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 commercial 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.
| Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor | |
|---|---|
 The 2024 Recipient: Mark Gatiss | |
| Awarded for | Best Actor in a Play |
| Location |  England |
| Presented by | Society of London Theatre |
| First awarded | 1985 |
| Currently held by | Mark Gatiss for The Motive and the Cue (2024) |
| Website | officiallondontheatre |
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
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1980s
edit| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | |||
| 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 | |
| 1986 | |||
| Albert Finney | Orphans | Harold | |
| Derek Jacobi | Breaking the Code | Alan Turing | |
| Ian McKellen | The Cherry Orchard | Lopakhin | |
| Martin Sheen | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks | |
| 1987 | |||
| 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 | |
| 1989/90 | |||
| 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
edit2000s
edit2010s
edit2020s
edit| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | |||
| 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 | |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A] | ||
| 2022[A] | |||
| 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 | |
| 2023 | |||
| 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 | |
| 2024 | |||
| 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 | |
- ^ a b Due to late March 2020[1] to late July 2021[2] 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[3]
Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actor
editNote: 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
edit- Four awards
- Two awards
Nominations
edit- Eleven nominations
- Ten nominations
- Seven nominations
- Five nominations
- Four nominations
- Three nominations
- 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
- Rafe Spall
- Ken Stott
- John Wood
Multiple awards and nominations for a character
editAwards
edit- 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
edit- 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
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Johnson, The Rt Hon Boris, MP (2020-03-23). Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020 [transcript] (Speech). Prime Minister's Televised Speech to the United Kingdom. www.gov.uk. London, UK. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home.
{{cite speech}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ McPhee, Ryan (2021-06-14). "U.K. Postpones Reopening Roadmap; West End Theatres Will No Longer Reopen in Full in June". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
Step 4 of the roadmap will allow productions to play without capacity restrictions. June 21 was the goal; now, the government is eyeing July 19.
- ^ Thomas, Sophie (2022-03-08). "Everything you need to know about the Olivier Awards". londontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
Any new production that opened between 19 Feb. 2020 to 22 Feb. 2022 are eligible for categories in the 2022 Olivier Awards. With two years worth of shows set for honours in one year's ceremony, the 2022 Olivier Awards will prove tougher competition than before.
- London Theatre Guide (2008). "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners, 1976-2008" (PDF). 1976-2008. The Society of London Theatre. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2008-08-30.