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The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play is awarded to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a play, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been announced since 1947, but the nominees who did not win have only been announced since 1956.

• 1947 Ingrid Bergman. Joan of Lorraine and Helen Hayes. Happy Birthday (tie)

• 1948 Judith Anderson. Medea and Katharine Cornell. Antony and Cleopatra and Jessica Tandy. A Streetcar Named Desire (tie)

• 1949 Martita Hunt. The Madwoman of Chaillot

• 1950 Shirley Booth. Come Back, Little Sheba

• 1951 Uta Hagen. The Country Girl

• 1952 Julie Harris. I Am a Camera

• 1953 Shirley Booth. Time of the Cuckoo

• 1954 Audrey Hepburn. Ondine

• 1955 Nancy Kelly. The Bad Seed

• 1956 Julie Harris. The Lark
  • Barbara Bel Geddes Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Gladys Cooper. The Chalk Garden
  • Ruth Gordon. The Matchmaker
  • Siobhán McKenna. The Chalk Garden
  • Susan Strasberg. The Diary of Anne Frank

• 1957 Margaret Leighton. Separate Tables
  • Florence Eldridge. Long Day's Journey Into Night
  • Rosalind Russell. Auntie Mame
  • Sybil Thorndike. The Potting Shed

• 1958 Helen Hayes. Time Remembered
  • Wendy Hiller. A Moon For the Misbegotten
  • Eugenie Leontovich. The Cave Dwellers
  • Siobhán McKenna. The Rope Dancers
  • Mary Ure. Look Back in Anger
  • Jo Van Fleet. Look Homeward Angel

• 1959 Gertrude Berg. A Majority of One
  • Claudette Colbert. The Marriage-Go-Round
  • Lynn Fontanne. The Visit
  • Kim Stanley. A Touch of the Poet
  • Maureen Stapleton. The Cold Wind and the Warm

• 1960 Anne Bancroft. The Miracle Worker
  • Margaret Leighton. Much Ado About Nothing
  • Claudia McNeil. A Raisin in the Sun
  • Geraldine Page. Sweet Bird of Youth
  • Maureen Stapleton. Toys in the Attic
  • Irene Worth. Toys in the Attic

• 1961 Joan Plowright. A Taste of Honey
  • Tallulah Bankhead Midgie Purvis
  • Barbara Baxley. Period of Adjustment
  • Barbara Bel Geddes. Mary, Mary

• 1962 Margaret Leighton. The Night of the Iguana
  • Gladys Cooper. A Passage to India
  • Colleen Dewhurst. Great Day in the Morning
  • Kim Stanley. A Far Country

• 1963 Uta Hagen. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Hermione Baddeley. The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore
  • Margaret Leighton. Tchin-Tchin
  • Claudia McNeil. Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

• 1964 Sandy Dennis. Any Wednesday
  • Elizabeth Ashley. Barefoot in the Park
  • Colleen Dewhurst. The Ballad of the Sad Café
  • Julie Harris. Marathon '33

• 1965 Irene Worth. Tiny Alice
  • Marjorie Rhodes. All in Good Time
  • Beah Richards. The Amen Corner
  • Diana Sands. The Owl and the Pussycat

• 1966 Rosemary Harris. The Lion in Winter
  • Sheila Hancock. Entertaining Mr. Sloan
  • Kate Reid. Slapstick Tragedy
  • Lee Remick. Wait Until Dark

• 1967 Beryl Reid. The Killing of Sister George
  • Eileen Atkins. The Killing of Sister George
  • Vivien Merchant. The Homecoming
  • Rosemary Murphy. A Delicate Balance

• 1968 Zoe Caldwell. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  • Colleen Dewhurst. More Stately Mansions
  • Maureen Stapleton. Plaza Suite
  • Dorothy Tutin. Portrait of a Queen

• 1969 Julie Harris. Forty Carats
  • Estelle Parsons. Seven Descents of Myrtle
  • Charlotte Rea. Morning, Noon and Night'
  • Brenda Vaccaro. The Goodbye People

• 1970 Tammy Grimes. Private Lives
  • Geraldine Brooks. Brightower
  • Helen Hayes. Harvey

• 1971 Maureen Stapleton. The Gingerbread Lady
  • Estelle Parsons And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
  • Diana Rigg. Abelard and Heloise
  • Marian Seldes. Father's Day

• 1972 Sada Thompson. Twigs
  • Eileen Atkins. Vivat! Vivat! Regina!
  • Colleen Dewhurst. All Over
  • Rosemary Harris. Old Times

• 1973 Julie Harris. The Last of Mrs. Lincoln
  • Jane Alexander. 6 Rms Riv Vu
  • Colleen Dewhurst. Mourning Becomes Electra
  • Kathleen Widdoes. Much Ado About Nothing

• 1974 Colleen Dewhurst. A Moon for the Misbegotten
  • Jane Alexander. Find Your Way Home
  • Julie Harris. The Au Pair Man
  • Madeline Kahn. Boom Boom Room
  • Rachel Roberts. (performances with the New Phoenix Repertory Company)

• 1975 Ellen Burstyn. Same Time, Next Year
  • Elizabeth Ashley. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Diana Rigg. The Misanthrope
  • Maggie Smith. Private Lives
  • Liv Ullmann. A Doll's House

• 1976 Irene Worth. Sweet Bird of Youth
  • Tovah Feldshuh. Yentl
  • Rosemary Harris. The Royal Family
  • Lynn Redgrave. Mrs. Warren's Profession

• 1977 Julie Harris. The Belle of Amherst
  • Colleen Dewhurst. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  • Liv Ullmann. Anna Christie
  • Irene Worth. The Cherry Orchard

• 1978 Jessica Tandy. The Gin Game
  • Anne Bancroft. Golda
  • Anita Gillette. Chapter Two
  • Estelle Parsons. Miss Margarida's Way

• 1979 (tie) - Constance Cummings Wings and Carole Shelley The Elephant Man
  • Jane Alexander. First Monday in October
  • Frances Sternhagen. On Golden Pond

• 1980 Phyllis Frelich. Children of a Lesser God
  • Blythe Danner. Betrayal
  • Maggie Smith. Night and Day
  • Anne Twomey. Nuts

• 1981 Jane Lapotaire. Piaf
  • Glenda Jackson. Rose
  • Eva Le Gallienne. To Grandmother's House We Go
  • Elizabeth Taylor. The Little Foxes

• 1982 Zoe Caldwell. Medea
  • Katharine Hepburn. The West Side Waltz
  • Geraldine Page. Agnes of God
  • Amanda Plummer. A Taste of Honey

• 1983 Jessica Tandy. Foxfire
  • Kathy Bates. 'Night, Mother
  • Kate Nelligan. Plenty
  • Anne Pitoniak. 'Night, Mother

• 1984 Glenn Close. The Real Thing
  • Rosemary Harris. Heartbreak House
  • Linda Hunt. End of the World
  • Kate Nelligan. A Moon for the Misbegotten

• 1985 Stockard Channing. A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
  • Sinead Cusack. Much Ado About Nothing
  • Rosemary Harris. Pack of Lies
  • Glenda Jackson. Strange Interlude

• 1986 Lily Tomlin. The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
  • Rosemary Harris. Hay Fever
  • Mary Beth Hurt. Benefactors
  • Jessica Tandy. The Petition

• 1987 Linda Lavin. Broadway Bound
  • Lindsay Duncan. Les Liaisons Dangereuses
  • Geraldine Page. Blithe Spirit
  • Amanda Plummer. Pygmalion

• 1988 Joan Allen. Burn This
  • Blythe Danner. A Streetcar Named Desire
  • Glenda Jackson. Macbeth
  • Frances McDormand. A Streetcar Named Desire

• 1989 Pauline Collins. Shirley Valentine
  • Joan Allen. The Heidi Chronicles
  • Madeline Kahn. Born Yesterday
  • Kate Nelligan. Spoils of War

• 1990 Maggie Smith. Lettice and Lovage
  • Geraldine James. The Merchant of Venice
  • Mary-Louise Parker. Prelude to a Kiss
  • Kathleen Turner. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

• 1991 Mercedes Ruehl. Lost in Yonkers
  • Stockard Channing. Six Degrees of Separation
  • Julie Harris. Lucifer's Child
  • Cherry Jones. Our Country's Good

• 1992 Glenn Close. Death and the Maiden
  • Jane Alexander. The Visit
  • Stockard Channing. Four Baboons Adoring the Sun
  • Judith Ivey. Park Your Car in Harvard Yard

• 1993 Madeline Kahn. The Sisters Rosensweig
  • Jane Alexander. The Sisters Rosensweig
  • Lynn Redgrave. Shakespeare for my Father
  • Natasha Richardson. Anna Christie

• 1994 Diana Rigg. Medea
  • Nancy Marchand. Black Comedy
  • Joan Rivers. Sally Marr and Her Escorts
  • Anna Deavere Smith. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

• 1995 Cherry Jones. The Heiress
  • Mary Alice. Having Our Say
  • Eileen Atkins. Indiscretions
  • Helen Mirren. A Month in the Country

• 1996 Zoe Caldwell. Master Class
  • Carol Burnett. Moon Over Buffalo
  • Rosemary Harris. A Delicate Balance
  • Elaine Stritch. A Delicate Balance

• 1997 Janet McTeer. A Doll's House
  • Julie Harris. The Gin Game
  • Shirley Knight. The Young Man From Atlanta
  • Lia Williams. Skylight

• 1998 Marie Mullen, The Beauty Queen of Leenane
  • Jane Alexander, Honour
  • Allison Janney, A View From the Bridge
  • Geraldine McEwan, The Chairs

• 1999 Judi Dench, Amy's View
  • Stockard Channing, The Lion in Winter
  • Marian Seldes, Ring Round the Moon
  • Zoe Wanamaker, Electra

• 2000 Jennifer Ehle, The Real Thing
  • Jayne Atkinson, The Rainmaker
  • Rosemary Harris, Waiting in the Wings
  • Cherry Jones, A Moon for the Misbegotten
  • Claudia Shear, Dirty Blonde

• 2001 Mary-Louise Parker, Proof
  • Juliette Binoche, Betrayal
  • Linda Lavin, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
  • Jean Smart, The Man Who Came to Dinner
  • Leslie Uggams, King Hedley II

• 2002 Lindsay Duncan, Private Lives
  • Kate Burton, Hedda Gabler
  • Laura Linney, The Crucible
  • Helen Mirren, Dance of Death
  • Mercedes Ruehl, The Goat or Who is Sylvia

• 2003 Vanessa Redgrave, Long Day's Journey Into Night
  • Jayne Atkinson, Enchanted April
  • Victoria Hamilton, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
  • Clare Higgins, Vincent in Brixton
  • Fiona Shaw, Medea

• 2004 Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun
  • Eileen Atkins, The Retreat From Moscow
  • Tovah Feldshuh, Golda's Balcony
  • Anne Heche, Twentieth Century
  • Swoosie Kurtz, Frozen

• 2005 Cherry Jones, Doubt
  • Laura Linney, Sight Unseen
  • Mary-Louise Parker, Reckless
  • Phylicia Rashad, Gem of the Ocean
  • Kathleen Turner, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

• 2006 Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole
  • Kate Burton. The Constant Wife
  • Judy Kaye. Souvenir
  • Lisa Kron. Well
  • Lynn Redgrave. The Constant Wife

5 Wins

• Julie Harris
  • 1952 I Am a Camera
  • 1956 The Lark
  • 1969 Forty Carats
  • 1973 The Last of Mrs. Lincoln
  • 1977 The Belle of Amherst

3 Wins

• Zoe Caldwell
  • 1968 The Prime of Miss Jean Brody
  • 1982 Medea
  • 1996 Master Class

• Jessica Tandy
  • 1948 A Street Car Named Desire (tied with Judith Anderson, Medea, and Katharine Cornell, Antony and Cleopatra)
  • 1978 The Gin Game
  • 1983 Foxfire

2 Wins

• Shirley Booth
  • 1950 Come Back, Little Sheba
  • 1953 Time of the Cuckoo

• Glenn Close
  • 1984 The Real Thing
  • 1992 Death and The Maiden

• Uta Hagen
  • 1951 The Country Girl
  • 1963 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

• Helen Hayes
  • 1947 Happy Birthday (tied with Ingrid Bergman, Joan of Lorraine)
  • 1958 Time Remembered

• Cherry Jones
  • 1995 The Heiress
  • 2005 Doubt

• Margaret Leighton
  • 1957 Separate Tables
  • 1962 The Night of the Iguana

9 Nominations

Julie Harris

1952 I Am a Camera (won)

1956 The Lark (won)

1964 Marathon '33

1969 Forty Carats (won)

1973 The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (won)

1974 The Au Pair Man

1977 The Belle of Amherst (won)

1991 Lucifer's Child

1997 The Gin Game

8 Nominations

Rosemary Harris

1966 The Lion in Winter (won)

1972 Old Times

1976 The Royal Family

1984 Heartbreak House

1985 Pack of Lies

1986 Hay Fever

1996 A Delicate Balance

2000 Waiting in the Wings

7 Nominations

Colleen Dewhurst

1962 Great Day in the Morning

1964 The Ballad of the Sad Café

1968 More Stately Mansions

1972 All Over

1973 Mourning Becomes Electra

1974 A Moon for the Misbegotten (won)

1977 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

6 Nominations

Jane Alexander

1973 6 Rms Riv Vu

1974 Find Your Way Home

1979 First Monday in October

1992 The Visit

1993 The Sisters Rosensweig

1998 Honour

4 Nominations

Eileen Atkins

1967 The Killing of Sister George

1972 Vivat! Vivat! Regina!

1995 Indiscretions

2004 The Retreat From Moscow

Stockard Channing

1985 Joe Egg (won)

1991 Six Degrees of Separation

1992 Four Baboons Adoring the Sun

1999 The Lion in Winter

Cherry Jones

1991 Our Country's Good

1995 The Heiress (won)

2000 A Moon for the Misbegotten

2005 Doubt (won)

Margaret Leighton

1957 Separate Tables (won)

1960 Much Ado About Nothing

1962 The Night of the Iguana (won)

1963 Tchin-Tchin

Maureen Stapleton

1959 The Cold Wind and the Warm

1960 Toys in the Attic

1968 Plaza Suite

1971 The Gingerbread Lady (won)

Jessica Tandy

1948 A Streetcar Named Desire (won)

1978 The Gin Game (won)

1983 Foxfire (won)

1986 The Petition

Irene Worth

1960 Toys in the Attic

1965 Tiny Alice (won)

1976 Sweet Bird of Youth

1977 The Cherry Orchard

3 Nominations

Zoe Caldwell

1968 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (won)

1982 Medea (won)

1996 Master Class (won)

Helen Hayes

1947 Happy Birthday (won)

1958 Time Remembered (won)

1970 Harvey

Glenda Jackson

1981 Rose

1985 Strange Interlude

1988 Macbeth

Madeline Kahn

1974 Boom Boom Room

1989 Born Yesterday

1993 The Sisters Rosensweig (won)

Kate Nelligan

1983 Plenty

1984 A Moon for the Misbegotten

1989 Spoils of War

Geraldine Page

1960 Sweet Bird of Youth

1982 Agnes of God

1987 Blithe Spirit

Mary-Louise Parker

1990 Prelude to a Kiss

2001 Proof (won)

2005 Reckless

Estelle Parsons

1969 Seven Descents of Myrtle

1971 And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little

1978 Miss Margarida's Way

Lynn Redgrave

1976 Mrs. Warren's Profession

1993 Shakespeare for my Father

2006 The Constant Wife

Diana Rigg

1971 Abelard and Heloise

1975 The Misanthrope

1994 Medea (won)

Maggie Smith

1975 Private Lives

1980 Night and Day

1990 Lettice and Lovage (won)

2 Nominations

Joan Allen

1988 Burn This (won)

1989 The Heidi Chronicles

Elizabeth Ashley

1964 Barefoot in the Park

1975 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Jayne Atkinson

2000 The Rainmaker

2003 Enchanted April

Anne Bancroft

1960 The Miracle Worker (won)

1978 Golda

Barbara Bel Geddes

1956 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1961 Mary, Mary

Shirley Booth

1950 Come Back, Little Sheba (won)

1953 Time of the Cuckoo (won)

Glenn Close

1984 The Real Thing (won)

1992 Death and the Maiden (won)

Blythe Danner

1980 Betrayal

1988 A Streetcar Named Desire

Lindsay Duncan

1987 Les Liaisons Dangereuses

2002 Private Lives (won)

Tovah Feldshuh

1976 Yentl

2004 Golda's Balcony

Uta Hagen

1951 The Country Girl (won)

1963 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (won)

Linda Lavin

1987 Broadway Bound (won)

2001 The Tale of the Allergist's Wife

Laura Linney

2002 The Crucible

2005 Sight Unseen

Siobhán McKenna

1956 The Chalk Garden

1958 The Rope Dancers

Claudia McNeil

1960 A Raisin in the Sun

1963 Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

Helen Mirren

1995 A Month in the Country

2002 Dance of Death

Amanda Plummer

1982 A Taste of Honey

1987 Pygmalion

Phylicia Rashad

2004 A Raisin in the Sun (won)

2005 Gem of the Ocean

Mercedes Ruehl

1991 Lost in Yonkers (won)

2002 The Goat or Who is Sylvia

Marian Seldes

1971 Father's Day

1999 Ring Round the Moon

Kim Stanley

1959 A Touch of the Poet

1962 A Far Country

Kathleen Turner

1990 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2005 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Liv Ullmann

1975 A Doll's House

1977 Anna Christie

There have only been three ties in the history of this category:

1947 Between Ingrid Bergman, Joan of Lorraine, and Helen Hayes, Happy Birthday ;

1948 A triple tie: Judith Anderson, Medea, Katharine Cornell, Antony and Cleopatra, and Jessica Tandy, A Streetcar Named Desire ;

1979 Constance Cummings, Wings, and Carole Shelley, The Elephant Man.

The female lead role in Medea, commonly regarded as the greatest theatric role for a female actor, has collected most wins in Tony Awards history in this category:

1948 Judith Anderson

1982 Zoe Caldwell

1994 Diana Rigg

Additionally, one last nomination was announced to Fiona Shaw in 2003.

The female lead role in Private Lives, is the only other role with multiple wins in this category:

1970 Tammy Grimes

2002 Lindsay Duncan

Additionally, Maggie Smith was nominated for the same role in 1975.

Julie Harris reigns supreme in the category with 5 wins among 9 nominations. Closest in nominations are Rosemary Harris (8) and Colleen Dewhurst (7). Each of them has won only once, though.

Jane Alexander has been nominated 6 times, but has never won. She's the category greatest "loser". Other multiple nominees who have never won are Eileen Atkins (4), Glenda Jackson (3), Kate Nelligan (3), Geraldine Page (3), Estelle Parsons (3) and Lynn Redgrave (3).

There has never been a consecutive winner in this category. There have been, though, some consecutive nominations. Rosemary Harris and Colleen Dewhurst hold the record with 3 consecutive nominations (1984-1985-1986 and 1972-1973-1974, respectively).

Colleen Dewhurst also holds the record for most nominations in a single decade. She was nominated four times in the 70's, three times consecutively (1972-1973-1974) and once more in 1977. She won in 1974, for her performance in A Moon for the Misbegotten.

Three other actresses were nominated for their performances in A Moon for the Misbegotten: Wendy Hiller (1958), Kate Nelligan (1984) and Cherry Jones (2000). None of them won.