Match the Best Actor Oscar Winners - 1980s Quiz

Answer: Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro won his second Academy Award for portraying boxer Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull". He won his first Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for "The Godfather: Part II", and he had two previous nominations in the Best Actor category for "Taxi Driver" and "The Deer Hunter".

The Martin Scorsese film "Raging Bull" was based on the autobiography of LaMotta, a self-destructive boxer whose career and life were derailed by his bad decisions and violent behavior. The other nominees in the category were Robert Duvall ("The Great Santini"), John Hurt ("The Elephant Man"), Jack Lemmon ("Tribute"), and Peter O'Toole ("The Stunt Man").

Answer: Henry Fonda

On his second nomination for Best Actor, Henry Fonda won the Oscar for his role as Norman Thayer in "On Golden Pond". He had picked up an honorary Oscar the prior year for his overall film work, and he was previously nominated in the Best Actor category for "The Grapes of Wrath".

He also had a nomination as a producer for "12 Angry Men". "On Golden Pond" was Fonda's final film and his first with Katharine Hepburn. The story took place over a summer vacation in New England where an elderly couple (Hepburn and Fonda) reconnected with their only child (Jane Fonda).

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Warren Beatty ("Reds"), Burt Lancaster ("Atlantic City"), Dudley Moore ("Arthur"), and Paul Newman ("Absence of Malice").

Answer: Ben Kingsley

Ben Kingsley picked up the Academy Award for Best Actor on his first nomination for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the biopic "Gandhi". The Richard Attenborough film followed Gandhi from his days as a young lawyer in South Africa to the final days of his life as he sought to bring peace between Hindus and Muslims as India and Pakistan split into two nations.

The other nominees in the category were Dustin Hoffman ("Tootsie"), Jack Lemmon ("Missing"), Paul Newman ("The Verdict"), and Peter O'Toole ("My Favorite Year").

Answer: Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall won his first Academy Award for his role as alcoholic country singer Mac Sledge in "Tender Mercies". He had previously been nominated in the Best Actor category for "The Great Santini", and he had two nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category for "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now".

In "Tender Mercies", Sledge decided to clean up his life after meeting a young widow and working at her motel, but memories of his old life returned when his country music star ex-wife came to town.

The other nominees for Best Actor were Michael Caine ("Educating Rita"), Tom Conti ("Reuben, Reuben"), Tom Courtenay ("The Dresser"), and Albert Finney ("The Dresser").

Answer: F. Murray Abraham

With his first nomination, F. Murray Abraham won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Italian composer Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus". The film was a fictionalized account of the relationship between the established composer Salieri and the arrogant upstart Mozart (Tom Hulce), whom Salieri maintained he destroyed.

The other nominees in the category were Jeff Bridges ("Starman"), Albert Finney ("Under the Volcano"), Tom Hulce ("Amadeus"), and Sam Waterston ("The Killing Fields").

Answer: William Hurt

Another first time nominee, William Hurt picked up the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of transgender prisoner Luis Molina in "Kiss of the Spider Woman". In the film, Molina, who was arrested for involvement with an underaged boy, shared a Brazilian prison cell with a leftist rebel (Raul Julia), and an unlikely relationship developed between the two as Molina passed the time telling a story based on a propaganda film.

The other candidates for the Best Actor Oscar were Harrison Ford ("Witness"), James Garner ("Murphy's Romance"), Jack Nicholson ("Prizzi's Honor"), and Jon Voight ("Runaway Train").

Answer: Paul Newman

On his seventh nomination, Paul Newman finally won his only acting Academy Award for his role as Fast Eddie Felson in "The Color of Money". He had received an honorary Oscar in the prior year for his overall contribution to film. His prior nominations, all for Best Actor, were for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Hustler"(in which he also portrayed Eddie Felson), "Hud", "Cool Hand Luke", "Absence of Malice", and "The Verdict".

He also had a nomination as a producer for the film "Rachel, Rachel". "The Color of Money" was a sequel to "The Hustler", with retired pool shark Felson now coaching a cocky young player (Tom Cruise) before deciding to get back in the game himself.

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Dexter Gordon ("Round Midnight"), Bob Hoskins ("Mona Lisa"), William Hurt ("Children of a Lesser God"), and James Woods ("Salvador").

Answer: Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas picked up the Best Actor Oscar with his first acting nomination for his role as cutthroat corporate raider Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street". Douglas had previously won an Academy Award as a producer for the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

In "Wall Street", Gekko took an ambitious young stockbroker Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) under his wing, but Fox's eventual disillusionment led him to betray Gekko to the detriment of both. The other nominees in the category were William Hurt ("Broadcast News"), Marcello Mastroianni ("Dark Eyes"), Jack Nicholson ("Ironweed"), and Robin Williams ("Good Morning, Vietnam").

Answer: Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as autistic savant Raymond Babbitt in "Rain Man". He had previously won for "Kramer vs. Kramer", and he had previous nominations for "The Graduate", "Midnight Cowboy", "Lenny", and "Tootsie", all in the Best Actor category.

In "Rain Man", a self-absorbed young man, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), discovered that he had a brother Raymond (Hoffman) who had been institutionalized since he was young. Eager to get his hands on the money his father left for Raymond, Charlie removed him from the institution and took him on a cross-country trip.

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Gene Hackman ("Mississippi Burning"), Tom Hanks ("Big"), Edward James Olmos ("Stand and Deliver"), and Max von Sydow ("Pelle the Conqueror").

Answer: Daniel Day-Lewis

On his first nomination, Daniel Day-Lewis picked up the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Irish artist/writer Christy Brown in "My Left Foot". Based on a true story, the film followed the life of Brown, who was born with severe cerebral palsy. His left foot was the only body part he could control, hence the title, and he learned to paint and write with it while he struggled with the frustrations of his life.

The other contenders for the Best Actor award were Kenneth Branagh ("Henry V"), Tom Cruise ("Born on the Fourth of July"), Morgan Freeman ("Driving Miss Daisy"), and Robin Williams ("Dead Poets Society").