Laurence_Olivier_Award_for_Best_Actor

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor

British theatrical award

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.

Quick Facts Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, Awarded for ...

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

Albert Finney won for Orphans (1987)
Sir Michael Gambon received 11 nominations in this category winning for A View from the Bridge (1988)
Sir Derek Jacobi won twice for Cyrano de Bergerac (1983), and Twelfth Night (2009)
Sir Ian McKellen won this award four times in 1977, 1979, 1984, and 1991
Mark Rylance won this award twice for Much Ado About Nothing (1994), and Jerusalem (2010)
Ian Holm won this award for King Lear (1998)
Kevin Spacey won for his role in the play The Iceman Cometh (1999)
Roger Allam won twice for Privates on Parade (2002) and Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 (2011)
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)
Benedict Cumberbatch won for Frankenstein (2012)
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)
Bryan Cranston won for Network (2018)
Kyle Soller won for The Inheritance (2019)
Andrew Scott won for Present Laughter (2020)
Paul Mescal won for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire (2023)

1980s

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1990s

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2000s

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2010s

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2020s

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  1. 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

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
Two awards

Nominations

Eleven nominations
Ten nominations
Seven nominations
Five nominations
Four nominations
Three nominations
Two nominations

Multiple awards and nominations for a character

Awards

Two awards

Nominations

Six nominations
Four nominations
Three nominations
Two nominations

See also

References

  1. [1]
    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)
  2. [2]
    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.
  3. [3]
    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.
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