• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  • Barry Lyndon
  • Dog Day Afternoon
  • Jaws
  • Nashville

• The Sunshine Boys
  • Funny Lady
  • The Return of the Pink Panther
  • Shampoo
  • Tommy

• Jack Nicholson — One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Randle McMurphy
  • Gene Hackman — French Connection II as Det. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle
  • Al Pacino — Dog Day Afternoon as Sonny Wortzik
  • Maximilian Schell — The Man in the Glass Booth as Arthur Goldman
  • James Whitmore — Give 'em Hell, Harry! as Harry S. Truman

• Louise Fletcher — One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Nurse Ratched
  • Karen Black — The Day of the Locust as Faye Greener
  • Faye Dunaway — Three Days of the Condor as Kathy Hale
  • Marilyn Hassett — The Other Side of the Mountain as Jill Kinmont
  • Glenda Jackson — Hedda as Hedda Gabler

• George Burns — The Sunshine Boys as Al Lewis
• Walter Matthau — The Sunshine Boys as Willy Clark
  • Warren Beatty — Shampoo as George Roundy
  • James Caan — Funny Lady as Billy Rose
  • Peter Sellers — The Return of the Pink Panther as Inspector Jacques Clouseau

• Ann-Margret — Tommy as Nora Walker
  • Julie Christie — Shampoo as Jackie Shawn
  • Goldie Hawn — Shampoo as Jill
  • Liza Minnelli — Lucky Lady as Claire
  • Barbra Streisand — Funny Lady as Fanny Brice

• Richard Benjamin — The Sunshine Boys as Ben Clark
  • John Cazale — Dog Day Afternoon as Sal
  • Charles Durning — Dog Day Afternoon as Eugene Moretti
  • Henry Gibson — Nashville as Haven Hamilton
  • Burgess Meredith — The Day of the Locust as Harry Greener

• Brenda Vaccaro — Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough as Linda Riggs
  • Ronee Blakley — Nashville as Barbara Jean
  • Geraldine Chaplin — Nashville as Opal
  • Lee Grant — Shampoo as Felicia Karpf
  • Barbara Harris — Nashville as Albuquerque
  • Lily Tomlin — Nashville as Linnea Reese

• Miloš Forman — One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  • Robert Altman — Nashville
  • Stanley Kubrick — Barry Lyndon
  • Sidney Lumet — Dog Day Afternoon
  • Steven Spielberg — Jaws

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest — Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben
  • Dog Day Afternoon — Frank Pierson
  • Jaws — Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb
  • Nashville — Joan Tewkesbury
  • The Sunshine Boys — Neil Simon

• Jaws — John Williams
  • Funny Lady — Fred Ebb and John Kander
  • The Man Who Would Be King — Maurice Jarre
  • The Other Side of the Mountain — Charles Fox
  • The Return of the Pink Panther — Henry Mancini

• "I'm Easy" (Keith Carradine) – Nashville
  • "How Lucky Can You Get" (John Kander, Fred Ebb) – Funny Lady
  • "My Little Friend" (Roy Budd, Sammy Cahn) – Paper Tiger
  • "Now That We're in Love" (George Barrie, Sammy Cahn) – Whiffs
  • "Richard's Window" (Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel) – The Other Side of the Mountain

• Lies My Father Told Me (Canada)
  • And Now My Love (France)
  • Hedda (United Kingdom)
  • The Magic Flute (Sweden)
  • Section spéciale (France)

• Youthquake!
  • Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
  • The Gentleman Tramp
  • Mustang: The House That Joe Built
  • The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
  • UFOs: Past, Present, and Future

• Brad Dourif — One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Billy Bibbit
  • Roger Daltrey — Tommy as Tommy Walker
  • Jeffrey Lynas — Lies My Father Told Me as David Herman
  • Chris Sarandon — Dog Day Afternoon as Leon Shermer
  • Ben Vereen — Funny Lady as Bert Robbins

• Marilyn Hassett — The Other Side of the Mountain as Jill Kinmont
  • Ronee Blakley — Nashville as Barbara Jean
  • Barbara Carrera — The Master Gunfighter as Eula
  • Stockard Channing — The Fortune as Fredrika Quintessa Bigard
  • Jeannette Clift — The Hiding Place as Corrie ten Boom
  • Lily Tomlin — Nashville as Linnea Reese

• Baretta
• Columbo
• Petrocelli
• Police Story

• All in the Family
• The Carol Burnett Show
• Chico and the Man
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Telly Savalas - Kojak as Lt. Theo Kojak (TIE)

• Peter Falk - Columbo as Lt. Columbo
• Karl Malden - The Streets of San Francisco as Mike Stone
• Barry Newman - Petrocelli as Anthony J. Petrocelli

• Angie Dickinson - Police Woman as Sgt. Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson
• Rosemary Harris - Notorious Woman as George Sand
• Michael Learned - The Waltons as Olivia Walton
• Lee Meriwether - Barnaby Jones as Betty Jones

• Johnny Carson - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Various Characters
• Redd Foxx - Sanford and Son as Fred G. Sanford
• Hal Linden - Barney Miller as Captain Barney Miller
• Bob Newhart - The Bob Newhart Show as Robert Hartley, Ph.D.
• Carroll O'Connor - All in the Family as Archie Bunker

• Bea Arthur - Maude as Maude Findlay
• Carol Burnett - The Carol Burnett Show as Various Characters
• Valerie Harper - Rhoda as Rhoda Morgenstern
• Mary Tyler Moore - The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Mary Richards

Tim Conway - The Carol Burnett Show as Various Characters (TIE)

• Ted Knight - The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Ted Baxter
• Rob Reiner - All in the Family as Michael Stivic
• Jimmie Walker - Good Times as James "J.J." Evans, Jr.

• Susan Howard - Petrocelli as Maggie Petrocelli
• Julie Kavner - Rhoda as Brenda Morgenstern
• Nancy Walker - McMillan & Wife as Mildred
• Nancy Walker - Rhoda as Ida Morgenstern