1929
für Drama -> Frank Borzage
für Komödie -> Lewis Milestone

1930
Frank Lloyd
Lewis Milestone

1931
Norman Taurog

1932
Frank Borzage

1933
Preis nicht verliehen

1934
Frank Lloyd

1935
Frank Capra

1936
John Ford

1937
Frank Capra

1938
Leo McCarey

1939
Frank Capra

1940
Victor Fleming

1941
John Ford

1942
John Ford

1943
William Wyler

1944
Michael Curtiz

1945
Leo McCarey

1946
Billy Wilder

1947
William Wyler

1948
Elia Kazan

1949
John Huston

1950
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

1951
Joseph L. Mankiewicz

1952
George Stevens

1953
John Ford

1954
Fred Zinnemann

1955
Elia Kazan

1956
Delbert Mann

1957
George Stevens

1958
David Lean

1959
Vincente Minnelli

1960
William Wyler

1961
Billy Wilder

1962
Robert Wise

1963
David Lean

1964
Tony Richardson

1965
George Cukor

1966
Robert Wise

1967
Fred Zinnemann

1968
Mike Nichols

1969
Carol Reed

1970
John Schlesinger

1971
Franklin J. Schaffner

1972
William Friedkin

1973
Bob Fosse

1974
George Roy Hill

1975
Francis Ford Coppola

1976
Milos Forman

1977
John G. Avildsen

1978
Woody Allen

1979
Michael Cimino

1980
Robert Benton

1981
Robert Redford

1982
Warren Beatty

1983
Richard Attenborough

1984
James L. Brooks

1985
Milos Forman

1986
Sydney Pollack

1987
Oliver Stone

1988
Bernardo Bertolucci

1989
Barry Levinson

1990
Oliver Stone

1991
Kevin Costner

1992
Jonathan Demme

1993
Clint Eastwood

1994
Steven Spielberg

1995
Robert Zemeckis

1996
Mel Gibson

1997
Anthony Minghella

1998
James Cameron

1999
Steven Spielberg

2000
Sam Mendes

2001
Steven Soderbergh

2002
Ron Howard

2003
Roman Polański

2004
Peter Jackson

2005
Clint Eastwood

2006
Ang Lee