Tony Award / Best Theater Director
The Tony Award for Best Director has been presented since 1947. In 1960 the prize was divided into two categories and now awarded separately for the best theater director and the best musical director. The winners in the category musical directing after 1960 are listed under Tony Award / Best Musical Directing.
1940-1949
- 1947: Elia Kazan for All My Sons
- 1948: Joshua Logan for Mister Roberts
- 1949: Elia Kazan for death of a traveling salesman
1950-1959
- 1950: Joshua Logan for South Pacific
- 1951: George S. Kaufman for Guys and Dolls
- 1952: José Ferrer for The Shrike , The Fourposter and Stalag 17
- 1953: Joshua Logan for Picnic
- 1954: Alfred Lunt for Ondine
- 1955: Robert Montgomery . The Desperate Hours
- 1956: Tyrone Guthrie for The Matchmaker
- 1957: Moss Hart for My Fair Lady
- 1958: Vincent J. Donehue for Sunrise At Campobello
- 1959: Elia Kazan for JB
1960-1969
- 1960: Arthur Penn for The Path into Light
- 1961: Sir John Gielgud for Big Fish, Little Fish
- 1962: Noel Willman for Thomas More
- 1963: Alan Schneider for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 1964: Mike Nichols for Barefoot in the Park
- 1965: Mike Nichols for The Odd Couple and Luv
- 1966: Peter Brook for Marat / Sade
- 1967: Peter Hall for The Homecoming
- 1968: Mike Nichols for Plaza Suite
- 1969: Peter Dews for Hadrian VII.
1970-1979
- 1970: Joseph Hardy for Child's Play
- 1971: Peter Brook for A Midsummer Night's Dream
- 1972: Mike Nichols for The Prisoner of Second Avenue
- 1973: AJ Antoon for That Championship Season
- 1974: José Quintero for A Moon for the Misbegotten
- 1975: John Dexter for Equus
- 1976: Ellis Rabb for The Royal Family
- 1977: Gordon Davidson for The Shadow Box
- 1978: Melvin Bernhardt for Da
- 1979: Jack Hofsiss for Der Elefantenmensch
1980-1989
- 1980: Vivian Matalon for Morning's at Seven
- 1981: Peter Hall for Amadeus
- 1982: Trevor Nunn / John Caird for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
- 1983: Gene Saks for Brighton Beach Memoirs
- 1984: Mike Nichols for The Real Thing
- 1985: Gene Saks for Biloxi Blues
- 1986: Jerry Zaks for The House of Blue Leaves
- 1987: Lloyd Richards for Fences
- 1988: John Dexter for M. Butterfly
- 1989: Jerry Zaks for Lend Me A Tenor
1990-1999
- 1990: Frank Galati for The Fruits of Anger
- 1991: Jerry Zaks for Life - A Six-Pack
- 1992: Mike Nichols for The Prisoner of Second Avenue
- 1993: George C. Wolfe for Angels in America
- 1994: Stephen Daldry for An Inspector Calls
- 1995: Gerald Gutierrez for The Heiress
- 1996: Gerald Gutierrez for A Delicate Balance
- 1997: Anthony Page for Nora or a doll's house
- 1998: Garry Hynes for The Beauty Queen of Leenane
- 1999: Robert Falls for Traveling Salesman Death
2000-2009
- 2000: Michael Blakemore for Copenhagen
- 2001: Daniel Sullivan for Proof
- 2002: Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses
- 2003: Joe Mantello for Take Me Out
- 2004: Jack O'Brien for Henry IV.
- 2005: Doug Hughes for Doubt
- 2006: Nicholas Hytner for The History Boys
- 2007: Jack O'Brien for The Coast of Utopia
- 2008: Anna D. Shapiro for August: Osage County
- 2009: Matthew Warchus for The God of Carnage
Since 2010
- 2010: Michael Grandage for Red
- 2011: Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris for War Horse
- 2012: Mike Nichols for Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
- 2013: Pam MacKinnon for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- 2014: Kenny Leon for A Raisin in the Sun
- 2015: Marianne Elliott for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- 2016: Ivo van Hove for A View from the Bridge
- 2017: Rebecca Taichman for Indecent
- 2018: John Tiffany for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child