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.
| Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play | |
|---|---|
2025 Recipient: Cole Escola | |
| Awarded for | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Cole Escola for Oh, Mary! (2025) |
| Website | TonyAwards.com |
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.
Winners and nominees
indicates the winner
1940s
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 (1st) | José Ferrer | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano De Bergerac | |
| Fredric March | Years Ago | Clinton Jones | ||
| 1948 (2nd) | Henry Fonda | Mister Roberts | Lt. Roberts | |
| Paul Kelly | Command Decision | Brigadier General K.C. Dennis | ||
| Basil Rathbone | The Heiress | Dr. Austin Sloper | ||
| 1949 (3rd) | ||||
| Rex Harrison | Anne of the Thousand Days | Henry VIII |
1950s
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 (4th) | ||||
| Sidney Blackmer | Come Back, Little Sheba | Doc | ||
| 1951 (5th) | ||||
| Claude Rains | Darkness at Noon | Rubashov | ||
| 1952 (6th) | ||||
| José Ferrer | The Shrike | Jim Downs | ||
| 1953 (7th) | ||||
| Tom Ewell | The Seven Year Itch | Richard Sherman | ||
| 1954 (8th) | ||||
| David Wayne | The Teahouse of the August Moon | Sakini | ||
| 1955 (9th) | ||||
| Alfred Lunt | Quadrille | Diensen | ||
| 1956 (10th) | ||||
| 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 (11th) | ||||
| 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 (12th) | ||||
| 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 (13th) | ||||
| 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) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 (14th) | ||||
| 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 (15th) | ||||
| 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 (16th) | ||||
| 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 (17th) | ||||
| 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 (18th) | ||||
| Alec Guinness | Dylan | Dylan Thomas | ||
| Richard Burton | Hamlet | Hamlet | ||
| Albert Finney | Luther | Martin Luther | ||
| Jason Robards | After the Fall | Quentin | ||
| 1965 (19th) | ||||
| Walter Matthau | The Odd Couple | Oscar Madison | ||
| John Gielgud | Tiny Alice | Julian | ||
| Donald Pleasence | Poor Bitos | Bitos (Robespieere) | ||
| Jason Robards | Hughie | "Erie" Smith | ||
| 1966 (20th) | ||||
| 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 (21st) | ||||
| 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) | Laudisi | ||
| The Wild Duck | Hjalmar Ekdal | |||
| 1968 (22nd) | ||||
| 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 (23rd) | ||||
| 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) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 (24th) | ||||
| 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 (25th) | ||||
| Brian Bedford | The School for Wives | Arnolphe | ||
| John Gielgud | Home | Harry | ||
| Alec McCowen | The Philanthropist | Philip | ||
| Ralph Richardson | Home | Jack | ||
| 1972 (26th) | ||||
| 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 (27th) | ||||
| 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 (28th) | ||||
| 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 (29th) | ||||
| 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 (30th) | ||||
| 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 (31st) | ||||
| 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 (32nd) | ||||
| 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 (33rd) | ||||
| 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) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 (34th) | ||||
| 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 (35th) | ||||
| 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 (36th) | ||||
| 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 (37th) | ||||
| 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 (38th) | ||||
| 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 (39th) | ||||
| 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 (40th) | ||||
| 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 (41st) | ||||
| 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 (42nd) | ||||
| 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 (43rd) | ||||
| 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) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 (44th) | ||||
| 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 (45th) | ||||
| Nigel Hawthorne | Shadowlands | C. S. Lewis | ||
| Peter Frechette | Our Country's Good | 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Clark | ||
| Tom McGowan | La Bête | Valere | ||
| Courtney B. Vance | Six Degrees of Separation | Paul | ||
| 1992 (46th) | ||||
| 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 (47th) | ||||
| 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 (48th) | ||||
| 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 (49th) | ||||
| Ralph Fiennes | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet | ||
| Brian Bedford | The Molière Comedies | Sganarelle | ||
| Roger Rees | Indiscretions | George | ||
| Joe Sears | A Tuna Christmas | Various Characters | ||
| 1996 (50th) | ||||
| 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 (51st) | ||||
| Christopher Plummer | Barrymore | John Barrymore | ||
| Brian Bedford | London Assurance | Sir Harcourt Courtly | ||
| Michael Gambon | Skylight | Tom Sergeant | ||
| Antony Sher | Stanley | Stanley | ||
| 1998 (52nd) | ||||
| Anthony LaPaglia | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone | ||
| Richard Briers | The Chairs | Old Man | ||
| John Leguizamo | Freak | Himself | ||
| Alfred Molina | Art | Yvan | ||
| 1999 (53rd) | ||||
| 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
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 (54th) | ||||
| Stephen Dillane | The Real Thing | Henry | ||
| Gabriel Byrne | A Moon for the Misbegotten | James Tyrone Jr. | ||
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | True West | Austin / Lee | ||
| John C. Reilly | ||||
| David Suchet | Amadeus | Antonio Salieri | ||
| 2001 (55th) | ||||
| Richard Easton | The Invention of Love | A. E. Housman, aged 77 | ||
| Sean Campion | Stones in His Pockets | Jake Quinn | ||
| Conleth Hill | Charlie Conlon | |||
| Gary Sinise | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Randle P. McMurphy | ||
| Brian Stokes Mitchell | King Hedley II | King | ||
| 2002 (56th) | ||||
| Alan Bates | Fortune's Fool | Vassily Semyonitch Kuzovkin | ||
| Billy Crudup | The Elephant Man | John Merrick | ||
| Liam Neeson | The Crucible | John Proctor | ||
| Alan Rickman | Private Lives | Elyot Chase | ||
| Jeffrey Wright | Topdog/Underdog | Lincoln | ||
| 2003 (57th) | ||||
| Brian Dennehy | Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone Sr. | ||
| Brian Bedford | Tartuffe | Orgon | ||
| Eddie Izzard | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Bri | ||
| Paul Newman | Our Town | Stage Manager | ||
| Stanley Tucci | Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune | Johnny | ||
| 2004 (58th) | ||||
| Jefferson Mays | I Am My Own Wife | Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, et al. | ||
| Simon Russell Beale | Jumpers | George | ||
| Kevin Kline | Henry IV | Sir John Falstaff | ||
| Frank Langella | Match | Tobi | ||
| Christopher Plummer | King Lear | King Lear | ||
| 2005 (59th) | ||||
| Bill Irwin | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | George | ||
| Philip Bosco | Twelve Angry Men | Juror #3 | ||
| Billy Crudup | The Pillowman | Katurian | ||
| James Earl Jones | On Golden Pond | Norman Thayer Jr. | ||
| Brían F. O'Byrne | Doubt | Father Flynn | ||
| 2006 (60th) | ||||
| Richard Griffiths | The History Boys | Douglas Hector | ||
| Ralph Fiennes | Faith Healer | Francis Hardy | ||
| Željko Ivanek | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial | Lt. Com. Phillip Francis Queeg | ||
| Oliver Platt | Shining City | John | ||
| David Wilmot | The Lieutenant of Inishmore | Padraic | ||
| 2007 (61st) | ||||
| Frank Langella | Frost/Nixon | Richard Nixon | ||
| Boyd Gaines | Journey's End | Lieut. Osborne | ||
| Brían F. O'Byrne | The Coast of Utopia | Alexander Herzen | ||
| Christopher Plummer | Inherit the Wind | Henry Drummond | ||
| Liev Schreiber | Talk Radio | Barry Champlain | ||
| 2008 (62nd) | ||||
| Mark Rylance | Boeing-Boeing | Robert Lambert | ||
| Ben Daniels | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Le Vicomte de Valmont | ||
| Laurence Fishburne | Thurgood | Thurgood Marshall | ||
| Rufus Sewell | Rock 'n' Roll | Jan | ||
| Patrick Stewart | Macbeth | Lord Macbeth | ||
| 2009 (63rd) | ||||
| Geoffrey Rush | Exit the King | King Berenger | ||
| Jeff Daniels | God of Carnage | Alan | ||
| Raúl Esparza | Speed-the-Plow | Charlie Fox | ||
| James Gandolfini | God of Carnage | Michael | ||
| Thomas Sadoski | reasons to be pretty | Greg |
2010s
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (64th) | ||||
| Denzel Washington | Fences | Troy Maxson | ||
| Jude Law | Hamlet | Hamlet | ||
| Alfred Molina | Red | Mark Rothko | ||
| Liev Schreiber | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone | ||
| Christopher Walken | A Behanding in Spokane | Carmichael | ||
| 2011 (65th) | ||||
| Mark Rylance | Jerusalem | Johnny "Rooster" Byron | ||
| Brian Bedford | The Importance of Being Earnest | Lady Bracknell | ||
| Bobby Cannavale | The Motherfucker with the Hat | Jackie | ||
| Joe Mantello | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks | ||
| Al Pacino | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock | ||
| 2012 (66th) | ||||
| James Corden | One Man, Two Guvnors | Francis Henshall | ||
| James Earl Jones | The Best Man | President Art Hockstader | ||
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman | ||
| Frank Langella | Man and Boy | Gregor Antonescu | ||
| John Lithgow | The Columnist | Joseph Alsop | ||
| 2013 (67th) | ||||
| Tracy Letts | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | George | ||
| Tom Hanks | Lucky Guy | Mike McAlary | ||
| Nathan Lane | The Nance | Chauncey Miles | ||
| David Hyde Pierce | Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike | Vanya | ||
| Tom Sturridge | Orphans | Phillip | ||
| 2014 (68th) | ||||
| Bryan Cranston | All the Way | Lyndon B. Johnson | ||
| Samuel Barnett | Twelfth Night | Viola | ||
| Chris O'Dowd | Of Mice and Men | Lennie Small | ||
| Mark Rylance | Richard III | Richard III | ||
| Tony Shalhoub | Act One | Moss Hart / Barnett Hart / George S. Kaufman | ||
| 2015 (69th) | ||||
| Alex Sharp | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Christopher Boone | ||
| Steven Boyer | Hand to God | Jason / Tyrone | ||
| Bradley Cooper | The Elephant Man | John Merrick | ||
| Ben Miles | Wolf Hall Parts One & Two | Thomas Cromwell | ||
| Bill Nighy | Skylight | Tom Sergeant | ||
| 2016 (70th) | ||||
| Frank Langella | The Father | Andre | ||
| Gabriel Byrne | Long Day's Journey into Night | James Tyrone Sr. | ||
| Jeff Daniels | Blackbird | Ray Brooks | ||
| Tim Pigott-Smith | King Charles III | King Charles III | ||
| Mark Strong | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone | ||
| 2017 (71st) | ||||
| Kevin Kline | Present Laughter | Garry Essendine | ||
| Denis Arndt | Heisenberg | Alex Priest | ||
| Chris Cooper | A Doll's House, Part 2 | Torvald Helmer | ||
| Corey Hawkins | Six Degrees of Separation | Paul | ||
| Jefferson Mays | Oslo | Terje Rød-Larsen | ||
| 2018 (72nd) | ||||
| Andrew Garfield | Angels in America | Prior Walter, et al. | ||
| Tom Hollander | Travesties | Henry Carr | ||
| Jamie Parker | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Harry Potter | ||
| Mark Rylance | Farinelli and the King | Philip V of Spain | ||
| Denzel Washington | The Iceman Cometh | Theodore "Hickey" Hickman | ||
| 2019 (73rd) | ||||
| Bryan Cranston | Network | Howard Beale | ||
| Paddy Considine | The Ferryman | Quinn Carney | ||
| Jeff Daniels | To Kill a Mockingbird | Atticus Finch | ||
| Adam Driver | Burn This | Pale | ||
| Jeremy Pope | Choir Boy | Pharus Jonathan Young |
2020s
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (74th) | ||||
| Andrew Burnap | The Inheritance | Toby Darling | ||
| Ian Barford | Linda Vista | Wheeler | ||
| Jake Gyllenhaal | Sea Wall/A Life | Abe | ||
| Tom Hiddleston | Betrayal | Robert | ||
| Tom Sturridge | Sea Wall/A Life | Alex | ||
| Blair Underwood | A Soldier's Play | Captain Richard Davenport | ||
| 2021 | No ceremony | |||
| 2022 (75th) | ||||
| Simon Russell Beale | The Lehman Trilogy | Henry Lehman | ||
| Adam Godley | The Lehman Trilogy | Mayer Lehman | ||
| Adrian Lester | Emanuel Lehman | |||
| David Morse | How I Learned to Drive | Uncle Peck | ||
| Sam Rockwell | American Buffalo | Teach | ||
| Ruben Santiago-Hudson | Lackawanna Blues | Various Characters | ||
| David Threlfall | Hangmen | Harry Wade | ||
| 2023 (76th) | ||||
| Sean Hayes | Good Night, Oscar | Oscar Levant | ||
| Yahya Abdul-Mateen II | Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog | Booth | ||
| Corey Hawkins | Lincoln | |||
| Stephen McKinley Henderson | Between Riverside and Crazy | Pops | ||
| Wendell Pierce | Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman | ||
| 2024 (77th) | ||||
| Jeremy Strong | An Enemy of the People | Doctor Thomas Stockmann | ||
| William Jackson Harper | Uncle Vanya | Astrov | ||
| Leslie Odom Jr. | Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch | Purlie Victorious Judson | ||
| Liev Schreiber | Doubt: A Parable | Father Brendan Flynn | ||
| Michael Stuhlbarg | Patriots | Boris Berezovsky | ||
| 2025 (78th) | ||||
| Cole Escola | Oh, Mary! | Mary Todd Lincoln | ||
| George Clooney | Good Night, and Good Luck | Edward R. Murrow | ||
| Jon Michael Hill | Purpose | Nazareth "Naz" Jasper | ||
| Daniel Dae Kim | Yellow Face | DHH | ||
| Harry Lennix | Purpose | Solomon "Sonny" Jasper | ||
| Louis McCartney | Stranger Things: The First Shadow | Henry Creel | ||
Statistics
Most wins
- 2 wins
- Alan Bates
- Bryan Cranston
- Brian Dennehy
- José Ferrer
- Judd Hirsch
- James Earl Jones
- Frank Langella
- Fredric March
- Mark Rylance
Most nominations
- 7 nominations
- Brian Bedford
- Jason Robards
- 6 nominations
- Christopher Plummer
- 5 nominations
- Frank Langella
- 4 nominations
- Philip Bosco
- Hume Cronyn
- James Earl Jones
- Donald Pleasence
- Mark Rylance
- George C. Scott
- 3 nominations
- Jeff Daniels
- Ben Gazzara
- Judd Hirsch
- John Lithgow
- Fredric March
- Alec McCowen
- Brían F. O'Byrne
- Ralph Richardson
- Liev Schreiber
- 2 nominations
- Alan Bates
- Richard Burton
- Gabriel Byrne
- Tom Courtenay
- Bryan Cranston
- Billy Crudup
- Jim Dale
- Brian Dennehy
- José Ferrer
- Ralph Fiennes
- Albert Finney
- Henry Fonda
- John Gielgud
- Rex Harrison
- Corey Hawkins
- Philip Seymour Hoffman
- Wilfrid Hyde-White
- Bill Irwin
- Derek Jacobi
- Kevin Kline
- Alfred Lunt
- Jack Lemmon
- Jefferson Mays
- Ian McKellen
- Alfred Molina
- Zero Mostel
- Liam Neeson
- Milo O'Shea
- Al Pacino
- Roger Rees
- Alan Rickman
- Cyril Ritchard
- Tom Sturridge
- Denzel Washington
- Nicol Williamson
- John Wood
Character win total
- 3 wins
- George from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 2 wins
- Henry from The Real Thing
- James Tyrone Sr. from Long Day's Journey into Night
- Prior Walter from Angels in America
- Troy Maxson from Fences
Character nomination total
- 4 nominations
- Eddie Carbone from A View from the Bridge
- George from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- James Tyrone Sr. from Long Day's Journey into Night
- Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman
- 3 nominations
- Bri from A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
- Hamlet from Hamlet
- Henry Drummond from Inherit the Wind
- John Merrick from The Elephant Man
- 2 nominations
- Antonio Salieri from Amadeus
- Charlie Fox from Speed-the-Plow
- Father Brendan Flynn from Doubt: A Parable
- Henry from The Real Thing
- Henry Carr from Travesties
- James Tyrone Jr. from A Moon for the Misbegotten
- Le Vicomte de Valmont from Les Liaisons Dangereuses
- Lincoln from Topdog/Underdog
- Mikhail lvovich Astrov from Uncle Vanya
- Paul from Six Degrees of Separation
- President Ari Hockstader from The Best Man
- Prior Walter from Angels in America
- Shylock from The Merchant of Venice
- Theodore "Hickey" Hickman from The Iceman Cometh
- Tobias from A Delicate Balance
- Tom Sergeant from Skylight
- Troy Maxson from Fences
Productions with multiple nominations
boldface=winner
- Look Homeward, Angel – Alizwa Mleni and Anthony Perkins
- The Best Man – Melvyn Douglas and Lee Tracy
- Philadelphia, Here I Come! – Patrick Bedford and Donal Donnelly (jointly)
- Home – John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson
- Uncle Vanya – George C. Scott and Nicol Williamson
- Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island – John Kani and Winston Ntshona (jointly)
- Amadeus – Ian McKellen and Tim Curry
- Lend Me A Tenor – Philip Bosco and Victor Garber
- True West – Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly
- Stones In His Pockets – Sean Campion and Conleth Hill
- God of Carnage – Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini
- Sea Wall/A Life – Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge
- The Lehman Trilogy – Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Adrian Lester
- Topdog/Underdog – Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins
Multiple awards and nominations
- Actors who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories
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Trivia
- The lead role of George in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has earned the Tony Award for three different actors who have performed the character:
- 1963 – Arthur Hill
- 2005 – Bill Irwin
- 2013 – Tracy Letts
- Other male roles have produced multiple Tony Award winners: Henry in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing
- 1984 – Jeremy Irons
- 2000 – Stephen Dillane
- James Tyrone Sr., in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night
- 1957 – Fredric March
- 2003 – Brian Dennehy
- Troy Maxson in August Wilson's Fences
- 1987 – James Earl Jones
- 2010 – Denzel Washington
- Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's Angels in America
- 1994 – Stephen Spinella
- 2018 – Andrew Garfield
- Spinella won this category in 1994 for playing Prior Walter in Angels in America: Perestroika one year after winning the award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the same character in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.
- In 2025, Cole Escola became the first non-binary actor to win the award, for their performance of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!.
- Actors have won Tony Awards for both Best Actor in a Play and Best Actor in a Musical for playing Cyrano de Bergerac: Jose Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac and Christopher Plummer in Cyrano.
- Donald Moffat was nominated for his performances in two different productions, Right You Are (If You Think You Are) and The Wild Duck, at the 21st Tony Awards.
- The youngest winner in this acting category is Alex Sharp (age 26). The oldest is Frank Langella (age 78).
- Actors have won Tony Awards for both Best Actor in a Play and Best Actress in a Play for playing Mary Todd Lincoln: Cole Escola in Oh, Mary! and Julie Harris in The Last of Mrs. Lincoln.
See also
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor
- List of Tony Award-nominated productions
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