The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading 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 leading 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." The award was originally called the Tony Award for Actress—Play. It was first presented to Ingrid Bergman and Helen Hayes at the 1st Tony Awards for their portrayals of Mary Grey / Joan of Arc and Addie Bemis in Joan of Lorraine and Happy Birthday, respectively. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". There have been two ties and one three-way tie in this category. Julie Harris holds the record for having the most wins and nominations in this category, with a total of five wins from nine nominations. Medea in the play of the same name is the character to take the award the most times, winning three times.

Winners and nominees

{{legend|#B0C4DE|indicates the winner}}

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Statistics

Most wins

• ; 5 wins • Julie Harris • ; 3 wins • Zoe Caldwell • Jessica Tandy • ; 2 wins • Shirley Booth • Glenn Close • Uta Hagen • Helen Hayes • Cherry Jones • Margaret Leighton • Mary-Louise Parker • Irene Worth

Most nominations

• ; 9 nominations • Julie Harris • ; 8 nominations • Rosemary Harris • ; 7 nominations • Colleen Dewhurst • ; 6 Nominations • Jane Alexander • ; 5 nominations • Stockard Channing • Cherry Jones • Laura Linney • Mary-Louise Parker • ; 4 nominations • Eileen Atkins • Glenda Jackson • Linda Lavin • Margaret Leighton • Laurie Metcalf • Estelle Parsons • Maureen Stapleton • Jessica Tandy • Irene Worth • ; 3 nominations • Zoe Caldwell • Helen Hayes • Madeline Kahn • Audra McDonald • Janet McTeer • Helen Mirren • Kate Nelligan • Geraldine Page • Lynn Redgrave • Vanessa Redgrave • Diana Rigg • Maggie Smith • ; 2 nominations • Joan Allen • Nina Arianda • Elizabeth Ashley • Jayne Atkinson • Anne Bancroft • Barbara Bel Geddes • Eve Best • Shirley Booth • Kate Burton • Glenn Close • Gladys Cooper • Blythe Danner • Lindsay Duncan • Jennifer Ehle • Tovah Feldshuh • Uta Hagen • Swoosie Kurtz • Jessica Lange • Frances McDormand • Siobhán McKenna • Claudia McNeil • Amy Morton • Cynthia Nixon • Amanda Plummer • Phylicia Rashad • Mercedes Ruehl • Marian Seldes • Kim Stanley • Kathleen Turner • Liv Ullmann

Character win total

• ; 3 wins • Medea from Medea • ; 2 wins • Amanda Prynne from Private Lives • Annie from The Real Thing • Joan of Arc from Joan of Lorraine and The Lark • Mary Tyrone from Long Day's Journey into Night • Nora Helmer from A Doll's House and A Doll's House, Part 2

Character nomination total

• ; 5 nominations • Josie Hogan from A Moon for the Misbegotten • ; 4 nominations • Medea from Medea • Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? • Nora Helmer from A Doll's House and A Doll's House, Part 2 • ; 3 nominations • Amanda Prynne from Private Lives • Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing • Claire Zachanassian from The Visit • Joan of Arc from Joan of Lorraine, The Lark and Saint Joan • Lady Macbeth from Macbeth • Lena Younger from A Raisin in the Sun • Maggie Pollitt from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof • Mary Tyrone from Long Day's Journey into Night • ; 2 nominations • Amanda Wingfield from The Glass Menagerie • Anna Christopherson from Anna Christie • Annie from The Real Thing • Blanche DuBois from A Streetcar Named Desire • Claire from A Delicate Balance • Eleanor of Aquitaine from The Lion in Winter • Elizabeth I from Vivat! Vivat Regina! and Mary Stuart • Elizabeth Proctor from The Crucible • Emma from Betrayal • Emma 'Billie' Dawn from Born Yesterday • Fonsia Dorsey from The Gin Game • Golda Meir from Golda and Golda's Balcony • Heidi Holland from The Heidi Chronicles • Hesione Hushabye from Heartbreak House • Josephine from A Taste of Honey • Julie Cavendish from The Royal Family • Kyra Hollis from Skylight • Lola Delaney from Come Back, Little Sheba • Portia from The Merchant of Venice • Princess Cosmonopolis from Sweet Bird of Youth • Regina Giddens from The Little Foxes • Ruth from The Homecoming • Sarah Melody from A Touch of the Poet and More Stately Mansions • Sarah Norman from Children of a Lesser God • Sheila from A Day in the Death of Joe Egg • Sister Aloysius Beauvier from Doubt

Characters nominated for both the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play

• Joan of Arc from Goodtime Charley, Saint Joan, Joan of Lorraine and The Lark • Countess Aurelia from The Madwoman of Chaillot and Dear World • Sally Bowles from I Am a Camera and Cabaret • Leona Samish from The Time of the Cuckoo and Do I Hear a Waltz? • Dolly Gallagher Levi from The Matchmaker and Hello Dolly! • Lena Younger from A Raisin in the Sun and Raisin • Mame Dennis from Auntie Mame and Mame • Eliza Gant from Look Homeward, Angel and Angel • Claire Zachanassian The Visit (play) and The Visit (musical) • Sister Margaret Alexander from The Amen Corner and Amen Corner (musical) • Eliza Doolittle from Pygmalion and My Fair Lady • Lizzie Curry from The Rainmaker and 110 in the Shade. • Lily Garland / Mildred Plotka from Twentieth Century and On the Twentieth Century • Madame Arcati from Blithe Spirit and High Spirits • Anna Christopherson from Anna Christie and New Girl in Town

Productions with multiple nominations

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Multiple awards and nominations