The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor 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, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway play. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946.
Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year."
The award was originally called the Tony Award for Actors—Play. It was first presented to José Ferrer and Fredric March at the 1st Tony Awards for their portrayals of Cyrano de Bergerac and Clinton Jones in Cyrano de Bergerac and Years Ago, respectively. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".
Nine actors hold the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of two. Brian Bedford and Jason Robards are tied with the most nominations, with a total of seven. George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the character to take the award the most times, winning three times. Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman is the character to be nominated the most times, with five total nominations.
Winners and nominees
1940s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1947 José Ferrer Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano De Bergerac Fredric March Years Ago Clinton Jones 1948 Henry Fonda Mister Roberts Lt. Roberts Paul Kelly Command Decision Brigadier General K.C. Dennis Basil Rathbone The Heiress Dr. Austin Sloper 1949 Rex Harrison Anne of the Thousand Days Henry VIII
1950s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1950 Sidney Blackmer Come Back, Little Sheba Doc 1951 Claude Rains Darkness at Noon Rubashov 1952 José Ferrer The Shrike Jim Downs 1953 Tom Ewell The Seven Year Itch Richard Sherman 1954 David Wayne The Teahouse of the August Moon Sakini 1955 Alfred Lunt Quadrille Diensen 1956 Paul Muni Inherit the Wind Henry Drummond Ben Gazzara A Hatful of Rain Johnny Pope Boris Karloff The Lark Pierre Cauchon Michael Redgrave Tiger at the Gates Hector Edward G. Robinson Middle of the Night The Manufacturer 1957 Fredric March Long Day's Journey into Night James Tyrone Sr. Maurice Evans The Apple Cart King Magnus Wilfrid Hyde-White The Reluctant Debutante Jimmy Broadbent Eric Portman Separate Tables Mr. Malcolm / Major Pollock Ralph Richardson The Waltz of the Toreadors General St. Pé Cyril Ritchard Visit to a Small Planet Kreton 1958 Ralph Bellamy Sunrise at Campobello Franklin D. Roosevelt Richard Burton Time Remembered Prince Albert Hugh Griffith Look Homeward, Angel W.O. Gant Laurence Olivier The Entertainer Archie Rice Anthony Perkins Look Homeward, Angel Eugene Gant Peter Ustinov Romanoff and Juliet The General Emlyn Williams A Boy Growing Up Himself 1959 Jason Robards The Disenchanted Manley Halliday Cedric Hardwicke A Majority of One Koichi Asano Alfred Lunt The Visit Anton Schill Christopher Plummer J.B. Nickles Cyril Ritchard The Pleasure of His Company Biddeford Poole Robert Stephens Epitaph for George Dillon George Dillon
1960s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1960 Melvyn Douglas The Best Man William Russell Sidney Poitier A Raisin in the Sun Walter Lee Younger Jason Robards Toys in the Attic Julian Berniers George C. Scott The Andersonville Trial Lt. Col. N. P. Chipman Lee Tracy The Best Man Arthur Hockstader 1961 Zero Mostel Rhinocéros John Hume Cronyn Big Fish, Little Fish Jimmie Luton Anthony Quinn Becket Henry II Sam Levene The Devil's Advocate Dr. Aldo Meyer 1962 Paul Scofield A Man for All Seasons Sir Thomas More Fredric March Gideon Angel John Mills Ross Aircraftman Ross Donald Pleasence The Caretaker Davies 1963 Arthur Hill Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? George Charles Boyer Lord Pengo Lord Pengo Paul Ford Never Too Late Harry Lambert Bert Lahr The Beauty Part Various Characters 1964 Alec Guinness Dylan Dylan Thomas Richard Burton Hamlet Hamlet Albert Finney Luther Martin Luther Jason Robards After the Fall Quentin 1965 Walter Matthau The Odd Couple Oscar Madison John Gielgud Tiny Alice Julian Donald Pleasence Poor Bitos Bitos (Robespieere) Jason Robards Hughie "Erie" Smith 1966 Hal Holbrook Mark Twain Tonight! Mark Twain Patrick Bedford & Donal Donnelly Philadelphia, Here I Come! Gareth O'Donnell Roland Culver Ivanov Pavel Lebedev Nicol Williamson Inadmissible Evidence Bill Maitland 1967 Paul Rogers The Homecoming Max Hume Cronyn A Delicate Balance Tobias Donald Madden Black Comedy Harold Gorringe Donald Moffat Right You Are (If You Think You Are) Lamberto Laudisi The Wild Duck Hjalmar Ekdal 1968 Martin Balsam You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running Various Characters Albert Finney A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Bri Milo O'Shea Staircase Harry C. Leeds Alan Webb I Never Sang for My Father Tom Garrison 1969 James Earl Jones The Great White Hope Jack Jefferson Art Carney Lovers Andy Tracey Alec McCowen Hadrian the Seventh Fr. William Rolfe Donald Pleasence The Man in the Glass Booth Arthur Goldman
1970s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1970 Fritz Weaver Child's Play Jerome Malley James Coco Last of the Red Hot Lovers Barney Cashman Frank Grimes Borstal Boy Young Behan Stacy Keach Indians Buffalo Bill 1971 Brian Bedford The School for Wives Arnolphe John Gielgud Home Harry Alec McCowen The Philanthropist Philip Ralph Richardson Home Jack 1972 Cliff Gorman Lenny Lenny Bruce Tom Aldredge Sticks and Bones Ozzie Donald Pleasence Wise Child Mrs. Artminster Jason Robards The Country Girl Frank Elgin 1973 Alan Bates Butley Ben Butley Jack Albertson The Sunshine Boys Willie Clark Wilfrid Hyde-White The Jockey Club Stakes Marquis of Candover Paul Sorvino That Championship Season Phil Romano 1974 Michael Moriarty Find Your Way Home Julian Weston Zero Mostel Ulysses in Nighttown Leopold Bloom Jason Robards A Moon for the Misbegotten James Tyrone Jr. George C. Scott Uncle Vanya Mikhail lvovich Astrov Nicol Williamson Ivan Petrovich Voinitsky 1975 John Kani & Winston Ntshona Sizwe Banzi Is Dead / The Island Various Characters Jim Dale Scapino! Scapino Peter Firth Equus Alan Strang Henry Fonda Clarence Darrow Clarence Darrow Ben Gazzara Hughie and Duet "Erie" Smith John Wood Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes 1976 John Wood Travesties Henry Carr Moses Gunn The Poison Tree Benjamin Hurspool George C. Scott Death of a Salesman Willy Loman Donald Sinden Habeas Corpus Arthur Wicksteed 1977 Al Pacino The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel Pavlo Hummel Tom Courtenay Otherwise Engaged Simon Ben Gazzara Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? George Ralph Richardson No Man's Land Hirst 1978 Barnard Hughes Da Da Hume Cronyn The Gin Game Weller Martin Frank Langella Dracula Dracula Jason Robards A Touch of the Poet Cornelius Melody 1979 Tom Conti Whose Life Is It Anyway? Ken Harrison Philip Anglim The Elephant Man John Merrick Jack Lemmon Tribute Scottie Templeton Alec McCowen St. Mark's Gospel Mark
1980s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1980 John Rubinstein Children of a Lesser God James Leeds Charles Brown Home Cephus Miles Gerald Hiken Strider Strider Judd Hirsch Talley's Folly Matt Friedman 1981 Ian McKellen Amadeus Antonio Salieri Tim Curry Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Roy Dotrice A Life Drumm Jack Weston The Floating Light Bulb Jerry Wexler 1982 Roger Rees The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Nicholas Nickleby Tom Courtenay The Dresser Norman Milo O'Shea Mass Appeal Father Tim Farley Christopher Plummer Othello Iago 1983 Harvey Fierstein Torch Song Trilogy Arnold Beckoff Jeffrey DeMunn K2 Taylor Edward Herrmann Plenty Raymond Brock Tony Lo Bianco A View from the Bridge Eddie Carbone 1984 Jeremy Irons The Real Thing Henry Rex Harrison Heartbreak House Captain Shotover Calvin Levels Open Admissions Calvin Jefferson Ian McKellen Ian McKellen Acting Shakespeare Himself 1985 Derek Jacobi Much Ado About Nothing Benedick Jim Dale A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Bri Jonathan Hogan As Is Rich John Lithgow Requiem for a Heavyweight Harlan "Mountain" McClintock 1986 Judd Hirsch I'm Not Rappaport Nat Hume Cronyn The Petition General Sir Edmund Milne Ed Harris Precious Sons Fred Jack Lemmon Long Day's Journey into Night James Tyrone Sr. 1987 James Earl Jones Fences Troy Maxson Philip Bosco You Never Can Tell Waiter Richard Kiley All My Sons Joe Keller Alan Rickman Les Liaisons Dangereuses Le Vicomte de Valmont 1988 Ron Silver Speed-the-Plow Charlie Fox Derek Jacobi Breaking the Code Alan Turing John Lithgow M. Butterfly Rene Gallimard Robert Prosky A Walk in the Woods Andrey Botvinnik 1989 Philip Bosco Lend Me a Tenor Saunders Mikhail Baryshnikov Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa Victor Garber Lend Me a Tenor Max Bill Irwin Largely New York The Post-Modern Hoofer
1990s Year Actor Project Role(s) 1990 Robert Morse Tru Truman Capote Charles S. Dutton The Piano Lesson Boy Willie Dustin Hoffman The Merchant of Venice Shylock Tom Hulce A Few Good Men Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee, USN, JAG Corps 1991 Nigel Hawthorne Shadowlands C. S. Lewis Peter Frechette Our Country's Good Ralph Clark Tom McGowan La Bête Valere Courtney B. Vance Six Degrees of Separation Paul 1992 Judd Hirsch Conversations with My Father Eddie Alan Alda Jake's Women Jake Alec Baldwin A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski Brian Bedford Two Shakespearean Actors William Charles Macready 1993 Ron Leibman Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Roy Cohn, et al. K. Todd Freeman The Song of Jacob Zulu Jacob Zulu Liam Neeson Anna Christie Mat Burke Stephen Rea Someone Who'll Watch Over Me Edward 1994 Stephen Spinella Angels in America: Perestroika Prior Walter Brian Bedford Timon of Athens Timon Christopher Plummer No Man's Land Spooner Sam Waterston Abe Lincoln in Illinois Abraham Lincoln 1995 Ralph Fiennes Hamlet Prince Hamlet Brian Bedford The Molière Comedies Sganarelle Roger Rees Indiscretions George Joe Sears A Tuna Christmas Various Characters 1996 George Grizzard A Delicate Balance Tobias Philip Bosco Moon Over Buffalo George Hay George C. Scott Inherit the Wind Henry Drummond Martin Shaw An Ideal Husband Lord Goring 1997 Christopher Plummer Barrymore John Barrymore Brian Bedford London Assurance Sir Harcourt Courtly Michael Gambon Skylight Tom Sergeant Antony Sher Stanley Stanley 1998 Anthony LaPaglia A View from the Bridge Eddie Carbone Richard Briers The Chairs Old Man John Leguizamo Freak Himself Alfred Molina Art Yvan 1999 Brian Dennehy Death of a Salesman Willy Loman Brían F. O'Byrne The Lonesome West Valene Connor Corin Redgrave Not About Nightingales Bert "Boss" Whalen Kevin Spacey The Iceman Cometh Theodore "Hickey" Hickman
2000s