Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
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."^[1]

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;^[2] the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".^[3]

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.

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

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	[4]
	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.	[5]
	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	[6]
	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	[7]
	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

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
1960 (14th)
	Melvyn Douglas	The Best Man	William Russell	[8]
	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	[9]
	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	[10]
	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	[11]
	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	[12]
	Richard Burton	Hamlet	Hamlet
	Albert Finney	Luther	Martin Luther
	Jason Robards	After the Fall	Quentin
1965 (19th)
	Walter Matthau	The Odd Couple	Oscar Madison	[13]
	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	[14]
	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	[15]
	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	[16]
	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	[17]
	Art Carney	Lovers	Andy Tracey
	Alec McCowen	Hadrian the Seventh	Fr. William Rolfe
	Donald Pleasence	The Man in the Glass Booth	Arthur Goldman

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
1970 (24th)
	Fritz Weaver	Child's Play	Jerome Malley	[18]
	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	[19]
	John Gielgud	Home	Harry
	Alec McCowen	The Philanthropist	Philip
	Ralph Richardson	Home	Jack
1972 (26th)
	Cliff Gorman	Lenny	Lenny Bruce	[20]
	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	[21]
	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	[22]
	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	[23]
	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	[24]
	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	[25]
	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	[26]
	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	[27]
	Philip Anglim	The Elephant Man	John Merrick
	Jack Lemmon	Tribute	Scottie Templeton
	Alec McCowen	St. Mark's Gospel	Mark

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
1980 (34th)
	John Rubinstein	Children of a Lesser God	James Leeds	[28]
	Charles Brown	Home	Cephus Miles
	Gerald Hiken	Strider	Strider
	Judd Hirsch	Talley's Folly	Matt Friedman
1981 (35th)
	Ian McKellen	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	[29]
	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	[30]
	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	[31]
	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	[32]
	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	[33]
	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	[34]
	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	[35]
	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	[36]
	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	[37]
	Mikhail Baryshnikov	Metamorphosis	Gregor Samsa
	Victor Garber	Lend Me a Tenor	Max
	Bill Irwin	Largely New York	The Post-Modern Hoofer

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
1990 (44th)
	Robert Morse	Tru	Truman Capote	[38]
	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	[39]
	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	[40]
	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.	[41]
	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	[42]
	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	[43]
	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	[44]
	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	[45]
	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	[46]
	Richard Briers	The Chairs	Old Man
	John Leguizamo	Freak	Himself
	Alfred Molina	Art	Yvan
1999 (53rd)
	Brian Dennehy	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman	[47]
	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

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
2000 (54th)
	Stephen Dillane	The Real Thing	Henry	[48]
	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	[49]
	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	[50]
	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.	[51]
	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.	[52]
	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	[53]
	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	[54]
	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	[55]
	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	[56]
	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	[57]
	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

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
2010 (64th)
	Denzel Washington	Fences	Troy Maxson	[58]
	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	[59]
	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	[60]
	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	[61]
	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	[62]
	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	[63]
	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	[64]
	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	[65]
	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.	[66]
	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	[67]
	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

Year	Actor	Project	Role(s)	Ref.
2020 (74th)
	Andrew Burnap	The Inheritance	Toby Darling	[68]
	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	[69]
	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	[70]
	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	[71]
	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

2 wins

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

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

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

• 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).

• 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

• Official Tony Awards website