Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
| Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play |
| Location | United States New York City |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Jayne Houdyshell for The Humans (2016) |
| Official website | TonyAwards.com |
The Best Performance by a Featured Actress 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 actresses for quality supporting 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] Originally called the Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic), it was later changed to its current title in 1976. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public. The change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".[2][3]
Winners and nominees
1940s
| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 1st Tony Awards | |||
| Patricia Neal | Another Part of the Forest | Regina Hubbard | |
| 1948 2nd Tony Awards |
N/A | ||
| 1949 3rd Tony Awards | |||
| Shirley Booth | Goodbye, My Fancy | Grace Woods | |
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Win total
- 2 Wins
- Christine Baranski
- Judith Ivey
- Swoosie Kurtz
- Judith Light (consecutive)
- Audra McDonald
- Frances Sternhagen
Nomination total
|
|
Character win total
- 2 Wins
- Ruth Younger from A Raisin in the Sun
Character nomination total
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Trivia
- Supporting actresses in two of three plays in Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound) were nominated for the Tony.
- Featured actresses in six parts of August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle have been nominated for the award.
References
- ↑ Kirkley, Donald (April 21, 1968). "Operation Frenzy Before the Tony Awards". The Baltimore Sun. p. T2. Retrieved December 24, 2011. (subscription required)
- ↑ Simons, Linda Keir (1994). The Performing Arts: a Guide to the Reference Literature. ABC-CLIO. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-87287-982-9.
- ↑ Gelb, Arthur (April 1, 1956). "Popularizing the Tony Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2011. (subscription required)
External links