Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

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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 announced since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been announced since 1956.

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  • 1985 - Due to a lack of successful musicals, there were no actors nominated in this category in 1985





















2 Wins

4 Nominations


3 Nominations


2 Nominations


  • There has never been a tie in the history of this category.


  • The lead role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum can be considered a lucky charm. Throughout the decades, three different actors who have embodied the character and all three of them have won the Tony Awards as Best Actor in a Musical:
    • 1963 – Zero Mostel;
    • 1972 – Phil Silvers;
    • 1996 – Nathan Lane;

Also, each of these actors has won the Tony twice in this category (Zero Mostel in 1963/1965, Phil Silvers in 1952/1972 and Nathan Lane in 1996/2001). In 1989, Jason Alexander won the Tony Award in this category by portraying several characters in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, amongst them, the role of Pseudolus.


  • The only other male role with multiple wins is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, with 2 victories:
    • 1962 – Robert Morse;
    • 1995 – Matthew Broderick.


  • In addition, two actors have won in this category for their performances in “My Fair Lady”. However, they embodied different characters:
    • 1957 – Rex Harrison, playing Henry Higgins;
    • 1976 – George Rose, playing Alfred P. Doolitle.

Ian Richardson, who played Henry Higgins in 1976, was also nominated in the same category.


  • The lead role with most nominations is Tevye, in “The Fiddler on the Roof”. Four actors have been nominated for their portrayals of the sympathetic patriarch, but only one of them was victorious:
    • 1965 – Zero Mostel (winner);
    • 1982 – Herschel Bernardi;
    • 1991 – Topol;
    • 2004 – Alfred Molina.

Also, in 1989, Jason Alexander won the Tony Award in this category by portraying several characters in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, amongst them, the role of Tevye.


  • Harvey Fierstein is the only actor to win an award in this category by portraying a female character. In 2003, he won the Tony for his performance as Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray”.


  • John Cullum and Raúl Juliá share the record for most nominations (4). However, while the first has been victorious twice, the latter has never won. No actor has ever won more than twice and eight actors have achieved that feat, as displayed in the sections above.


  • Juliá also shares the record for most nominations in a single decade, this time with Len Cariou. Both of them were nominated thrice in 1970’s: the first, in 1972, 1975 and 1977; the latter, in 1970, 1973 and 1979. Cariou won in 1979.


  • There have never been consecutive victories in this category 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). Hearn was victorious in 1984, and Hines won, over 10 years after his consecutive nominations, in 1992, for his performance in “Jellys’s Last Jam”.


  • With 4 nominations and no victories, Raúl Juliá is the category’s greatest “loser”.
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