| Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
) 2019 Recipient: Elaine May for The Waverly Gallery | |
| 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 | Elaine May for The Waverly Gallery (2019) |
| 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
indicates the winner
1940s
| 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
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 4th Tony Awards | |||
| Shirley Booth | Come Back, Little Sheba | Lola Delaney | |
| 1951 5th Tony Awards | |||
| Uta Hagen | The Country Girl | Georgie Elgin | |
| 1952 6th Tony Awards | |||
| Julie Harris | I Am a Camera | Sally Bowles | |
| 1953 7th Tony Awards | |||
| Shirley Booth | The Time of the Cuckoo | Leona Samish | |
| 1954 8th Tony Awards | |||
| Audrey Hepburn | Ondine | Ondine | |
| 1955 9th Tony Awards | |||
| Nancy Kelly | The Bad Seed | Christine Penmark | |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | |||
| Julie Harris | The Lark | Joan of Arc | |
| Barbara Bel Geddes | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie Pollitt | |
| Gladys Cooper | The Chalk Garden | Mrs. St. Maugham | |
| Ruth Gordon | The Matchmaker | Dolly Gallagher Levi | |
| Siobhán McKenna | The Chalk Garden | Miss Madrigal | |
| Susan Strasberg | The Diary of Anne Frank | Anne Frank | |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | |||
| Margaret Leighton | Separate Tables | Ann Shankland / Sibyl Railton-Bell | |
| Florence Eldridge | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Tyrone | |
| Rosalind Russell | Auntie Mame | Mame Dennis | |
| Sybil Thorndike | The Potting Shed | Mrs. Callifer | |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | |||
| Helen Hayes | Time Remembered | The Duchess of Pont-Au-Bronc | |
| Wendy Hiller | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan | |
| Siobhán McKenna | The Rope Dancers | Margaret Hyland | |
| Eugenie Leontovich | The Cave Dwellers | The Queen | |
| Mary Ure | Look Back in Anger | Alison Porter | |
| Jo Van Fleet | Look Homeward, Angel | Eliza Gant | |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | |||
| Gertrude Berg | A Majority of One | Bertha Jacoby | |
| Claudette Colbert | The Marriage-Go-Round | Content Lowell | |
| Lynn Fontanne | The Visit | Claire Zachanassian | |
| Kim Stanley | A Touch of the Poet | Sara Melody | |
| Maureen Stapleton | The Cold Wind and the Warm | Ida |
1960s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 14th Tony Awards | |||
| Anne Bancroft | The Miracle Worker | Annie Sullivan | |
| Margaret Leighton | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | |
| Claudia McNeil | A Raisin in the Sun | Lena Younger | |
| Geraldine Page | Sweet Bird of Youth | Alexandra Del Lago | |
| Maureen Stapleton | Toys in the Attic | Carrie Berniers | |
| Irene Worth | Albertine Prine | ||
| 1961 15th Tony Awards | |||
| Joan Plowright | A Taste of Honey | Josephine | |
| Tallulah Bankhead | Midgie Purvis | Midgie Purvis | |
| Barbara Baxley | Period of Adjustment | Isabel Haverstick | |
| Barbara Bel Geddes | Mary, Mary | Mary McKellaway | |
| 1962 16th Tony Awards | |||
| Margaret Leighton | The Night of the Iguana | Hannah Jelkes | |
| Gladys Cooper | A Passage to India | Mrs. Moore | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | Great Day in the Morning | Phoebe Flaherty | |
| Kim Stanley | A Far Country | Elizabeth von Ritter | |
| 1963 17th Tony Awards | |||
| Uta Hagen | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha | |
| Hermione Baddeley | The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore | Flora Goforth | |
| Margaret Leighton | Tchin-Tchin | Pamela Pew-Pickett | |
| Claudia McNeil | Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright | Mama | |
| 1964 18th Tony Awards | |||
| Sandy Dennis | Any Wednesday | Ellen Gordon | |
| Elizabeth Ashley | Barefoot in the Park | Corie Bratter | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | The Ballad of the Sad Café | Amelia Evans | |
| Julie Harris | Marathon '33 | June Havoc | |
| 1965 19th Tony Awards | |||
| Irene Worth | Tiny Alice | Miss Alice | |
| Marjorie Rhodes | All in Good Time | Lucy Fitton | |
| Beah Richards | The Amen Corner | Sister Margaret Alexander | |
| Diana Sands | The Owl and the Pussycat | Doris | |
| 1966 20th Tony Awards | |||
| Rosemary Harris | The Lion in Winter | Eleanor of Aquitaine | |
| Sheila Hancock | Entertaining Mr Sloane | Kath | |
| Kate Reid | Slapstick Tragedy | Celeste/Molly | |
| Lee Remick | Wait Until Dark | Susy Hendrix | |
| 1967 21st Tony Awards | |||
| Beryl Reid | The Killing of Sister George | Sister George / June Buckridge | |
| Eileen Atkins | The Killing of Sister George | Childie / Alice McNaught | |
| Vivien Merchant | The Homecoming | Ruth | |
| Rosemary Murphy | A Delicate Balance | Claire | |
| 1968 22nd Tony Awards | |||
| Zoe Caldwell | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Jean Brodie | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | More Stately Mansions | Sara (Melody) Harford | |
| Maureen Stapleton | Plaza Suite | Karen Nash / Murial Tate / Norma Hubley | |
| Dorothy Tutin | Portrait of a Queen | Queen Victoria | |
| 1969 23rd Tony Awards | |||
| Julie Harris | Forty Carats | Ann Stanley | |
| Estelle Parsons | The Seven Descents of Myrtle | Myrtle | |
| Charlotte Rae | Morning, Noon and Night | Gertrude / Beryl / Filigree Bones | |
| Brenda Vaccaro | The Goodbye People | Nancy (Silverman) Scott |
1970s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 24th Tony Awards | |||
| Tammy Grimes | Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | |
| Geraldine Brooks | Brightower | Sara Brightower | |
| Helen Hayes | Harvey | Veta Louise Simmons | |
| 1971 25th Tony Awards | |||
| Maureen Stapleton | The Gingerbread Lady | Evy Meara | |
| Estelle Parsons | And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little | Catherine Reardon | |
| Diana Rigg | Abelard and Heloise | Heloise | |
| Marian Seldes | Father's Day | Marian | |
| 1972 26th Tony Awards | |||
| Sada Thompson | Twigs | Ma / Dorothy / Celia / Emily | |
| Eileen Atkins | Vivat! Vivat Regina! | Elizabeth I | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | All Over | The Mistress | |
| Rosemary Harris | Old Times | Anna | |
| 1973 27th Tony Awards | |||
| Julie Harris | The Last of Mrs. Lincoln | Mary Todd Lincoln | |
| Jane Alexander | 6 Rms Riv Vu | Annie Miller | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | Mourning Becomes Electra | Christine Mannon | |
| Kathleen Widdoes | Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | |
| 1974 28th Tony Awards | |||
| Colleen Dewhurst | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Josie Hogan | |
| Jane Alexander | Find Your Way Home | Jacqueline Harrison | |
| Julie Harris | The Au Pair Man | Elizabeth Rogers | |
| Madeline Kahn | In the Boom Boom Room | Chrissy | |
| Rachel Roberts | The Visit / Chemin de Fer | Claire Zachanassian / Francine | |
| 1975 29th Tony Awards | |||
| Ellen Burstyn | Same Time, Next Year | Doris | |
| Elizabeth Ashley | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie Pollitt | |
| Diana Rigg | The Misanthrope | Celimene | |
| Maggie Smith | Private Lives | Amanda Prynne | |
| Liv Ullmann | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer | |
| 1976 30th Tony Awards | |||
| Irene Worth | Sweet Bird of Youth | Alexandra Del Lago | |
| Tovah Feldshuh | Yentl | Yentl | |
| Rosemary Harris | The Royal Family | Julie Cavendish | |
| Lynn Redgrave | Mrs. Warren's Profession | Vivie Warren | |
| 1977 31st Tony Awards | |||
| Julie Harris | The Belle of Amherst | Emily Dickinson | |
| Colleen Dewhurst | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha | |
| Liv Ullmann | Anna Christie | Anna Christopherson | |
| Irene Worth | The Cherry Orchard | Ranevskaya | |
| 1978 32nd Tony Awards | |||
| Jessica Tandy | The Gin Game | Fonsia Dorsey | |
| Anne Bancroft | Golda | Golda Meir | |
| Anita Gillette | Chapter Two | Jennie Maclaine | |
| Estelle Parsons | Miss Margarida's Way | Miss Margarida | |
| 1979 33rd Tony Awards | |||
| Constance Cummings | Wings | Emily Stilson | |
| Carole Shelley | The Elephant Man | Madge Kendal | |
| Jane Alexander | First Monday in October | Ruth Loomis | |
| Frances Sternhagen | On Golden Pond | Ethel Thayer |
1980s
1990s
)
Maggie Smith won for Lettice and Lovage (1990)
)
Mercedes Ruehl won for Lost in Yonkers (1991)
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Glenn Close won for Death and the Maiden (1992)
)
Madeline Kahn won for The Sisters Rosenweig (1993)
)
Judi Dench won for Amy's View (1999)
| Year | Actor | Role | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 44th Tony Awards | |||
| Maggie Smith | Lettice and Lovage | Lettice Douffet | |
| Geraldine James | The Merchant of Venice | Portia | |
| Mary-Louise Parker | Prelude to a Kiss | Rita Boyle | |
| Kathleen Turner | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie Pollitt | |
| 1991 45th Tony Awards | |||
| Mercedes Ruehl | Lost in Yonkers | Bella Kurnitz | |
| Stockard Channing | Six Degrees of Separation | Ouisa Kittredge | |
| Julie Harris | Lucifer's Child | Karen Blixen | |
| Cherry Jones | Our Country's Good | Liz Morden / Reverend Johnson | |
| 1992 46th Tony Awards | |||
| Glenn Close | Death and the Maiden | Paulina Salas Escobar | |
| Jane Alexander | The Visit | Claire Zachanassian | |
| Stockard Channing | Four Baboons Adoring the Sun | Penny McKenzie | |
| Judith Ivey | Park Your Car in Harvard Yard | Kathleen Hogan | |
| 1993 47th Tony Awards | |||
| Madeline Kahn | The Sisters Rosensweig | Gorgeous Teitelbaum | |
| Jane Alexander | The Sisters Rosensweig | Sara Goode | |
| Lynn Redgrave | Shakespeare for My Father | Lynn Redgrave | |
| Natasha Richardson | Anna Christie | Anna Christopherson | |
| 1994 48th Tony Awards | |||
| Diana Rigg | Medea | Medea | |
| Anna Deavere Smith | Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 | Various Characters | |
| Nancy Marchand | Black Comedy | Sophie | |
| The White Liars | Mrs. Furnival | ||
| Joan Rivers | Sally Marr...and her escorts | Sally Marr | |
| 1995 49th Tony Awards | |||
| Cherry Jones | The Heiress | Catherine Sloper | |
| Mary Alice | Having Our Say | Bessie Delany | |
| Eileen Atkins | Indiscretions | Léonie | |
| Helen Mirren | A Month in the Country | Natalia Petrovna | |
| 1996 50th Tony Awards | |||
| Zoe Caldwell | Master Class | Maria Callas | |
| Carol Burnett | Moon Over Buffalo | Charlotte Hay | |
| Rosemary Harris | A Delicate Balance | Agnes | |
| Elaine Stritch | Claire | ||
| 1997 51st Tony Awards | |||
| Janet McTeer | A Doll's House | Nora Helmer | |
| Julie Harris | The Gin Game | Fonsia Dorsey | |
| Shirley Knight | The Young Man From Atlanta | Lily Dale Kidder | |
| Lia Williams | Skylight | Kyra Hollis | |
| 1998 52nd Tony Awards | |||
| Marie Mullen | The Beauty Queen of Leenane | Maureen Folan | |
| Jane Alexander | Honour | Honor | |
| Allison Janney | A View from the Bridge | Beatrice Carbone | |
| Geraldine McEwan | The Chairs | Old Woman | |
| 1999 53rd Tony Awards | |||
| Judi Dench | Amy's View | Esme Allen | |
| Stockard Channing | The Lion in Winter | Eleanor of Aquitaine | |
| Marian Seldes | Ring Round the Moon | Madame Desmermortes | |
| Zoë Wanamaker | Electra | Electra |
2000s
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Jennifer Ehle won for The Sure Thing (2000)
)
Lindsay Duncan won for Private Lives (2002)
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Vanessa Redgrave won for Long Day's Journey into Night (2003)
)
Phylicia Rashad won for Raisin in the Sun (2004)
)
Marcia Gay Harden won for God of Carnage (2009)
2010s
)
Viola Davis won for Fences (2010)
)
Cicely Tyson, age 91, won for A Trip to Bountiful (2012)
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Audra McDonald won for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (2013
)
Helen Mirren won for The Audience (2015)
)
Elaine May, age 87, won for The Waverly Gallery (2019
| Year | Actor | Role | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 64th Tony Awards | |||
| Viola Davis | Fences | Rose Maxson | |
| Valerie Harper | Looped | Tallulah Bankhead | |
| Linda Lavin | Collected Stories | Ruth Steiner | |
| Laura Linney | Time Stands Still | Sarah Goodwin | |
| Jan Maxwell | The Royal Family | Julie Cavendish | |
| 2011 65th Tony Awards | |||
| Frances McDormand | Good People | Margie Walsh | |
| Nina Arianda | Born Yesterday | Emma 'Billie' Dawn | |
| Lily Rabe | The Merchant of Venice | Portia | |
| Vanessa Redgrave | Driving Miss Daisy | Daisy Werthan | |
| Hannah Yelland | Brief Encounter | Laura Jesson | |
| 2012 66th Tony Awards | |||
| Nina Arianda | Venus in Fur | Vanda | |
| Tracie Bennett | End of the Rainbow | Judy Garland | |
| Stockard Channing | Other Desert Cities | Polly Wyeth | |
| Linda Lavin | The Lyons | Rita Lyons | |
| Cynthia Nixon | Wit | Vivian Bearing | |
| 2013 67th Tony Awards | |||
| Cicely Tyson | The Trip to Bountiful | Carrie Watts | |
| Laurie Metcalf | The Other Place | Juliana Smithton | |
| Amy Morton | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha | |
| Kristine Nielsen | Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike | Sonia | |
| Holland Taylor | Ann | Ann Richards | |
| 2014 68th Tony Awards | |||
| Audra McDonald | Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill | Billie Holiday | |
| Tyne Daly | Mothers and Sons | Katharine Gerard | |
| Cherry Jones | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | |
| Estelle Parsons | The Velocity of Autumn | Alexandra | |
| LaTanya Richardson | A Raisin in the Sun | Lena Younger | |
| 2015 69th Tony Awards | |||
| Helen Mirren | The Audience | Queen Elizabeth II | |
| Geneva Carr | Hand To God | Margery | |
| Elisabeth Moss | The Heidi Chronicles | Heidi Holland | |
| Carey Mulligan | Skylight | Kyra Hollis | |
| Ruth Wilson | Constellations | Marianne | |
| 2016 70th Tony Awards | |||
| Jessica Lange | Long Day's Journey into Night | Mary Tyrone | |
| Laurie Metcalf | Misery | Annie Wilkes | |
| Lupita Nyong'o | Eclipsed | The Girl | |
| Sophie Okonedo | The Crucible | Elizabeth Proctor | |
| Michelle Williams | Blackbird | Una Spencer | |
| 2017 71st Tony Awards | |||
| Laurie Metcalf | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Nora Helmer | |
| Cate Blanchett | The Present | Anna Petrovna | |
| Jennifer Ehle | Oslo | Mona Juul | |
| Sally Field | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda Wingfield | |
| Laura Linney | The Little Foxes | Regina Hubbard Giddens | |
| 2018 72nd Tony Awards | |||
| Glenda Jackson | Three Tall Women | A | |
| Condola Rashād | Saint Joan | Joan of Arc | |
| Lauren Ridloff | Children of a Lesser God | Sarah Norman | |
| Amy Schumer | Meteor Shower | Corky | |
| 2019 73rd Tony Awards | |||
| Elaine May | The Waverly Gallery | Gladys Green | |
| Annette Bening | All My Sons | Kate Keller | |
| Laura Donnelly | The Ferryman | Caitlin Carney | |
| Janet McTeer | Bernhardt/Hamlet | Sarah Bernhardt | |
| Laurie Metcalf | Hillary and Clinton | Hillary Clinton | |
| Heidi Schreck | What the Constitution Means to Me | Heidi Schreck |
2020s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 74th Tony Awards | 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 | |
| Mary-Louise Parker | The Sound Inside | Bella Baird |
Multiple wins
Multiple nominations
Multiple character wins
Multiple character nominations
Productions with multiple nominations
- 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
Actress who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories
References
- ^ Kirkley, Donald (April 21, 1968). "Operation Frenzy Before the Tony Awards". The Baltimore Sun. p. T2. Retrieved December 24, 2011.