Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
(Redirected from Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play | |
---|---|
![]() 2020 Recipient: Mary-Louise Parker | |
Awarded for | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play |
Location | New York City |
Presented by | American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League |
Currently held by | Mary-Louise Parker for The Sound Inside (2020) |
Website | TonyAwards.com |
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The award is given to actresses for quality leading roles in a Broadway play.[1] Despite the award first being presented in 1947, there were no nominees announced until 1956. There have been two ties in this category, and one three-way tie.
Winners and nominees[edit]
indicates the winner
1940s[edit]
Year | Actress | Play | Character |
---|---|---|---|
1947 1st Tony Awards | |||
Ingrid Bergman | Joan of Lorraine | Mary Grey / Joan of Arc | |
Helen Hayes | Happy Birthday | Addie Bemis | |
1948 2nd Tony Awards | |||
Judith Anderson | Medea | Medea | |
Katharine Cornell | Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | |
Jessica Tandy | A Streetcar Named Desire | Blanche DuBois | |
1949 3rd Tony Awards | |||
Martita Hunt | The Madwoman of Chaillot | Countess Aurelia |
1950s[edit]
1960s[edit]
1970s[edit]
1980s[edit]
1990s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Dame_Maggie_Smith-cropped.jpg/120px-Dame_Maggie_Smith-cropped.jpg)
Maggie Smith won for Lettice and Lovage (1990)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Mercedes-Ruehl-eh.jpg/120px-Mercedes-Ruehl-eh.jpg)
Mercedes Ruehl won for Lost in Yonkers (1991)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Madeline_Kahn_publicity.jpg/120px-Madeline_Kahn_publicity.jpg)
Madeline Kahn won for The Sisters Rosenweig (1993)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Judi_Dench_at_the_BAFTAs_2007.jpg/120px-Judi_Dench_at_the_BAFTAs_2007.jpg)
Judi Dench won for Amy's View (1999)
2000s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9c/Jennifer_Ehle_%2830443863926%29.jpg/120px-Jennifer_Ehle_%2830443863926%29.jpg)
Jennifer Ehle won for The Real Thing (2000)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Lindsay_Duncan_at_BAM.jpg/120px-Lindsay_Duncan_at_BAM.jpg)
Lindsay Duncan won for Private Lives (2002)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Vanessa_Redgrave_%282011%29_cropped.jpg/120px-Vanessa_Redgrave_%282011%29_cropped.jpg)
Vanessa Redgrave won for Long Day's Journey into Night (2003)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Phylicia_Rashad.jpg/120px-Phylicia_Rashad.jpg)
Phylicia Rashad won for Raisin in the Sun (2004)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/MarciaGayHarden07TIFF.jpg/120px-MarciaGayHarden07TIFF.jpg)
Marcia Gay Harden won for God of Carnage (2009)
2010s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Viola_Davis_2009_Academy_Awards.jpg/120px-Viola_Davis_2009_Academy_Awards.jpg)
Viola Davis won for Fences (2010)
Cicely Tyson, age 91, won for A Trip to Bountiful (2012)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Audra_McDonald_%281%29.jpg/120px-Audra_McDonald_%281%29.jpg)
Audra McDonald won for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2014)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Helen_Mirren-2208.jpg/120px-Helen_Mirren-2208.jpg)
Helen Mirren won for The Audience (2015)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Elaine_May_-_publicity1.jpg/120px-Elaine_May_-_publicity1.jpg)
Elaine May, age 87, won for The Waverly Gallery (2019)
2020s[edit]
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220511234111im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Mary-Louise_Parker_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/120px-Mary-Louise_Parker_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
Mary-Louise Parker won for Proof (2001) and The Sound Inside (2020)
Year | Actor | Play | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2020 74th Tony Awards | |||
Mary-Louise Parker | The Sound Inside | Bella Baird | |
Joaquina Kalukango | Slave Play | Kaneisha | |
Laura Linney | My Name Is Lucy Barton | Lucy Barton | |
Audra McDonald | Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune | Frankie | |
2021 Ceremony not held |
N/A | ||
2022 75th Tony Awards |
Gabby Beans | The Skin of Our Teeth | Sabina |
LaChanze | Trouble in Mind | Wiletta Mayer | |
Ruth Negga | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | |
Deirdre O'Connell | Dana H. | Dana H. | |
Mary-Louise Parker | How I Learned to Drive | Li'l Bit |
Multiple wins[edit]
|
|
Multiple nominations[edit]
Multiple character wins[edit]
|
|
Multiple character nominations[edit]
|
|
Productions with multiple nominations[edit]
- The Chalk Garden -- Gladys Cooper and Siobhán McKenna
- Toys In The Attic -- Maureen Stapleton and Irene Worth
- The Killing of Sister George -- Beryl Reid (winner) and Eileen Atkins
- 'night, Mother -- Kathy Bates and Anne Pitoniak
- A Streetcar Named Desire -- Blythe Danner and Frances McDormand
- The Sisters Rosensweig -- Madeline Kahn (winner) and Jane Alexander
- A Delicate Balance -- Rosemary Harris and Elaine Stritch
- August: Osage County -- Deanna Dunagan (winner) and Amy Morton
- God of Carnage -- Marcia Gay Harden (winner) and Hope Davis
- Mary Stuart -- Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter (God of Carnage and Mary Stuart were produced in the same year)
Multiple awards and nominations[edit]
Actress who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories
References[edit]
- ^ Kirkley, Donald (April 21, 1968). "Operation Frenzy Before the Tony Awards". The Baltimore Sun. p. T2. Retrieved December 24, 2011.