Lead Actor in a Play
From Jose Ferrer ("Cyrano de Bergerac") in 1947 to Denzel Washington ("Fences") in 2010, the Tony Awards have awarded excellence in Broadway theatre throughout the years.
Multiple winners of the Leading Actor in a Play Tony have included Brian Dennehy, Judd Hirsch, and James Earl Jones.
Lead Actor in a Play Tony Winners
| 2010 Denzel Washington ("Fences") | |
| Other Nominees: Jude Law (Hamlet); Alfred Molina (Red); Live Schreiber (A View From The Bridge); Christopher Walken (A Behanding In Spokane) | |
| 2009 Geoffrey Rush ("Exit The King") | |
| Other Nominees: Jeff Daniels (God Of Carnage); Raul Esparza (Speed-the-Plow); James Gandolfini (God Of Carnage); Thomas Sadoski (Reasons To Be Pretty) | |
| 2008 Mark Rylance ("Boeing-Boeing") |    |
| Other Nominees: Ben Daniels (Les Liaisons Dangereuses); Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood); Rufus Sewell (Rock 'n' Roll); Patrick Stewart (Macbeth) | |
| 2007 Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon") | |
| Other Nominees: Boyd Gaines (Journey's End); Brian F O'Byrne (The Coast of Utopia); Christopher Plummer (Inherit The Wind); Live Schreiber (Talk Radio) | |
| 2006 Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys") | |
| Other Nominees: Ralph Fiennes (Faith Healer); Zeljko Ivanek (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial); Oliver Platt (Shining City); David Wilmot (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) | |
| 2005 Bill Irwin ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") | |
| Other Nominees: Philip Bosco (Twelve Angry Men); Billy Crudup (The Pillowman); James Earl Jones (On Golden Pond); Brian F O'Byrne (Doubt) | |
| 2004 Jefferson Mays ("I Am My Own Wife") | |
| Other Nominees: Simon Russell Beale (Jumpers); Kevin Kline (Henry IV); Frank Langella (Match); Christopher Plummer (King Lear) | |
| 2003 Brian Dennehy ("Long Day's Journey Into Night") | |
| Other Nominees: Brian Bedford (Tartuffe); Eddie Izzard (A Day in the Life of Joe Egg); Paul Newman (Our Town); Stanley Tucci (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune) | |
| 2002 Alan Bates ("Fortune's Fool") | |
| Other Nominees: Billy Crudup (The Elephant Man); Liam Neeson (The Crucible); Alan Rickman (Private Lives); Jeffrey Wright (Topdog/Underdog) | |
| 2001 Richard Easton ("The Invention of Love") | |
| Other Nominees: Sean Campion (Stones in His Pockets); Conleth Hill (Stones In His Pockets); Brian Stokes Mitchell (King Hedley II); Gary Sinise (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) | |
| 2000 Stephen Dillane ("The Real Thing") | |
| Other Nominees: Gabriel Byrne (A Moon for the Misbegotten); Philip Seymour Hoffman (True West); John C Reilly (True West); David Suchet (Amadeus) | |
| 1999 Brian Dennehy ("Death Of A Salesman") | |
| Other Nominees: Brian F O'Byrne (The Lonesome West); Corin Redgrave (Not About Nightingales); Kevin Spacey (The Iceman Cometh) | |
| 1998 Anthony LaPaglia ("A View From The Bridge") |  |
| Other Nominees: Richard Briers (The Chairs); John Leguizamo (Freak); Alfred Molina (Art) | |
| 1997 Christopher Plummer ("Barrymore") | |
| Other Nominees: Brian Bedford (London Assurance); Michael Gambon (Skylight); Antony Sher (Stanley) | |
| 1996 George Grizzard ("A Delicate Balance") |  |
| Other Nominees: Philip Bosco (Moon Over Buffalo); George C Scott (Inherit the Wind); Martin Shaw (An Ideal Husband) | |
| 1995 Ralph Fiennes ("Hamlet") | |
| Other Nominees: Brian Bedford (The Moliere Comedies); Roger Rees (Indiscretions); Joe Sears (A Tuna Christmas) | |
| 1994 Stephen Spinella ("Angels In America: Perestroika") |  |
| Other Nominees: Brian Bedford (Timon of Athens); Christopher Plummer (No Man's Land); Sam Waterston (Abe Lincoln in Illinois) | |
| 1993 Ron Leibman ("Angels In America: Millennium Approaches") |  |
| Other Nominees: K Todd Freeman (The Song of Jacob Zulu); Liam Neeson (Anna Christie); Stephen Rea (Someone Who'll Watch Over Me) | |
| 1992 Judd Hirsch ("Conversations With My Father") | |
| Other Nominees: Alan Alda (Jake's Women); Alec Baldwin (A Streetcar Named Desire); Brian Bedford (Two Shakespearean Actors) | |
| 1991 Nigel Hawthorne ("Shadowlands") | |
| Other Nominees: Peter Frechette (Our Country's Good); Tom McGowan (La Bete); Courtney B Vance (Six Degrees of Separation) | |
| 1990 Robert Morse ("Tru") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles S Dutton (The Piano Lesson); Dustin Hoffman (The Merchant of Venice); Tom Hulce (A Few Good Men) | |
| 1989 Philip Bosco ("Lend Me A Tenor") | |
| Other Nominees: Mikhail Baryshnikov (Metamorphosis); Victor Garber (Lend Me a Tenor); Bill Irwin (Largely New York) | |
| 1988 Ron Silver ("Speed the Plow") | |
| Other Nominees: Derek Jacobi (Breaking the Code); John Lithgow (M Butterfly); Robert Prosky (A Walk in the Woods) | |
| 1987 James Earl Jones ("Fences") | |
| Other Nominees: Philip Bosco (You Can Never Tell); Richard Kiley (All My Sons); Alan Rickman (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) | |
| 1986 Judd Hirsch ("I'm Not Rappaport") | |
| Other Nominees: Hume Cronyn (The Petition); Ed Harris (Precious Sons); Jack Lemmon (Long Day's Journey Into Night) | |
| 1985 Derek Jacobi ("Much Ado About Nothing") | |
| Other Nominees: Jim Dale (Joe Egg); Jonathan Hogan (As Is); John Lithgow (Requiem for a Heavyweight) | |
| 1984 Jeremy Irons ("The Real Thing") | |
| Other Nominees: Calvin Levels (Open Admissions); Rex Harrison (Heartbreak House); Ian McKellen (Ian McKellen Acting Shakespeare) | |
| 1983 Harvey Fierstein ("Torch Song Trilogy") | |
| Other Nominees: Jeffrey DeMunn (K2); Edward Herrmann (Plenty); Tony Lo Bianco (A View From the Bridge) | |
| 1982 Roger Rees ("The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby") | |
| Other Nominees: Tom Courtenay (The Dresser); Milo O'Shea (Mass Appeal); Christopher Plummer (Othello) | |
| 1981 Ian McKellen ("Amadeus") |  |
| Other Nominees: Tim Curry (Amadeus); Roy Dotrice (A Life); Jack Weston (The Floating Light Bulb) | |
| 1980 John Rubinstein ("Children Of A Lesser God") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Brown (Home); Gerlad Hiken (Strider); Judd Hirsch (Talley's Folly) | |
| 1979 Tom Conti ("Who's Life Is It Anyway?") | |
| Other Nominees: Philip Anglim (The Elephant Man); Jack Lemmon (Tribute); Alec McCowen (St Mark's Gospel) | |
| 1978 Barnard Hughes ("Da") | |
| Other Nominees: Hume Cronyn (The Gin Game); Frank Langella (Dracula); Jason Robards (A Touch of the Poet) | |
| 1977 Al Pacino ("The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel") | |
| Other Nominees: Tom Courtenay (Otherwise Engaged); Ben Gazzara (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?); Ralph Richardson (No Man's Land) | |
| 1976 John Wood ("Travesties") | |
| Other Nominees: Moses Gunn (The Poison Tree); George C Scott (Death of a Salesman); Donald Sinden (Habeas Corpus) | |
| 1975 John Kani ("Sizwe Banzi is Dead") | |
| Other Nominees: James Dale (Scapino); Peter Firth (Equus); Henry Fonda (Clarence Darrow); Ben Gazzara (Hughie and Duet); John Wood (Sherlock Holmes) | |
| 1975 Winston Ntshona ("The Island") | |
| Other Nominees: James Dale (Scapino); Peter Firth (Equus); Henry Fonda (Clarence Darrow); Ben Gazzara (Hughie and Duet); John Wood (Sherlock Holmes) | |
| 1974 Michael Moriarty ("Find Your Way Home") | |
| Other Nominees: Zero Mostel (Ulysses in Nighttown); Jason Robards (A Moon for the Misbegotten); Geoge C Scott (Uncle Vanya); Nicol Williamson (Uncle Vanya) | |
| 1973 Alan Bates ("Butley") | |
| Other Nominees: The Sunshine Boys (Jack Albertson); Wilfrid Hyde White (The Jockey Club Stakes); Paul Sorvino (That Championship Season) | |
| 1972 Cliff Gorman ("Lenny") | |
| Other Nominees: Tom Aldredge (Sticks and Bones); Donald Pleasence (Wise Child); Jason Robards (The Country Girl) | |
| 1971 Brian Bedford ("The School for Wives") | |
| Other Nominees: John Gielgud (Home); Alec McGowen (The Philanthropist); Ralph Richardson (Home) | |
| 1970 Fritz Weaver ("Child's Play") | |
| Other Nominees: James Coco (Last of the Red Hot Lovers); Frank Grimes (Borstal Boy); Stacy Keach (Indians) | |
| 1969 James Earl Jones ("The Great White Hope") | |
| Other Nominees: Art Carney (Lovers); Alec McGowen (Hadrian VII); Donald Pleasence (The Man in the Glass Booth) | |
| 1968 Martin Balsam ("You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running") | |
| Other Nominees: Albert Finney (Joe Egg); Milo O'Shea (Staircase); Alan Webb (I Never Sang for My Father) | |
| 1967 Paul Rogers ("The Homecoming") | |
| Other Nominees: Hume Cronyn (A Delicate Balance); Donald Madden (Black Comedy); Donald Moffat (Right You Are and the Wild Duck) | |
| 1966 Hal Holbrook ("Mark Twain Tonight") | |
| Other Nominees: Roland Culber (Ivanov); Donal Donnelly (Philadelphia Here I Come); Patrick Bedford (Philadelphia Here I Come); Nicol Williamson (Inadmissable Evidence) | |
| 1965 Walter Matthau ("The Odd Couple") | |
| Other Nominees: John Gielgud (Tiny Alice); Donald Pleasence (Poor Bitos); Jason Robards (Hughie) | |
| 1964 Alec Guinness ("Dylan") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Burton (Hamlet); Albert Finney (Luther); Jason Robards (After the Fall) | |
| 1963 Arthur Hill ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?") | |
| Other Nominees: Charles Boyer (Lord Pengo); Paul Ford (Never Too Late); Bert Lahr (The Beauty Part) | |
| 1962 Paul Scofield ("A Man For All Seasons") |  |
| Other Nominees: Fredric March (Gideon); John Mills (Ross); Donald Pleasence (The Caretaker) | |
| 1961 Zero Mostel ("Rhinoceros") | |
| Other Nominees: Hume Cronyn (Big Fish Little Fish); Sam Levene (The Devil's Advocate); Anthony Quinn (Beckett) | |
| 1960 Melvyn Douglas ("The Best Man") | |
| Other Nominees: Lee Tracy (The Best Man); Jason Robards (Toys in the Attic); Sidney Poitier (A Raisin in the Sun); George C Scott (The Andersonville Trial) | |
| 1959 Jason Robards ("The Disenchanted") | |
| Other Nominees: Cedric Hardwicke (A Majority of One); Alfred Lunt (The Visit); Christopher Plummer (J.B.); Cyril Ritchard (The Pleasure of His Company); Robert Stephens (Epitaph for George Dillon) | |
| 1958 Ralph Bellamy ("Sunrise at Campobello") | |
| Other Nominees: Richard Burton (Time Remembered); Hugh Griffith (Look Homeward Angel); Laurence Olivier (The Entertainer); Anthony Perkins (Look Homeward Angel); Peter Ustinov (Romanoff and Juliet); Emlyn Williams (A Boy Growing Up) | |
| 1957 Fredric March ("Long Day's Journey Into Night") | |
| Other Nominees: Maurice Evans (The Apple Cart); Wilfred Hyde-White (The Reluctant Debutante); Eric Portman (Separate Table); Ralph Richardson (The Waltz of the Toreadors); Cyril Ritchard (A Visit To A Small Planet) | |
| 1956 Paul Muni ("Inherit the Wind") | |
| Other Nominees: Ben Gazzara (A Hatful of Rain); Boris Karloff (The Lark); Michael Redgrave (Tiger at the Gates); Edward G Robinson (Middle of the Night) | |
| 1955 Alfred Lunt ("Quadrille") | |
| 1954 David Wayne ("The Teahouse of the August Moon") | |
| 1953 Tom Ewell ("The Seven Year Itch") | |
| 1952 Jose Ferrer ("The Shrike") | |
| 1951 Claude Rains ("Darkness at Noon") | |
| 1950 Sidney Blackmer ("Come Back Little Sheba") | |
| 1949 Rex Harrison ("Anne Of The Thousand Days") | |
| 1948 Henry Fonda ("Mister Roberts") | |
| Other Nominees: Paul Kelly (Command Decision); Basil Rathbone (The Heiress) | |
| 1947 Jose Ferrer ("Cyrano de Bergerac") | |
| Other Nominees: Fredric March (Years Ago) | |
Every attempt is made to insure the accuracy of the above information, however accuracy is not guaranteed.
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