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Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Annual theatre award

Summary

Annual theatre award

Field	Value
name	Laurence Olivier Award
for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
awarded_for	Best Actress in a Supporting Role
presenter	Society of London Theatre
location
year	1977
holder	Romola Garai for The Years (2025)
image	Romola Garai at the King Lear Press Conference, July 17, 2007, Singapore.jpg
caption	2025 Recipient: Romola Garai
website

for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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

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 Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Actor 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.

Angela Lansbury is the oldest recipient of this award when she won at the age of 89 for her role as Madame Arcati in the revival of Noël Coward's comedy play Blythe Spirit in 2015. The following year Judi Dench won at the age of the age of 81 for her role as Paulina in the William Shakespeare revival The Winter's Tale in 2016. Romola Garai was nominated twice the same year in the same category for her roles as Annie in The Years and Jessica Stone in Giant winning for the former at the 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards.

Winners and nominees

[[Gwen Watford]] won for ''[[Present Laughter]]'' (1981)

[[Anna Massey]] won for ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' (1982)

1970s

Year	Actress	Play
Mona Washbourne	Stevie	Aunt
Constance Chapman	Just Between Ourselves	Marjorie
Anna Manahan	The Plough and the Stars	Bessie
Elizabeth Spriggs	Volpone	Lady Would-Be
Elizabeth Spriggs	Love Letters on Blue Paper	Sonia Marsden
Brenda Bruce	The Lady's Not for Burning	Alizon Eliot
Susan Fleetwood	The Woman	Ismene
Patricia Hayes	Filumena	Rosalia
Doreen Mantle	Death of a Salesman	Linda
Carmen du Sautoy	Once in a Lifetime	Miss Leighton
Alison Fiske	For Services Rendered	Evie
Patricia Routledge	And a Nightingale Sang	Peggy Stott

1980s

Year	Actress	Play
Suzanne Bertish	The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby	Fanny Squeers
Lynn Dearth	The Greeks	Electra
Prunella Scales	Make and Break	Mrs. Rogers
Susan Tracy	Three Sisters	Natalya Ivanova
Gwen Watford	Present Laughter	Monica Reed
Brenda Bruce	Romeo and Juliet	Nurse
Sinéad Cusack	As You Like It	Celia
Gwen Taylor	Hamlet	Gertrude
Anna Massey	The Importance of Being Earnest	Miss Prism
Nicola Blackman	Destry Rides Again	Clara
Sheila Hancock	The Winter's Tale	Paulina
Carole Hayman	Top Girls	Dull Gret
Abigail McKern	As You Like It	Celia
Kate Buffery	Daisy Pulls It Off	Clare Beaumont
Sylvia Coleridge	Clay	Em
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	Pack of Lies	Helen Kroger
Marcia Warren	Stepping Out	Vera
Clare Higgins	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stella Kowalski
Sophie MgCina	Poppie Nongena	Poppie's Mother
Zoë Wanamaker	The Time of Your Life	Kitty Duval

1990s

[[Frances de la Tour]] won for ''When She Danced'' (1991)

Year	Actress	Play
Sara Crowe	Private Lives	Sybil
Maria Miles	The Wild Duck	Hedvig
Anita Reeves	Dancing at Lughnasa	Maggie
Zoë Wanamaker	The Crucible	Elizabeth Proctor
Frances de la Tour	When She Danced	Miss Belzer
Eileen Atkins	The Night of the Iguana	Hannah
Clare Higgins	**	Amalia Jovine
Lesley Sharp	Uncle Vanya	Sonya
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	An Inspector Calls	Sybil Birling
Annette Badland	The Rise and Fall of Little Voice	Sadie
Elizabeth Bradley	Billy Liar	Florence Boothroyd
Rosemary Harris	Lost in Yonkers	Grandma Kurnitz
Helen Burns	The Last Yankee	Karen Frick
Rosemary Leach	Separate Tables	Mrs Railton-Bell
Sandy McDade	The Life of Stuff	Janice
Sophie Thompson	Wildest Dreams	Marcie Banks
Dora Bryan	The Birthday Party	Meg
Samantha Bond	Le Cid	Infanta
Brid Brennan	Rutherford and Son	Janet
Kathryn Hunter	Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Master of Play
Deborah Findlay	Stanley	Hilda
Frances Barber	Uncle Vanya	Sonya
Anna Chancellor	Stanley	Patricia
Clare Holman	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey

2000s

Year	Actress	Play
Patricia Hodge	Money	Lady Franklin
Anne-Marie Duff	Collected Stories	Lisa
Estelle Kohler	The Winter's Tale	Paulina
Kika Markham	A Song at Twilight	Hilde
Pauline Flanagan	Dolly West's Kitchen	Rima West
Gillian Barge	Passion Play	Agnes
Catherine McCormack	All My Sons	Ann
Marcia Warren	In Flame	Annie / Gramma
Marcia Warren	Humble Boy	Mercy Lott
Brid Brennan	The Little Foxes	Birdie
Emma Fielding	Private Lives	Sibyl
Lyndsey Marshal	Boston Marriage	Catherine

2010s

[[Ruth Wilson]] won for ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (2010)

[[Sharon D. Clarke]] won for ''The Amen Corner'' (2014)

[[Angela Lansbury]] won for ''Blithe Spirit'' (2015)

[[Judi Dench]] won for ''The Winter's Tale'' (2016)

[[Noma Dumezweni]] won for ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' (2017)

Year	Actress	Play
Ruth Wilson	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stella Kowalski
Hayley Atwell	A View from the Bridge	Catherine Carbone
Michelle Dockery	Burnt by the Sun	Maroussia
Alexandra Gilbreath	Twelfth Night	Olivia
Keira Knightley	The Misanthrope	Jennifer / Célimène
Rachael Stirling	The Priory	Rebecca
Michelle Terry	Tribes	Sylvia
Sarah Goldberg	Clybourne Park	Betsy / Lindsey
Anastasia Hille	The Master Builder	Aline Solness
Gina McKee	King Lear	Goneril
Rachael Stirling	An Ideal Husband	Lady Chiltern
Nicola Walker	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Judy
Janie Dee	NSFW	Miranda
Anastasia Hille	The Effect	Dr. Lorna
Cush Jumbo	Julius Caesar	Mark Antony
Helen McCrory	The Last of the Haussmans	Libby
Sharon D. Clarke	The Amen Corner	Odessa
Sarah Greene	The Cripple of Inishmaan	Slippy Helen
Katherine Kingsley	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Helena
Cecilia Noble	The Amen Corner	Sister Moore
Angela Lansbury	Blithe Spirit	Madame Arcati
Jamie Adler, Zoe Brough, Perdita Hibbins and Isabella Pappas	The Nether	Iris
Phoebe Fox	A View from the Bridge	Catherine Carbone
Lydia Wilson	King Charles III	Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
Judi Dench	The Winter's Tale	Paulina
Michele Dotrice	Nell Gwynn	Nancy
Melody Grove	Farinelli and the King	Isabella Farnese
Catherine Steadman	Oppenheimer	Jean Tatlock
Noma Dumezweni	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child	Hermione Granger
Melissa Allan, Caroline Deyga, Kirsty Findlay, Karen Fishwick, Kirsty MacLaren, Frances Mayli McCann, Joanne McGuinness and Dawn Sievewright	Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour	Various Characters
Clare Foster	Travesties	Cecily Carruthers
Kate O'Flynn	The Glass Menagerie	Laura Wingfield
Denise Gough	Angels in America	Harper Pitt
Bríd Brennan	The Ferryman	Aunt Maggie Far Away
Dearbhla Molloy	The Ferryman	Aunt Pat
Imogen Poots	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	Honey
Monica Dolan	All About Eve	Karen Richards
Susan Brown	Home, I'm Darling	Sylvia
Cecilia Noble	Nine Night	Aunt Maggie
Vanessa Redgrave	The Inheritance	Margaret

2020s

[[Indira Varma]] won for ''Present Laughter'' (2020)

[[Anjana Vasan]] won for ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (2023)

Year	Actress	Play
Indira Varma	Present Laughter	Liz Essendine
Michele Austin	Cyrano de Bergerac	Leila Ragueneau
Sophie Thompson	Present Laughter	Monica Reed
Josie Walker	The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Old Mrs Hempstock
Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic
Liz Carr	The Normal Heart	Dr. Emma Brookner
Tori Burgess	Pride and Prejudice (sort of)	Lydia Bennet
Christina Gordon	Pride and Prejudice (sort of)	Jane Bennet
Akiya Henry	The Tragedy of Macbeth	Lady Macduff
Anjana Vasan	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stella Kowalski
Rose Ayling-Ellis	As You Like It	Celia
Pamela Nomvete	To Kill a Mockingbird	Calpurnia
Caroline Quentin	Jack Absolute Flies Again	Mrs Malaprop
Sharon Small	Good	Helen
Haydn Gwynne	*When Winston Went to War with the Wireless*	Stanley Baldwin
Lorraine Ashbourne	Till the Stars Come Down	Aunty Carol
Priyanga Burford	An Enemy of the People	Aslaksen
Gina McKee	Dear England	Pippa Grange
Tanya Reynolds	A Mirror	Mei
Romola Garai	*The Years*	Annie
Sharon D. Clarke	The Importance of Being Earnest	Lady Bracknell
Romola Garai	Giant	Jessie Stone
Gina McKee	The Years	Annie

References

(1997). "1997 Laurence Olivier Awards". westendtheatre.com.
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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