Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Annual award for London theatre
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The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of the "world-class status of London theatre."[1][2] The Oliviers 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 Actor in a Supporting Role | |
|---|---|
2026 Recipient: Paapa Essiedu | |
| Awarded for | Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| Location | England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First award | 1977 |
| Currently held by | Paapa Essiedu for All My Sons (2026) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
This award was first given in 1977, then was replaced in 1985 by the commingled actor/actress Best Performance in a Supporting Role, which replaced the 1977 to 1984 pair of Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role awards. From 1991 to 2012, the general supporting category vacillated at random between the commingled singular award (presented for 12 different seasons) and the pair of awards (presented for the other 11 seasons); the commingled award was last given in 2012, and the split pair of Best Actor and Best Actress awards have been presented every year since.
Winners and nominees
1970s
| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | |||
| Nigel Hawthorne | Privates on Parade | Major Giles Flack | |
| Michael Pennington | Romeo and Juliet | Mercutio | |
| Paul Rogers | The Madras House | Henry Huxtable | |
| Patrick Ryecart | Candida | Eugene Marchbanks | |
| 1978 | |||
| Robert Eddison | Twelfth Night | Andrew Aguecheek / Feste | |
| Michael Bryant | The Double Dealer | Sir Paul Plyant | |
| Julian Glover | Coriolanus | Aufidius | |
| Robert Stephens | Brand | Mayor | |
| 1979 | |||
| Patrick Stewart | Antony and Cleopatra | Enobarbus | |
| Michael Bryant | Undiscovered Country | Dr. von Aigner | |
| Stephen Greif | Death of a Salesman | Biff | |
| David Suchet | Once in a Lifetime | Herman Glogauer |
1980s
| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | |||
| David Threlfall | Nicholas Nickleby | Angry Gentleman / Smike | |
| Simon Callow | Amadeus | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
| Edward Petherbridge | Nicholas Nickleby | Newman Noggs | |
| John Rogan | Juno and the Paycock | Joxer Daly | |
| 1981 | |||
| Joe Melia | Good | Maurice | |
| Tony Church | Hamlet | Polonius | |
| Norman Rodway | Shadow of a Gunman | Seuman Shields | |
| Tom Wilkinson | Hamlet | Horatio | |
| 1982 | |||
| David Healy | Guys and Dolls | Nicely Nicely Johnson | |
| Geoffrey Hutchings | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Bottom | |
| Stephen Moore | All's Well That Ends Well | Parolles | |
| Paul Rogers | The Importance of Being Earnest | Rev. Canon Chasuble | |
| 1983 | |||
| Alan Devlin | A Moon for the Misbegotten | Phil Hogan | |
| Ian McDiarmid | Tales from Hollywood | Bertolt Brecht | |
| Mark Rylance | Arden of Faversham | Michael | |
| Antony Sher | King Lear | Fool | |
| 1984 | |||
| Edward Petherbridge | Strange Interlude | Charles Marsden | |
| Ramolao Makhene | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Sam | |
| Richard O'Callaghan | Twelfth Night | Feste | |
| Timothy Spall | Saint Joan | Charles, the Dauphin |
1990s
2000s
| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | |||
| Roger Allam | Money | Henry Graves | |
| Michael Bryant | Summerfolk | Semyon Dvoetochie | |
| Ron Cook | Juno and the Paycock | Joxer Daly | |
| Michael Williams | The Forest | Arkadiy Schastlivtsev | |
| 2001 | |||
| Ben Daniels | All My Sons | Chris Keller | |
| Chiwetel Ejiofor | Blue/Orange | Christopher | |
| Douglas Hodge | The Caretaker | Aston | |
| Jason Watkins | A Servant to Two Masters | Truffaldino | |
| 2002 | |||
| Toby Jones | The Play What I Wrote | Arthur | |
| Desmond Barrit | Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 | Sir John Falstaff | |
| Ned Beatty | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Big Daddy | |
| Adam Godley | Mouth to Mouth | Gompertz | |
| Malcolm Sinclair | Privates on Parade | Major Giles Flack |
2010s
2020s
Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Awards
- 2 Wins
Nominations
- 3 Nominations
- 2 Nominations
See also
Notes
- Due to late March 2020[3] to late July 2021[4] 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[5]
- Fred Davis, Daisy Franks, Romina Hytten, Tom Larkin, Habib Nasib Nader, Tom Stacy and Scarlet Wilderink
- Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh and Kaine Lawrence