Match the Best Actor Oscar Winners - 1990s Quiz

Answer: Jeremy Irons

With his first nomination, Jeremy Irons won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow in "Reversal of Fortune". Based on a true story, the film followed the case of von Bulow who was convicted and then retried and acquitted for the attempted murder of his socialite wife Sunny (Glenn Close). Ron Silver portrayed von Bulow's defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who wrote the book on which the film was based.

The other nominees in the category were Kevin Costner ("Dances with Wolves"), Robert De Niro ("Awakenings"), Gerard Depardieu ("Cyrano de Bergerac"), and Richard Harris ("The Field").

Answer: Anthony Hopkins

Also winning on his first nomination, Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for his creepy portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs". The film picked up the "Big Five" Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor, Best Actress (Jodie Foster) and Best Screenwriting (Ted Tally, for adapting the novel by Thomas Harris).

In the film, FBI recruit Clarice Starling (Foster) was tasked with interviewing incarcerated killer Lecter to help catch a serial killer. The other contenders for the Best Actor award were Warren Beatty ("Bugsy"), Robert De Niro ("Cape Fear"), Nick Nolte ("The Prince of Tides"), and Robin Williams ("The Fisher King").

Answer: Al Pacino

Al Pacino was nominated in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (for "Glengarry Glen Ross") categories this year, and he won his first Oscar for portraying blind Lt. Colonel Frank Slade in "Scent of a Woman". It was his fifth Best Actor nomination; he'd previously been nominated for "Serpico", "The Godfather: Part II", "Dog Day Afternoon", and "...and Justice for All".

He had also been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for "The Godfather" and "Dick Tracy". In "Scent of a Woman", Slade was a cranky and suicidal former military officer who hired a college student (Chris O'Donnell) to be his guide for a weekend.

The other nominees for the Best Actor Oscar were Robert Downey Jr. ("Chaplin"), Clint Eastwood ("Unforgiven"), Stephen Rea ("The Crying Game"), and Denzel Washington ("Malcolm X").

Answer: Tom Hanks

Having previously been nominated in the Best Actor category for "Big", Tom Hanks picked up his first Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of attorney Andrew Beckett in "Philadelphia". Inspired by a true story, the film told the story of Beckett who was fired by his firm after the partners realized that he had AIDS. Becket then hired a homophobic attorney (Denzel Washington) to represent him in his wrongful termination suit.

The other contenders for the Best Actor award were Daniel Day-Lewis ("In the Name of the Father"), Laurence Fishburne ("What's Love Got to Do with It"), Anthony Hopkins ("The Remains of the Day"), and Liam Neeson ("Schindler's List").

Answer: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks became only the third actor to win back-to-back Oscars when he picked up his second Academy Award for Best Actor for playing the title character in "Forrest Gump". Spencer Tracy accomplished the feat in the same category for "Captains Courageous" and "Boys Town", and Jason Robards won back-to-back Best Supporting Actor awards for "All the President's Men" and "Julia". Luise Rainer and Katharine Hepburn had also won back-to-back awards in the Best Actress category.

In "Forrest Gump", Hanks portrayed a man of below-average intelligence whose life played out during major historical events of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

The other nominees in the category were Morgan Freeman ("The Shawshank Redemption"), Nigel Hawthorne ("The Madness of King George"), Paul Newman ("Nobody's Fool"), and John Travolta ("Pulp Fiction").

Answer: Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage won the Academy Award for Best Actor on his first nomination for his role as alcoholic Ben Sanderson in "Leaving Las Vegas". In the less-than-uplifting film, Sanderson was a screenwriter who had lost his job and family due to his drinking problem, so he decided to literally drink himself to death in Las Vegas.

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Richard Dreyfuss ("Mr. Holland's Opus"), Anthony Hopkins ("Nixon"), Sean Penn ("Dead Man Walking"), and Massimo Troisi ("Il Postino: The Postman").

Answer: Geoffrey Rush

Another winner on his first nomination, Geoffrey Rush not only picked up the Best Actor Oscar for his role as pianist David Helfgott in "Shine", he also became the first winner of the "Big Five" acting awards (Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG, and Critics' Choice). Based on a true story, "Shine" followed the early years and eventual success of the musically gifted Helfgott as he struggled with mental illness.

The other nominees in the category were Tom Cruise ("Jerry Maguire"), Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient"), Woody Harrelson ("The People vs. Larry Flynt"), and Billy Bob Thornton ("Sling Blade").

Answer: Jack Nicholson

At the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, Jack Nicholson received his second Best Actor Oscar on his seventh nomination for his portrayal of misanthropic author Melvin Udall in "As Good as It Gets". He received his first Oscar in the category in 1976 for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and he was also nominated in the category for "Five Easy Pieces", "The Last Detail", "Chinatown", "Prizzi's Honor", and "Ironweed".

He also won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1984 for "Terms of Endearment" and had nominations in that category for "Easy Rider", "Reds", and "A Few Good Men".

In "As Good As it Gets", the obsessive-compulsive Udall had his orderly life upended by a crusty waitress (Helen Hunt) and his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear). The other nominees for Best Actor were Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting"), Robert Duvall ("The Apostle"), Peter Fonda ("Ulee's Gold"), and Dustin Hoffman ("Wag the Dog").

Answer: Roberto Benigni

Roberto Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor on his first nomination for his portrayal of Jewish waiter Guido Orefice in "Life is Beautiful". The Italian language film ("La Vita è Bella") won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and also garnered Benigni nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay (co-written with Vincenzo Cerami).

He became the first man to win the Best Actor award for a foreign language film; Sophia Loren had picked up the Best Actress Oscar for the Italian film "Two Women" way back in 1962, and it was Loren who presented Benigni with the award for Best Foreign Language Film for "Life is Beautiful".

His response to winning the award was memorable; he jumped up onto the seat in front of him, then stepped onto the back of Steven Spielberg's seat, enthusiastically waiving his hands in the air.

In "Life is Beautiful", Orefice and his family were sent to a concentration camp during WWII, and he hid the horrors of the camp from his son by telling him that it was all a game to win a tank.

The other contenders for the Best Actor Oscar were Tom Hanks ("Saving Private Ryan"), Ian McKellen ("Gods and Monsters"), Nick Nolte ("Affliction"), and Edward Norton ("American History X").

Answer: Kevin Spacey

Kevin Spacey picked up his second Oscar and his first in the Best Actor category for his role as Lester Burnham in "American Beauty". He had previously won in the Best Supporting Actor category for "The Usual Suspects". In "American Beauty", the frustrated Burnham embarked on a mid-life crisis with disastrous results when he became obsessed with his daughter's schoolmate.

The film picked up the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Sam Mendes), and Best Screenplay (Alan Ball). The other nominees in the category were Russell Crowe ("The Insider"), Richard Farnsworth ("The Straight Story"), Sean Penn ("Sweet and Lowdown"), and Denzel Washington ("The Hurricane").