BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
The British Academy Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles is a discontinued award that was presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts until 1984.
The category had several name changes:
- 1952–1959: Most Promising Newcomer to Film
- 1960–1979: Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
- 1980–1982: Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
- 1983–1984: Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film
A similar award honouring new acting talent was introduced in 2006, the Orange Rising Star Award. While the nominees are chosen by the BAFTA juries, the Rising Star winner is decided by the public.
1950s
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1952 6th | - | - | - |
| 1952 6th | Claire Bloom | Limelight | Terry |
| 1952 6th | Dorothy Alison | Mandy | Miss Stockston |
| 1952 6th | Mandy Miller | Mandy | Mandy Garland |
| 1952 6th | Dorothy Tutin | The Importance of Being Earnest | Cecily Cardew |
| 1953 7th | - | - | - |
| 1953 7th | Norman Wisdom | Trouble in Store | Norman |
| 1953 7th | Colette Marchand | Moulin Rouge | Marie Charlet |
| 1954 8th | - | - | - |
| 1954 8th | David Kossoff | The Young Lovers | Geza Szobek |
| 1954 8th | Maggie McNamara | The Moon is Blue | Patty O'Neill |
| 1954 8th | Eva Marie Saint | On the Waterfront | Edie Doyle |
| 1955 9th | - | - | - |
| 1955 9th | Paul Scofield | That Lady | King Phillip II of Spain |
| 1955 9th | Jo Van Fleet | East of Eden | Kate |
| 1956 10th | - | - | - |
| 1956 10th | Eli Wallach | Baby Doll | Silva Vaccara |
| 1956 10th | Stephen Boyd | The Man Who Never Was | Patrick O'Reilly |
| 1956 10th | Don Murray | Bus Stop | Beauregard "Bo" Decker |
| 1956 10th | Susan Strasberg | Picnic | Millie Owens |
| 1956 10th | Elizabeth Wilson | Patterns of Power | Marge Fleming |
| 1957 11th | - | - | - |
| 1957 11th | Eric Barker | Brothers in Law | Alec Blair |
| 1957 11th | Mylène Demongeot | The Witches of Salem | Abigail Williams |
| 1957 11th | Elvi Hale | True as a Turtle | Ann |
| 1957 11th | James McArthur | The Young Stranger | Harold "Hal" Ditmar |
| 1957 11th | Keith Michell | True as a Turtle | Harry Bell |
| 1958 12th | - | - | - |
| 1958 12th | Paul Massie | Orders to Kill | Gene Summers |
| 1958 12th | Red Buttons | Sayonara | Joe Kelly |
| 1958 12th | Teresa Iżewska | Kanał | Stokrotka |
| 1958 12th | Mary Peach | Room at the Top | June Samson |
| 1958 12th | Maggie Smith | Nowhere to Go | Bridget Howard |
| 1958 12th | Gwen Verdon | What Lola Wants | Lola |
| 1958 12th | Ronald Radd | The Camp on Blood Island | Commander Yamamitsu |
| 1959 13th | - | - | - |
| 1959 13th | Hayley Mills | Tiger Bay | Gillie Evans |
| 1959 13th | Gerry Duggan | The Siege of Pinchgut | Pat Fulton |
| 1959 13th | Liz Fraser | I'm All Right Jack | Cynthia Kite |
| 1959 13th | Joseph N. Welch | Anatomy of a Murder | Judge Weaver |
1960s
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1960 14th | - | - | - |
| 1960 14th | Albert Finney | Saturday Night and Sunday Morning | Arthur Seaton |
| 1960 14th | Lelia Goldoni | Shadows | Lelia |
| 1960 14th | Jean-Pierre Léaud | The 400 Blows | Antoine Doinel |
| 1960 14th | George Peppard | Home from the Hill | Raphael "Rafe" Copley |
| 1960 14th | Joan Plowright | The Entertainer | Jean Rice |
| 1960 14th | Anthony Ray | Shadows | Tony |
| 1960 14th | Billie Whitelaw | Hell Is a City | Chloe Hawkins |
| 1961 15th | - | - | - |
| 1961 15th | Rita Tushingham | A Taste of Honey | Josephine "Jo" |
| 1961 15th | Tony Hancock | The Rebel | Anthony Hancock |
| 1961 15th | Murray Melvin | A Taste of Honey | Geoffrey Ingham |
| 1962 16th | - | - | - |
| 1962 16th | Tom Courtenay | The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner | Colin Smith |
| 1962 16th | Mariette Hartley | Guns in the Afternoon | Elsa Knudsen |
| 1962 16th | Ian Hendry | Live Now, Pay Later | Albert |
| 1962 16th | Sarah Miles | Term of Trial | Shirley Taylor |
| 1962 16th | Terence Stamp | Billy Budd | Billy Budd |
| 1963 17th | - | - | - |
| 1963 17th | James Fox | The Servant | Tony |
| 1963 17th | Wendy Craig | The Servant | Susan |
| 1963 17th | Keir Dullea | David and Lisa | David Clemens |
| 1963 17th | Janet Margolin | David and Lisa | Lisa Brandt |
| 1964 18th | - | - | - |
| 1964 18th | Julie Andrews | Mary Poppins | Mary Poppins |
| 1964 18th | Elizabeth Ashley | The Carpetbaggers | Monica Winthrop |
| 1964 18th | The Beatles | A Hard Day's Night | The Beatles |
| 1964 18th | Lynn Redgrave | Girl with Green Eyes | Baba Brennan |
| 1965 19th | - | - | - |
| 1965 19th | Judi Dench | Four in the Morning | Wife |
| 1965 19th | Michael Crawford | The Knack...and How to Get It | Colin |
| 1965 19th | Barbara Ferris | Catch Us If You Can | Dinah |
| 1965 19th | Tom Nardini | Cat Ballou | Jackson Two-Bears |
| 1966 20th | - | - | - |
| 1966 20th | Vivien Merchant | Alfie | Lily |
| 1966 20th | Alan Arkin | The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | Lt. Yuri Rozanov |
| 1966 20th | Frank Finlay | Othello | Iago |
| 1966 20th | Jeremy Kemp | The Blue Max | Lt. Willi von Klugermann |
| 1967 21st | - | - | - |
| 1967 21st | Faye Dunaway | Bonnie and Clyde & Hurry Sundown | Bonnie Parker / Lou McDowell |
| 1967 21st | Peter Kastner | You're A Big Boy Now | Bernard Chanticleer |
| 1967 21st | Michael J. Pollard | Bonnie and Clyde | C.W Moss |
| 1967 21st | Milo O'Shea | Ulysses | Leopold Bloom |
| 1968 22nd | - | - | - |
| 1968 22nd | Dustin Hoffman | The Graduate | Benjamin Braddock |
| 1968 22nd | Pia Degermark | Elvira Madigan | Hedvig Jensen "Elvira Madigan" |
| 1968 22nd | Katharine Ross | The Graduate | Elaine Robinson |
| 1968 22nd | Jack Wild | Oliver! | The Artful Dodger |
| 1969 23rd | - | - | - |
| 1969 23rd | Jon Voight | Midnight Cowboy | Joe Buck |
| 1969 23rd | Kim Darby | True Grit | Mattie Ross |
| 1969 23rd | Jennie Linden | Women in Love | Ursula Brangwen |
| 1969 23rd | Ali MacGraw | Goodbye, Columbus | Brenda Patimkin |
1970s
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1970 24th | - | - | - |
| 1970 24th | David Bradley | Kes | Billy Casper |
| 1970 24th | Liza Minnelli | Pookie | Mary Ann "Pookie" Adams |
| 1970 24th | Michael Sarrazin | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | Robert Syverton |
| 1970 24th | Sally Thomsett | The Railway Children | Phyllis Waterbury |
| 1971 25th | - | - | - |
| 1971 25th | Dominic Guard | The Go-Between | Leo Colston |
| 1971 25th | Gary Grimes | Summer of '42 | Hermie |
| 1971 25th | Carrie Snodgress | Diary of a Mad Housewife | Tina Balser |
| 1971 25th | Janet Suzman | Nicholas and Alexandra | Alexandra |
| 1972 26th | - | - | - |
| 1972 26th | Joel Gray | Cabaret | Emcee |
| 1972 26th | Bud Cort | Harold and Maude | Harold Parker Chason |
| 1972 26th | Al Pacino | The Godfather | Michael Corleone |
| 1972 26th | Simon Ward | Young Winston | Winston Churchill |
| 1973 27th | - | - | - |
| 1973 27th | Peter Egan | The Hireling | Captain Hugh Cantrip |
| 1973 27th | Jim Dale | Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall | Terence "Spike" Milligan |
| 1973 27th | David Essex | That'll Be the Day | Jim MacLain |
| 1973 27th | Kris Kristofferson | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid | Billy the Kid |
| 1974 28th | - | - | - |
| 1974 28th | Georgina Hale | Mahler | Alma Werfel |
| 1974 28th | Cleavon Little | Blazing Saddles | Sheriff Bart |
| 1974 28th | Sissy Spacek | Badlands | Holly Sargis |
| 1975 29th | - | - | - |
| 1975 29th | Valerie Perrine | Lenny | Honey Bruce |
| 1975 29th | Robert De Niro | The Godfather Part II | Vito Corleone |
| 1975 29th | Alfred Lutter | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Tommy |
| 1975 29th | Lily Tomlin | Nashville | Linnea Reese |
| 1976 30th | - | - | - |
| 1976 30th | Jodie Foster | Bugsy Malone / Taxi Driver | Tallulah / Iris Steensma |
| 1976 30th | No other Nominees | ||
| 1977 31st | - | - | - |
| 1977 31st | Isabelle Huppert | The Lacemaker | Pomme |
| 1977 31st | Olimpia Carlisi | The Middle of the World | Adriana |
| 1977 31st | Jeannette Clift | The Hiding Place | Corrie ten Boom |
| 1977 31st | Saverio Marconi | Padre Padrone | Gavino |
| 1978 32nd | - | - | - |
| 1978 32nd | Christopher Reeve | Superman | Clark Kent / Superman |
| 1978 32nd | Brad Davis | Midnight Express | Billy Hayes |
| 1978 32nd | Mary Beth Hurt | Interiors | Joey |
| 1978 32nd | Melanie Mayron | Girlfriends | Susan Weinblatt |
| 1979 33rd | - | - | - |
| 1979 33rd | Dennis Christopher | Breaking Away | Dave Stoller |
| 1979 33rd | Gary Busey | The Buddy Holly Story | Buddy Holly |
| 1979 33rd | Ray Winstone | That Summer! | Steve Brody |
| 1979 33rd | Sigourney Weaver | Alien | Ellen Ripley |
1980s
| Year | Actor | Film | Character |
| 1980 34th | - | - | - |
| 1980 34th | Judy Davis | My Brilliant Career | Sybylla Melvyn |
| 1980 34th | Sônia Braga | Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands | Flor |
| 1980 34th | John Gordon Sinclair | Gregory's Girl | Gregory Underwood |
| 1980 34th | Debra Winger | Urban Cowboy | Sissy Davis |
| 1981 35th | - | - | - |
| 1981 35th | Joe Pesci | Raging Bull | Joey LaMotta |
| 1981 35th | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Mephisto | Hendrik Hoefgen |
| 1981 35th | Timothy Hutton | Ordinary People | Conrad Jarrett |
| 1981 35th | Cathy Moriarty | Raging Bull | Vicki Thailer |
| 1982 36th | - | - | - |
| 1982 36th | Ben Kingsley | Gandhi | Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1982 36th | Drew Barrymore | E.T. the Extra Terrestrial | Gertie |
| 1982 36th | Henry Thomas | E.T. the Extra Terrestrial | Elliott |
| 1982 36th | Kathleen Turner | Body Heat | Matty Walker |
| 1983 37th | - | - | - |
| 1983 37th | Phyllis Logan | Another Time, Another Place | Janie |
| 1983 37th | Kevin Kline | Sophie's Choice | Nathan Landau |
| 1983 37th | Greta Scacchi | Heat and Dust | Olivia Rivers |
| 1983 37th | Julie Walters | Educating Rita | Susan "Rita" White |
| 1984 38th | - | - | - |
| 1984 38th | Haing S. Ngor | The Killing Fields | Pran |
| 1984 38th | Rupert Everett | Another Country | Guy Bennett |
| 1984 38th | John Lynch | Cal | Cal |
| 1984 38th | Tim Roth | The Hit | Myron |