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Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor

British theatrical award

Summary

British theatrical award

Field	Value
name	Laurence Olivier Award
for Best Actor
awarded_for	Best Actor in a Play
presenter	Society of London Theatre
location
year	1985
holder	John Lithgow for Giant (2025)
image	John Lithgow at Met Opera Opening in 2008.jpg
caption	The 2025 Recipient: John Lithgow
website

for Best Actor

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in professional London theatre. 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.

This award was introduced in 1985, as Actor 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 Actor of the Year in a New Play and the other for Actor of the Year in a Revival.

Winners and nominees

[[Sir Michael Gambon]] received 11 nominations in this category winning for ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'' (1988)

Cyrano de Bergerac]]'' (1983), and ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' (2009)

[[Ian Holm]] won this award for ''[[King Lear]]'' (1998)

[[Kevin Spacey]] won for his role in the play ''[[The Iceman Cometh]]'' (1999)

[[Simon Russell Beale]] won this award for ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'' (2003)

[[Richard Griffiths]] won for his role in ''[[The History Boys]]'' (2005)

[[Brian Dennehy]] won for ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' (2006)

[[Chiwetel Ejiofor]] won for ''[[Othello]]'' (2008)

[[Jonny Lee Miller]] won with Cumberbatch for ''Frankenstein'' (2012)

[[Rory Kinnear]] won for ''Othello'' (2014)

[[Mark Strong]] won for ''A View from the Bridge'' (2015)

Andrew Scott]] won for ''[[Present Laughter]]'' (2020)

[[Paul Mescal]] won for ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'' (2023)

[[Mark Gatiss]] won for ''[[The Motive and the Cue]]'' (2024)

1980s

Year	Actor	Play
Antony Sher	Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy	Richard III of England / Arnold Beckoff
Alun Armstrong	The Crucible and The Winter's Tale	John Proctor / Leontes
Kenneth Branagh	Henry V	Henry V of England
Anthony Hopkins	Pravda	Lambert Le Roux
Albert Finney	Orphans	Harold
Derek Jacobi	Breaking the Code	Alan Turing
Ian McKellen	The Cherry Orchard	Lopakhin
Martin Sheen	The Normal Heart	Ned Weeks
Michael Gambon	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone
Tokusaburo Arashi	Medea	Medea
Hugh Quarshie	The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Great White Hope and The Rover	Arcite / Jack Jefferson / Belville
Nicholas Woodeson	Sarcophagus and Flight	Bessmertny / Mike Levine
Oliver Ford Davies	Racing Demon	The Rev. Lionel Espy
Nigel Hawthorne	Shadowlands	Lewis
Ian McKellen	Othello and Bent	Iago / Max
Michael Pennington	The Wars of the Roses	Various Characters

1990s

Year	Actor	Play
Ian McKellen	Richard III	Richard III of England
Richard Harris	Henry IV	Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
John Malkovich	Burn This	Pale
Warren Mitchell	The Homecoming	Max
Nigel Hawthorne	The Madness of George III	George III
Marcus D'Amico	Angels in America	Louis Ironson
Robert Lindsay	Becket	Henry II of England
Ian McKellen	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya
Robert Stephens	Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2	Falstaff
Kenneth Cranham	An Inspector Calls	Inspector Goole
Paul Eddington	No Man's Land	Spooner
Paul Scofield	Heartbreak House	Captain Shotover
Mark Rylance	Much Ado About Nothing	Benedick
Henry Goodman	Hysteria	Sigmund Freud
Patrick Stewart	A Christmas Carol	Various Characters
David Suchet	Oleanna	John
David Bamber	My Night with Reg	Guy
James Bolam	Glengarry Glen Ross	Shelly Levene
Adrian Lester	As You Like It	Rosalind
Bob Peck	Rutherford and Son	John Rutherford
Alex Jennings	Peer Gynt	Peer Gynt
Michael Gambon	Skylight	Tom Sergeant
Daniel Massey	Taking Sides	Wilhelm Furtwängler
Donal McCann	The Steward of Christendom	Thomas Dunne
Antony Sher	Stanley	Stanley Spencer
Paul Scofield	John Gabriel Borkman	John Gabriel Borkman
Ken Stott	Art	Yvan
David Suchet	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	George
Ian Holm	King Lear	King Lear
Simon Russell Beale	Othello	Iago
Michael Gambon	Tom & Clem	Tom Driberg
Rupert Graves	Hurlyburly	Eddie
John Wood	The Invention of Love	A. E. Housman
Kevin Spacey	The Iceman Cometh	Theodore "Hickey" Hickman
Michael Gambon	The Unexpected Man	Parsky
Iain Glen	The Blue Room	Various Characters
Jim Norton	The Weir	Jack
David Suchet	Amadeus	Salieri

2000s

Year	Actor	Play
Henry Goodman	The Merchant of Venice	Shylock
Roger Allam	Summerfolk	Bassov
Stephen Dillane	The Real Thing	Henry
Michael Sheen	Look Back in Anger	Jimmy Porter
Antony Sher	The Winter's Tale	Leontes
Conleth Hill	Stones in His Pockets	Charlie Conlon
Simon Russell Beale	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
Sean Campion	Stones in His Pockets	Jake Quinn
Michael Gambon	The Caretaker	Davies
Bill Nighy	Blue/Orange	Professor Smith
Roger Allam	Privates on Parade	Terri Dennis
Simon Russell Beale	Humble Boy	Felix Humble
Sean Foley	The Play What I Wrote	Sean
Hamish McColl	The Play What I Wrote	Hamish
Alan Rickman	Private Lives	Elyot
Simon Russell Beale	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya
Michael Gambon	A Number	Salter
Mark Rylance	Twelfth Night	Olivia
David Tennant	Lobby Hero	Jeff
Matthew Kelly	Of Mice and Men	Lennie Small
Roger Allam	Democracy	Willy Brandt
Kenneth Branagh	Edmond	Edmond Burke
Greg Hicks	Coriolanus	Coriolanus
Michael Sheen	Caligula	Caligula
Richard Griffiths	The History Boys	Douglas Hector
Michael Gambon	Endgame	Hamm
Jonathan Pryce	The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?	Martin
Ben Whishaw	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
Brian Dennehy	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman
Richard Griffiths	Heroes	Henri
Derek Jacobi	Don Carlos	Philip II of Spain
Con O'Neill	Telstar	Joe Meek
David Threlfall	Someone Who'll Watch Over Me	Michael
Rufus Sewell	Rock 'n' Roll	Jan
Iain Glen	The Crucible	John Proctor
David Haig	Donkeys' Years	Christopher Headingley
Frank Langella	Frost/Nixon	Richard Nixon
Michael Sheen	Frost/Nixon	David Frost
Chiwetel Ejiofor	Othello	Othello
Ian McKellen	King Lear	King Lear
Mark Rylance	Boeing Boeing	Robert
John Simm	Elling	Elling
Patrick Stewart	Macbeth	Macbeth
Derek Jacobi	Twelfth Night	Malvolio
David Bradley	No Man's Land	Spooner
Michael Gambon	No Man's Land	Hirst
Adam Godley	Rain Man	Raymond Babitt

2010s

Year	Actor	Play
Mark Rylance	Jerusalem	Johnny
James Earl Jones	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Big Daddy
Jude Law	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
James McAvoy	Three Days of Rain	Walker / Ned
Ken Stott	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone
Samuel West	ENRON	Jeffrey Skilling
Roger Allam	Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2	Falstaff
Derek Jacobi	King Lear	King Lear
Rory Kinnear	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
Mark Rylance	La Bête	Valere
David Suchet	All My Sons	Joe Keller
**Benedict Cumberbatch
& Jonny Lee Miller**	Frankenstein	**Victor Frankenstein
/ The Creature**
James Corden	One Man, Two Guvnors	Francis Henshall
David Haig	The Madness of George III	George III
Douglas Hodge	Inadmissible Evidence	William Maitland
Jude Law	Anna Christie	Mat Burke
Luke Treadaway	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Christopher Boone
Rupert Everett	The Judas Kiss	Oscar Wilde
James McAvoy	Macbeth	Macbeth
Mark Rylance	Twelfth Night	Olivia
Rafe Spall	Constellations	Roland
Rory Kinnear	Othello	Iago
Henry Goodman	The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui	Arturo Ui
Tom Hiddleston	Coriolanus	Coriolanus
Jude Law	Henry V	Henry V of England
Mark Strong	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone
Richard Armitage	The Crucible	John Procter
James McAvoy	The Ruling Class	Jack Gurney
Tim Pigott-Smith	King Charles III	King Charles lll
Kenneth Cranham	The Father	Andre
Kenneth Branagh	The Winter's Tale	Leontes
Benedict Cumberbatch	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
Adrian Lester	Red Velvet	Ira Aldridge
Mark Rylance	Farinelli and the King	King Philippe V of Spain
Jamie Parker	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	Harry Potter
Ed Harris	Buried Child	Dodge
Tom Hollander	Travesties	Henry Carr
Ian McKellen	No Man's Land	Spooner
Bryan Cranston	Network	Howard Beale
Paddy Considine	The Ferryman	Quinn Carney
Andrew Garfield	Angels in America	Prior Walter
Andrew Scott	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet
Kyle Soller	The Inheritance	Eric Glass
Simon Russell Beale
Adam Godley
Ben Miles	The Lehman Trilogy	Henry Lehman
Emanuel Lehman
Mayer Lehman
Arinzé Kene	Misty	Arinzé
Ian McKellen	King Lear	King Lear
David Suchet	The Price	Gregory Solomon

2020s

Year	Actor	Play
Andrew Scott	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine
Toby Jones	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya
James McAvoy	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano de Bergerac
Wendell Pierce	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman
Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic
Hiran Abeysekera	Life of Pi	Pi Patel
Ben Daniels	The Normal Heart	Ned Weeks
Omari Douglas	Constellations	Manuel
Charles Edwards	Best of Enemies	Gore Vidal
Paul Mescal	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stanley Kowalski
Tom Hollander	Patriots	Berezovsky
Rafe Spall	To Kill a Mockingbird	Atticus Finch
David Tennant	Good	John Halder
Giles Terera	Blues for an Alabama Sky	Guy Jacobs
Mark Gatiss	*The Motive and the Cue*	Sir John Gielgud
Joseph Fiennes	Dear England	Gareth Southgate
James Norton	A Little Life	Jude St Francis
Andrew Scott	Vanya	All characters
David Tennant	Macbeth	Macbeth
John Lithgow	*Giant*	Roald Dahl
Adrien Brody	The Fear of 13	Nick Yarris
Billy Crudup	Harry Clarke	Harry Clarke
Paapa Essiedu	Death of England: Delroy	Delroy
Mark Strong	Oedipus	Oedipus

Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actor

Note: The below awards and nominations include individuals awarded and nominated under the now-defunct categories Actor of the Year in a New Play and Actor of the Year in a Revival as well as the current combined Best Actor category.

Awards

;Four awards

Ian McKellen

;Two awards

Roger Allam
Brian Cox
Alan Howard
Derek Jacobi
Mark Rylance
Antony Sher

Nominations

;Eleven nominations

Michael Gambon

;Ten nominations

Ian McKellen

;Seven nominations

Derek Jacobi
Mark Rylance
David Suchet

;Five nominations

Simon Russell Beale

;Four nominations

Roger Allam
James McAvoy
Antony Sher

;Three nominations

Kenneth Branagh
Brian Cox
Henry Goodman
David Haig
Alan Howard
Jude Law
Alec McCowen
Warren Mitchell
Bob Peck
Jonathan Pryce
Paul Scofield
Andrew Scott
Michael Sheen
Patrick Stewart
David Tennant

;Two nominations

Alun Armstrong
Michael Bryant
Tom Conti
Kenneth Cranham
Benedict Cumberbatch
Rupert Everett
Albert Finney
Iain Glen
Richard Griffiths
Alec Guinness
Nigel Hawthorne
Tom Hollander
Emrys James
Rory Kinnear
Adrian Lester
Daniel Massey
Peter McEnery
Michael Pennington
Donald Sinden
Mark Strong
Rafe Spall
Ken Stott
John Wood

Multiple awards and nominations for a character

Awards

;Two awards

Falstaff from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2
Richard III of England from Richard III
Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman
Eddie Carbone from A View from the Bridge

Nominations

;Six nominations

Prince Hamlet from Hamlet

;Four nominations

King Lear from King Lear
Uncle Vanya from Uncle Vanya

;Three nominations

Coriolanus from Coriolanus
Eddie Carbone from A View from the Bridge
Falstaff from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2
Henry V of England from Henry V
Iago from Othello
Leontes from The Winter's Tale
Shylock from The Merchant of Venice
Spooner from No Man's Land
Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman

;Two nominations

Captain Shotover from Heartbreak House
Davies from The Caretaker
George III from The Madness of George III
John Procter from The Crucible
Macbeth from Macbeth
Max from The Homecoming
Ned Weeks from The Normal Heart
Olivia from Twelfth Night
Richard III of England from Richard III

References

Johnson, The Rt Hon Boris, MP. (2020-03-23). "Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020 [transcript]".
McPhee, Ryan. (2021-06-14). "U.K. Postpones Reopening Roadmap; West End Theatres Will No Longer Reopen in Full in June". [[Playbill]].
Thomas, Sophie. (2022-03-08). "Everything you need to know about the Olivier Awards". londontheatre.co.uk.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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