• Rain Man
  • The Accidental Tourist
  • Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark)
  • Gorillas in the Mist
  • Mississippi Burning
  • Running on Empty
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Being

• Working Girl
  • Big
  • A Fish Called Wanda
  • Midnight Run
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit

• Dustin Hoffman – Rain Man as Raymond Babbit
  • Gene Hackman – Mississippi Burning as Agent Rupert Anderson
  • Tom Hulce – Dominick and Eugene as Dominick Luciano
  • Edward James Olmos – Stand and Deliver as Jaime Escalante
  • Forest Whitaker – Bird as Charlie "Bird" Parker

Unusually, there was a three-way tie for this award.

• Jodie Foster – The Accused as Sarah Tobias
• Shirley MacLaine – Madame Sousatzka as Madame Sousatzka
• Sigourney Weaver – Gorillas in the Mist as Dian Fossey
  • Christine Lahti – Running on Empty as Annie Pope
  • Meryl Streep – Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) as Lindy Chamberlain

• Tom Hanks – Big as Josh Baskin
  • Michael Caine – Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as Lawrence Jamieson
  • John Cleese – A Fish Called Wanda as Archie Leach
  • Robert De Niro – Midnight Run as Jack Walsh
  • Bob Hoskins – Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Eddie Valiant

• Melanie Griffith – Working Girl as Tess McGill
  • Jamie Lee Curtis – A Fish Called Wanda as Wanda Gershwitz
  • Amy Irving – Crossing Delancey as Isabelle Grossman
  • Michelle Pfeiffer – Married to the Mob as Angela de Marco
  • Susan Sarandon – Bull Durham as Annie Savoy

• Martin Landau – Tucker: The Man and His Dream as Abe Karatz
  • Alec Guinness – Little Dorrit as William Dorrit
  • Neil Patrick Harris – Clara's Heart as David Hart
  • Raul Julia – Moon over Parador as Roberto Strausmann
  • Lou Diamond Phillips – Stand and Deliver as Angel Guzman
  • River Phoenix – Running on Empty as Danny Pope

• Sigourney Weaver – Working Girl as Katharine Parker
  • Sônia Braga – Moon over Parador as Madonna Mendez
  • Barbara Hershey – The Last Temptation of Christ as Mary Magdalene
  • Lena Olin – The Unbearable Lightness of Being as Sabina
  • Diane Venora – Bird as Chan Parker

• Clint Eastwood – Bird
  • Barry Levinson – Rain Man
  • Sidney Lumet – Running on Empty
  • Mike Nichols – Working Girl
  • Alan Parker – Mississippi Burning
  • Fred Schepisi – Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark)

• Running on Empty – Naomi Foner
  • Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) – Robert Caswell and Fred Schepisi
  • Mississippi Burning – Chris Gerolmo
  • Rain Man – Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow
  • Working Girl – Kevin Wade

• Gorillas in the Mist – Maurice Jarre
  • The Accidental Tourist – John Williams
  • The Last Temptation of Christ – Peter Gabriel
  • Madame Sousatzka – Gerald Gouriet
  • The Milagro Beanfield War – Dave Grusin

• "Two Hearts" (Phil Collins and Lamont Dozier) – Buster
• "Let the River Run" (Carly Simon) – Working Girl
  • "When a Woman Loves a Man" (Bernard Hanighen, Gordon Jenkins and Johnny Mercer) – Bull Durham
  • "Kokomo" (Mike Love, Terry Melcher, John Phillips and Scott McKenzie) – Cocktail
  • "Why Should I Worry?" (Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight) – Oliver & Company
  • "Twins" (Skip Scarborough and Lorrin Bates) – Twins

• Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren) (Denmark)
  • Babette's Feast (Babettes gæstebud) (Denmark)
  • Hanussen (West Germany)
  • Salaam Bombay! (India)
  • Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) (Spain)

• thirtysomething
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • L.A. Law
  • Murder, She Wrote
  • Wiseguy

• The Wonder Years
  • Cheers
  • The Golden Girls
  • Murphy Brown
  • Roseanne

• Ron Perlman – Beauty and the Beast as Vincent
  • Corbin Bernsen – L.A. Law as Arnie Becker
  • Harry Hamlin – L.A. Law as Michael Kuzak
  • Carroll O'Connor – In the Heat of the Night as William O. "Bill" Gillespie
  • Ken Wahl – Wiseguy as Vinnie Terranova

• Jill Eikenberry – L.A. Law as Ann Kelsey
  • Susan Dey – L.A. Law as Grace Van Owen
  • Sharon Gless – Cagney & Lacey as Christine Cagney
  • Linda Hamilton – Beauty and the Beast as Catherine Chandler
  • Angela Lansbury – Murder, She Wrote as Jessica Fletcher

• Michael J. Fox – Family Ties as Alex P. Keaton
• Judd Hirsch – Dear John as John Lacey
• Richard Mulligan – Empty Nest as Dr. Harry Weston
  • Ted Danson – Cheers as Sam Malone
  • Tony Danza – Who's the Boss? as Tony Micelli
  • John Goodman – Roseanne as Dan Conner

• Candice Bergen – Murphy Brown as Murphy Brown
  • Beatrice Arthur – The Golden Girls as Dorothy Zbornak
  • Roseanne – Roseanne as Roseanne Conner
  • Tracey Ullman – The Tracey Ullman Show as various characters
  • Betty White – The Golden Girls as Rose Nylund

• Michael Caine – Jack the Ripper as Frederick Abberline
• Stacy Keach – Hemingway as Ernest Hemingway
  • Richard Chamberlain – The Bourne Identity as Jason Bourne
  • Anthony Hopkins – The Tenth Man as Chavel
  • Jack Lemmon – The Murder of Mary Phagan as Gov. John M. Slaton

• Ann Jillian – The Ann Jillian Story as herself
  • Vanessa Redgrave – A Man for All Seasons as Alice More
  • Jane Seymour – War and Remembrance as Natalie Henry
  • Jane Seymour – The Woman He Loved as Wallis Simpson
  • JoBeth Williams – Baby M as Mary Beth Whitehead

• Barry Bostwick – War and Remembrance as Carter "Lady" Aster
• John Gielgud – War and Remembrance as Aaron Jastrow
  • Armand Assante – Jack the Ripper as Richard Mansfield
  • Kirk Cameron – Growing Pains as Michael Aaron "Mike" Seaver
  • Larry Drake – L.A. Law as Benny Stulwicz
  • Derek Jacobi – The Tenth Man as The Imposter
  • Edward James Olmos – Miami Vice as Martin "Marty" Castillo

• Katherine Helmond – Who's the Boss? as Mona Robinson
  • Jackée Harry – 227 as Sandra Clark
  • Swoosie Kurtz – Baja Oklahoma as Doris Steadman
  • Rhea Perlman – Cheers as Carla Tortelli
  • Susan Ruttan – L.A. Law as Roxanne Melman

• War and Remembrance
  • Hemingway
  • Jack the Ripper
  • The Murder of Mary Phagan
  • The Tenth Man