the time of the latter’s inception by the Hollywood Foreign Correspondent Association (HFCA), the predecessor of HFPA, included the Best Actor in a Leading Role category. Hungarian actor Paul Lukas became first recipient of the award for his performance in the film Watch on the Rhine (1943) during the 1944 held 1st Golden Globe Awards ceremony. This category was later split into Drama and Musical or Comedy genres by the association in 1951 to pay particular attention to and recognize acting caliber of lead actors in both the genres and was first presented as two separate categories, namely Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy that year during the 8th Golden Globe Awards event. American dancer, choreographer, actor, singer and presenter Fred Astaire became first recipient of the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical award for his performance as lyricist Bert Kalmar in the American musical film biography Three Little Words (1950). The category was officially called Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in 2006 and since 2013, it is known as Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Yesteryear American actor Jack Lemmon won the award thrice which includes two consecutive awards in 1960 and 1961 respectively and the other in 1973. He also holds the record of garnering most nominations in the category with ten. American actor and comedian Robin Williams, counted among the greatest comedians of all time and reputed for his improvisational skills, has also earned the award thrice. Other notable recipients of the award who bagged it twice include Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson, Colin Farrell, Dudley Moore, Danny Kaye, and Sacha Baron Cohen. The latter won the award for playing the same character, that of Borat Sagdiyev, in the 2006 mockumentary black comedy film Borat and its 2020 sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

List Of Winners

Year

Winner

1950

 Fred Astaire

1951

 Danny Kaye

1952

 Donald O'Connor

1953

 David Niven

1954

 James Mason

1955

 Tom Ewell

1956

 Cantinflas

1957

 Frank Sinatra

1958

 Danny Kaye

1959

 Jack Lemmon

1960

 Jack Lemmon

1961

 Glenn Ford

1962

 Marcello Mastroianni

1963

 Alberto Sordi

1964

 Rex Harrison

1965

 Lee Marvin

1966

 Alan Arkin

1967

 Richard Harris

1968

 Ron Moody

1969

 Peter O'Toole

1970

 Albert Finney

1971

 Topol

1972

 Jack Lemmon

1973

 George Segal

1974

 Art Carney

1975

 Walter Matthau

1976

 Kris Kristofferson

1977

 Richard Dreyfuss

1978

 Warren Beatty

1979

 Peter Sellers

1980

 Ray Sharkey

1981

 Dudley Moore

1982

 Dustin Hoffman

1983

 Michael Caine

1984

 Dudley Moore

1985

 Jack Nicholson

1986

 Paul Hogan

1987

 Robin Williams

1988

 Tom Hanks

1989

 Morgan Freeman

1990

 Gérard Depardieu

1991

 Robin Williams

1992

 Tim Robbins

1993

 Robin Williams

1994

 Hugh Grant

1995

 John Travolta

1996

 Tom Cruise

1997

 Jack Nicholson

1998

 Michael Caine

1999

 Jim Carrey

2000

 George Clooney

2001

 Gene Hackman

2002

 Richard Gere

2003

 Bill Murray

2004

 Jamie Foxx

2005

 Joaquin Phoenix

2006

 Sacha Baron Cohen

2007

 Johnny Depp

2008

 Colin Farrell

2009

 Robert Downey, Jr.