| Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play | |
| Description: | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play |
| Presenter: | American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League |
| Location: | United States New York City |
| Holder: | Kara Young for Purlie Victorious (A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch) |
| Website: | TonyAwards.com |
The Tony Award for Best 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]
The award was originally called the Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic). Patricia Neal won the first such award for her portrayal of Regina Hubbard in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public:[2] the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers".[3] The award was renamed in 1976, when Shirley Knight became the first winner under the new title for her role as Carla in Robert Patrick's Kennedy's Children. Its most recent recipient is Miriam Silverman for the role of Mavis Parodus Bryson, in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window.
Six actresses (Christine Baranski, Judith Ivey, Judith Light, Swoosie Kurtz, Audra McDonald, and Frances Sternhagen) hold the record for most awards in this category, each with two total. Portrayals of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun and Mavis Parodus Bryson in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window have won twice.
| Year | Actress | Play | Role(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | ||||
| Patricia Neal | Another Part of the Forest | Regina Hubbard | ||
| 1948 | Not awarded | |||
| 1949 | ||||
| Shirley Booth | Goodbye, My Fancy | Grace Woods | ||
| Year | Actress | Play | Role(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | ||||
| Anne Revere | Toys in the Attic | Anna Berniers | [8] | |
| Leora Dana | The Best Man | Alice Russell | ||
| Jane Fonda | There Was a Little Girl | Toni Newton | ||
| Sarah Marshall | Goodbye Charlie | Rusty Mayerling | ||
| Juliet Mills | Five Finger Exercise | Pamela Harrington | ||
| 1961 | ||||
| Colleen Dewhurst | All the Way Home | Mary Follet | [9] | |
| Eileen Heckart | Invitation to a March | DeeDee Grogan | ||
| Tresa Hughes | The Devil's Advocate | Nina Sanduzzi | ||
| Rosemary Murphy | Period of Adjustment | Dorothea Bates | ||
| 1962 | ||||
| Elizabeth Ashley | Take Her, She's Mine | Mollie Michaelson | [10] | |
| Zohra Lampert | Look: We've Come Through | Jennifer Lewison | ||
| Janet Margolin | Daughter of Silence | Anna Albertini | ||
| Pat Stanley | Sunday in New York | Eileen Taylor | ||
| 1963 | ||||
| Sandy Dennis | A Thousand Clowns | Sandra Markowitz | [11] | |
| Melinda Dillon | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Honey | ||
| Alice Ghostley | The Beauty Part | Various Characters | ||
| Zohra Lampert | Mother Courage and Her Children | Kattrin | ||
| 1964 | ||||
| Barbara Loden | After the Fall | Maggie | [12] | |
| Rosemary Murphy | Any Wednesday | Dorothea Cleves | ||
| Kate Reid | Dylan | Caitlin Thomas | ||
| Diana Sands | Blues for Mister Charlie | Juanita | ||
| 1965 | ||||
| Alice Ghostley | The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window | Mavis Parodus Bryson | [13] | |
| Rae Allen | Traveller Without Luggage | Juliette | ||
| Alexandra Berlin | All in Good Time | Violet Fitton | ||
| Carolan Daniels | Slow Dance on the Killing Ground | Rosie | ||
| 1966 | ||||
| Zoe Caldwell | Slapstick Tragedy | Polly | [14] | |
| Glenda Jackson | Marat/Sade | Charlotte Corday | ||
| Mairin D. O'Sullivan | Philadelphia, Here I Come! | Madge Mulhern | ||
| Brenda Vaccaro | Cactus Flower | Toni Simmons | ||
| 1967 | ||||
| Marian Seldes | A Delicate Balance | Julia | [15] | |
| Camila Ashland | Black Comedy | Miss Furnival | ||
| Brenda Forbes | The Loves of Cass McGuire | Trilbe Costello | ||
| Maria Tucci | The Rose Tattoo | Rose Dell Rose | ||
| 1968 | ||||
| Zena Walker | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Sheila | [16] | |
| Pert Kelton | Spofford | Mrs. Punck | ||
| Ruth White | The Birthday Party | Meg | ||
| Eleanor D. "Siddy" Wilson | The Weekend | Mrs. Andrews | ||
| 1969 | ||||
| Jane Alexander | The Great White Hope | Eleanor Bachman | [17] | |
| Diane Keaton | Play It Again, Sam | Linda Christie | ||
| Lauren Jones | Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? | Linda | ||
| Anna Manahan | Lovers | Hanna Wilson |
| Year | Actress | Play | Role(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ||||
| Lois Smith | The Inheritance | Margaret | [68] | |
| Jane Alexander | Grand Horizons | Nancy | ||
| Chalia La Tour | Slave Play | Teá | ||
| Annie McNamara | Alana | |||
| Cora Vander Broek | Linda Vista | Jules | ||
| 2021 | No ceremony | |||
| 2022 | ||||
| Phylicia Rashad | Skeleton Crew | Faye | [69] | |
| Uzo Aduba | Clyde's | Clyde | ||
| Rachel Dratch | Stephanie | |||
| Kenita R. Miller | For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf | Lady in Red | ||
| Julie White | Harriet | |||
| Kara Young | Clyde's | Letitia | ||
| 2023 | ||||
| Miriam Silverman | The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window | Mavis Parodus Bryson | [70] | |
| Nikki Crawford | Fat Ham | Tedra | ||
| Crystal Lucas-Perry | Ain't No Mo' | Passenger #5 | ||
| Katy Sullivan | Cost of Living | Ani | ||
| Kara Young | Jessie | |||
| 2024 | ||||
| Kara Young | Purlie Victorious | Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins | [71] | |
| Quincy Tyler Bernstine | Doubt | Mrs. Muller | ||
| Juliana Canfield | Stereophonic | Holly | ||
| Celia Keenan-Bolger | Mother Play | Martha | ||
| Sarah Pidgeon | Stereophonic | Diana | ||
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