Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play

This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.

Awards and nomination

1940s

• 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest
• 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy

1950s

• 1951: Maureen Stapleton – The Rose Tattoo
• 1952: Marian Winters – I Am a Camera
• 1953: Beatrice Straight – The Crucible
• 1954: Jo Van Fleet – The Trip to Bountiful
• 1955: Patricia Jessel – Witness for the Prosecution

• 1956: Una Merkel – The Ponder Heart as Edna Earle Ponder
  • Diane Cilento – Tiger at the Gates
  • Anne Jackson – Middle of the Night
  • Elaine Stritch – Bus Stop

• 1957: Peggy Cass – Auntie Mame as Agnes Gooch
  • Anna Massey – The Reluctant Debutante
  • Beryl Measor – Separate Tables
  • Mildred Natwick – The Waltz of the Toreadors
  • Phyllis Neilson-Terry – Separate Tables
  • Diana Van Der Vlis – The Happiest Millionaire

• 1958: Anne Bancroft – Two for the Seesaw as Gittle Mosca
  • Brenda De Banzie – The Entertainer
  • Joan Blondell – The Rope Dancers
  • Mary Fickett – Sunrise at Campobello
  • Eileen Heckart – The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

• 1959: Julie Newmar – The Marriage-Go-Round as Katrin Sveg
  • Maureen Delany – God and Kate Murphy
  • Dolores Hart – The Pleasure of His Company
  • Nan Martin – J.B.
  • Bertrice Reading – Requiem for a Nun

1960s

• 1960: Anne Revere – Toys in the Attic as Anna
  • Leora Dana – The Best Man
  • Jane Fonda – There Was a Little Girl
  • Sarah Marshall – Goodbye Charlie
  • Juliet Mills – Five Finger Exercise

• 1961: Colleen Dewhurst – All the Way Home as Mary Follet
  • Eileen Heckart – Invitation to a March
  • Tresa Hughes – The Devil's Advocate
  • Rosemary Murphy – Period of Adjustment

• 1962: Elizabeth Ashley – Take Her, She's Mine as Mollie Michaelson
  • Zohra Lampert – Look: We've Come Through
  • Janet Margolin – Daughter of Silence
  • Pat Stanely – Sunday in New York

• 1963: Sandy Dennis – A Thousand Clowns as Dr. Sandra Markowitz
  • Melinda Dillon – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Alice Ghostley – The Beauty Part
  • Zohra Lampert – Mother Courage and Her Children

• 1964: Barbara Loden – After the Fall as Maggie
  • Rosemary Murphy – Any Wednesday
  • Kate Reid – Dylan
  • Diana Sands – Blues for Mister Charlie

• 1965: Alice Ghostley – The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window as Mavis Parodus Bryson
  • Rae Allen – Traveller Without Luggage
  • Alexandra Berlin – All in Good Time
  • Carolan Daniels – Slow Dance on the Killing Ground

• 1966: Zoe Caldwell – Slapstick Tragedy as Polly
  • Glenda Jackson – Marat/Sade
  • Mairin D. O'Sullivan – Philadelphia, Here I Come!
  • Brenda Vaccaro – Cactus Flower

• 1967: Marian Seldes – A Delicate Balance as Julia
  • Camila Ashland – Black Comedy
  • Brenda Forbes – The Loves of Cass McGuire
  • Maria Tucci – The Rose Tattoo

• 1968: Zena Walker – Joe Egg as Sheila
  • Pert Kelton – Spofford
  • Ruth White – The Birthday Party
  • Eleanor Wilson – Week End

• 1969: Jane Alexander – The Great White Hope as Eleanor Bachman
  • Diane Keaton – Play It Again Sam
  • Lauren Jones – Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
  • Anna Manahan – Lovers

1970s

• 1970: Blythe Danner – Butterflies Are Free as Jill Tanner
  • Alice Drummond – The Chinese and Dr. Fish
  • Eileen Heckart – Butterflies Are Free
  • Linda Lavin – The Last of the Red Hot Lovers

• 1971: Rae Allen – And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little as Fleur Stien
  • Lili Darvas – Les Blancs
  • Joan Van Ark – The School for Wives
  • Mona Washbourne – Home

• 1972: Elizabeth Wilson – Sticks and Bones as Harriet
  • Cara Duff-MacCormick – Moonchildren
  • Mercedes McCambridge – The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks
  • Frances Sternhagen – The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window - Revival

• 1973: Leora Dana – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Elizabeth Edwards
  • Maya Angelou – Look Away
  • Katherine Helmond – The Great God Brown
  • Penelope Windust – Elizabeth I

• 1974: Frances Sternhagen – The Good Doctor as various characters
  • Regina Baff – Veronica's Room
  • Fionnula Flanagan – Ulysses in Nighttown
  • Charlotte Moore – Chemin de Fer
  • Roxie Roker – The River Niger

• 1975: Rita Moreno – The Ritz as Googie Gomez
  • Linda Miller – Black Picture Show
  • Geraldine Page – Absurd Person Singular
  • Carole Shelley – Absurd Person Singular
  • Elizabeth Spriggs – London Assurance
  • Frances Sternhagen – Equus

• 1976: Shirley Knight – Kennedy's Children as Carla
  • Mary Beth Hurt – Trelawny of the 'Wells'
  • Lois Nettleton – They Knew What They Wanted
  • Meryl Streep – 27 Wagons Full of Cotton/A Memory of Two Mondays

• 1977: Trazana Beverley – For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf as Lady in Red
  • Patricia Elliott – The Shadow Box
  • Rose Gregorio – The Shadow Box
  • Mary McCarty – Anna Christie

• 1978: Ann Wedgeworth – Chapter Two as Faye
  • Starletta DuPois – The Mighty Gents
  • Swoosie Kurtz – Tartuffe
  • Marian Seldes – Deathtrap

• 1979: Joan Hickson – Bedroom Farce as Delia
  • Laurie Kennedy – Man and Superman
  • Susan Littler – Bedroom Farce
  • Mary-Joan Negro – Wings

1980s

• 1980: Dinah Manoff – I Ought to be in Pictures as Libby
  • Maureen Anderman – The Lady from Dubuque as Carol
  • Pamela Burrell – Strider as Viazapurikha / Mathieu / Marie
  • Lois de Banzie – Morning's at Seven as Myrtle Brown

• 1981: Swoosie Kurtz – Fifth of July as Gwen Landis
  • Maureen Stapleton – The Little Foxes as Birdie
  • Jessica Tandy – Rose as Mother
  • Zoë Wanamaker – Piaf as Toine

• 1982: Amanda Plummer – Agnes of God as Sister Agnes
  • Judith Anderson – Medea as the Nurse
  • Mia Dillon – Crimes of the Heart as Babe Botrelle
  • Mary Beth Hurt – Crimes of the Heart as Meg MaGrath

• 1983: Judith Ivey – Steaming as Josie
  • Elizabeth Franz – Brighton Beach Memoirs as Kate Jerome
  • Roxanne Hart – Passion as Kate
  • Margaret Tyzack – All's Well That Ends Well as Te Countess of Rossillion

• 1984: Christine Baranski – The Real Thing as Charlotte
  • Jo Henderson – Play Memory as Ruth MacMillian
  • Dana Ivey – Heartbreak House as Lady Utterword
  • Deborah Rush – Noises Off as Brooke Ashton

• 1985: Judith Ivey – Hurlyburly as Bonnie
  • Joanna Gleason – Joe Egg as Pam
  • Theresa Merritt – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Ma Rainey
  • Sigourney Weaver – Hurlyburly as Darlene

• 1986: Swoosie Kurtz – The House of Blue Leaves as Bananas Shaughnessy
  • Stockard Channing – The House of Blue Leaves as Bunny Flingus
  • Bethel Leslie – Long Day's Journey Into Night as Mary Cavan Tyrone
  • Zoë Wanamaker – Loot as Fay

• 1987: Mary Alice – Fences as Rose Maxson
  • Annette Bening – Coastal Disturbances as Holly Dancer
  • Phyllis Newman – Broadway Bound as Blanche
  • Carole Shelley – Stepping Out as Maxine

• 1988: L. Scott Caldwell – Joe Turner's Come and Gone as Bertha Holly
  • Kimberleigh Aarn – Joe Turner's Come and Gone as Mattie Campbell
  • Kate Nelligan – Serious Money as Marylou Baines
  • Kimberly Scott – Joe Turner's Come and Gone as Molly Cunningham

• 1989: Christine Baranski – Rumors as Chris Gorman
  • Joanne Camp – The Heidi Chronicles as Fran
  • Tovah Feldshuh – Lend Me a Tenor as Maria
  • Penelope Ann Miller – Our Town as Emily

1990s

• 1990: Margaret Tyzack – Lettice and Lovage as Lotte Schoen
  • Polly Holliday – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Big Mama
  • S. Epatha Merkerson – The Piano Lesson as Berniece
  • Lois Smith – The Grapes of Wrath as Ma Joad

• 1991: Irene Worth – Lost in Yonkers as Grandma Kurnitz
  • Amelia Campbell – Our Country's Good as Lieutenant Will Dawes/ Meg Long
  • Kathryn Erbe – The Speed of Darkness as Mary
  • J. Smith-Cameron – Our Country's Good as 2nd Lieutenant William Faddy

• 1992: Brid Brennan – Dancing at Lughnasa as Agnes Mundy
  • Rosaleen Linehan – Dancing at Lughnasa as Kate Mundy
  • Cynthia Martells – Two Trains Running as Risa
  • Dearbhla Molloy – Dancing at Lughnasa as Maggie Mundy

• 1993: Debra Monk – Redwood Curtain as Geneva
  • Kathleen Chalfant – Angels in America: Millennium Approaches as Hannah Pitt/ Ethel Rosenberg
  • Marcia Gay Harden – Angels in America: Millennium Approaches as Harper Pitt
  • Anne Meara – Anna Christie as Marthy Owen

• 1994: Jane Adams – An Inspector Calls as Sheila Birling
  • Debra Monk – Picnic as Rosemary Sydney
  • Jeanne Paulsen – The Kentucky Cycle as Joleen Rowen/ Mary Anne Rowen-Jackson/ Margaret Rowen
  • Anne Pitoniak – Picnic as Helen Potts

• 1995: Frances Sternhagen – The Heiress as Aunt Lavinia Penniman
  • Suzanne Bertish – The Molière Comedies as Lisette
  • Cynthia Nixon – Indiscretions as Madeleine
  • Mercedes Ruehl – The Shadow Box as Beverly

• 1996: Audra McDonald – Master Class as Sharon Graham
  • Viola Davis – Seven Guitars as Vera
  • Michele Shay – Seven Guitars as Louise
  • Lois Smith – Buried Child as Halie

• 1997: Lynne Thigpen – An American Daughter as Dr. Judith Kaufman
  • Helen Carey – London Assurance as Lady Gay Spencer
  • Dana Ivey – The Last Night of Ballyhoo as Boo Levy
  • Celia Weston – The Last Night of Ballyhoo as Aunt Reba

• 1998: Anna Manahan – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Mag Folan
  • Enid Graham – Honour as Sophie
  • Linda Lavin – The Diary of Anne Frank as Mrs. Van Daan
  • Julyana Soelistyo – Golden Child as Eng Ahn

• 1999: Elizabeth Franz – Death of a Salesman as Linda Loman
  • Claire Bloom – Electra as Clytemnestra
  • Samantha Bond – Amy's View as Amy Thomas
  • Dawn Bradfield – The Lonesome West as Girleen

2000s

• 2000: Blair Brown – Copenhagen as Margrethe Bohr
  • Frances Conroy – The Ride Down Mt. Morgan as Theo
  • Amy Ryan – Uncle Vanya as Sofya Alexandrovna
  • Helen Stenborg – Waiting in the Wings as Sarita Myrtle
  • Sarah Woodward – The Real Thing as Charlotte

• 2001: Viola Davis – King Hedley II as Tonya
  • Johanna Day – Proof as Claire
  • Penny Fuller – Neil Simon's The Dinner Party as Gabrielle Buonocelli
  • Marthe Keller – Judgment at Nuremberg as Mrs. Bertholt
  • Michele Lee – The Tale of the Allergist's Wife as Lee

• 2002: Katie Finneran – Noises Off as Brooke Ashton
  • Kate Burton – The Elephant Man as Pinhead/ Mrs. Kendal
  • Elizabeth Franz – Morning's at Seven as Aaronetta Gibbs
  • Estelle Parsons – Morning's at Seven as Cora Swanson
  • Frances Sternhagen – Morning's at Seven as Ida Bolton

• 2003: Michele Pawk – Hollywood Arms as Louise
  • Christine Ebersole – Dinner at Eight as Millicent Jordan
  • Linda Emond – Life (x) 3 as Inez
  • Kathryn Meisle – Tartuffe as Elmire
  • Marian Seldes – Dinner at Eight as Carlotta Vance

• 2004: Audra McDonald – A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger
  • Essie Davis – Jumpers as Dotty
  • Sanaa Lathan – A Raisin in the Sun as Beneatha Younger
  • Margo Martindale – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Big Mama
  • Daphne Rubin-Vega – Anna in the Tropics as Conchita

• 2005: Adriane Lenox – Doubt as Mrs. Muller
  • Mireille Enos – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Honey
  • Heather Goldenhersh – Doubt as Sister James
  • Dana Ivey – The Rivals as Mrs. Malaprop
  • Amy Ryan – A Streetcar Named Desire as Stella Kowalski

• 2006: Frances de la Tour – The History Boys as Mrs. Lintott
  • Tyne Daly – Rabbit Hole as Nat
  • Jayne Houdyshell – Well as Ann Kron
  • Alison Pill – The Lieutenant of Inishmore as Mairead
  • Zoë Wanamaker – Awake and Sing! as Bessie

• 2007: Jennifer Ehle – The Coast of Utopia as Liubov Bakunin
  • Xanthe Elbrick – Coram Boy as Alexander/ Aaron (young)
  • Dana Ivey – Butley as Edna Shaft
  • Jan Maxwell – Coram Boy as Mrs. Lynch
  • Martha Plimpton – The Coast of Utopia as Natasha Tuchkov Ogarev

• 2008: Rondi Reed – August: Osage County as Mattie Fae Aiken
  • Sinéad Cusack – Rock 'n' Roll as Eleanor/ Esme (older)
  • Mary McCormack – Boeing Boeing as Gretchen
  • Laurie Metcalf – November as Clarice Bernstein
  • Martha Plimpton – Top Girls as Pope Joan/Angie

• 2009: Angela Lansbury – Blithe Spirit as Madame Arcati
  • Hallie Foote – Dividing the Estate as Mary Jo
  • Jessica Hynes – The Norman Conquests as Annie
  • Marin Ireland – reasons to be pretty as Steph
  • Amanda Root – The Norman Conquests as Sarah

2010s

• 2010: Scarlett Johansson – A View from the Bridge as Catherine Carbone
  • Maria Dizzia – In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) as Mrs. Daldry
  • Rosemary Harris – The Royal Family as Fanny Cavendish
  • Jessica Hecht – A View from the Bridge as Beatrice Carbone
  • Jan Maxwell – Lend Me a Tenor as Maria

• 2011: Ellen Barkin – The Normal Heart as Dr. Emma Brookner
  • Edie Falco – The House of Blue Leaves as Bananas Shaughnessy
  • Judith Light – Lombardi as Marie Lombardi
  • Joanna Lumley – La Bête as The Princess
  • Elizabeth Rodriguez – The Motherfucker with the Hat as Veronica

Award records

Wins

• Christine Baranski (2)
• Judith Ivey (2)
• Swoosie Kurtz (2)
• Audra McDonald (2)
• Frances Sternhagen (2)

Nominations

• Frances Sternhagen (5)
• Dana Ivey (4)
• Elizabeth Franz (3)
• Eileen Heckhart (3)
• Swoosie Kurtz (3)
• Marian Seldes (3)
• Zoë Wanamaker (3)
• Christine Baranski (2)

• Leora Dana (2)
• Viola Davis (2)
• Rae Allen (2)
• Alice Ghostley (2)
• Mary Beth Hurt (2)
• Judith Ivey (2)
• Zohra Lampert (2)
• Linda Lavin (2)
• Anna Manahan (2)
• Jan Maxwell (2)

• Audra McDonald (2)
• Debra Monk (2)
• Rosemary Murphy (2)
• Martha Plimpton (2)
• Amy Ryan (2)
• Carole Shelley (2)
• Lois Smith (2)
• Maureen Stapleton (2)
• Margaret Tyzack (2)

Trivia

• A single role has never earned two actresses a Tony in this category. All winners won for a character not previously embodied by another winner.
• In 1963 when Sandy Dennis won the Tony for A Thousand Clowns, she bested Melinda Dillon who played Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. In 1966, Dennis won an Oscar for playing Honey.
• Eileen Heckart lost the 1970 Tony in this category to her co-star Blythe Danner. While Danner was recast with Goldie Hawn for the 1972 film adaptation, Butterflies Are Free, Heckart remained in the role. She won the Oscar that year.
• The role of Rose Maxson in August Wilson's Fences has been awarded twice with a Tony Award. Once for Featured Actress for Mary Alice in 1987, and once as Lead Actress for Viola Davis in 2010.
• The role of Sheila in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg has been awarded twice with a Tony Award. Once for Featured Actress for Zena Walker in 1968, and once for Lead Actress for Stockard Channing in 1985.
• The oldest winner in this category is Angela Lansbury (age 83). The youngest is Patricia Neal (age 21)

External links

• Tony Awards Official Site