Volpi Cup for Best Actor

Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile (Italian)
Awarded for	Best Performance by an Actor
Country	Italy
Presented by	Venice Film Festival
First awarded	1932
Currently held by	John Arcilla ; On the Job: The Missing 8 (2021)
Website	labiennale.org/en/cinema

The Volpi Cup for Best Actor (Italian: Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film Festival. The name and number of prizes have been changed several times since their introduction, ranging from two to four awards per edition and sometimes acknowledging both leading and supporting performances.

The festival was officially competitive for the first time in 1934. The acting award was named Grande medaglia d'oro dell'Associazione Nazionale Fascista dello Spettacolo per il migliore attore (Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for the Best Actor). After a four-year hiatus caused by the war, the festival was once again competitive in 1947. The acting award in the immediate post-war period was named Premio Internazionale per il migliore attore (International Award for the Best Actor).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The festival was again competitive in 1980 but the acting awards given by the competition jury were not reinstated until 1983: the prizes were no longer called Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup) but were simply referred to as Premio per il migliore attore (Best Actor Award). The winners did not receive cup-shaped awards but were instead given rectangular plaques. In 1988, for the first time in 20 years, the most recognizable prizes of the festival were re-established. The two acting award was officially named Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile (Volpi Cup for the Best Actor).^[5]

Winners[]

The following actors received the Volpi Cup or other major Best Actor Award:^[6]^[7]

Table key
#	Indicates Ex-aequo winners
	Indicates the Best Supporting Actor winner

Year	Actor	Role	Film	Original title
1930s
Awarded as "Best Actor"
1932 (1st)	Fredric March ^[A]	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Awarded as "Great Gold Medal of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment for Best Actor"
1934 (2nd)	Wallace Beery	Pancho Villa	Viva Villa!
Awarded as "Volpi Cup for Best Actor"
1935 (3rd)	Pierre Blanchar	Rodion Raskolnikov	Crime and Punishment	Crime et châtiment
1936 (4th)	Paul Muni	Louis Pasteur	The Story of Louis Pasteur
1937 (5th)	Emil Jannings	Matthias Clausen	Der Herrscher
1938 (6th)	Leslie Howard	Professor Henry Higgins	Pygmalion
1939 (7th (void))	No Award Given
1940s
1940 (8th (void))	No Award Given
1941 (9th (void))	Ermete Zacconi	Don Geronimo Buonaparte	Don Buonaparte
1942 (10th (void))	Fosco Giachetti	Captain Enrico Berti	Bengasi
Awarded as "International Award for Best Actor"
1946 (7th)	No Award Given
1947 (8th)	Pierre Fresnay	Vincent de Paul	Monsieur Vincent
1948 (9th)	Ernst Deutsch	Scharf	The Trial	Der Prozeß
1949 (10th)	Joseph Cotten	Eben Adams	Portrait of Jennie
1950s
1950 (11th)	Sam Jaffe	Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider	The Asphalt Jungle
Awarded as "Volpi Cup for Best Actor"
1951 (12th)	Jean Gabin	Raymond Pinsard	The Night Is My Kingdom	La nuit est mon royaume
1952 (13th)	Fredric March	Willy Loman	Death of a Salesman
1953 (14th)	Henri Vilbert	François Dupont	Le Bon Dieu sans confession
1954 (15th)	Jean Gabin ^[B]	Victor Le Garrec	The Air of Paris	L’Air de Paris
1954 (15th)	Jean Gabin ^[B]	Max	Touchez pas au grisbi
1955 (16th)	/ Curd Jürgens #	Wolf Gerke	Heroes and Sinners	Les héros sont fatigués
1955 (16th)	Kenneth More #	Freddie Page	The Deep Blue Sea
1956 (17th)	Bourvil	Marcel Martin	La Traversée de Paris
1957 (18th)	Anthony Franciosa	Polo Pope	A Hatful of Rain
1958 (19th)	Alec Guinness	Gulley Jimson	The Horse’s Mouth
1959 (20th)	James Stewart	Paul Biegler	Anatomy of a Murder
1960s
1960 (21st)	John Mills	Lt. Col. Basil Barrow	Tunes of Glory
1961 (22nd)	Toshiro Mifune	Sanjuro	Yojimbo	用心棒
1962 (23rd)	Burt Lancaster	Robert Stroud	Birdman of Alcatraz
1963 (24th)	Albert Finney	Tom Jones	Tom Jones
1964 (25th)	Tom Courtenay	Private Arthur Hamp	King & Country
1965 (26th)	Toshiro Mifune	Dr. Kyojō Niide	Red Beard	赤ひげ
1966 (27th)	Jacques Perrin	Michele	Un uomo a metà
1967 (28th)	Ljubiša Samardžić	Mali	The Morning	Jutro
1968 (29th)	John Marley	Richard Forst	Faces
1969– 1982	No Award Given
1980s
Awarded as "Best Actor Award"
1983 (40th)	Guy Boyd #	Rooney	Streamers
	George Dzundza #	Cokes
	David Alan Grier #	Roger
	Mitchell Lichtenstein #	Richie
	Matthew Modine #	Billy
	Michael Wright #	Carlyle
1984 (41st)	Naseeruddin Shah	Naurangia	Paar
1985 (42nd)	Gérard Depardieu	Louis Vincent Mangin	Police
1986 (43rd)	Carlo Delle Piane	Antonio Sant’Elia	Christmas Present	Regalo di Natale
1987 (44th)	Hugh Grant #	Clive Durham	Maurice
1987 (44th)	James Wilby #	Maurice Hall	Maurice
Awarded as "Volpi Cup for Best Actor"
1988 (45th)	Don Ameche #	Gino	Things Change
1988 (45th)	Joe Mantegna #	Jerry	Things Change
1989 (46th)	Marcello Mastroianni #	Marcello	What Time Is It?	Che ora è?
1989 (46th)	Massimo Troisi #	Michele	What Time Is It?	Che ora è?
1990s
1990 (47th)	Oleg Borisov	Christo Panov / Svidetel	The Only Witness	Edinstveniyat svidetel
1991 (48th)	River Phoenix	Mikey Waters	My Own Private Idaho
1992 (49th)	Jack Lemmon	Shelley "The Machine" Levene	Glengarry Glen Ross
1993 (50th)	Fabrizio Bentivoglio	Pietro De Leo	A Soul Split in Two	Un’anima divisa in due
1993 (50th)	Marcello Mastroianni	Constantin Laspada	1, 2, 3, Sun	Un, deux, trois, soleil
1994 (51st)	Xia Yu	Ma Xiaojun	In the Heat of the Sun	陽光燦爛的日子
1994 (51st)	Roberto Citran	Loris	Il Toro
1995 (52nd)	Götz George	Fritz Haarmann	Deathmaker	Der Totmacher
1995 (52nd)	Ian Hart	Ginger	Nothing Personal
1996 (53rd)	Liam Neeson	Michael Collins	Michael Collins
1996 (53rd)	Chris Penn	Cesarian "Chez" Tempio	The Funeral
1997 (54th)	Wesley Snipes	Max Carlyle	One Night Stand
1998 (55th)	Sean Penn	Eddie	Hurlyburly
1999 (56th)	Jim Broadbent	W.S. Gilbert	Topsy-Turvy
2000s
2000 (57th)	Javier Bardem	Reinaldo Arenas	Before Night Falls
2001 (58th)	Luigi Lo Cascio	Antonio	Light of My Eyes	Luce dei miei occhi
2002 (59th)	Stefano Accorsi	Dino Campana	A Journey Called Love	Un viaggio chiamato amore
2003 (60th)	Sean Penn	Paul Rivers	21 Grams
2004 (61st)	Javier Bardem	Ramón Sampedro	The Sea Inside	Mar adentro
2005 (62nd)	David Strathairn	Edward R. Murrow	Good Night, and Good Luck
2006 (63rd)	Ben Affleck	George Reeves	Hollywoodland
2007 (64th)	Brad Pitt	Jesse James	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2008 (65th)	Silvio Orlando	Michele Casali	Giovanna's Father	Il papà di Giovanna
2009 (66th)	Colin Firth	George Falconer	A Single Man
2010s
2010 (67th)	Vincent Gallo	Mohammed	Essential Killing
2011 (68th)	/ Michael Fassbender	Brandon Sullivan	Shame
2012 (69th)	Philip Seymour Hoffman #	Lancaster Dodd	The Master
2012 (69th)	Joaquin Phoenix #	Freddie Quell	The Master
2013 (70th)	Themis Panou	Father	Miss Violence
2014 (71st)	Adam Driver	Jude	Hungry Hearts
2015 (72nd)	Fabrice Luchini	Michel Racine	Courted	L’Hermine
2016 (73rd)	Oscar Martínez	Daniel Mantovani	The Distinguished Citizen	El Ciudadano Ilustre
2017 (74th)	Kamel El Basha	Yasser Abdallah Salameh	The Insult	L’insulte
2018 (75th)	Willem Dafoe	Vincent van Gogh	At Eternity's Gate
2019 (76th)	Luca Marinelli	Martin Eden	Martin Eden
2020s
2020 (77th)	Pierfrancesco Favino	Alfonso	Padrenostro
2021 (78th)	John Arcilla	Sisoy Salas	On the Job: The Missing 8

Multiple winners[]

The following individuals received two Best Actor awards:

Wins	Actor	Nationality
2	Javier Bardem	Spain
	Jean Gabin	France
	Fredric March	United States
	Marcello Mastroianni	Italy
	Toshiro Mifune	Japan
	Sean Penn	United States

Notes[]

A^ : Winner of the award was chosen by public voting.

B^ : Performer to receive a single award which honor the outstanding work in multiple different films in the same official competition slate.

References[]

^ "La Magnani premiata come miglior attrice". La Stampa. 16 September 1947. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
^ "Il Gran Premio ad "Amleto" di Olivier". La Stampa. 5 September 1948. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
^ "L'assegnazione dei diciassette premi". L'Unità. 2 September 1949. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
^ "L'assegnazione dei premi". La Stampa. 11 September 1950. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
^ "Tutti i premiati". La Stampa. 10 September 1988. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
^ "Coppa Volpi for best actors since 1935". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
^ "Volpi Cup for Best Actor". carnivalofvenice.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

External links[]

The Venice Film Festival at the IMDb
Coppa Volpi for best actors since 1935 from "La Biennale" website
Enrico Lancia, I premi del cinema, Gremese Editore, 1998

[1] "La Magnani premiata come miglior attrice". La Stampa. 16 September 1947. Retrieved 2013-08-05.

[2] "Il Gran Premio ad "Amleto" di Olivier". La Stampa. 5 September 1948. Retrieved 2013-08-05.

[3] "L'assegnazione dei diciassette premi". L'Unità. 2 September 1949. Retrieved 2013-08-05.

[4] "L'assegnazione dei premi". La Stampa. 11 September 1950. Retrieved 2013-08-05.

[5] "Tutti i premiati". La Stampa. 10 September 1988. Retrieved 2013-10-06.

[6] "Coppa Volpi for best actors since 1935". labiennale.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.

[7] "Volpi Cup for Best Actor". carnivalofvenice.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[A]

[B]

v t Venice Film Festival
Awards	Golden Lion Grand Jury Prize Special Jury Prize Silver Lion (for Best Direction) Volpi Cup for Best Actor Volpi Cup for Best Actress Golden Osella Marcello Mastroianni Award
Independent awards	Queer Lion Venice Days Young Cinema Award
By year	1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
List of Venice Film Festival jury presidents

v t Volpi Cup for Best Actor
1932–68	Wallace Beery (1934) Pierre Blanchar (1935) Paul Muni (1936) Emil Jannings (1937) Leslie Howard (1938) Ermete Zacconi (1941) Fosco Giachetti (1942) Pierre Fresnay (1947) Ernst Deutsch (1948) Joseph Cotten (1949) Sam Jaffe (1950) Jean Gabin (1951) Fredric March (1952) Henri Vilbert (1953) Jean Gabin (1954) Curd Jürgens / Kenneth More (1955) Bourvil (1956) Anthony Franciosa (1957) Alec Guinness (1958) James Stewart (1959) John Mills (1960) Toshiro Mifune (1961) Burt Lancaster (1962) Albert Finney (1963) Tom Courtenay (1964) Toshiro Mifune (1965) Jacques Perrin (1966) Ljubiša Samardžić (1967) John Marley (1968)
1983–2000	Guy Boyd / George Dzundza / David Alan Grier / Mitchell Lichtenstein / Matthew Modine / Michael Wright (1983) Naseeruddin Shah (1984) Gérard Depardieu (1985) Carlo Delle Piane (1986) Hugh Grant / James Wilby (1987) Don Ameche / Joe Mantegna (1988) Marcello Mastroianni / Massimo Troisi (1989) Oleg Borisov (1990) River Phoenix (1991) Jack Lemmon (1992) Fabrizio Bentivoglio / Marcello Mastroianni (1993) Xia Yu / Roberto Citran (1994) Götz George / Ian Hart (1995) Liam Neeson / Chris Penn (1996) Wesley Snipes (1997) Sean Penn (1998) Jim Broadbent (1999) Javier Bardem (2000)
2001–present	Luigi Lo Cascio (2001) Stefano Accorsi (2002) Sean Penn (2003) Javier Bardem (2004) David Strathairn (2005) Ben Affleck (2006) Brad Pitt (2007) Silvio Orlando (2008) Colin Firth (2009) Vincent Gallo (2010) Michael Fassbender (2011) Philip Seymour Hoffman / Joaquin Phoenix (2012) Themis Panou (2013) Adam Driver (2014) Fabrice Luchini (2015) Oscar Martínez (2016) Kamel El Basha (2017) Willem Dafoe (2018) Luca Marinelli (2019) Pierfrancesco Favino (2020) John Arcilla (2021)