• 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 asJaime Escalante
  • Forest Whitaker –Bird asCharlie "Bird" Parker

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

• Jodie Foster –The Accused asSarah Tobias
• Shirley MacLaine –Madame Sousatzka as Madame Sousatzka
• Sigourney Weaver –Gorillas in the Mist asDian Fossey
  • Christine Lahti –Running on Empty as Annie Pope
  • Meryl Streep –Evil Angels (A Cry in the Dark) asLindy 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 asEddie 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 asMary Magdalene
  • Lena Olin –The Unbearable Lightness of Being as Sabina
  • Diane Venora –Bird asChan 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 andFred Schepisi
  • Mississippi Burning –Chris Gerolmo
  • Rain Man –Ronald Bass andBarry 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 andLamont Dozier) –Buster
• "Let the River Run" (Carly Simon) –Working Girl
  • "When a Woman Loves a Man" (Bernard Hanighen,Gordon Jenkins andJohnny Mercer) –Bull Durham
  • "Kokomo" (Mike Love,Terry Melcher,John Phillips andScott McKenzie) –Cocktail
  • "Why Should I Worry?" (Dan Hartman andCharlie 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 asJessica Fletcher

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

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

• Michael Caine –Jack the Ripper as Frederick Abberline
• Stacy Keach –Hemingway asErnest Hemingway
  • Richard Chamberlain –The Bourne Identity asJason 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 asAlice More
  • Jane Seymour –War and Remembrance as Natalie Henry
  • Jane Seymour –The Woman He Loved asWallis 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 asRichard 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 asCarla Tortelli
  • Susan Ruttan –L.A. Law as Roxanne Melman

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