| | 1971: James Brolin, Marcus Welby, M.D. |
| | 1972: Ed Asner, The Mary Tyler Moore Show |
| | 1973: James Brolin, Marcus Welby, M.D. |
| | 1974: McLean Stevenson, M*A*S*H |
| | 1975: Harvey Korman, The Carol Burnett Show |
| | 1976: Ed Asner, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Tim Conway, The Carol Burnett Show (tie) |
| | 1977: Ed Asner, Rich Man, Poor Man |
| | 1978: No Award Given |
| | 1979: Norman Fell, Three's Company |
| | 1980: Vic Tayback, Alice and Danny DeVito, Taxi (tie) |
| | 1981: Vic Tayback, Alice and Pat Harrington, One Day at a Time (tie) |
| | 1982: John Hillerman, Magnum P.I. |
| | 1983: Lionel Stander, Hart to Hart |
| | 1984: Richard Kiley, The Thorn Birds |
| | 1985: Paul Le Mat, The Burning Bed |
| | 1986: Edward James Olmos, Miami Vice |
| | 1987: Jan Niklas, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna |
| | 1988: Rutger Hauer, Escape From Sobibor |
| | 1989: Barry Bostwick, War and Remembrance and John Gielgud, War and Remembrance (tie) |
| | 1990: Dean Stockwell, Quantum Leap |
| | 1991: Charles Durning, The Kennedys of Massachusetts |
| | 1992: Louis Gossett, Jr., The Josephine Baker Story |
| | 1993: Maximilian Schell, Stalin |
| | 1994: Jason Alexander, Seinfeld |
| | 1995: Edward James Olmos, The Burning Season |
| | 1996: Donald Sutherland, Citizen X |
| | 1997: Ian McKellen, Rasputin |
| | 1998: George C. Scott, 12 Angry Men |
| | 1999: Gregory Peck, Moby Dick and Don Cheadle, The Rat Pack (tie) |
| | 2000: Peter Fonda, The Passion of Ayn Rand |
| | 2001: Robert Downey Jr., Ally McBeal |
| | 2002: Stanley Tucci, Conspiracy |
| | 2003: Donald Sutherland, Path to War |
| | 2004: Jeffrey Wright, Angels in America |
| | 2005: William Shatner, Boston Legal |
| | 2006: Paul Newman, Empire Falls |
| | 2007: Jeremy Irons, Elizabeth I |