The Tony Award for Best Director was one of the original 11 awards given in 1947 when the Tony Awards originated. The award was presented until 1960 when it was split into two categories: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical."The Tony Awards - - Category by Category" tonyawards.com, accessed June 13, 2016
Winners and nominees
1940s Year Director Production 1947 Elia Kazan All My Sons 1948 Joshua Logan Mister Roberts 1949 Elia Kazan Death of a Salesman
1950s Year Director Production 1950 Joshua Logan South Pacific 1951 George S. Kaufman Guys and Dolls 1952 José Ferrer The Shrike, The Fourposter and Stalag 17 1953 Joshua Logan Picnic 1954 Alfred Lunt Ondine 1955 Robert Montgomery The Desperate Hours 1956 Tyrone Guthrie The Matchmaker Joseph Anthony The Lark Harold Clurman Bus Stop, Pipe Dream and Tiger at the Gates Tyrone Guthrie The Matchmaker, Six Characters in Search of an Author and Tamburlaine the Great Garson Kanin The Diary of Anne Frank Elia Kazan Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Albert Marre The Chalk Garden Herman Shumlin Inherit the Wind 1957 Moss Hart My Fair Lady Joseph Anthony A Clearing in the Woods and The Most Happy Fella Harold Clurman The Waltz of the Toreadors Peter Glenville Separate Lives José Quintero Long Day's Journey into Night 1958 Vincent J. Donehue Sunrise at Campobello Morton DaCosta The Music Man Peter Hall The Rope Dancers George Roy Hill Look Homeward, Angel Elia Kazan The Dark at the Top of the Stairs Arthur Penn Two for the Seesaw 1959 Elia Kazan J.B. Peter Brook The Visit Robert Dhéry La Plume de Ma Tante William Gaskill Epitaph for George Dillon Peter Glenville Rashomon Cyril Ritchard The Pleasure of His Company Dore Schary A Majority of One
Award records Multiple wins 3 Wins Elia Kazan Joshua Logan
Multiple nominations 5 Nominations Elia Kazan
3 Nominations Joshua Logan
2 Nominations Joseph Anthony Harold Clurman Peter Glenville Tyrone Guthrie
See also Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director List of Tony Award-nominated productions
References
External links Tony Awards Official site Tony Awards at Internet Broadway database Listing Tony Awards at broadwayworld.com