Golden Globe Awards 1981

• On Golden Pond
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman
  • Prince of the City
  • Ragtime
  • Reds

• Arthur
  • The Four Seasons
  • Pennies from Heaven
  • S.O.B.
  • Zoot Suit

• Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond as Norman Thayer
  • Warren Beatty – Reds as John Reed
  • Timothy Hutton – Taps as Brian Moreland
  • Burt Lancaster – Atlantic City as Lou Pascal
  • Treat Williams – Prince of the City as Daniel Ciello

• Meryl Streep – The French Lieutenant's Woman as Sarah Woodruff / Anna
  • Sally Field – Absence of Malice as Megan Carter
  • Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond as Ethel Thayer
  • Diane Keaton – Reds as Louise Bryant
  • Sissy Spacek – Raggedy Man as Nita Longley

• Dudley Moore – Arthur as Arthur Bach
  • Alan Alda – The Four Seasons as Jack Burroughs
  • George Hamilton – Zorro, The Gay Blade as Don Diego Vega / Zorro / Wigglesworth / Ramon Vega
  • Steve Martin – Pennies from Heaven as Arthur Parker
  • Walter Matthau – First Monday in October as Dan Snow

• Bernadette Peters – Pennies from Heaven as Eileen Everson
  • Blair Brown – Continental Divide as Dr. Nell Porter
  • Carol Burnett – The Four Seasons as Kate Burroughs
  • Jill Clayburgh – First Monday in October as Ruth Loomis
  • Liza Minnelli – Arthur as Linda Marolla

• John Gielgud – Arthur as Hobson
  • James Coco – Only When I Laugh as Jimmy
  • Jack Nicholson – Reds as Eugene O'Neill
  • Howard E. Rollins, Jr. – Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker, Jr.
  • Orson Welles – Butterfly as Judge Rauch

• Joan Hackett – Only When I Laugh as Toby Landau
  • Jane Fonda – On Golden Pond as Chelsea Thayer Wayne
  • Kristy McNichol – Only When I Laugh as Polly Hines
  • Maureen Stapleton – Reds as Emma Goldman
  • Mary Steenburgen – Ragtime as Mother

• Warren Beatty – Reds
  • Miloš Forman – Ragtime
  • Sidney Lumet – Prince of the City
  • Louis Malle – Atlantic City
  • Mark Rydell – On Golden Pond
  • Steven Spielberg – Raiders of the Lost Ark

• On Golden Pond – Ernest Thompson
  • Absence of Malice – Kurt Luedtke
  • The Four Seasons – Alan Alda
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman – Harold Pinter
  • Reds – Warren Beatty and Trevor Griffiths

• "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Peter Allen, Christopher Cross) – Arthur
  • "Endless Love" (Lionel Richie) – Endless Love
  • "For Your Eyes Only" (Bill Conti, Mick Leeson) – For Your Eyes Only
  • "It's Wrong for Me to Love You" (Ennio Morricone, Carol Connors) – Butterfly
  • "One More Hour" (Randy Newman, Jennifer Warnes) – Ragtime

• Chariots of Fire (UK)
  • Atlantic City (Canada/France)
  • Das Boot (West Germany)
  • Gallipoli (Australia)
  • Pixote (Brazil)

• Pia Zadora – Butterfly as Kady Tyler
  • Elizabeth McGovern – Ragtime as Evelyn Nesbit
  • Howard E. Rollins, Jr. – Ragtime as Coalhouse Walker, Jr.
  • Kathleen Turner – Body Heat as Matty Tyler Walker
  • Rachel Ward – Sharky's Machine as Dominoe
  • Craig Wasson – Four Friends as Danilo Prozor

• Dallas
• Dynasty
• Hart to Hart
• Lou Grant

• Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters
• The Love Boat
• Private Benjamin
• Taxi

• Edward Asner - Lou Grant as Lou Grant
• John Forsythe - Dynasty as Blake Carrington
• Larry Hagman - Dallas as J.R. Ewing
• Tom Selleck - Magnum, P.I. as Thomas Magnum IV

Linda Evans - Dynasty (tie) as Krystle Carrington

• Joan Collins - Dynasty as Alexis Colby
• Morgan Fairchild - Flamingo Road as Constance Weldon Carlyle
• Linda Gray - Dallas as Sue Ellen Ewing
• Stefanie Powers - Hart to Hart as Jennifer Hart

• James Garner - Bret Maverick as Bret Maverick
• Judd Hirsch - Taxi as Alex Reiger
• Gavin MacLeod - The Love Boat as Capt. Merrill Stubing
• Tony Randall - Love, Sidney as Sidney Shorr

• Loni Anderson - WKRP in Cincinnati as Jennifer Marlowe
• Bonnie Franklin - One Day at a Time as Ann Romano
• Barbara Mandrell - Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters as herself
• Loretta Swit - M*A*S*H as Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan Penobscott

• Dirk Bogarde - The Patricia Neal Story as Roald Dahl
• Timothy Hutton - A Long Way Home as Donald Burch Booth
• Danny Kaye - Skokie as Max Feldman
• Peter O'Toole - Masada as Lucius Flavius Silva
• Ray Sharkey - The Ordeal of Bill Carney as Bill Carney
• Peter Strauss - Masada as Eleazar Ben Yair

• Ellen Burstyn - The People vs. Jean Harris as Jean Harris
• Glenda Jackson - The Patricia Neal Story as Patricia Neal
• Jaclyn Smith - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy as Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy
• Joanne Woodward - Crisis at Central High as Elizabeth Huckaby

• Danny DeVito - Taxi as Louie De Palma
• Pat Harrington Jr. - One Day at a Time as Dwayne Schneider
• Vic Tayback - Alice as Mel Sharples
• Hervé Villechaize - Fantasy Island as Tattoo

• Danielle Brisebois - Archie Bunker's Place as Stephanie Mills
• Beth Howland - Alice as Vera Louise Gorman Novak
• Marilu Henner - Taxi as Elaine O'Connor Nardo
• Lauren Tewes - The Love Boat as Julie McCoy

East of Eden

• Masada
• A Long Way Home
• Murder in Texas