Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
File:Jeremy Strong 2014.jpg 2024 Recipient: Jeremy Strong
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	Jeremy Strong for An Enemy of the People (2024)
Website	TonyAwards.com

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.

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

File:Jose Ferrer - 1952.jpg

José Ferrer won twice for Cyrano de Bergerac (1947) and The Shrike (1952)

File:Fredric March-1.jpg

Fredric March won twice Years Ago (1947) and in Long Day's Journey into Night (1957)

File:Henry Fonda, 1940.jpg

Henry Fonda won for Mister Roberts (1948)

File:Sidney Blackmer.jpg

Sidney Blackmer won for Come Back, Little Sheba in 1950

File:Paul Muni - Zola - 1936.jpg

Paul Muni won for Inherit the Wind (1956)

File:RBellamy34.jpg

Ralph Bellamy won for Sunrise at Campobello (1958)

File:Jason Robards 1956 Obie Awards (cropped) (cropped).jpg

Jason Robards won for The Disenchanted (1959)

File:Douglas-portrait.jpg

Melvyn Douglas won for The Best Man (1960)

File:Zero Mostel - still.jpg

Zero Mostel won for Rhinoceros (1961)

File:Allan Warren.jpg

Paul Scofield won for A Man for All Seasons (1963)

File:Alec Guinness 6 Allan Warren.jpg

Alec Guinness won for Dylan (1964)

File:Walter Matthau - 1952.jpg

Walter Matthau won for The Odd Couple (1965)

File:Martin Balsam Film Still.jpg

Martin Balsam won for You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running (1968)

File:James Earl Jones Baltimore.jpg

James Earl Jones won for The Great White Hope (1969) and for Fences (1987)

File:Alan Bates.jpg

Alan Bates won twice, for Butley (1973) and Fortune's Fool (2002)

File:Al Pacino - Hummel.jpg

Al Pacino won for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1977)

File:McKellenRichmnd040219-13 (46275366854) (cropped).jpg

Ian McKellen won for Amadeus (1981)

File:Harvey Fierstein 2 Shankbone Metropolitan Opera 2009.jpg

Harvey Fierstein won for Torch Song Trilogy (1983)

File:Jeremy Irons face.jpg

Jeremy Irons won for The Real Thing (1984)

File:Sir Derek Jacobi.jpg

Derek Jacobi won for Much Ado About Nothing (1985)

File:Judd Hirsch - 1967.jpg

Judd Hirsch won twice for I'm Not Rappaport (1986) and Conversations with My Father (1992)

File:Portrait of Robert Morse LCCN2004663379.jpg

Robert Morse won Tru (1990)

File:Ralph Fiennes from "The White Crow" at Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018 (31747095048).jpg

Ralph Fiennes for Hamlet (1995)

File:Christopher Plummer 2014.jpg

Christopher Plummer won for Barrymore (1997)

File:BrianDennehyJul2009.jpg

Brian Dennehy won twice for Death of a Salesman (1999) and Long Days Journey into Night (2003)

File:International Peace Institute President Terje Rød-Larsen and Jefferson Mays (Mays cropped).jpg

Jefferson Mays won for I Am My Own Wife in 2004

File:Bill Irwin by Gage Skidmore.jpg

Bill Irwin won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2005)

File:BAFTA 2007 (387023768).jpg

Richard Griffiths won for The History Boys in 2006

File:Frank Langella Deauville 2012.jpg

Frank Langella won twice for his roles in Frost/Nixon (2007) and The Father (2016)

File:Mark Rylance Cannes 2016.jpg

Mark Rylance won for Boeing-Boeing (2008), and Jerusalem (2011)

File:Geoffrey Rush Final Portrait Red Carpet Berlinale 2017 01 (cropped).jpg

Geoffrey Rush won for Exit the King in 2009

File:Denzel Washington (29479254650) (cropped).jpg

Denzel Washington won for Fences (2010)

File:James Corden at 2015 PaleyFest (cropped).jpg

James Corden won for One Man, Two Guvnors (2012)

File:TracyLetts-byPhilipRomano.jpg

Tracy Letts won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2013)

File:Bryan Cranston at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival (2).jpg

Bryan Cranston has won the award twice, for All the Way (2014) and Network (2019)

File:Kevin Kline (5534856504).jpg

Kevin Kline won for Present Laughter in 2017

File:Andrew Garfield 2011 CC2011.jpg

Andrew Garfield won for Angels in America in 2018

File:SRBeale crop.jpg

Simon Russell Beale won for The Lehman Trilogy (2021)

File:Sean Hayes (portrait).jpg

Sean Hayes won for Good Night, Oscar (2023)

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 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 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 Topdog/Underdog Booth Corey Hawkins Lincoln Stephen McKinley Henderson Between Riverside and Crazy Pops Wendell Pierce 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 Purlie Victorious Judson Liev Schreiber Doubt Father Brendan Flynn Michael Stuhlbarg Patriots Boris Berezovsky 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 Awards Nominations Recipient 4 7 Frank Langella 5 Boyd Gaines 3 6 Nathan Lane 5 Mark Rylance 4 Kevin Kline Zero Mostel 3 Hinton Battle 2 7 Christopher Plummer 6 John Lithgow Michael Cerveris 5 Christian Borle George Hearn George Rose John Cullum Robert Morse 4 James Earl Jones Norbert Leo Butz Richard Kiley 3 Al Pacino David Burns David Wayne Fredric March Judd Hirsch Matthew Broderick Phil Silvers Rex Harrison Robert Preston Stephen Spinella Walter Matthau 2 Alan Bates Brian Dennehy Bryan Cranston Harvey Fierstein Hiram Sherman James Naughton Jonathan Pryce José Ferrer Russell Nype Tommy Tune 1 8 Jason Robards 7 Brian Bedford Danny Burstein 6 Philip Bosco 5 Brían F. O'Byrne Hume Cronyn Jim Dale 4 Billy Crudup Brandon Uranowitz Brian Stokes Mitchell Cyril Ritchard David Alan Grier Gregory Hines Jack Cassidy Joel Grey Liev Schreiber René Auberjonois Tony Shalhoub 3 Alfred Drake André De Shields Barry Bostwick Courtney B. Vance David Hyde Pierce Gary Beach Gavin Creel George Grizzard Jefferson Mays Jerry Orbach John Wood Larry Blyden Len Cariou Mandy Patinkin Michael Rupert Richard Burton Robert Sean Leonard Roger Bart Scott Wise 2 Alfred Lunt Andrew Garfield Barnard Hughes Ben Vereen Ben Platt Bert Lahr Bertie Carvel Bill Irwin Brent Carver Charles Nelson Reilly Chuck Cooper Cleavant Derricks Cliff Gorman Denzel Washington Derek Jacobi Eddie Redmayne Edward Herrmann Fritz Weaver George S. Irving Henry Fonda Hugh Jackman Ian McKellen Jack Albertson Jeffrey Wright John Benjamin Hickey John Glover Kevin Spacey Laurence Fishburne Leslie Odom Jr. Martin Short Michael Gough Michael McGrath Paul Rogers Ralph Fiennes Ray Bolger Reed Birney Roger Rees Roger Robinson Ron Holgate Roy Dotrice Ruben Santiago-Hudson Santino Fontana Sean Hayes Simon Russell Beale Sydney Chaplin Zakes Mokae Nominations Recipient 5 Brian d'Arcy James George C. Scott John McMartin Tom Aldredge 4 Donald Pleasence Gregg Edelman Raúl Esparza Raul Julia Victor Garber 3 Alan Alda Alec McCowen Alfred Molina Andy Karl Ben Gazzara Brandon Victor Dixon Brian Murray Christopher Fitzgerald Gilbert Price Harry Groener Jeff Daniels Jonathan Groff Joseph Maher Joshua Henry Kevin Chamberlin Marc Kudisch Philip Seymour Hoffman Ralph Richardson Robin de Jesús Terrence Mann Tim Curry Željko Ivanek 2 Adam Godley Alan Rickman Albert Finney Alex Brightman Andrew Rannells Andy Griffith Anthony Heald Anthony Perkins Arian Moayed Biff McGuire Bob Gunton Bobby Cannavale Brad Oscar Brooks Ashmanskas Bruce Adler Charles Brown Charles S. Dutton Christopher Sieber Christopher Walken Clive Revill Conleth Hill Corey Hawkins David Carroll David Morse David Pittu David Threlfall Dick Anthony Williams Donald Moffat Edward Petherbridge Edward Winter Gabriel Byrne Gary Sinise Gavin Lee Herschel Bernardi Howard McGillin Jack Gilford Jack Lemmon Jeremy Pope Joe Mantello Joel Blum Josh Groban John Gielgud Jude Law K. Todd Freeman Keith Carradine Larry Bryggman Larry Haines Lewis J. Stadlen Liam Neeson Lin-Manuel Miranda Maurice Evans Maurice Hines Michael Stuhlbarg Milo O'Shea Nicol Williamson Patrick Wilson Peter Frechette Rob McClure Robert Prosky Robert Weede Samuel Barnett Samuel E. Wright Savion Glover Stark Sands Stephen McKinley Henderson Theodore Bikel Tom Courtenay Tom Sturridge Tom Wopat Tony Roberts Wilfrid Hyde-White 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. 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). 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 References External links Official Tony Awards website