Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
Annual award for London theatre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of the "world-class status of London theatre."[1][2] The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
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England| Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress | |
|---|---|
2026 Recipient: Rosamund Pike | |
| Awarded for | Best Actress in a Play |
| Location | England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1985 |
| Currently held by | Rosamund Pike for Inter Alia (2026) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
This award was introduced in 1985, as Actress of the Year, then retitled to its current name for the 1993 ceremony. Prior to this award, from 1976 to 1984 (and again in 1988), there was a pair of awards given each year for this general category, one for Actress of the Year in a New Play and the other for Actress of the Year in a Revival.
Winners and nominees
- Winners gallery
Juliet Stevenson won for Death and the Maiden (1992)
Janet McTeer won for A Doll's House (1997)
Julie Walters won for All My Sons (2001)
Kristin Scott Thomas won for The Seagull (2008)
Tamsin Greig won for Much Ado About Nothing (2009)
Rachel Weisz won for A Streetcar Named Desire (2010)
Ruth Wilson won for Anna Christie (2012)
Helen Mirren won for The Audience (2013)
Lesley Manville Ghosts (2014), Oedipus (2025)
Penelope Wilton won for Taken at Midnight (2015)
Sharon D. Clarke won for Death of a Salesman (2020)
Jodie Comer won for Prima Facie (2023)
Sarah Snook won for The Portrait of Dorian Gray (2024)
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1980s
| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985[4] | |||
| Yvonne Bryceland [4] | The Road to Mecca | Miss Helen | |
| Wendy Morgan[4] | Martine | Martine | |
| Harriet Walter[4] | The Castle | Skinner | |
| Joanne Whalley[4] | Saved | Pam | |
| 1986[5] | |||
| Lindsay Duncan [5] | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Marquise de Merteuil | |
| Julia McKenzie[5] | Woman in Mind | Susan | |
| Juliet Stevenson[5] | As You Like It, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Troilus and Cressida | Rosalind / Madame de Tourvel / Cressida | |
| Irene Worth[5] | The Bay at Nice | Valentina Nrovka | |
| 1987 [6] | |||
| Judi Dench [6] | Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | |
| Miranda Richardson[6] | A Lie of the Mind | Beth | |
| Maggie Smith[6] | Lettice and Lovage and Coming in to Land | Lettice Douffet / Halina | |
| Juliet Stevenson[6] | Yerma | Yerma | |
| 1989/90 | |||
| Fiona Shaw | Electra, As You Like It and The Good Person of Szechwan | Electra / Celia / Shen Te | |
| Sheila Hancock | Prin | Prin | |
| Jane Lapotaire | Shadowlands | Joy | |
| Prunella Scales | Single Spies | Elizabeth II |
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
- Due to late March 2020[7] to late July 2021[8] closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022[9]
Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actress
Awards
- Three Awards
- Two Awards
Nominations
- Six Nominations
- Five Nominations
- Four Nominations
- Three Nominations
- Two Nominations