Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play
American theatre award for Broadway actresses
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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]
DescriptionBest Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
LocationUnited States New York City
Presented byAmerican Theatre Wing, The Broadway League
Currently held byLaurie Metcalf for Death of a Salesman (2026)
| Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
2026 recipient: Laurie Metcalf | |
| Description | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play |
| Location | United States New York City |
| Presented by | American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League |
| Currently held by | Laurie Metcalf for Death of a Salesman (2026) |
| Website | TonyAwards.com |
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 Laurie Metcalf, for the role of Linda Loman, in Death of a Salesman.
Eight actresses (Christine Baranski, Judith Ivey, Judith Light, Swoosie Kurtz, Audra McDonald, Laurie Metcalf, Frances Sternhagen, and Kara Young) hold the record for most awards in this category, each with two total. Portrayals of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, Mavis Parodus Bryson in The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, and Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman have won twice.
Winners and nominees
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1940s
| Year | Actor | Project | Role(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 (1st) | ||||
| Patricia Neal | Another Part of the Forest | Regina Hubbard | ||
| 1949 (3rd) | ||||
| Shirley Booth | Goodbye, My Fancy | Grace Woods | ||
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Most wins
- 2 wins
- Christine Baranski
- Judith Ivey
- Swoosie Kurtz
- Judith Light (consecutive)
- Laurie Metcalf
- Audra McDonald
- Frances Sternhagen
- Kara Young (consecutive)
Most nominations
|
|
Character win total
- 2 wins
- Linda Loman from Death of a Salesman
- Mavis Parodus Bryson from The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
- Ruth Younger from A Raisin in the Sun
Character nomination total
|
|
Productions with multiple featured nominations
boldface=Winner
- Separate Tables – Beryl Measor and Phyllis Neilson-Terry
- Butterflies Are Free – Blythe Danner and Eileen Heckart
- Absurd Person Singular – Geraldine Page and Carole Shelley
- The Shadow Box – Patricia Elliott and Rose Gregorio
- Bedroom Farce – Joan Hickson and Susan Littler
- Crimes of the Heart – Mia Dillon and Mary Beth Hurt
- Hurlyburly – Judith Ivey and Sigourney Weaver
- The House of Blue Leaves – Stockard Channing and Swoosie Kurtz
- Joe Turner's Come and Gone – Kimberleigh Aarn, L. Scott Caldwell and Kimberly Scott
- Our Country's Good – Amelia Campbell and J. Smith-Cameron
- Angels in America: Millennium Approaches – Kathleen Chalfant and Marcia Gay Harden
- Dancing at Lughnasa – Brid Brennan, Rosaleen Linehan and Dearbhla Molloy
- Picnic – Debra Monk and Anne Pitoniak
- Seven Guitars – Viola Davis and Michele Shay
- The Last Night of Ballyhoo – Dana Ivey and Celia Weston
- Morning's at Seven – Elizabeth Franz, Estelle Parsons and Frances Sternhagen
- Dinner at Eight – Christine Ebersole and Marian Seldes
- A Raisin in the Sun – Sanaa Lathan and Audra McDonald
- Doubt: A Parable – Heather Goldenhersh and Adriane Lenox
- The Coast of Utopia – Jennifer Ehle and Martha Plimpton
- The Norman Conquests – Jessica Hynes and Amanda Root
- A View from the Bridge – Jessica Hecht and Scarlett Johansson
- A Raisin in the Sun – Sophie Okonedo and Anika Noni Rose
- Noises Off – Megan Hilty and Andrea Martin
- A Doll's House, Part 2 – Jayne Houdyshell and Condola Rashad (Nominated the same year as Sweat)
- Sweat – Johanna Day and Michelle Wilson (Nominated the same year as A Doll's House, Part 2)
- Angels in America – Susan Brown and Denise Gough
- Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus - Kristine Nielsen and Julie White
- Slave Play – Chalia La Tour and Annie McNamara
- Clyde's – Uzo Aduba and Kara Young
- POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive – Rachel Dratch and Julie White (Both this and Clyde's were nominated the same year)
- Cost of Living – Katy Sullivan and Kara Young
- Stereophonic – Juliana Canfield and Sarah Pidgeon
- English – Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat
Multiple awards and nominations
- Actresses who have been nominated multiple times in any acting categories
Trivia
- Supporting actresses in two of three plays in Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound) were nominated for the Tony.
- Featured actresses in six parts of August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle have been nominated for the award.
- Featured actress Trazana Beverley in Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf is the first African American actor to receive the award.
- Kara Young was the first African-American actress to be nominated four consecutive times (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025).
- Kara Young was the first African-American actress win consecutive Tonys, and second to win consecutively for this award after Judith Light.
See also
- Dorian Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Broadway Play
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play
- Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
- Lists of acting awards
- List of awards for supporting actor
- Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play