Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play

This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.

Awards and nominations

1940s

• 1947: Helen Hayes – Happy Birthday as Addie and Ingrid Bergman – Joan of Lorraine as Mary Grey
• 1948: Judith Anderson – Medea as Medea
  Jessica Tandy - A Streetcar Named Desire as Blanche Dubois
  Katharine Cornell - Antony and Cleopatra as Cleopatra

• 1949: Martita Hunt – The Madwoman of Chaillot as Countess Aurelia, the Madwoman of Chaillot

1950s

• 1950: Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba as Lola
• 1951: Uta Hagen – The Country Girl as Georgie Elgin
• 1952: Julie Harris – I Am a Camera as Sally Bowles
• 1953: Shirley Booth – Time of the Cuckoo as Leona Samish
• 1954: Audrey Hepburn – Ondine as Ondine
• 1955: Nancy Kelly – The Bad Seed as Christine Penmark

• 1956: Julie Harris – The Lark as Joan of Arc
  • Barbara Bel Geddes – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Gladys Cooper – The Chalk Garden
  • Ruth Gordon – The Matchmaker
  • Siobhán McKenna – The Chalk Garden
  • Susan Strasberg – The Diary of Anne Frank

• 1957: Margaret Leighton – Separate Tables as Mrs. Shankland/Miss Railton-Bell
  • Florence Eldridge – Long Day's Journey into Night
  • Rosalind Russell – Auntie Mame
  • Sybil Thorndike – The Potting Shed

• 1958: Helen Hayes in Time Remembered as The Duchess of Pont-Au-Bronc
  • Wendy Hiller – A Moon for the Misbegotten
  • Eugenie Leontovich – The Cave Dwellers
  • Siobhán McKenna – The Rope Dancers
  • Mary Ure – Look Back in Anger
  • Jo Van Fleet – Look Homeward, Angel

• 1959: Gertrude Berg – A Majority of One as Mrs. Jacoby
  • Claudette Colbert – The Marriage-Go-Round
  • Lynn Fontanne – The Visit
  • Kim Stanley – A Touch of the Poet
  • Maureen Stapleton – The Cold Wind and the Warm

1960s

• 1960: Anne Bancroft – The Miracle Worker as Annie Sullivan
  • Margaret Leighton – Much Ado About Nothing
  • Claudia McNeil – A Raisin in the Sun
  • Geraldine Page – Sweet Bird of Youth
  • Maureen Stapleton – Toys in the Attic
  • Irene Worth – Toys in the Attic

• 1961: Joan Plowright. – A Taste of Honey as Josephine
  • Tallulah Bankhead – Midgie Purvis
  • Barbara Baxley – Period of Adjustment
  • Barbara Bel Geddes – Mary, Mary

• 1962: Margaret Leighton – The Night of the Iguana as Hannah Jelkes
  • Gladys Cooper in A Passage to India
  • Colleen Dewhurst – Great Day in the Morning
  • Kim Stanley – A Far Country

• 1963: Uta Hagen – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Martha
  • Hermione Baddeley – The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore
  • Margaret Leighton – Tchin-Tchin
  • Claudia McNeil – Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

• 1964: Sandy Dennis – Any Wednesday as Ellen Gordon
  • Elizabeth Ashley – Barefoot in the Park
  • Colleen Dewhurst – The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
  • Julie Harris – Marathon '33

• 1965: Irene Worth – Tiny Alice as Miss Alice
  • Marjorie Rhodes – All in Good Time
  • Beah Richards – The Amen Corner
  • Diana Sands – The Owl and the Pussycat

• 1966: Rosemary Harris – The Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine
  • Sheila Hancock – Entertaining Mr. Sloane
  • Kate Reid – Slapstick Tragedy
  • Lee Remick – Wait Until Dark

• 1967: Beryl Reid – The Killing of Sister George as June Buckridge
  • Eileen Atkins – The Killing of Sister George
  • Vivien Merchant – The Homecoming
  • Rosemary Murphy – A Delicate Balance

• 1968: Zoe Caldwell – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie as Miss Jean Brodie
  • Colleen Dewhurst – More Stately Mansions
  • Maureen Stapleton – Plaza Suite
  • Dorothy Tutin – Portrait of a Queen

• 1969: Julie Harris – Forty Carats as Ann Stanley
  • Estelle Parsons – Seven Descents of Myrtle
  • Charlotte Rae – Morning, Noon and Night
  • Brenda Vaccaro – The Goodbye People

1970s

• 1970: Tammy Grimes – Private Lives as Amanda Prynne
  • Geraldine Brooks – Brightower
  • Helen Hayes – Harvey

• 1971: Maureen Stapleton – The Gingerbread Lady as Evy Meara
  • Estelle Parsons – And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
  • Diana Rigg – Abelard and Heloise
  • Marian Seldes – Father's Day

• 1972: Sada Thompson – Twigs as various characters
  • Eileen Atkins – Vivat! Vivat Regina!
  • Colleen Dewhurst – All Over
  • Rosemary Harris – Old Times

• 1973: Julie Harris – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln
  • Jane Alexander – 6 Rms Riv Vu
  • Colleen Dewhurst – Mourning Becomes Electra
  • Kathleen Widdoes – Much Ado About Nothing

• 1974: Colleen Dewhurst – A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan
  • Jane Alexander.in Find Your Way Home
  • Julie Harris – The Au Pair Man
  • Madeline Kahn – In the Boom Boom Room
  • Rachel Roberts – The Visit and Chemin de Fer

• 1975: Ellen Burstyn – Same Time, Next Year as Doris
  • Elizabeth Ashley – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Diana Rigg – The Misanthrope
  • Maggie Smith – Private Lives
  • Liv Ullmann – A Doll's House

• 1976: Irene Worth – Sweet Bird of Youth as Princess Kosmonopolis
  • Tovah Feldshuh – Yentl
  • Rosemary Harris – The Royal Family
  • Lynn Redgrave – Mrs. Warren's Profession

• 1977: Julie Harris – The Belle of Amherst as various characters
  • Colleen Dewhurst – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Liv Ullmann – Anna Christie
  • Irene Worth – The Cherry Orchard

• 1978: Jessica Tandy – The Gin Game as Fonsia Dorsey
  • Anne Bancroft – Golda
  • Anita Gillette – Chapter Two
  • Estelle Parsons – Miss Margarida's Way

• 1979: Constance Cummings – Wings as Emilly Stilson and Carole Shelley – The Elephant Man as Mrs. Kendal
  • Jane Alexander – First Monday in October
  • Frances Sternhagen – On Golden Pond

1980s

• 1980: Phyllis Frelich – Children of a Lesser God as Sarah Norman
  • Blythe Danner – Betrayal
  • Maggie Smith – Night and Day
  • Anne Twomey – Nuts

• 1981: Jane Lapotaire – Piaf as Edith Piaf
  • Glenda Jackson – Rose
  • Eva Le Gallienne – To Grandmother's House We Go
  • Elizabeth Taylor – The Little Foxes

• 1982: Zoe Caldwell – Medea as Medea
  • Katharine Hepburn – The West Side Waltz
  • Geraldine Page – Agnes of God
  • Amanda Plummer – A Taste of Honey

• 1983: Jessica Tandy – Foxfire as Annie Nations
  • Kathy Bates – 'Night, Mother
  • Kate Nelligan – Plenty
  • Anne Pitoniak – 'Night, Mother

• 1984: Glenn Close – The Real Thing as Annie
  • Rosemary Harris – Heartbreak House
  • Linda Hunt – End of the World
  • Kate Nelligan – A Moon for the Misbegotten

• 1985: Stockard Channing – A Day in the Death of Joe Egg as Sheila
  • Sinéad Cusack – Much Ado About Nothing
  • Ramona Young - Mama, I Want to Sing!
  • Rosemary Harris – Pack of Lies
  • Glenda Jackson – Strange Interlude

• 1986: Lily Tomlin – The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe as various characters
  • Rosemary Harris – Hay Fever
  • Mary Beth Hurt – Benefactors
  • Jessica Tandy – The Petition

• 1987: Linda Lavin – Broadway Bound as Kate
  • Lindsay Duncan – Les Liaisons Dangereuses
  • Geraldine Page – Blithe Spirit
  • Amanda Plummer – Pygmalion

• 1988: Joan Allen – Burn This as Anna Mann
  • Blythe Danner – A Streetcar Named Desire
  • Glenda Jackson – Macbeth
  • Frances McDormand – A Streetcar Named Desire

• 1989: Pauline Collins – Shirley Valentine as Shirley Valentine
  • Joan Allen – The Heidi Chronicles
  • Madeline Kahn – Born Yesterday
  • Kate Nelligan – Spoils of War

1990s

• 1990: Maggie Smith – Lettice and Lovage as Lettice Douffet
  • Geraldine James – The Merchant of Venice
  • Mary-Louise Parker – Prelude to a Kiss
  • Kathleen Turner – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

• 1991: Mercedes Ruehl – Lost in Yonkers as Bella
  • Stockard Channing – Six Degrees of Separation
  • Julie Harris – Lucifer's Child
  • Cherry Jones – Our Country's Good

• 1992: Glenn Close – Death and the Maiden as Paulina Salas
  • Jane Alexander – The Visit
  • Stockard Channing – Four Baboons Adoring the Sun
  • Judith Ivey – Park Your Car in Harvard Yard

• 1993: Madeline Kahn – The Sisters Rosensweig as Dr. Gorgeous Teitelebaum
  • Jane Alexander – The Sisters Rosensweig
  • Lynn Redgrave – Shakespeare For My Father
  • Natasha Richardson – Anna Christie

• 1994: Diana Rigg – Medea as Medea
  • Nancy Marchand – Black Comedy
  • Joan Rivers – Sally Marr and Her Escorts
  • Anna Deavere Smith – Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

• 1995: Cherry Jones – The Heiress as Catherine Sloper
  • Mary Alice – Having Our Say
  • Eileen Atkins – Indiscretions
  • Helen Mirren – A Month in the Country

• 1996: Zoe Caldwell – Master Class as Maria Callas
  • Carol Burnett – Moon Over Buffalo
  • Rosemary Harris – A Delicate Balance
  • Elaine Stritch – A Delicate Balance

• 1997: Janet McTeer – A Doll's House as Nora Helmer
  • Julie Harris – The Gin Game
  • Shirley Knight – The Young Man From Atlanta
  • Lia Williams – Skylight

• 1998: Marie Mullen – The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Maureen Folan
  • Jane Alexander – Honour
  • Allison Janney – A View From the Bridge
  • Geraldine McEwan – The Chairs

• 1999: Judi Dench – Amy's View as Esmé Allen
  • Stockard Channing – The Lion in Winter
  • Marian Seldes – Ring Round the Moon
  • Zoë Wanamaker – Electra

2000s

• 2000: Jennifer Ehle – The Real Thing as Annie
  • Jayne Atkinson – The Rainmaker as Lizzie Curry
  • Rosemary Harris – Waiting in the Wings as May Davenport
  • Cherry Jones – A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan
  • Claudia Shear – Dirty Blonde as Mae West

• 2001: Mary-Louise Parker – Proof as Catherine
  • Juliette Binoche – Betrayal as Emma
  • Linda Lavin – The Tale of the Allergist's Wife as Marjorie Taub
  • Jean Smart – The Man Who Came to Dinner as Lorraine Sheldon
  • Leslie Uggams – King Hedley II as Ruby

• 2002: Lindsay Duncan – Private Lives as Amanda Prynne
  • Kate Burton – Hedda Gabler as Hedda Gabler
  • Laura Linney – The Crucible as Elizabeth Proctor
  • Helen Mirren – Dance of Death as Alice
  • Mercedes Ruehl – The Goat: or, Who Is Sylvia? as Stevie

• 2003: Vanessa Redgrave – Long Day's Journey into Night as Mary Cavon Tyrone
  • Jayne Atkinson – Enchanted April as Lotty Wilton
  • Victoria Hamilton – A Day in the Death of Joe Egg as Sheila
  • Clare Higgins – Vincent in Brixton as Ursula Loyer
  • Fiona Shaw – Medea as Medea

• 2004: Phylicia Rashad – A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger
  • Eileen Atkins – The Retreat from Moscow as Alice
  • Tovah Feldshuh – Golda's Balcony as Golda Meir
  • Anne Heche – Twentieth Century as Lily Garland
  • Swoosie Kurtz – Frozen as Nancy

• 2005: Cherry Jones – Doubt as Sister Aloysius Bouvier
  • Laura Linney – Sight Unseen as Patricia
  • Mary-Louise Parker – Reckless as Rachel
  • Phylicia Rashad – Gem of the Ocean as Aunt Ester
  • Kathleen Turner – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Martha

• 2006: Cynthia Nixon – Rabbit Hole as Becca Corbett
  • Kate Burton – The Constant Wife as Constance Middleton
  • Judy Kaye – Souvenir as Florence Foster Jenkins
  • Lisa Kron – Well as Lisa Kron
  • Lynn Redgrave – The Constant Wife as Mrs. Culver

• 2007: Julie White – The Little Dog Laughed as Diane
  • Eve Best – A Moon for the Misbegotten as Josie Hogan
  • Swoosie Kurtz – Heartbreak House as Hesione Hushabye
  • Angela Lansbury – Deuce as Leona Mullen
  • Vanessa Redgrave – The Year of Magical Thinking as Joan Didion

• 2008: Deanna Dunagan – August: Osage County as Violet Weston
  • Eve Best – The Homecoming as Ruth
  • Kate Fleetwood – Macbeth as Lady Macbeth
  • S. Epatha Merkerson – Come Back, Little Sheba as Lola
  • Amy Morton – August: Osage County as Barbara Fordham

• 2009: Marcia Gay Harden – God of Carnage as Veronica Vallon
  • Hope Davis – God of Carnage as Annette Reille
  • Jane Fonda – 33 Variations as Katherine Brandt
  • Janet McTeer – Mary Stuart as Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Harriet Walter – Mary Stuart as Elizabeth of England

2010s

• 2010: Viola Davis – Fences as Rose Maxson
  • Valerie Harper – Looped as Tallulah Bankhead
  • Linda Lavin – Collected Stories as Ruth Steiner
  • Laura Linney – Time Stands Still as Sarah
  • Jan Maxwell – The Royal Family as Julie Cavendish

• 2011: Frances McDormand in Good People as Margie Walsh
  • Nina Arianda – Born Yesterday as Billie Dawn
  • Lily Rabe – The Merchant of Venice as Portia
  • Vanessa Redgrave – Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan
  • Hannah Yelland – Brief Encounter as Laura

Multiple winners

5 Wins

• Julie Harris

3 Wins

• Helen Hayes
• Zoe Caldwell
• Jessica Tandy

2 Wins

• Shirley Booth
• Glenn Close
• Uta Hagen
• Cherry Jones
• Margaret Leighton

Multiple Nominees

9 Nominations

• Julie Harris

8 Nominations

• Rosemary Harris

7 Nominations

• Colleen Dewhurst

6 Nominations

• Jane Alexander

4 Nominations

• Eileen Atkins
• Stockard Channing
• Cherry Jones
• Margaret Leighton
• Maureen Stapleton
• Jessica Tandy
• Irene Worth

3 Nominations

• Zoe Caldwell
• Helen Hayes
• Glenda Jackson
• Madeline Kahn
• Linda Lavin
• Laura Linney
• Kate Nelligan
• Geraldine Page
• Mary-Louise Parker
• Estelle Parsons
• Lynn Redgrave
• Vanessa Redgrave
• Diana Rigg
• Maggie Smith

2 Nominations

• Joan Allen
• Elizabeth Ashley
• Jayne Atkinson
• Anne Bancroft
• Barbara Bel Geddes
• Eve Best
• Shirley Booth
• Kate Burton
• Glenn Close
• Blythe Danner
• Lindsay Duncan
• Tovah Feldshuh
• Uta Hagen
• Swoosie Kurtz
• Frances McDormand
• Siobhán McKenna
• Claudia McNeil
• Janet McTeer
• Helen Mirren
• Amanda Plummer
• Phylicia Rashad
• Ramona Cole
• Mercedes Ruehl
• Marian Seldes
• Kim Stanley
• Kathleen Turner
• Liv Ullmann

Statistics

• There have been 2 ties in this category.
• Only three roles have garned multiple Lead Actress Tony Awards for their performers.
• Jessica Tandy is the oldest winner in this category. She was 74 when she won for Foxfire in 1983. The youngest winner is Audrey Hepburn who won at age 25.

External links

• Tony Awards official site
• New York Times article on the Tony Awards
• broadwayworld Tony Awards database at BroadwayWorld.com