The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture" but the splitting allowed for recognition of it and the Best Actor - Drama.

The formal title has varied since its inception and as of 2005 is officially called: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy".

1950s

• 1951 - Fred Astaire, Three Little Words
• 1952 - Danny Kaye, On the Riviera
• 1953 - Donald O'Connor, Singin' in the Rain
• 1954 - David Niven, The Moon is Blue
• 1955 - James Mason, A Star Is Born
• 1956 - Tom Ewell, The Seven Year Itch
• 1957 - Cantinflas, Around the World in Eighty Days
• 1958 - Frank Sinatra, Pal Joey
• 1959 - Danny Kaye, Me and the Colonel

1960s

• 1960 - Jack Lemmon, Some Like It Hot
• 1961 - Jack Lemmon, The Apartment
• 1962 - Glenn Ford, Pocketful of Miracles
• 1963 - Marcello Mastroianni, Divorce, Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana)
• 1964 - Alberto Sordi, To Bed or Not to Bed
• 1965 - Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady
• 1966 - Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou
• 1967 - Alan Arkin, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming
• 1968 - Richard Harris, Camelot
• 1969 - Ron Moody, Oliver! as "Fagin"

1970s

• 1970 - Peter O'Toole, Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• 1971 - Albert Finney, Scrooge as "Ebenezer Scrooge"
• 1972 - Topol, Fiddler on the Roof
• 1973 - Jack Lemmon, Avanti!
• 1974 - George Segal, A Touch of Class
• 1975 - Art Carney, Harry and Tonto as "Harry"
• 1976 - Walter Matthau, The Sunshine Boys
• 1977 - Kris Kristofferson, A Star Is Born
• 1978 - Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl as "Elliott Garfield"
• 1979 - Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait

1980s

• 1980 - Peter Sellers, Being There
• 1981 - Ray Sharkey, The Idolmaker
• 1982 - Dudley Moore, Arthur
• 1983 - Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie as "Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels"
• 1984 - Michael Caine, Educating Rita
• 1985 - Dudley Moore, Micki and Maude
• 1986 - Jack Nicholson, Prizzi's Honor
• 1987 - Paul Hogan, Crocodile Dundee as "Crocodile Dundee"
• 1988 - Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam as Adrian Cronauer
• 1989 - Tom Hanks, Big as "Josh Baskin"

1990s

• 1990 - Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy as "Hoke Colburn"
  • Billy Crystal - When Harry Met Sally... as "Harry"
  • Michael Douglas - The War of the Roses
  • Steve Martin - Parenthood
  • Jack Nicholson - Batman as "The Joker"
• 1991 - Gérard Depardieu, Green Card
  • Macaulay Culkin - Home Alone as "Kevin McCallister"
  • Johnny Depp - Edward Scissorhands as "Edward Scissorhands"
  • Richard Gere - Pretty Woman as "Edward Lewis"
  • Patrick Swayze - Ghost as "Sam Wheat"
• 1992 - Robin Williams, The Fisher King
  • Jeff Bridges - The Fisher King
  • Billy Crystal - City Slickers
  • Dustin Hoffman - Hook as "Captain Hook"
  • Kevin Kline - Soapdish
• 1993 - Tim Robbins, The Player
  • Nicolas Cage - Honeymoon in Vegas
  • Billy Crystal - Mr. Saturday Night
  • Marcello Mastroianni - Used People
  • Tim Robbins - Bob Roberts
• 1994 - Robin Williams, Mrs. Doubtfire
  • Johnny Depp - Benny & Joon as "Sam"
  • Tom Hanks - Sleepless in Seattle
  • Kevin Kline - Dave
  • Colm Meaney - The Snapper
• 1995 - Hugh Grant, Four Weddings and a Funeral
  • Jim Carrey - The Mask as "Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask"
  • Johnny Depp - Ed Wood as Ed Wood
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger - Junior
  • Terence Stamp - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
• 1996 - John Travolta, Get Shorty
  • Michael Douglas - The American President
  • Harrison Ford - Sabrina as "Linus"
  • Steve Martin - Father of the Bride Part II
  • Patrick Swayze - To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
• 1997 - Tom Cruise, Jerry Maguire as "Jerry Maguire"
  • Antonio Banderas - Evita
  • Kevin Costner - Tin Cup
  • Nathan Lane - The Birdcage
  • Eddie Murphy - The Nutty Professor as "Sherman Klump"
• 1998 - Jack Nicholson, As Good as It Gets
  • Jim Carrey - Liar Liar as "Fletcher Reed"
  • Dustin Hoffman - Wag the Dog
  • Samuel L. Jackson - Jackie Brown
  • Kevin Kline - In & Out
• 1999 - Michael Caine, Little Voice
  • Antonio Banderas - The Mask of Zorro as "Zorro"
  • Warren Beatty - Bulworth
  • John Travolta - Primary Colors
  • Robin Williams - Patch Adams as "Patch Adams"

2000s

• 2000 - Jim Carrey, Man on the Moon as Andy Kaufman
  • Robert De Niro - Analyze This
  • Rupert Everett - An Ideal Husband
  • Hugh Grant - Notting Hill
  • Sean Penn - Sweet and Lowdown
• 2001 George Clooney - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  • Jim Carrey - How the Grinch Stole Christmas as "The Grinch"
  • John Cusack - High Fidelity
  • Robert De Niro - Meet the Parents as "Jack Byrnes"
  • Mel Gibson - What Women Want
• 2002 Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenenbaums as "Royal Tenenbaum"
  • Hugh Jackman - Kate & Leopold
  • Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge!
  • John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
  • Billy Bob Thornton - Bandits
• 2003 Richard Gere - Chicago as "Billy Flynn"
  • Nicolas Cage - Adaptation. as "Charlie Kaufman/Donald Kaufman"
  • Kieran Culkin - Igby Goes Down as "Jason 'Igby' Slocumb, Jr."
  • Hugh Grant - About a Boy as "Will"
  • Adam Sandler - Punch-Drunk Love as "Barry Egan"
• 2004 Bill Murray - Lost in Translation as "Bob Harris"
  • Jack Black - School of Rock as "Dewey Finn"
  • Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl as "Jack Sparrow"
  • Jack Nicholson - Something's Gotta Give as "Harry Sanborn"
  • Billy Bob Thornton - Bad Santa as "Willie"
• 2005 Jamie Foxx - Ray as Ray Charles
  • Jim Carrey - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as "Joel Barish"
  • Paul Giamatti - Sideways as "Miles"
  • Kevin Kline - De-Lovely as "Cole Porter"
  • Kevin Spacey - Beyond the Sea as Bobby Darin
• 2006 Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line as Johnny Cash
  • Pierce Brosnan - The Matador as "Julian Noble"
  • Jeff Daniels - The Squid and the Whale as "Bernard Berkman"
  • Johnny Depp - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as "Willy Wonka"
  • Nathan Lane - The Producers as "Max Bialystock"
  • Cillian Murphy - Breakfast on Pluto as "Patrick 'Kitten' Braden"
• 2007 Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as "Borat Sagdiyev"
  • Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as "Jack Sparrow"
  • Aaron Eckhart - Thank You for Smoking as "Nick Naylor"
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor - Kinky Boots as "Lola"
  • Will Ferrell - Stranger than Fiction as "Harold Crick"
• 2008 Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as "Sweeney Todd"
  • Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl as "Lars Lindstrom"
  • Tom Hanks - Charlie Wilson's War as "Charlie Wilson"
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages as "Jon Savage"
  • John C. Reilly - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story as "Dewey Cox"