Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical
Awarded for	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Location	New York City
Presented by	American Theatre Wing The Broadway League
Currently held by	Santino Fontana for Tootsie (2019)
Website	TonyAwards.com

The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been publicly announced since 1956.

Winners and nominees

  indicates the winner

1940s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1947 1st Tony Awards
	N/A
1948 2nd Tony Awards
	Paul Hartman	Angel in the Wings	Various Characters
1949 3rd Tony Awards
	Ray Bolger	Where's Charley?	Charley Wykeham

1950s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1950 4th Tony Awards
	Ezio Pinza	South Pacific	Emile De Beque
1951 5th Tony Awards
	Robert Alda	Guys and Dolls	Sky Masterson
1952 6th Tony Awards
	Phil Silvers	Top Banana	Jerry Biffle
1953 7th Tony Awards
	Thomas Mitchell	Hazel Flagg	Dr. Downer
1954 8th Tony Awards
	Alfred Drake	Kismet	Hajj
1955 9th Tony Awards
	Walter Slezak	Fanny	Panisse
1956 10th Tony Awards
	Ray Walston	Damn Yankees	Mr. Applegate
	Stephen Douglass	Damn Yankees	Joe Hardy
	Bill Johnson	Pipe Dream	Doc
1957 11th Tony Awards
	Rex Harrison	My Fair Lady	Henry Higgins
	Fernando Lamas	Happy Hunting	Duke of Granada
	Robert Weede	The Most Happy Fella	Tony
1958 12th Tony Awards
	Robert Preston	The Music Man	Harold Hill
	Ricardo Montalbán	Jamaica	Koli
	Eddie Foy Jr.	Rumple	Rumple
	Tony Randall	Oh, Captain!	Captain Henry St. James
1959 13th Tony Awards
	Richard Kiley	Redhead	Tom Baxter
	Larry Blyden	Flower Drum Song	Sammy Fong

1960s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1960 14th Tony Awards
	Jackie Gleason	Take Me Along	Sid Davis
	Robert Morse	Take Me Along	Richard Miller
	Walter Pidgeon		Nat Miller
	Andy Griffith	Destry Rides Again	Destry
	Anthony Perkins	Greenwillow	Gideon Briggs
1961 15th Tony Awards
	Richard Burton	Camelot	Arthur
	Phil Silvers	Do Re Mi	Hubert Cram
	Maurice Evans	Tenderloin	Reverend Brock
1962 16th Tony Awards
	Robert Morse	How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying	J. Pierrepont Finch
	Ray Bolger	All-American	Professor Fodorski
	Alfred Drake	Kean	Edmund Kean
	Richard Kiley	No Strings	David Jordan
1963 17th Tony Awards
	Zero Mostel	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Pseudolus
	Sid Caesar	Little Me	Various Characters
	Anthony Newley	Stop the World – I Want to Get Off	Littlechap
	Clive Revill	Oliver!	Fagin
1964 18th Tony Awards
	Bert Lahr	Foxy	Foxy
	Sydney Chaplin	Funny Girl	Nick Arnstein
	Bob Fosse	Pal Joey	Joey Evans
	Steve Lawrence	What Makes Sammy Run?	Sammy Glick
1965 19th Tony Awards
	Zero Mostel	Fiddler on the Roof	Tevye
	Sammy Davis Jr.	Golden Boy	Joe Wellington
	Cyril Ritchard	The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd	Sir
	Tommy Steele	Half a Sixpence	Arthur Kipps
1966 20th Tony Awards
	Richard Kiley	Man of La Mancha	Don Quixote / Cervantes
	Jack Cassidy	It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman	Max Mencken
	John Cullum	On a Clear Day You Can See Forever	Dr. Mark Bruckner
	Harry Secombe	Pickwick	Pickwick
1967 21st Tony Awards
	Robert Preston	I Do! I Do!	Michael
	Alan Alda	The Apple Tree	Various Characters
	Jack Gilford	Cabaret	Herr Schultz
	Norman Wisdom	Walking Happy	Will Mossop
1968 22nd Tony Awards
	Robert Goulet	The Happy Time	Jacques Bonnard
	Robert Hooks	Hallelujah, Baby!	Clem
	Tony Roberts	How Now, Dow Jones	Charley
	David Wayne	The Happy Time	Grandpere Bonnard
1969 23rd Tony Awards
	Jerry Orbach	Promises, Promises	Chuck Baxter
	Herschel Bernardi	Zorba	Zorba
	Jack Cassidy	Maggie Flynn	The Clown
	Joel Grey	George M!	George M. Cohan

1970s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1970 24th Tony Awards
	Cleavon Little	Purlie	Purlie
	Len Cariou	Applause	Bill Sampson
	Robert Weede	Cry for Us All	Edward Quinn
1971 25th Tony Awards
	Hal Linden	The Rothschilds	Mayer Rothschild
	David Burns	Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen	Col. Wainwright Purdy III
	Larry Kert	Company	Bobby
	Bobby Van	No, No, Nanette	Billy Early
1972 26th Tony Awards
	Phil Silvers	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Pseudolus
	Clifton Davis	Two Gentlemen of Verona	Valentine
	Raul Julia		Proteus
	Barry Bostwick	Grease	Danny Zuko
1973 27th Tony Awards
	Ben Vereen	Pippin	The Leading Player
	Len Cariou	A Little Night Music	Frederick Egerman
	Robert Morse	Sugar	Jerry
	Brock Peters	Lost in the Stars	Stephen Kumalo
1974 28th Tony Awards
	Christopher Plummer	Cyrano	Cyrano de Bergerac
	Alfred Drake	Gigi	Honore Lachailles
	Joe Morton	Raisin	Walter Lee Younger
	Lewis J. Stadlen	Candide	Various Characters
1975 29th Tony Awards
	John Cullum	Shenandoah	Charlie Anderson
	Joel Grey	Goodtime Charley	Charley
	Raul Julia	Where's Charley?	Charley Wykeham
	Eddie Mekka	The Lieutenant	Lieutenant
	Robert Preston	Mack & Mabel	Mack Sennett
1976 30th Tony Awards
	George Rose	My Fair Lady	Alfred P. Doolittle
	Mako	Pacific Overtures	Various Characters
	Jerry Orbach	Chicago	Billy Flynn
	Ian Richardson	My Fair Lady	Henry Higgins
1977 31st Tony Awards
	Barry Bostwick	The Robber Bridegroom	Jamie Lockhart
	Robert Guillaume	Guys and Dolls	Nathan Detroit
	Raul Julia	The Threepenny Opera	Macheath
	Reid Shelton	Annie	Oliver Warbucks
1978 32nd Tony Awards
	John Cullum	On the Twentieth Century	Oscar Jaffee
	Eddie Bracken	Hello, Dolly!	Horace Vandergelder
	Barry Nelson	The Act	Dan Conners
	Gilbert Price	Timbuktu!	The Mansa of Mali
1979 33rd Tony Awards
	Len Cariou	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Sweeney Todd
	Vincent Gardenia	Ballroom	Alfred Rossi
	Joel Grey	The Grand Tour	S. L. Jacobowsky
	Robert Klein	They're Playing Our Song	Vernon Gersch

1980s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1980 34th Tony Awards
	Jim Dale	Barnum	P. T. Barnum
	Gregory Hines	Comin' Uptown	Scrooge
	Mickey Rooney	Sugar Babies	Mickey
	Giorgio Tozzi	The Most Happy Fella	Tony
1981 35th Tony Awards
	Kevin Kline	The Pirates of Penzance	The Pirate King
	Gregory Hines	Sophisticated Ladies	Performer
	George Rose	The Pirates of Penzance	Major-General
	Martin Vidnovic	Brigadoon	Tommy Albright
1982 36th Tony Awards
	Ben Harney	Dreamgirls	Curtis Taylor Jr.
	Herschel Bernardi	Fiddler on the Roof	Tevye
	Victor Garber	Little Me	Various Characters
	Raul Julia	Nine	Guido Contini
1983 37th Tony Awards
	Tommy Tune	My One and Only	Captain Billy Buck Chandler
	Al Green	Your Arms Too Short to Box with God	Performer
	George Hearn	A Doll's Life	Various Characters
	Michael V. Smartt	Porgy and Bess	Porgy
1984 38th Tony Awards
	George Hearn	La Cage aux Folles	Albin
	Gene Barry	La Cage aux Folles	Georges
	Ron Moody	Oliver!	Fagin
	Mandy Patinkin	Sunday in the Park with George	Georges Seurat / George
1985 39th Tony Awards	N/A
1986 40th Tony Awards
	George Rose	The Mystery of Edwin Drood	Mayor Thomas Sapsea / William Cartwright
	Don Correia	Singin' in the Rain	Don Lockwood
	Cleavant Derricks	Big Deal	Charley
	Maurice Hines	Uptown... It's Hot!	Performer
1987 41st Tony Awards
	Robert Lindsay	Me and My Girl	Bill Snibson
	Roderick Cook	Oh, Coward!	Performer
	Terrence Mann	Les Misérables	Javert
	Colm Wilkinson		Jean Valjean
1988 42nd Tony Awards
	Michael Crawford	The Phantom of the Opera	The Phantom of the Opera
	Scott Bakula	Romance/Romance	Alfred Von Wilmers / Sam
	David Carroll	Chess	Anatoly Sergievsky
	Howard McGillin	Anything Goes	Billy Crocker
1989 43rd Tony Awards
	Jason Alexander	Jerome Robbins' Broadway	Various Characters
	Gabriel Barre	Starmites	Trinkulus
	Brian Lane Green		Spacepunk
	Robert La Fosse	Jerome Robbins' Broadway	Various Characters

1990s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1990 44th Tony Awards
	James Naughton	City of Angels	Stone
	David Carroll	Grand Hotel	Felix Von Gaigern
	Gregg Edelman	City of Angels	Stine
	Bob Gunton	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Sweeney Todd
1991 45th Tony Awards
	Jonathan Pryce	Miss Saigon	The Engineer
	Keith Carradine	The Will Rogers Follies	Will Rogers
	Paul Hipp	Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story	Buddy Holly
	Topol	Fiddler on the Roof	Tevye
1992 46th Tony Awards
	Gregory Hines	Jelly's Last Jam	Jelly Roll Morton
	Harry Groener	Crazy for You	Bobby Child
	Nathan Lane	Guys and Dolls	Nathan Detroit
	Michael Rupert	Falsettos	Marvin
1993 47th Tony Awards
	Brent Carver	Kiss of the Spider Woman	Luis Molina
	Tim Curry	My Favorite Year	Alan Swann
	Con O'Neill	Blood Brothers	Mickey
	Martin Short	The Goodbye Girl	Elliot Garfield
1994 48th Tony Awards
	Boyd Gaines	She Loves Me	Georg Nowack
	Victor Garber	Damn Yankees	Mr. Applegate
	Terrence Mann	Beauty and the Beast	The Beast
	Jere Shea	Passion	Giorgio
1995 49th Tony Awards
	Matthew Broderick	How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying	J. Pierrepont Finch
	Alan Campbell	Sunset Boulevard	Joe Gillis
	Mark Jacoby	Show Boat	Gaylord Ravenal
	John McMartin		Cap'n Andy
1996 50th Tony Awards
	Nathan Lane	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum	Pseudolus
	Savion Glover	Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk	'da Beat / Lil' Dahlin'
	Adam Pascal	Rent	Roger Davis
	Lou Diamond Phillips	The King and I	The King of Siam
1997 51st Tony Awards
	James Naughton	Chicago	Billy Flynn
	Robert Cuccioli	Jekyll & Hyde	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde
	Jim Dale	Candide	Dr. Pangloss
	Daniel McDonald	Steel Pier	Bill Kelly
1998 52nd Tony Awards
	Alan Cumming	Cabaret	The Master of Ceremonies
	Peter Friedman	Ragtime	Tateh
	Brian Stokes Mitchell		Coalhouse Walker Jr.
	Douglas Sills	The Scarlet Pimpernel	Percy Blakeney
1999 53rd Tony Awards
	Martin Short	Little Me	Various Characters
	Brent Carver	Parade	Leo Frank
	Adam Cooper	Swan Lake	The Swan
	Tom Wopat	Annie Get Your Gun	Frank Butler

2000s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
2000 54th Tony Awards
	Brian Stokes Mitchell	Kiss Me, Kate	Fred Graham / Petruchio
	Craig Bierko	The Music Man	Harold Hill
	George Hearn	Putting It Together	The Husband
	Mandy Patinkin	The Wild Party	Burrs
	Christopher Walken	The Dead	Gabriel Conroy
2001 55th Tony Awards
	Nathan Lane	The Producers	Max Bialystock
	Matthew Broderick	The Producers	Leo Bloom
	Kevin Chamberlin	Seussical	Horton the Elephant
	Tom Hewitt	The Rocky Horror Show	Dr. Frank N. Furter
	Patrick Wilson	The Full Monty	Jerry Lukowski
2002 56th Tony Awards
	John Lithgow	Sweet Smell of Success	J.J. Hunsecker
	Gavin Creel	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Jimmy Smith
	John McMartin	Into the Woods	Narrator / Mysterious Man
	Patrick Wilson	Oklahoma!	Curly McLain
	John Cullum	Urinetown	Caldwell B. Cladwell
2003 57th Tony Awards
	Harvey Fierstein	Hairspray	Edna Turnblad
	Antonio Banderas	Nine	Guido Contini
	Malcolm Gets	Amour	Dusoleil
	Brian Stokes Mitchell	Man of La Mancha	Don Quixote / Cervantes
	John Selya	Movin' Out	Eddie
2004 58th Tony Awards
	Hugh Jackman	The Boy from Oz	Peter Allen
	Hunter Foster	Little Shop of Horrors	Seymour
	Alfred Molina	Fiddler on the Roof	Tevye
	Euan Morton	Taboo	George
	John Tartaglia	Avenue Q	Princeton / Rod
2005 59th Tony Awards
	Norbert Leo Butz	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Freddy Benson
	Hank Azaria	Spamalot	Various Characters
	Gary Beach	La Cage aux Folles	Albin
	Tim Curry	Spamalot	King Arthur
	John Lithgow	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Lawrence Jameson
2006 60th Tony Awards
	John Lloyd Young	Jersey Boys	Frankie Valli
	Michael Cerveris	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Sweeney Todd
	Harry Connick Jr.	The Pajama Game	Sid Sorokin
	Stephen Lynch	The Wedding Singer	Robbie Hart
	Bob Martin	The Drowsy Chaperone	Man in Chair
2007 61st Tony Awards
	David Hyde Pierce	Curtains	Lieutenant Frank Cioffi
	Michael Cerveris	LoveMusik	Kurt Weill
	Raúl Esparza	Company	Robert
	Jonathan Groff	Spring Awakening	Melchior Gabor
	Gavin Lee	Mary Poppins	Bert
2008 62nd Tony Awards
	Paulo Szot	South Pacific	Emile de Becque
	Daniel Evans	Sunday in the Park with George	Georges Seurat / George
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	In the Heights	Usnavi
	Stew	Passing Strange	Narrator
	Tom Wopat	A Catered Affair	Tom Hurley
2009 63rd Tony Awards
	David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik & Kiril Kulish	Billy Elliot the Musical	Billy Elliot
	Gavin Creel	Hair	Claude
	Brian d'Arcy James	Shrek the Musical	Shrek
	Constantine Maroulis	Rock of Ages	Drew
	J. Robert Spencer	Next to Normal	Dan Goodman

2010s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
2010 64th Tony Awards
	Douglas Hodge	La Cage aux Folles	Albin
	Kelsey Grammer	La Cage aux Folles	Georges
	Sean Hayes	Promises, Promises	Chuck Baxter
	Chad Kimball	Memphis	Huey Calhoun
	Sahr Ngaujah	Fela!	Fela Kuti
2011 65th Tony Awards
	Norbert Leo Butz	Catch Me If You Can	Carl Hanratty
	Josh Gad	The Book of Mormon	Elder Cunningham
	Joshua Henry	The Scottsboro Boys	Haywood Patterson
	Andrew Rannells	The Book of Mormon	Elder Price
	Tony Sheldon	Priscilla, Queen of the Desert	Bernadette Bassenger
2012 66th Tony Awards
	Steve Kazee	Once	Guy
	Danny Burstein	Follies	Buddy Plummer
	Jeremy Jordan	Newsies	Jack Kelly
	Norm Lewis	Porgy and Bess	Porgy
	Ron Raines	Follies	Ben Stone
2013 67th Tony Awards
	Billy Porter	Kinky Boots	Lola / Simon
	Bertie Carvel	Matilda the Musical	Miss Trunchbull
	Santino Fontana	Cinderella	Prince Topher
	Rob McClure	Chaplin	Charlie Chaplin
	Stark Sands	Kinky Boots	Charlie Price
2014 68th Tony Awards
	Neil Patrick Harris	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	Hedwig Schmidt
	Ramin Karimloo	Les Misérables	Jean Valjean
	Andy Karl	Rocky the Musical	Rocky Balboa
	Jefferson Mays	A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder	The D'Ysquith Family
	Bryce Pinkham		Monty Navarro
2015 69th Tony Awards
	Michael Cerveris	Fun Home	Bruce Bechdel
	Brian d'Arcy James	Something Rotten!	Nick Bottom
	Robert Fairchild	An American in Paris	Jerry Mulligan
	Ken Watanabe	The King and I	The King of Siam
	Tony Yazbeck	On the Town	Gabey
2016 70th Tony Awards
	Leslie Odom Jr.	Hamilton	Aaron Burr
	Alex Brightman	School of Rock	Dewey Finn
	Danny Burstein	Fiddler on the Roof	Tevye
	Zachary Levi	She Loves Me	Georg Nowack
	Lin-Manuel Miranda	Hamilton	Alexander Hamilton
2017 71st Tony Awards
	Ben Platt	Dear Evan Hansen	Evan Hansen
	Christian Borle	Falsettos	Marvin
	Josh Groban	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812	Pierre Bezukhov
	Andy Karl	Groundhog Day	Phil Connors
	David Hyde Pierce	Hello, Dolly!	Horace Vandergelder
2018 72nd Tony Awards
	Tony Shalhoub	The Band's Visit	Tewfiq Zakaria
	Harry Hadden-Paton	My Fair Lady	Henry Higgins
	Joshua Henry	Carousel	Billy Bigelow
	Ethan Slater	SpongeBob SquarePants	SpongeBob SquarePants
2019 73rd Tony Awards
	Santino Fontana	Tootsie	Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels
	Brooks Ashmanskas	The Prom	Barry Glickman
	Derrick Baskin	Ain’t Too Proud	Otis Williams
	Alex Brightman	Beetlejuice	Beetlejuice
	Damon Daunno	Oklahoma!	Curly McLain

2020s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
2020 Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic	N/A

Award records

Multiple wins

2 Wins

• Norbert Leo Butz
• John Cullum
• Richard Kiley
• Nathan Lane
• Zero Mostel
• James Naughton
• Robert Preston
• George Rose
• Phil Silvers

Multiple nominations

4 Nominations

• John Cullum
• Raul Julia

3 Nominations

• Len Cariou
• Michael Cerveris
• Alfred Drake
• Joel Grey
• George Hearn
• Gregory Hines
• Richard Kiley
• Nathan Lane
• Brian Stokes Mitchell
• Robert Morse
• Robert Preston
• George Rose
• Phil Silvers

2 Nominations

• Herschel Bernardi
• Ray Bolger
• Barry Bostwick
• Alex Brightman
• Matthew Broderick
• Danny Burstein
• Norbert Leo Butz
• David Carroll
• Brent Carver
• Jack Cassidy
• Gavin Creel
• Tim Curry
• Jim Dale
• Santino Fontana
• Victor Garber
• Joshua Henry
• Brian d'Arcy James
• Andy Karl
• John Lithgow
• Terrence Mann
• John McMartin
• Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Zero Mostel
• James Naughton
• Jerry Orbach
• Mandy Patinkin
• David Hyde Pierce
• Martin Short
• Robert Weede
• Patrick Wilson
• Tom Wopat

Multiple character wins

3 Wins

• Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

2 Wins

• Albin from La Cage aux Folles
• Emile de Becque from South Pacific
• J. Pierrepont Finch from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Multiple character nominations

5 Nominations

• Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof

3 Nominations

• Albin from La Cage aux Folles
• Noble Eggleston / Val du Val / Fred Poitrine from Little Me *
• Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady
• Pseudolus from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
• Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd

2 Nominations

• Billy Flynn from Chicago
• Bobby from Company
• Charley Wykeham from Where's Charley?
• Chuck Baxter from Promises, Promises
• Curly McLain from Oklahoma!
• Don Quixote / Cervantes from Man of La Mancha
• Dr. Pangloss from Candide
• Emile de Becque from South Pacific
• Fagin from Oliver!
• Georg Nowack from She Loves Me
• George from La Cage aux Folles
• Georges from Sunday in the Park with George
• Guido Contini from Nine
• Harold Hill from The Music Man
• Horace Vandergelder from Hello, Dolly!
• J. Pierrepont Finch from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Jean Valjean from Les Misérables
• The King of Siam from The King and I
• Marvin from Falsettos
• Mr. Applegate from Damn Yankees
• Nathan Detroit from Guys and Dolls
• Amos Pinchley / Otto Schnitzler / Prince Cherney / Noble Junior from Little Me *
• Porgy from Porgy and Bess
• Tony from The Most Happy Fella

-*Most of the leading male characters in Little Me are played by the same actor, but the actual roles vary. In the original 1962 Broadway production and the 1998 revival, Sid Caesar and Martin Short (respectively) played Noble Eggleston, Amos Pinchley, Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, Otto Schnitzler, and Prince Cherney. Caesar also played Noble Junior. In the 1981 revival, the lead roles were split among James Coco and Victor Garber with Garber playing Noble Eggleston, Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, and Noble Junior.

Productions with multiple nominations

• Damn Yankees – Ray Walston (winner) and Stephen Douglass
• Take Me Along – Jackie Gleason (winner), Robert Morse, and Walter Pidgeon
• Two Gentlemen of Verona – Clifton Davis and Raul Julia
• My Fair Lady – George Rose (winner) and Ian Richardson
• The Pirates of Penzance – Kevin Kline (winner) and George Rose
• La Cage aux Folles – George Hearn (winner) and Gene Barry
• Les Misérables – Terrence Mann and Colm Wilkinson
• Jerome Robbins' Broadway – Jason Alexander (winner) and Robert La Fosse
• Starmites – Gabriel Barre and Brian Lane Green (Jerome Robbins' Broadway and Starmites were competing in the same year)
• City of Angels – James Naughton (winner) and Gregg Edelman
• Show Boat – Mark Jacoby and John McMartin
• Ragtime – Peter Friedman and Brian Stokes Mitchell
• The Producers – Nathan Lane (winner) and Matthew Broderick
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Norbert Leo Butz (winner) and John Lithgow
• Monty Python's Spamalot – Hank Azaria and Tim Curry (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Monty Python's Spamalot were competing in the same year)
• La Cage aux Folles – Douglas Hodge (winner) and Kelsey Grammer (the second time this show received two nominations)
• The Book of Mormon – Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells
• Follies – Danny Burstein and Ron Raines
• Kinky Boots – Billy Porter (winner) and Stark Sands
• A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder – Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham
• Hamilton – Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. (winner)

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 George Hearn George Rose John Cullum Robert Morse 4 Christian Borle 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 6 Philip Bosco 5 Brian F. O'Byrne Hume Cronyn Jim Dale 4 Billy Crudup Brian Stokes Mitchell Cyril Ritchard Gregory Hines Jack Cassidy Joel Grey 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 Liev Schreiber Mandy Patinkin Michael Rupert Richard Burton Robert Sean Leonard Scott Wise 2 Alfred Lunt Andrew Garfield Barnard Hughes Ben Vereen Bert Lahr Bertie Carvel Bill Irwin Brent Carver Charles Nelson Reilly Cleavant Derricks Cliff Gorman Denzel Washington Derek Jacobi Edward Herrmann Fritz Weaver George S. Irving Henry Fonda Ian McKellen Jack Albertson Jeffrey Wright John Glover Kevin Spacey Laurence Fishburne Martin Short Michael Gough Michael McGrath Paul Rogers Ralph Fiennes Ray Bolger Reed Birney Roger Bart Roger Rees Roger Robinson Ron Holgate Roy Dotrice Santino Fontana Sydney Chaplin Zakes Mokae

Nominations Recipient 6 Danny Burstein 5 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 Uranowitz Brian d'Arcy James Brian Murray Christopher Fitzgerald David Alan Grier Gilbert Price Harry Groener Jeff Daniels Joseph Maher Joshua Henry Kevin Chamberlin Marc Kudisch Philip Seymour Hoffman Ralph Richardson Robin de Jesús Terrence Mann Tim Curry Željko Ivanek 2 Alan Rickman Albert Finney Alex Brightman Andrew Rannells Andy Griffith Anthony Heald Anthony Perkins Biff McGuire Bob Gunton Bobby Cannavale Brad Oscar Brandon Victor Dixon Brooks Ashmanskas Bruce Adler Charles Brown Charles S. Dutton Christopher Sieber Christopher Walken Clive Revill Conleth Hill David Carroll David Pittu 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 John Gielgud Jonathan Groff Jude Law K. Todd Freeman Keith Carradine Larry Bryggman Larry Haines Lewis J. Stadlen Liam Neeson Lin-Manuel Miranda Maurice Evans Maurice Hines Milo O'Shea Nicol Williamson Patrick Wilson Peter Frechette Robert Prosky Robert Weede Samuel Barnett Samuel E. Wright Savion Glover Stark Sands Theodore Bikel Tom Courtenay Tom Wopat Tony Roberts Wilfrid Hyde-White

Facts

• The lead role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has earned the Tony Award for the three different actors who have performed the character:
  • 1963 – Zero Mostel
  • 1972 – Phil Silvers
  • 1996 – Nathan Lane
  • In 1989, Jason Alexander won the award for portraying several characters in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, amongst them, the role of Pseudolus.
• Three other male roles have produced multiple Tony Award winners: J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying:
  • 1962 – Robert Morse
  • 1995 – Matthew Broderick
• Emile de Beque in South Pacific:
  • 1950 – Ezio Pinza
  • 2008 – Paulo Szot
• and Albin in La Cage Aux Folles:
  • 1984 – George Hearn
  • 2010 – Douglas Hodge
  • Gary Beach, who played Albin in the 2005 revival, was nominated but lost the award to Norbert Leo Butz in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Two actors have won for their performances in My Fair Lady, each for a different character:
  • 1957 – Rex Harrison, playing Henry Higgins
  • 1976 – George Rose, playing Alfred P. Doolitle
  • Ian Richardson and Harry Hadden-Paton, who played Henry Higgins in 1976 and 2018, respectively, were also nominated.
• The lead role with most nominations is Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof. Five actors have been nominated for their portrayals, with one win:
  • 1965 – Zero Mostel (winner)
  • 1982 – Herschel Bernardi
  • 1991 – Chaim Topol
  • 2004 – Alfred Molina
  • 2016 – Danny Burstein
• Take Me Along is the only production to receive three nominations for the award – Jackie Gleason (winner), Robert Morse and Walter Pidgeon.
• The lead role of Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street has received 3 nominations, though only Len Cariou has won the award for playing the role, which he originated.
• Actors have won Tonys 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.
• Four actors were nominated in this category for roles that have also been classified as Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. George Rose won the 1976 Best Actor Award for playing Alfred P. Doolitle in My Fair Lady whereas Stanley Holloway and Norbert Leo Butz were nominated in the featured category for playing the part in 1956 and 2018, respectively. Similarly, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ken Watanabe were nominated for Best Actor for playing the King of Siam in The King and I in 1996 and 2015, respectively, while Yul Brynner won the Best Featured Actor Tony for the same role in 1951. Also, Alan Cumming won for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret in 1998, which Joel Grey won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for in 1966.
• Harvey Fierstein was the first actor to win the award by portraying a female character, for his 2003 performance as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Neil Patrick Harris won in 2014 for his performance as Hedwig, a transgender woman in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
• There have never been consecutive victories, and only four actors have managed, over the decades, to score consecutive nominations: Gregory Hines (1980/1981), George Hearn (1983/1984), Patrick Wilson (2001/2002) and Michael Cerveris (2006/2007).
• In 2009, David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish were jointly nominated for the award for their performances in Billy Elliot the Musical as the titular character. They won the award, marking the first time three actors have received it.
• The oldest performer to win in this category is Bert Lahr who was 68 when he won for Foxy in 1964. The youngest winner is Trent Kowalik who won for Billy Elliot at age 14. He shared the award with David Álvarez and Kiril Kulish – both 15 at the time.
• The role of The Leading Player in Pippin holds the distinction of winning in both Best Leading Actor and Leading Actress categories. Ben Vereen won in 1972, while Patina Miller won in the leading actress category for the 2013 revival.

References

External links

• Official website
• Tony Award, Actor in A Musical, at Internet Broadway Database