Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play

The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor 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 actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. 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."

Originally called the Tony Award for Actor, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic), the award was first presented to Arthur Kennedy at the 3rd Tony Awards for his portrayal of Biff Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". In 1976, when the award's name changed to its current name, Edward Herrmann, portraying Frank Gardner in George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, won the award. Its most recent recipient is Jesse Tyler Ferguson for his performance in Take Me Out.

Frank Langella holds the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of two; he is the only person to win the award more than once. Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross, Phil Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten, and Mason Marzac in Take Me Out are the only characters to take the award multiple times, all winning twice. A supporting actor in each of Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy plays (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and Broadway Bound) has taken the Tony, whereas featured actors in both parts of Tony Kushner's Angels in America series have also won the award.

Recipients

1959 award winner Charlie Ruggles

1967 award winner Ian Holm

Frank Langella, the only person to win the award multiple times

File:Joe Mantegna, 2009.jpg

1984 award winner Joe Mantegna

1992 award winner Laurence Fishburne

File:Ruben Santiago Hudson Shankbone NYC 2010.jpg

1996 award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson

File:Denis O'Hare at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival 2.jpg

2003 award winner Denis O'Hare

2011 award winner John Benjamin Hickey

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play recipients

Year	Actor	Role	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1949	Arthur Kennedy	Biff Loman	Death of a Salesman	—
1950	—	—	—	—
1951	Eli Wallach	Alvaro Mangiacavallo	The Rose Tattoo	—
1952	John Cromwell	John Gray	Point of No Return	—
1953	John Williams	Inspector Hubbard	Dial M for Murder	—
1954	John Kerr	Tom Robinson Lee	Tea and Sympathy	—
1955	Francis L. Sullivan	Sir Wilfrid Robats, Q.C.	Witness for the Prosecution	—
1956	Ed Begley	Matthew Harrison Brady	Inherit the Wind	Anthony Franciosa in A Hatful of Rain as Polo Pope Andy Griffith in No Time for Sergeants as Will Stockdale Anthony Quayle in Tamburlaine the Great as Tamburlaine Fritz Weaver in The Chalk Garden as Maitland
1957	Frank Conroy	Father William Callifer	The Potting Shed	Eddie Mayehoff in A Visit to a Small Planet as General Tom Powers William Podmore in Separate Tables as Mr. Fowler Jason Robards in Long Day's Journey into Night as James Tyrone, Jr.
1958	Henry Jones	Louis McHenry Howe	Sunrise At Campobello	Sig Arno in Time Remembered as Ferdinand Theodore Bikel in The Rope Dancers as Dr. Jacobson Pat Hingle in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs as Rubin Flood George Relph in The Entertainer as Billy Rice
1959	Charlie Ruggles	Mackenzie Savage	The Pleasure of His Company	Marc Connelly in Tall Story as Professor Charles Osman George Grizzard in The Disenchanted as Shep Stearns Walter Matthau in Once More, with Feeling as Maxwell Archer Robert Morse in Say, Darling as Ted Snow George C. Scott in Comes a Day as Tydings Glenn
1960	Roddy McDowall	Tarquin Edward Mendigales	The Fighting Cock	Warren Beatty in A Loss of Roses as Kenny Harry Guardino in One More River as Pompey Rip Torn in Sweet Bird of Youth as Tom Junior Lawrence Winters in The Long Dream as Tyree Tucker
1961	Martin Gabel	Basil Smythe	Big Fish, Little Fish	Philip Bosco in The Rape of the Belt as Heracles Eduardo Ciannelli in The Devil's Advocate as Aurelio George Grizzard in Big Fish, Little Fish as Ronnie Johnson
1962	Walter Matthau	Benjamin Beaurevers	A Shot in the Dark	Godfrey Cambridge in Purlie Victorious as Gitlow Judson Joseph Campanella in A Gift of Time as Daniel Stein Paul Sparer in Ross as Auda Abu Tayi
1963	Alan Arkin	David Kolowitz	Enter Laughing	Barry Gordon in A Thousand Clowns as Nick Burns Paul Rogers in Photo Finish as Reginald Kinsale, Esq. Frank Silvera in The Lady of the Carnellias as M. Duval
1964	Hume Cronyn	Polonius	Hamlet	Lee Allen in Marathon '33 as Patsy Michael Dunn in The Ballad of the Sad Café as Cousin Lyman Larry Gates in A Case of Libel as Boyd Bendix
1965	Jack Albertson	John Cleary	The Subject Was Roses	Murray Hamilton in Absence of a Cello as Otis Clifton Martin Sheen in The Subject Was Roses as Timmy Cleary Clarence Williams III in Slow Dance on the Killing Ground as Randall
1966	Patrick Magee	Marquis de Sade	Marat/Sade	Burt Brinckerhoff in Cactus Flower as Igor Larry Haines in Generation as Stan Herman Eamon Kelly in Philadelphia, Here I Come! as S. B. O'Donnell
1967	Ian Holm	Lenny	The Homecoming	Clayton Corzatte in The School for Scandal as Charles Surface Stephen Elliott in Marat/Sade as Mr. Coulmier Sydney Walker in The Wild Duck as Lt. Ekdal
1968	James Patterson	Stanley	The Birthday Party	Paul Hecht in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead as The Player Brian Murray in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead as Rosencrantz John Wood in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead as Guildenstern
1969	Al Pacino	Bickham	Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?	Richard S. Castellano in Lovers and Other Strangers as Frank Tony Roberts in Play It Again, Sam as Dick Christie Louis Zorich in Hadrian VII as Cardinal Ragna
1970	Ken Howard	Paul Reese	Child's Play	Joseph Bova in The Chinese and Dr. Fish as Mr. Lee Dennis King in A Patriot for Me as Baron von Epp
1971	Paul Sand	Multiple	Paul Sills' Story Theatre	Ronald Radd in Abelard and Heloise as Gilies de Vannes Donald Pickering in Conduct Unbecoming as Capt. Rupert Harper Ed Zimmermann in The Philanthropist as Donald
1972	Vincent Gardenia	Harry Edison	The Prisoner of Second Avenue	Douglas Rain in Vivat! Vivat Regina! as William Cecil Lee Richardson in Vivat! Vivat! Regina! as Lord Bothwell Joe Silver in Lenny as Various Characters
1973	John Lithgow	Kenny Kendal	The Changing Room	Barnard Hughes in Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry John McMartin in Don Juan as Sganarelle Hayward Morse in Butley as Joseph Keyston
1974	Ed Flanders	Phil Hogan	A Moon for the Misbegotten	René Auberjonois in The Good Doctor as Performer Douglas Turner Ward in The River Niger as Johnny Williams Dick Anthony Williams in What the Wine-Sellers Buy as Rico
1975	Frank Langella	Leslie	Seascape	Larry Blyden in Absurd Person Singular as Sidney Leonard Frey in The National Health as Barnet Philip Locke in Sherlock Holmes as Professor Moriarty George Rose in My Fat Friend as Henry Dick Anthony Williams in Black Picture Show as Alexander
1976	Edward Herrmann	Frank Gardner	Mrs. Warren's Profession	Barry Bostwick in They Knew What They Wanted as Joe Gabriel Dell in Lamppost Reunion as Fred Santora Daniel Seltzer in Knock Knock as Cohn
1977	Jonathan Pryce	Gethin Price	Comedians	Bob Dishy in Sly Fox as Abner Truckle Joe Fields in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel as First Sergeant Tower Laurence Luckinbill in The Shadow Box as Brian
1978	Lester Rawlins	Drumm	Da	Morgan Freeman in The Mighty Gents as Zeke Victor Garber in Deathtrap as Clifford Anderson Cliff Gorman in Chapter Two as Leo Schneider
1979	Michael Gough	Ernest	Bedroom Farce	Bob Balaban in The Inspector General as Óssip Joseph Maher in Spokesong as The Trick Cyclist Edward James Olmos in Zoot Suit as El Pachuco
1980	David Rounds	Homer Bolton	Morning's at Seven	David Dukes in Bent as Horst George Hearn in Watch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller Earle Hyman in The Lady from Dubuque as Oscar Joseph Maher in Night and Day as Geoffrey Carson
1981	Brian Backer	Paul Pollack	The Floating Light Bulb	Tom Aldredge in The Little Foxes as Horace Giddens Adam Redfield in A Life as Desmond Shepperd Strudwick in To Grandmother's House We Go as Jared
1982	Zakes Mokae	Sam	Master Harold...and the Boys	Richard Kavanaugh in The Hothouse as Gibbs Edward Petherbridge in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as Newman Noggs David Threlfall in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as Smike
1983	Matthew Broderick	Eugene Jerome	Brighton Beach Memoirs	Željko Ivanek in Brighton Beach Memoirs as Stanley Jerome George N. Martin in Plenty as Leonard Darwin Stephen Moore in All's Well That Ends Well as Captain Parolles
1984	Joe Mantegna	Richard Roma	Glengarry Glen Ross	Philip Bosco in Heartbreak House as Boss Mangan Robert Prosky in Glengarry Glen Ross as Shelly Levene Douglas Seale in Noises Off as Selsdon Mowbray
1985	Barry Miller	Arnold Epstein	Biloxi Blues	Charles S. Dutton in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Levee William Hurt in Hurlyburly as Eddie Edward Petherbridge in Strange Interlude as Charles Marsden
1986	John Mahoney	Artie Shaughnessy	The House of Blue Leaves	Peter Gallagher in Long Day's Journey into Night as Edmund Tyrone Charles Keating in Loot as McLeavy Joseph Maher in Loot as Truscott
1987	John Randolph	Ben	Broadway Bound	Frankie R. Faison in Fences as Gabriel Maxson Jamey Sheridan in All My Sons as Chris Keller Courtney B. Vance in Fences as Cory Maxson
1988	BD Wong	Song Liling	M. Butterfly	Michael Gough in Breaking the Code as Dillwyn Knox Lou Liberatore in Burn This as Larry Delroy Lindo in Joe Turner's Come and Gone as Herald Loomis
1989	Boyd Gaines	Peter Patrone	The Heidi Chronicles	Peter Frechette in Eastern Standard as Drew Eric Stoltz in Our Town as George Gibbs Gordon Joseph Weiss in Ghetto as The Dummy
1990	Charles Durning	Big Daddy	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Rocky Carroll in The Piano Lesson as Lymon Terry Kinney in The Grapes of Wrath as Jim Casy Gary Sinise in The Grapes of Wrath as Tom Joad
1991	Kevin Spacey	"Uncle" Louie	Lost in Yonkers	Adam Arkin in I Hate Hamlet as Gary Peter Lefkowitz Dylan Baker in La Bête as Prince County Stephen Lang in The Speed of Darkness as Lou
1992	Laurence Fishburne	Sterling	Two Trains Running	Roscoe Lee Browne in Two Trains Running as Holloway Željko Ivanek in Two Shakespearean Actors as John Ryder Tony Shalhoub in Conversations with My Father as Charlie
1993	Stephen Spinella	Prior Walter, et al.	Angels in America: Millennium Approaches	Robert Sean Leonard in Candida as Eugene Marchbanks Joe Mantello in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches as Louis Ironson Zakes Mokae in The Song of Jacob Zulu as Rev. Zulu/Mr. X, Itshe
1994	Jeffrey Wright	Multiple characters	Angels in America: Perestroika	Larry Bryggman in Picnic as Howard Bevans David Marshall Grant in Angels in America: Perestroika as Joe Pitt/Various Characters Gregory Itzin in The Kentucky Cycle as Various Characters	—
1995	John Glover	John and James Jeckyll	Love! Valour! Compassion!	Stephen Bogardus in Love! Valour! Compassion! as Gregory Mitchell Anthony Heald in Love! Valour! Compassion! as Perry Sellars Jude Law in Indiscretions as Michael
1996	Ruben Santiago-Hudson	Canewell	Seven Guitars	James Gammon in Buried Child as Dodge Roger Robinson in Seven Guitars as Hedley Reg Rogers in Holiday as Ned Seton
1997	Owen Teale	Torvald Helmer	A Doll's House	Terry Beaver in The Last Night of Ballyhoo as Adolph Brian Murray in The Little Foxes as Oscar Biff McGuire in The Young Man From Atlanta as Pete Davenport
1998	Tom Murphy	Ray Dooley	The Beauty Queen of Leenane	Brían F. O'Byrne in The Beauty Queen of Leenane as Pato Dooley Sam Trammell in Ah, Wilderness! as Richard Miller Max Wright in Ivanov as Pavel Lebedev
1999	Frank Wood	Gene	Side Man	Kevin Anderson in Death of a Salesman as Biff Finbar Lynch in Not About Nightingales as Jim Allison Howard Witt in Death of a Salesman as Charley
2000	Roy Dotrice	Phil Hogan	A Moon for the Misbegotten	Kevin Chamberlin in Dirty Blonde as Various Characters Daniel Davis in Wrong Mountain as Maurice Montesor Derek Smith in The Green Bird as Tartaglia Bob Stillman in Dirty Blonde as Various Characters
2001	Robert Sean Leonard	A. E. Housman, from ages 18 to 26	The Invention of Love	Charles Brown in King Hedley II as Elmore Larry Bryggman in Proof as Robert Michael Hayden in Judgment at Nuremberg as Oscar Rolfe Ben Shenkman in Proof as Hal
2002	Frank Langella	Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatchov	Fortune's Fool	Brian Murray in The Crucible as Deputy-Governor Danforth William Biff McGuire in Morning's at Seven as Theodore Swanson Sam Robards in The Man Who Had All the Luck as Gustav Eberson Stephen Tobolowsky in Morning's at Seven as Homer Bolton
2003	Denis O'Hare	Mason Marzac	Take Me Out	Thomas Jefferson Byrd in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Toledo Philip Seymour Hoffman in Long Day's Journey into Night as Jamie Robert Sean Leonard in Long Day's Journey into Night as Edmund Daniel Sunjata in Take Me Out as Darren Lemming
2004	Brían F. O'Byrne	Ralph	Frozen	Tom Aldredge in Twentieth Century as Matthew Clark Ben Chaplin in The Retreat from Moscow as Jamie Aidan Gillen in The Caretaker as Mick Omar Metwally in Sixteen Wounded as Mahmoud
2005	Liev Schreiber	Richard Roma	Glengarry Glen Ross	Alan Alda in Glengarry Glen Ross as Shelly Levene Gordon Clapp in Glengarry Glen Ross as Moss David Harbour in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Nick Michael Stuhlbarg in The Pillowman as Michal
2006	Ian McDiarmid	Teddy	Faith Healer	Samuel Barnett in The History Boys as Posner Domhnall Gleeson in The Lieutenant of Inishmore as Davey Mark Ruffalo in Awake and Sing! as Moe Axelrod Pablo Schreiber in Awake and Sing! as Ralph Berger
2007	Billy Crudup	Vissarion Belinsky	The Coast of Utopia	Anthony Chisholm in Radio Golf as Elder Joseph Barlow Ethan Hawke in The Coast of Utopia as Michael Bakunin John Earl Jelks in Radio Golf as Sterling Johnson Stark Sands in Journey's End as Lieut. Raleigh
2008	Jim Norton	Richard Harkin	The Seafarer	Bobby Cannavale in Mauritius as Dennis Raúl Esparza in The Homecoming as Lenny Conleth Hill in The Seafarer as Ivan Curry David Pittu in Is He Dead? as Various Characters
2009	Roger Robinson	Bynum Walker	Joe Turner's Come and Gone	John Glover in Waiting for Godot as Lucky Zach Grenier in 33 Variations as Beethoven Stephen Mangan in The Norman Conquests as Norman Paul Ritter in The Norman Conquests as Reg
2010	Eddie Redmayne	Ken	Red	David Alan Grier in Race as Henry Brown Stephen Henderson in Fences as Jim Bono Jon Michael Hill in Superior Donuts as Franco Stephen Kunken in ENRON as Andy Fastow
2011	John Benjamin Hickey	Felix Turner	The Normal Heart	Mackenzie Crook in Jerusalem as Ginger Billy Crudup in Arcadia as Bernard Nightingale Arian Moayed in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo as Musa Yul Vázquez in The Motherfucker With the Hat as Cousin Julio
2012	Christian Borle	Black Stache	Peter and the Starcatcher	Michael Cumpsty in End of the Rainbow as Anthony Tom Edden in One Man, Two Guvnors as Alfie Andrew Garfield in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman as Biff Loman Jeremy Shamos in Clybourne Park as Karl/Steve
2013	Courtney B. Vance	Hap Hairston	Lucky Guy	Danny Burstein in Golden Boy as Tokio Richard Kind in The Big Knife as Marcus Hoff Billy Magnussen in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike as Spike Tony Shalhoub in Golden Boy as Mr. Bonaparte
2014	Mark Rylance	Countess Olivia	Twelfth Night	Reed Birney in Casa Valentina as Charlotte Paul Chahidi in Twelfth Night as Maria Stephen Fry in Twelfth Night as Malvolio Brian J. Smith in The Glass Menagerie as Jim O'Connor
2015	Richard McCabe	Harold Wilson	The Audience	Matthew Beard in Skylight as Edward Sergeant K. Todd Freeman in Airline Highway as Sissy Na Na Alessandro Nivola in The Elephant Man as Frederick Treves Nathaniel Parker in Wolf Hall Parts One & Two as Henry VIII Micah Stock in It's Only a Play as Gus P. Head
2016	Reed Birney	Erik Blake	The Humans	Bill Camp in The Crucible as Reverend John Hale David Furr in Noises Off as Gary Lejeune Richard Goulding in King Charles III as Prince Harry Michael Shannon in Long Day's Journey into Night as James Tyrone, Jr.
2017	Michael Aronov	Uri Savir	Oslo	Danny DeVito in The Price as Gregory Solomon Nathan Lane in The Front Page as Walter Burns Richard Thomas in The Little Foxes as Horace Giddens John Douglas Thompson in Jitney as Jim Becker
2018	Nathan Lane	Roy Cohn, et al.	Angels in America	Anthony Boyle in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as Scorpius Malfoy Michael Cera in Lobby Hero as Jeff Brian Tyree Henry in Lobby Hero as William David Morse in The Iceman Cometh as Larry Slade
2019	Bertie Carvel	Rupert Murdoch	Ink	Robin de Jesús in The Boys in the Band as Emory Gideon Glick in To Kill a Mockingbird as Dill Harris Brandon Uranowitz in Burn This as Larry Benjamin Walker in All My Sons as Chris Keller
2020	David Alan Grier	Sergeant Vernon C. Waters	A Soldier's Play	Ato Blankson-Wood in Slave Play as Gary James Cusati-Moyer in Slave Play as Dustin John Benjamin Hickey in The Inheritance as Henry Wilcox Paul Hilton in The Inheritance as Walter Poole/Morgan
2021 Ceremony not held	N/A
2022	Jesse Tyler Ferguson	Mason Marzac	Take Me Out	Alfie Allen – Hangmen as Mooney Chuck Cooper – Trouble in Mind as Sheldon Forrester Ron Cephas Jones – Clyde's as Montrellous Michael Oberholtzer – Take Me Out as Shane Mungitt Jesse Williams – Take Me Out as Darren Lemming

Wins total

2 Wins

• Frank Langella

Nominations total

3 Nominations

• Robert Sean Leonard
• Joseph Maher
• Brian Murray

2 Nominations

• Tom Aldredge
• Reed Birney
• Philip Bosco
• Larry Bryggman
• Billy Crudup
• John Glover
• Michael Gough
• David Alan Grier
• George Grizzard
• John Benjamin Hickey
• Željko Ivanek
• Nathan Lane
• Frank Langella
• Walter Matthau
• Biff McGuire
• Zakes Mokae
• Brían F. O'Byrne
• Edward Petherbridge
• Roger Robinson
• Tony Shalhoub
• Courtney B. Vance
• Dick Anthony Williams

Character win total

2 Wins

• Phil Hogan from A Moon for the Misbegotten
• Richard Roma from Glengarry Glen Ross
• Mason Marzac from Take Me Out

Character nomination total

3 Nominations

• Biff Loman from Death of a Salesman
• James Tyrone, Jr. from Long Day's Journey into Night

2 Nominations

• Chris Keller from All My Sons
• Darren Lemming from Take Me Out
• Edmund Tyrone from Long Day's Journey into Night
• Homer Bolton from Morning's at Seven
• Horace Giddens from The Little Foxes
• Larry from Burn This
• Lenny from The Homecoming
• Mason Marzac from Take Me Out
• Phil Hogan from A Moon for the Misbegotten
• Shelley Levene from Glengarry Glen Ross
• Richard Roma from Glengarry Glen Ross

Trivia

• A supporting actor in each of Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound) has taken the Tony.
• Featured actors in both parts of the original production and in the 2018 revival of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes series have won the award.
• Matthew Broderick currently holds the record for the youngest person to ever receive this award, at the age of 21 years old.
• Roy Dotrice currently holds the record for the oldest person to ever receive this award, at the age of 77 years old.

See also

• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
• Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical

External links

• Official Tony Awards website