Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been announced since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been announced since 1956.

1940s

• 1948 Paul Hartman in Angel in the Wings as "Horace" / "Mr. Blodgett" / "George" / "Dr. Hutchinson, W.T." / "The Stranger"

• 1949 Ray Bolger in Where's Charley? as "Charley Wykeham"

1950s

• 1950 Ezio Pinza in South Pacific as "Emile De Beque"

• 1951 Robert Alda in Guys and Dolls as "Sky Masterson"

• 1952 Phil Silvers in Top Banana as "Jerry Biffle"

• 1953 Thomas Mitchell in Hazel Flagg as "Dr. Downer"

• 1954 Alfred Drake in Kismet as "Hajj"

• 1955 Walter Slezak in Fanny as "Panisse"

• 1956 Ray Walston in Damn Yankees as "Mr. Applegate"
  • Stephen Douglass in Damn Yankees as "Joe Hardy"
  • William Johnson in Pipe Dream as "Doc"

• 1957 Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady as "Henry Higgins"
  • Fernando Lamas in Happy Hunting as "Duke of Granada"
  • Robert Weede in The Most Happy Fella as "Tony"

• 1958 Robert Preston in The Music Man as "Harold Hill"
  • Ricardo Montalban in Jamaica as "Koli"
  • Eddie Foy, Jr. in Rumple as "Rumple"
  • Tony Randall in Oh, Captain! as "Captain Henry St. James"

• 1959 Richard Kiley in Redhead as "Tom Baxter"
  • Larry Blyden in Flower Drum Song as "Sammy Fong"

1960s

• 1960 Jackie Gleason in Take Me Along as "Sid Davis"
  • Robert Morse in Take Me Along as "Richard Miller"
  • Walter Pidgeon in Take Me Along as "Nat Miller"
  • Andy Griffith in Destry Rides Again as "Destry"

• 1961 Richard Burton in Camelot as "Arthur"
  • Phil Silvers in Do Re Mi as "Hubert Cram"
  • Maurice Evans in Tenderloin as "Reverend Brock"

• 1962 Robert Morse in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as "J. Pierrepont Finch"
  • Ray Bolger in All-American as "Professor Fodorski"
  • Alfred Drake in Kean as "Edmund Kean"
  • Richard Kiley in No Strings as "David Jordan"

• 1963 Zero Mostel in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as "Pseudolus"
  • Sid Caesar in Little Me as "Fred Poitrine" / "Mr. Pinchley" / "Noble Eggleston" / "Noble Junior" / "Otto Schnitzler" / "Prince Cherney" / "Val du Val"
  • Anthony Newley in Stop the World - I Want to Get Off as "Littlechap"
  • Clive Revill in Oliver! as "Fagin"

• 1964 Bert Lahr in Foxy as "Foxy"
  • Sydney Chaplin in Funny Girl as "Nick Arnstein"
  • Bob Fosse in Pal Joey as "Joey Evans"
  • Steve Lawrence in What Makes Sammy Run as "Sammy Glick"

• 1965 Zero Mostel in Fiddler on the Roof as "Tevye"
  • Sammy Davis, Jr. in Golden Boy as "Joe Wellington"
  • Cyril Ritchard in The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd as "Sir"
  • Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence as "Arthur Kipps"

• 1966 Richard Kiley in Man of La Mancha as "Don Quixote" / "Cervantes"
  • Jack Cassidy in It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman as "Max Mencken"
  • John Cullum in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever as "Dr. Mark Bruckner"
  • Harry Secombe in Pickwick as "Pickwick"

• 1967 Robert Preston in I Do! I Do! as "Michael"
  • Alan Alda in The Apple Tree as "Adam" / "Captain Sanjar" / "Flip, the Prince Charming"
  • Jack Gilford in Cabaret as "Herr Schultz"
  • Norman Wisdom in Walking Happy as "Will Mossop

• 1968 Robert Goulet in The Happy Time as "Jacques Bonnar"
  • Robert Hooks in Hallelujah, Baby! as "Clem"
  • Tony Roberts in How Now, Dow Jones as "Charley"
  • David Wayne in The Happy Time as "Grandpere Bonnard"

• 1969 Jerry Orbach in Promises, Promises as "Chuck Baxter "
  • Herschel Bernardi in Zorba as "Zorba"
  • Jack Cassidy in Maggie Flynn as "The Clown"
  • Joel Grey in George M! as "George M. Cohan"

1970s

• 1970 Cleavon Little in Purlie as "Purlie"
  • Len Cariou in Applause as "Bill Sampson"
  • Robert Weede in Cry for Us All as "Edward Quinn"

• 1971 Hal Linden in The Rothschilds as "Mayer Rothschild"
  • David Burns in Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentleman as "Col. Wainwright Purdy III"
  • Larry Kert in Company as "Bobby"
  • Bobby Van in No, No Nanette as "Billy Early"

• 1972 Phil Silvers in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as "Pseudolus"
  • Clifton Davis in Two Gentlemen of Verona as "Valentine"
  • Barry Bostwick in Grease as "Danny Zuko"
  • Raúl Juliá in Two Gentlemen of Verona as "Proteus"

• 1973 Ben Vereen in Pippin as "The Leading Player"
  • Len Cariou in A Little Night Music as "Frederick Egerman"
  • Robert Morse in Sugar as "Jerry"
  • Brock Peters in Lost in the Stars as "Stephen Kumalo"

• 1974 Christopher Plummer in Cyrano as "Cyrano de Bergerac"
  • Alfred Drake in Gigi as "Honore Lachailles"
  • Joe Morton in Raisin as "Walter Lee Younger"
  • Lewis J. Stadlen in Candide as "Dr. Pangloss" / "Governor" / "Host" / "Sage"/ "Voltaire"

• 1975 John Cullum in Shenandoah as "Charlie Anderson"
  • Joel Grey in Goodtime Charley as "Charley"
  • Raúl Juliá in Where's Charley? as "Charley Wykeham"
  • Eddie Mekka in The Lieutenant as "Lieutenant"
  • Robert Preston in Mack and Mabel as "Mack Sennett"

• 1976 George Rose in My Fair Lady as "Alfred P. Doolittle"
  • Makoto Iwamatsu in Pacific Overtures as "Jonathan Goble" / "Reciter" / "Shogun"
  • Jerry Orbach in Chicago as "Billy Flynn"
  • Ian Richardson in My Fair Lady as "Henry Higgins"

• 1977 Barry Bostwick in The Robber Bridegroom as "Jamie Lockhart"
  • Robert Guillaume in Guys and Dolls as "Nathan Detroit"
  • Raúl Juliá in Threepenny Opera as "Macheath"
  • Reid Shelton in Annie as "Oliver Warbucks"

• 1978 John Cullum in On the Twentieth Century as "Oscar Jaffee"
  • Eddie Bracken in Hello, Dolly! as "Horace Vandergelder"
  • Barry Nelson in The Act as "Dan Conners"
  • Gilbert Price in Timbuktu! as "The Mansa of Mali"

• 1979 Len Cariou in Sweeney Todd as "Sweeney Todd"
  • Vincent Gardenia in Ballroom as "Alfred Rossi"
  • Joel Grey in The Grand Tour as "S. L. Jacobowsky"
  • Robert Klein in They're Playing Our Song as "Vernon Gersch"

1980s

• 1980 Jim Dale in Barnum as "P. T. Barnum"
  • Gregory Hines in Comin' Uptown as "Scrooge"
  • Mickey Rooney in Sugar Babies as "Mickey"
  • Giorgio Tozzi in The Most Happy Fella as "Tony"

• 1981 Kevin Kline in The Pirates of Penzance as "The Pirate King"
  • Gregory Hines in Sophisticated Ladies as "Performer"
  • George Rose in The Pirates of Penzance as "Major-General Stanley"
  • Martin Vidnovic in Brigadoon as "Tommy Albright"

• 1982 Ben Harney in Dreamgirls as "Curtis Taylor Jr."
  • Herschel Bernardi in Fiddler on the Roof as "Tevye"
  • Victor Garber in Little Me as "Fred Poitrine" / "Noble Eggleston" / "Noble Junior" / "Val du Val"
  • Raúl Juliá in Nine as "Guido Contini"

• 1983 Tommy Tune in My One and Only as "Captain Billy Buck Chandler"
  • Al Green in Your Arms Too Short to Box with God as "Performer"
  • George Hearn in A Doll's Life as "Actor" / "Johan" / "Torvald"
  • Michael V. Smartt in Porgy and Bess as "Porgy"

• 1984 George Hearn in La Cage aux Folles as "Albin"
  • Gene Barry in La Cage aux Folles as "Georges'
  • Ron Moody in Oliver! as "Fagin"
  • Mandy Patinkin in Sunday in the Park with George as "George"

• 1985 - Due to a lack of successful musicals, there were no actors nominated in this category in 1985

• 1986 George Rose in The Mystery of Edwin Drood as "Mayor Thomas Sapsea" / "William Cartwright"
  • Don Correia in Singin' in the Rain as "Don Lockwood"
  • Cleavant Derricks in Big Deal as "Charley"
  • Maurice Hines in Uptown…It's Hot! as "Performer"

• 1987 Robert Lindsay in Me and My Girl as "Bill Snibson"
  • Roderick Cook in Oh Coward! as "Performer"
  • Terrence Mann in Les Misérables as "Inspector Javert"
  • Colm Wilkinson in Les Misérables as "Jean Valjean"

• 1988 Michael Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera as "The Phantom"
  • Scott Bakula in Romance/Romance as "Alfred Von Wilmers" / "Sam"
  • David Carroll in Chess as "Anatoly"
  • Howard McGillin in Anything Goes as "Billy Crocker"

• 1989 Jason Alexander in Jerome Robbins' Broadway as "Cigar" / "Emcee" / "Floy" / "Pa" / "Pseudolus" / "Tevye" / "The Settler"
  • Gabriel Barre in Starmites as "Trinkulus"
  • Brian Lane Green in Starmites as "Spacepunk"
  • Robert La Fosse in Jerome Robbins' Broadway as "3rd Dancer" / "Gaby" / "Tony" / "Company Member of '...Forum'"

1990s

• 1990 James Naughton in City of Angels as "Stone"
  • David Carroll in Grand Hotel as "Felix Von Gaigern"
  • Gregg Edelman in City of Angels as "Stine"
  • Bob Gunton in Sweeney Todd as "Sweeney Todd"

• 1991 Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon as "The Engineer"
  • Keith Carradine in The Will Rogers Follies as "Will Rogers"
  • Paul Hipp in Buddy as "Buddy Holly"
  • Topol in Fiddler on the Roof as "Tevye"

• 1992 Gregory Hines in Jelly's Last Jam as "Jelly Roll Morton"
  • Harry Groener in Crazy for You as "Bobby Child"
  • Nathan Lane in Guys and Dolls as "Nathan Detroit"
  • Michael Rupert in Falsettos as "Marvin"

• 1993 Brent Carver in Kiss of the Spider Woman as "Molina"
  • Tim Curry in My Favorite Year as "Alan Swann"
  • Con O'Neill in Blood Brothers as "Mickey"
  • Martin Short in The Goodbye Girl as "Elliot"

• '1994 Boyd Gaines in She Loves Me as "Georg Nowack"
  • Victor Garber in Damn Yankees as "Mr. Applegate"
  • Terrence Mann in Beauty and the Beast as "The Beast"
  • Jere Shea in Passion as "Giorgio"

• 1995 Matthew Broderick in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as "J. Pierrepont Finch"
  • Alan Campbell in Sunset Boulevard as "Joe Gillis"
  • Mark Jacoby in Show Boat as "Gaylord Ravenal"
  • John McMartin in Show Boat as "Cap'n Andy"

• 1996 Nathan Lane in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as "Pseudolus"
  • Savion Glover in Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk as "'da Beat" / "Lil' Dahlin'"
  • Adam Pascal in Rent as "Roger Davis"
  • Lou Diamond Phillips in The King and I as "The King of Siam"

• 1997 James Naughton in Chicago as "Billy Flynn"
  • Robert Cuccioli in Jekyll and Hyde as "Dr. Henry Jekyll" / "Edward Hyde"
  • Jim Dale in Candide as "2nd Gambler" / "Businessman"/ "Dr. Pangloss" / "Governor" / "Sage" / "Voltaire"
  • Daniel McDonald in Steel Pier as "Bill Kelly"

• 1998 Alan Cumming in Cabaret as "The Master of Ceremonies"
  • Peter Friedman in Ragtime as "Tateh"
  • Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime as "Coalhouse Walker, Jr."
  • Douglas Sills in The Scarlet Pimpernel as "Percy Blakeney"

• 1999 Martin Short in Little Me as "Noble Eggleston" / "Amos Pinchley" / "Benny Buchsbaum" / "Val du Val" / "Fred Poitrine" / "Otto Schnitzler" / "Prince Cherney" / "The Drunk"
  • Brent Carver in Parade as "Leo Frank"
  • Adam Cooper in Swan Lake as "Dancer"
  • Tom Wopat in Annie Get Your Gun as "Frank Butler"

2000s

• 2000 Brian Stokes Mitchell in Kiss Me, Kate as "Fred Graham" / "Petruchio"
  • Craig Bierko in The Music Man as "Harold Hill"
  • George Hearn in Putting It Together as "The Husband"
  • Mandy Patinkin in The Wild Party as "Burrs"
  • Christopher Walken in The Dead as "Gabriel Conroy"

• 2001 Nathan Lane in The Producers as "Max Bialystock"
  • Matthew Broderick in The Producers as "Leo Bloom"
  • Kevin Chamberlin in Seussical as "Horton the Elephant"
  • Tom Hewitt in The Rocky Horror Show as "Frank N Furter"
  • Patrick Wilson in The Full Monty as "Jerry Lukowski"

• 2002 John Lithgow in Sweet Smell of Success as "J.J. Hunsecker"
  • Gavin Creel in Thoroughly Modern Millie as "Jimmy Smith"
  • John McMartin in Into the Woods as "Narrator" / "Mysterious Man"
  • Patrick Wilson in Oklahoma! as "Curly"
  • John Cullum in Urinetown The Musical as "Caldwell B. Cladwell"

• 2003 Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray "as Edna Turnblad"
  • Antonio Banderas in Nine, The Musical as "Guido Contini"
  • Malcolm Gets in Amour as "Dusoleil"
  • Brian Stokes Mitchell in Man of La Mancha as "Don Quixote" / "Cervantes"
  • John Selya in Movin' Out as "Eddie"

• 2004 Hugh Jackman in The Boy from Oz as "Peter Allen"
  • Hunter Foster in Little Shop of Horrors as "Seymour"
  • Alfred Molina in Fiddler on the Roof as "Tevye"
  • Euan Morton in Taboo as "George"
  • John Tartaglia in Avenue Q as "Princeton" /"Rod"

• 2005 Norbert Leo Butz in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as "Freddy Benson"
  • Hank Azaria in Monty Python's Spamalot as "Sir Lancelot" / "The French Taunter" / "Knight of Ni" / "Tim the Enchanter"
  • Gary Beach in La Cage aux Folles as "Albin"
  • Tim Curry in Monty Python's Spamalot as "King Arthur"
  • John Lithgow in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as "Lawrence Jameson"

• 2006 John Lloyd Young in Jersey Boys as "Frankie Valli"
  • Michael Cerveris in Sweeney Todd as "Sweeney Todd"
  • Harry Connick, Jr. in The Pajama Game as "Sid Sorokin"
  • Stephen Lynch in The Wedding Singer as "Robbie Hart"
  • Bob Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone as "Man in Chair"

• '2007 David Hyde Pierce in Curtains as "Lieutenant Frank Cioffi"
  • Michael Cerveris in LoveMusik as "Kurt Weil"
  • Raúl Esparza in Company as "Robert"
  • Jonathan Groff in Spring Awakening as "Melchior"
  • Gavin Lee in Mary Poppins as "Bert"

Winners with Multiple Tony Awards for Leading Actor in a Musical

• John Cullum (2)

• Richard Kiley (2)

• Nathan Lane (2)

• Zero Mostel (2)

• James Naughton (2)

• Robert Preston (2)

• Phil Silvers (2)