The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

s, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play. The awards are named after

Antoinette Perry Mary Antoinette "Tony" Perry (June 27, 1888June 28, 1946) was an American actress and director, and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. She is the eponym of the Tony Awards. Early life Born in Denver, Colorado, she spent her childhood aspi ...

, 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 The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include thea ...

and the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." Originally called the "Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic)",

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

first won the award at the inception of the ceremony for her portrayal of Regina Hubbard in

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

's ''

Another Part of the Forest ''Another Part of the Forest'' is a 1946 play by Lillian Hellman, a prequel to her 1939 drama ''The Little Foxes''. Plot synopsis Set in the fictional town of Bowden, Alabama, in June 1880, the plot focuses on the wealthy, ruthless, and innatel ...

''. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public: the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". The award was renamed in 1976, when

Shirley Knight Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and charac ...

became the first winner under the new title for her role as Carla in

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparked ...

's ''

Kennedy's Children ''Kennedy's Children'' is a 1973 play written by Robert Patrick. It originally opened on Broadway on November 3, 1975, and closed on January 4, 1976. Synopsis Five people in a dive bar in the Lower East Side all contemplate their life ten years a ...

''. Its most recent recipient is

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby S ...

, for the role of Faye, in ''

Skeleton Crew A skeleton crew is the minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item such as a business, organization, or ship at its most simple operating requirements. Skeleton crews are often utilized during an emergency and are meant to ...

''. Six actresses (

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She is a 15-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom ''Cybill'' ...

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and ''Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several films ...

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...

Swoosie Kurtz Swoosie Kurtz ( ; born September 6, 1944) is an American actress. She is the recipient of an Emmy Award and two Tony Awards. Kurtz made her Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''Ah, Wilderness''. She has received five Tony ...

, Audra McDonald, and Frances Sternhagen) hold the record for most awards in this category, each with a total of two. Portrayals of Ruth Younger in ''A Raisin in the Sun'' have won twice, for Audra McDonald and Sophie Okonedo. Supporting actresses in two of three plays in Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy (''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and ''Broadway Bound'') were nominated for the Tony, and featured actresses in six parts of August Wilson's August Wilson#The Pittsburgh Cycle, The Pittsburgh Cycle have also been nominated for the award.

Recipients

Patricia Neal in The Fountainhead trailer

Win total

;2 Wins *

* Audra McDonald * Frances Sternhagen

Nomination total

;5 Nominations * Frances Sternhagen ;4 Nominations * Dana Ivey ;3 Nominations * Elizabeth Franz * Eileen Heckart * Jayne Houdyshell *

* Celia Keenan-Bolger *

* Condola Rashād * Marian Seldes * Lois Smith * Zoë Wanamaker * Julie White ;2 Nominations * Jane Alexander * Rae Allen *

* Leora Dana * Viola Davis * Johanna Day * Linda Emond * Fionnula Flanagan * Alice Ghostley * Mary Beth Hurt * Zohra Lampert * Linda Lavin * Anna Manahan * Jan Maxwell * Audra McDonald * Laurie Metcalf * Debra Monk * Rosemary Murphy * Cynthia Nixon * Martha Plimpton * Amy Ryan * Carole Shelley * Maureen Stapleton * Margaret Tyzack

Character win total

;2 Wins * Ruth Younger from ''A Raisin in the Sun''

Character nomination total

;3 Nominations * Brooke Ashton from ''Noises Off'' * Honey from ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' ;2 Nominations * Bananas Shaughnessy from ''The House of Blue Leaves'' * Beneatha Younger from ''A Raisin in the Sun'' * Beverly from ''The Shadow Box'' * Big Mama Pollitt from ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' * Birdie Hubbard from ''The Little Foxes'' * Charlotte from ''The Real Thing'' * Hannah Pitt (and others) from ''Angels in America'' * Harper Pitt (and others) from ''Angels in America'' * Lady Gay Spanker from ''London Assurance'' * Lady in Red from ''For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf'' * Lavinia Penniman from ''The Heiress'' * Linda Loman from ''Death of a Salesman'' * Madge Kendal from ''The Elephant Man'' * Maria Merelli from ''Lend Me a Tenor'' * Marthy Owen from ''Anna Christie'' * Mavis Parodus Bryson from ''The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window'' * Ruth Younger from ''A Raisin in the Sun''

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.

Notes

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database Awards Archive

{{featured list Tony Awards Awards established in 1947 Theatre acting awards Awards for actresses