Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada Language films.

The first recipient was Rajkumar who was honored in 1967 for his performance in Bangaarada Hoovu. As of 2019 he is the most honored actor with nine awards. Vishnuvardhan was honored in seven occasions. Two actors Anant Nag, Shiva Rajkumar have been honored four times, while Lokesh honored three times and two actors Ramesh Aravind, Puneeth Rajkumar have won the award two times. The award was tied in 1998 between Vishnuvardhan and Ramesh Aravind. Shiva Rajkumar, Raghavendra Rajkumar and Puneeth Rajkumar are the only siblings to have bagged this award. The most recent recipient is Raghavendra Rajkumar who is honored in 2018 for his performance in the film Ammana Mane.

The following is a complete list of award winners and the name of the films for which they won.

Year	Image	Recipient(s)	Role	Film	Ref(s)
1967-68		Rajkumar	Anand	Bangarada Hoovu
1968-69	–	R. Nagendra Rao	Anantha Raya	Hannele Chiguridaga
1969-70		B. R. Panthulu	Thimmarasu / Appaji	Sri Krishnadevaraya
1970-71		Rajkumar	• Raja Raghunatha Rao  • Ravi / Chandrashekharaiah  • Shankar / Anand	Kula Gourava
1971-72	–	Venkata Rao Thalageri	Shrinivasa Shrothri	Vamsha Vriksha
1972-73		Vishnuvardhan	Ramachari	Naagarahaavu
1973-74	–	Lokesh	Sambayya / Ayyu	Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu
1974-75		Rajkumar	Gora Kumbhar	Bhakta Kumbara
1975-76	–	M. V. Vasudeva Rao	Choma	Chomana Dudi
1976-77 ‡		Rajkumar	• Arjuna  • Babruvahana	Babruvahana
1977-78		Vishnuvardhan	Dr. Nataraj	Hombisilu
1978-79	–	Lokesh	Thimma	Parasangada Gendethimma
1979-80		Anant Nag	Antony De'Souza	Minchina Ota
1980-81		Srinath	Raghavendra	Shree Raghavendra Vaibhava
1981-82		Rajkumar	Ravi	Hosa Belaku
1982-83		Rajkumar	Ranga	Haalu Jenu
1983-84	–	Lokesh	Malgudi Margayya	Banker Margayya
1984-85		Vishnuvardhan	Dr. Harish	Bandhana
1985-86		Anant Nag	Krishna Prasad	Hosa Neeru
1986-87	–	Charuhasan	Tabara Shetty	Tabarana Kathe
1987-88		Anant Nag	Krishnappa Gowda	Avasthe
1988-89		Rajkumar	Krishna Murthy	Devatha Manushya
1989-90	–	Sridhar	Shishunala Sharif	Santha Shishunala Sharifa
1990-91 ‡		Vishnuvardhan	• Lion Jagapathi Rao  • Kumar Raja	Lion Jagapathi Rao
1991-92		Devaraj	Veerappan	Veerappan
1992-93		Rajkumar	Vishwanath	Jeevana Chaitra
1993-94		Rajkumar	Ramanna	Odahuttidavaru
1994-95		Anant Nag	Raghappa	Gangavva Gangamaayi
1995-96		Shiva Rajkumar	Sathya Murthy / Sathya	Om
1996-97		Ramesh Aravind	Surya	America! America!!
1997-98		Vishnuvardhan	Swaroop Krishna Kumar	Laali
1998-99 †		Vishnuvardhan	Veerappa Nayaka	Veerappa Nayaka
		Ramesh Aravind	Santosh	Hoomale
1999-2000		Shiva Rajkumar	Ravi	Hrudaya Hrudaya
2000-01		H. G. Dattatreya	Hasanabba	Munnudi
2001-02 ‡		V. Ravichandran	• Raja  • Ravi	Ekangi	[1]
2002-03		Sudeep	Nandi	Nandhi	[2][3][4]
2003-04		Shiva Rajkumar	Shankar / Dattanna	Chigurida Kanasu	[5]
2004-05	–	Sri Murali	Kanthi / Srikanta	Kanthi	[6]
2005-06		Shiva Rajkumar	Madesha / Jogi	Jogi	[7]
2006-07		Vijay	Shivalingu	Duniya	[8]
2007-08		Puneeth Rajkumar	Akash	Milana
2008-09	–	Yogesh	Dhananjaya / Dhanu	Ambari
2009-10 ‡		Vishnuvardhan (posthumously)	• Dr. Vijay  • Vijaya Rajendra Bahaddur	Aaptha Rakshaka	[9]
2010-11		Puneeth Rajkumar	Jackie	Jackie	[10]
2011		Arjun Sarja	Shankar	Prasad	[11]
2012		Darshan	Sangolli Rayanna	Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna	[12]
2013	–	Nikhil Manjoo	Altaf	Hajj	[13]
2014		Sanchari Vijay	Madesha (Vidya)	Naanu Avanalla...Avalu	[14]
2015		Vijay Raghavendra	Puttaraj Gawai	Shivayogi Sri Puttayyajja	[15]
2016	–	Achyuth Kumar	Shivappa	Amaravathi	[16]
2017	–	Vishruth Naik	Bhyra	Manjari	[17]
2018		Raghavendra Rajkumar	Rajeeva	Ammana Mane	[18][19]

• Cinema of Karnataka
• List of Kannada-language films