The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical 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 featured roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. 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 Best Performance in a Musical. It was first presented to David Wayne at the 1st Tony Awards for his portrayal of Og in Finian's Rainbow. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". Following the first ceremony, this category was not awarded until 1950 when it was renamed to Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured or Supporting Role in a Musical. It was renamed again to its current title in 1976. Hinton Battle holds the record for having the most wins in this category, with a total of three. No characters have taken the award multiple times, but Herbie in Gypsy and Herr Schultz in Cabaret are the most nominated, with four each.

Winners and nominees

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1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Statistics

Most wins

Most nominations

• ; 4 nominations • Danny Burstein • ; 3 nominations • René Auberjonois • Roger Bart • Hinton Battle • Michael Cerveris • André De Shields • Brandon Victor Dixon • Gregg Edelman • Christopher Fitzgerald • Marc Kudisch • Scott Wise • ; 2 nominations • Bruce Adler • Tom Aldredge • Gary Beach • Joel Blum • Christian Borle • David Burns • Norbert Leo Butz • Jack Cassidy • Robin de Jesús • Boyd Gaines • David Alan Grier • Harry Groener • Ron Holgate • George S. Irving • Michael McGrath • John McMartin • Russell Nype • Brad Oscar • Gilbert Price • Charles Nelson Reilly • Michael Rupert • Hiram Sherman • Christopher Sieber • Brandon Uranowitz • Edward Winter • Samuel E. Wright

Character nomination total

• ; 4 nominations • Herbie from Gypsy • Herr Schultz from Cabaret • ; 2 nominations • Alfred P. Doolittle from My Fair Lady • Bruce Granit from On the Twentieth Century • Cinderella's Prince / The Wolf from Into the Woods • Cornelius Hackl from Hello, Dolly! • Eddie Ryan from Funny Girl • H.C. Curry from 110 in the Shade • Hysterium from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum • Jim from Big River • John Jasper / Mr. Clive Paget from The Mystery of Edwin Drood • Juan Perón from Evita • Judas Iscariot from Jesus Christ Superstar • Lord Evelyn Oakleigh from Anything Goes • Luther Billis from South Pacific • Og from Finian's Rainbow • Oscar from Sweet Charity • Senex from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum • Sporting Life from Porgy and Bess

Productions with multiple nominations

boldface=winner • My Fair Lady – Robert Coote and Stanley Holloway • The Music Man – David Burns and Iggie Wolfington • Fiorello! – Tom Bosley and Howard da Silva • The Sound of Music – Theodore Bikel and Kurt Kasznar • Bye Bye Birdie – Dick Gautier and Dick Van Dyke • A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum – David Burns and Jack Gilford • Cabaret – Joel Grey and Edward Winter • 1776 – William Daniels (refused nomination) and Ronald Holgate • Promises, Promises – Larry Haines and Edward Winter • Coco – René Auberjonois and George Rose • A Chorus Line – Robert LuPone and Sammy Williams • Side by Side by Sondheim – David Kernan and Ned Sherrin • Working – Steven Boockvor and Rex Everhart • Evita – Bob Gunton and Mandy Patinkin • Dreamgirls – Obba Babatundé and Cleavant Derricks • Cats – Harry Groener and Stephen Hanan • The Tap Dance Kid – Hinton Battle and Samuel E. Wright • Big River – René Auberjonois, Daniel H. Jenkins and Ron Richardson • The Mystery of Edwin Drood – John Herrera and Howard McGillin • Me and My Girl – George S. Irving and Timothy Jerome • Anything Goes – Anthony Heald and Bill McCutcheon • Black and Blue – Bunny Briggs and Savion Glover • Miss Saigon – Hinton Battle and Willy Falk • The Who's Tommy – Michael Cerveris and Paul Kandel • Show Boat – Michel Bell and Joel Blum • The Life – Chuck Cooper and Sam Harris • Fosse – Desmond Richardson and Scott Wise • Kiss Me, Kate – Michael Berresse, Michael Mulheren and Lee Wilkof • The Full Monty – John Ellison Conlee and André DeShields • The Producers – Roger Bart, Gary Beach and Brad Oscar • Hairspray – Dick Latessa and Corey Reynolds • Movin' Out – Michael Cavanaugh and Keith Roberts • Assassins – Michael Cerveris and Denis O'Hare • Monty Python's Spamalot – Michael McGrath and Christopher Sieber • Billy Elliot the Musical – David Bologna and Gregory Jbara • The Scottsboro Boys – Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon • The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess – Phillip Boykin and David Alan Grier • An American in Paris – Brandon Uranowitz and Max von Essen • Something Rotten! – Christian Borle and Brad Oscar • Hamilton – Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff and Christopher Jackson • Falsettos – Andrew Rannells and Brandon Uranowitz • Ain't Too Proud – Jeremy Pope and Ephraim Sykes • Hadestown – André De Shields and Patrick Page • Moulin Rouge! – Danny Burstein and Sahr Ngaujah • Jagged Little Pill – Derek Klena and Sean Allan Krill • Paradise Square – Sidney DuPont and A.J. Shively • Shucked – Kevin Cahoon and Alex Newell • The Outsiders – Joshua Boone and Sky Lakota-Lynch

Multiple awards and nominations

Other statistics