Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play

Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, 2022 winner
Awarded for	Outstanding Actor in a Play
Location	New York City
Presented by	Outer Critics Circle
Status	Retired
Currently held by	Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy (2022)
Website	OuterCriticsCircle.org

The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play was an annual award given to the best actor in a non-musical play on Broadway or Off-Broadway, as determined by Outer Critics Circle. The award was first given out in 1977, preceded by a "Best Performance" category.

The award was preceded by an award for Best Performance, but the newly gendered award for musical performance was first given out the 1987–1988 season through the season. The award was retired in 2022 and replaced by Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play and Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play in gender-neutral performance categories.^[1]

Frank Langella holds the record for most wins in the category, receiving three awards, followed closely by Judd Hirsch, Nathan Lane, Kevin Kline and Bryan Cranston with two wins each. Langella also leads the nomination totals with five nominations, followed by Nathan Lane and Brían F. O'Byrne with four nominations each.

Awards winners

Key

  and bold indicates the winner.

1970s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
1977
	Ralph Richardson	No Man's Land	Hirst	[2]
1978
	Martin Balsam	Cold Storage	Parmigian	[3]
	Bernard Hughes	Da	Da
	John Wood	Deathtrap	Sidney Bruhl
1979	No award given.

1980s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
1980	No award given.
1981
	Ian McKellen	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	[4]
1982 (tie)
	Zakes Mokae	"Master Harold"...and the Boys	Sam	[5]
	Milo O’Shea	Mass Appeal	Tim Farley
1983
	Tony Lo Bianco	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone	[6]
1984	No award given.
1985
	Jim Dale	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg	Bri	[7]
1986
	Judd Hirsch	I'm Not Rappaport	Nat	[8]
1987
	James Earl Jones	Fences	Troy Maxson	[9]
1988
	Robert Prosky	A Walk in the Woods	Andrey Botvinnik	[10]
1989
	Kevin Conway	Other People’s Money	William Coles	[11]

1990s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
1990
	Robert Morse	Tru	Truman Capote	[12]
	Charles Durning	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Big Daddy
	Nathan Lane	The Lisbon Traviata	Mendy
	Gary Sinise	The Grapes of Wrath	Tom Joad
1991
	Nigel Hawthorne	Shadowlands	C. S. Lewis	[13]
	Len Cariou	Speed of Darkness	Joe
	Stephen Lang		Lou
	Nicol Williamson	I Hate Hamlet	John Barrymore
1992
	Judd Hirsch	Conversations with My Father	Eddie Rose	[14]
	Alan Alda	Jake's Women	Jake
	Brian Bedford	Two Shakespearean Actors	Williams Charles Macready
	Roscoe Lee Browne	Two Trains Running	Holloway
1993
	Robert Klein	The Sisters Rosensweig	Mervyn Kant	[15]
	K. Todd Freeman	The Song of Jacob Zulu	Jacob Zulu
	William H. Macy	Oleanna	John
	George C. Scott	Wrong Turn at Lungfish	Peter Ravenswaal
1994
	Sam Waterston	Abe Lincoln in Illinois	Abraham Lincoln	[16]
1995
	Nathan Lane	Love! Valour! Compassion!	Buzz Hauser	[17]
1996
	George C. Scott	Inherit the Wind	Henry Drummond	[18]
	Jason Robards	Molly Sweeney	Mr. Rice
	Frank Langella	The Father	Andre
	Patrick Stewart	The Tempest	Prospero
1997
	Christopher Plummer	Barrymore	John Barrymore	[19]
	Frank Langella	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine
	David Morse	How I Learned to Drive	Uncle Peck
	Anthony Sher	Stanley	Stanley Spencer
1998
	Anthony LaPaglia	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone	[20]
	Michael Emerson	Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde	Oscar Wilde
	Sam Trammell	Ah, Wilderness!	Richard Miller
	Eli Wallach	Visiting Mr. Green	Mr. Green
1999
	Kevin Spacey	The Iceman Cometh	Theodore "Hickey" Hickman	[21]
	Brian Dennehy	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman
	Corin Redgrave	Not About Nightingales	Warden Whalen
	Roger Rees	The Uneasy Chair	Captain Josiah Wickett

2000s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
2000
	Derek Jacobi	Uncle Vanya	Uncle Vanya	[22]
	Stephen Dillane	The Real Thing	Henry
	Michael Sheen	Amadeus	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
	David Suchet		Antonio Salieri
2001
	Richard Easton	The Invention of Love	Older Housman	[23][24]
	George Grizzard	Judgment at Nuremberg	Judge Dan Haywood
	Brian Stokes Mitchell	King Hedley II	King Hedley II
	Donald Sutherland	Ten Unknowns	Malcolm
2002
	Alan Bates	Fortune’s Fool	Vassily Semyonitch Kuzovkin	[25][26]
	Ian McKellen	Dance of Death	Edgar
	Liam Neeson	The Crucible	John Proctor
	Bill Pullman	The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?	Martin Gray
2003
	Eddie Izzard	A Day in the Death of Joe Egg	Bri	[27][28]
	Brian Bedford	Tartuffe	Tartuffe
	Jochum ten Haaf	Vincent in Brixton	Vincent Van Gogh
	Howard W. Overshown	Yellowman	Eugene
	Daniel Sunjata	Take Me Out	Darren Lemming
2004
	Frank Langella	Match	Tevye	[29][30]
	Simon Russell Beale	Jumpers	George
	Kevin Kline	Henry IV	King Henry IV
	Brían F. O'Byrne	Frozen	Ralph
	Richard Thomas	The Stendhal Syndrome	The Conductor
2005
	Brían F. O'Byrne	Doubt	Father Flynn	[31][32]
	Alan Alda	Glengarry Glen Ross	Father Flynn
	Billy Crudup	The Pillowman	Katurian
	James Earl Jones	On Golden Pond	Norman Thayer, Jr.
	John Rubinstein	Counsellor-at-Law	George Simon
2006
	Gabriel Byrne	A Touch of the Poet	Cornelius "Con" Melody	[33][34]
	Zeljko Ivanek	The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial	Lt. Comm. Queeg
	Ian McDiarmid	Faith Healer	Teddy
	David Wilmot	The Lieutenant of Inishmore	Padraic
2007
	Frank Langella	Frost/Nixon	Richard Nixon	[35][36]
	Brían F. O'Byrne	The Coast of Utopia	Alexander Herzen
	Christopher Plummer	Inherit the Wind	Henry Drummond
	Liev Schreiber	Talk Radio	Barry Champlain
2008
	Kevin Kline	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano	[37][38]
	Ben Daniels	Les Liaisons Dangereuses	Vicomte de Valmont
	Kevin Anderson	Come Back, Little Sheba	Doc Delaney
	Patrick Stewart	Macbeth	Macbeth
2009
	Geoffrey Rush	Exit the King	King Berenger.	[39][40]
	Bill Irwin	Waiting for Godot	Lucky
	Nathan Lane		Estragon
	Raúl Esparza	Speed-the-Plow	Charlie Fox
	Thomas Sadoski	reasons to be pretty	Greg

2010s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
2010
	Denzel Washington	Fences	Troy Maxson	[41][42]
	Bill Heck	The Orphans' Home Cycle	Horace
	Christopher Walken	A Behanding in Spokane	Carmichael
	Jude Law	Hamlet	Hamlet
	Liev Schreiber	A View from the Bridge	Eddie Carbone
2011
	Mark Rylance	Jerusalem	Johnny "Rooster" Byron	[43][44]
	Al Pacino	The Merchant of Venice	Shylock
	Bobby Cannavale	The Motherfucker with the Hat	Jackie
	Reed Birney	The Dream of the Burning Boy	Larry
2012
	James Corden	One Man, Two Guvnors	Francis Henshall	[45][46]
	Hamish Linklater	The School for Lies	Frank
	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Death of a Salesman	Willy Loman
	Russell Harvard	Tribes	Billy
	Santino Fontana	Sons of the Prophet	Joseph
2013
	Nathan Lane	The Nance	Charlemagne	[47][48]
	David Hyde Pierce	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	Vanya
	Shuler Hensley	The Whale	Charlie
	Tom Hanks	Lucky Guy	Mike McAlary
	Tracy Letts	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	George
2014
	Bryan Cranston	All the Way	LBJ	[49][50]
	Ian McKellen	No Man's Land	Spooner
	Brían F. O’Byrne	Outside Mullingar	Anthony
	Mark Rylance	Twelfth Night	Olivia
	Tony Shalhoub	Act One	George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
2015
	Alex Sharp	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Christopher	[51][52]
	Reed Birney	I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard	David
	Bradley Cooper	The Elephant Man	John Merrick
	Stephen McKinley Henderson	Between Riverside and Crazy	Pops
	Ben Miles	Wolf Hall	Thomas Cromwell
2016
	Frank Langella	The Father	Andre	[53][54][55]
	Reed Birney	The Humans	Erik
	Gabriel Byrne	Long Day's Journey into Night	James Tyrone Sr.
	Mark Strong	A View From the Bridge	Eddie Carbone
	Ben Whishaw	The Crucible	John Proctor
2017
	Kevin Kline	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine	[56][57]
	Daniel Craig	Othello	Iago
	Michael Emerson	Wakey, Wakey	Unnamed Male
	David Oyelowo	Othello	Othello
	David Hyde Pierce	A Life	Nate Martin
2018
	Andrew Garfield	Angels in America	Prior Walter	[58][59]
	Sean Carvajal	Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train	Angel Cruz
	Tom Hollander	Travesties	Henry Carr
	Gregg Mozgala	Cost of Living	John
	Michael Urie	The Government Inspector	Ivan Alexandreyevich Hlestakov
2019
	Bryan Cranston	Network	Howard Beale	[60][61]
	McKinley Belcher III	The Light	Rashad
	Daveed Diggs	White Noise	Leo
	Bill Irwin	On Beckett	Himself
	Jeremy Pope	Choir Boy	Pharus Jonathan Young

2020s

Year	Actor	Work	Role	Ref.
2020 (Hon.)	Ian Barford	Linda Vista	Dick Wheeler	[62][63]
	Edmund Donovan	Greater Clements	Joe
	Raúl Esparza	Seared	Harry
	Tom Hiddleston	Betrayal	Robert
	Will Hochman	The Sound Inside	Christopher
	Jonathan Pryce	The Height of the Storm	Andre
2021	No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2022
	Simon Russell Beale	The Lehman Trilogy	Haim "Henry" Lehman	[64]
	Adam Godley	The Lehman Trilogy	Mayer Lehman
	Adrian Lester		Emmanuel Lehman
	Sam Rockwell	American Buffalo	Teach
	Patrick J. Adams	Take Me Out	Kippy Sunderstrom

Multiple wins

3 wins

• Frank Langella

2 wins

• Judd Hirsch
• Nathan Lane
• Kevin Kline
• Bryan Cranston

Multiple nominations

5 nominations

• Frank Langella

4 nominations

• Nathan Lane
• Brían F. O'Byrne

3 nominations

• Ian McKellen
• Kevin Kline
• Reed Birney

2 nominations

• Judd Hirsch
• James Earl Jones
• Alan Alda
• Brian Bedford
• George C. Scott
• Patrick Stewart
• Christopher Plummer
• Michael Emerson
• Simon Russell Beale
• Gabriel Byrne
• Liev Schreiber
• Bill Irwin
• Raúl Esparza
• Mark Rylance
• David Hyde Pierce
• Bryan Cranston

See also

• Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
• Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play

References

1. Andrew Gans (January 24, 2023). "Dates Set for 2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards; Gender Removed From Acting Categories". Playbill.
2. "1976–1977Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
3. "1977–1978Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
4. "1980–1981 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
5. "1981–1982 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
6. "1982–1983 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
7. "1984–1985 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
8. "1985–1986 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
9. "1986–1987 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
10. "1987–1988 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
11. "1988–1989 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
12. "1989–1990 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
13. "1990–1991 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
14. "1991–1992 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
15. "1992–1993 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
16. "1993–1994 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
17. "1994–1995 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
18. "1995–1996 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
19. "1996–1997 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
20. "1997–1998 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
21. "1998–1999 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
22. "1999–2000 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
23. "2000–2001 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
24. Simonson & Lefkowitz (May 24, 2001). "2001 Outer Critics Circle Awards Held at Sardi's, May 24". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
25. "2001–2002 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
26. "The 2001–2002 Outer Critics Circle Award Winners". TheaterMania. April 29, 2002. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
27. "2002–2003 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
28. Gans, Andrew (May 5, 2003). "Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced; Hairspray Leads the Pack". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
29. "2003–2004 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
30. "Wicked, Wonderful Town, I Am My Own Wife Top 2004 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. May 2, 2004. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
31. "2004–2005 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
32. "2005 Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced". New York Theatre Guide. May 9, 2005. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
33. "2005–2006 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
34. Hernandez, Ernio (May 14, 2006). "The Drowsy Chaperone and The History Boys Top Outer Critics Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
35. "2006–2007 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
36. Gans, Andrew (May 24, 2007). "Outer Critics Circle Awards Are Presented by Clark, Young and Mitchell May 24". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
37. "2007–2008 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
38. Gans, Andrew (May 12, 2008). "South Pacific Is Big Winner in Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
39. "2008–2009 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
40. "Outer Critics Circle 2008–09 Award Winners". New York Theatre Guide. May 11, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
41. "2009–2010 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
42. "MEMPHIS & LA CAGE Top Outer Critics Circle Winners". BroadwayWorld. May 17, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
43. "2010–2011 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
44. "The Book of Mormon, War Horse and Anything Goes Top 2011 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Broadway.com. May 16, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
45. "2011–2012 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
46. Gans, Andrew (May 14, 2012). "Outer Critics Circle Winners Announced; Once and One Man, Two Guvnors Are Top Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
47. "2012–2013 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
48. "Outer Critics Circle 2013 Award Winners". New York Theatre Guide. May 13, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
49. "2013–2014 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
50. Gans, Andrew (May 12, 2014). "64th Annual Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced; Gentleman's Guide Wins Four Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
51. "2014–2015 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
52. "Outer Critics Circle Awards 2015: Full List". Variety. April 27, 2015. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
53. "2015–2016 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
54. "Outer Critics Circle Honors 'She Loves Me' and 'Long Day's Journey Into Night'". The New York Times. May 9, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
55. Viagas, Robert (May 9, 2016). "Bright Star and The Humans Win Top 2016 NY Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
56. "2016–2017 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
57. Lefkowitz, Andy (May 8, 2017). "2017 Outer Critics Circle Awards: Come From Away & More Win Top Prizes". Broadway.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
58. "2017–2018 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
59. McPhee, Ryan (May 7, 2018). "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, My Fair Lady Win Big at 2018 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
60. "2018–2019 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
61. Lefkowitz, Andy (May 13, 2019). "Hadestown Leads Winners of 2019 Outer Critics Circle Awards". Broadway.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
62. "2019–2020 Awards". Outer Critics Circle. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
63. Clement, Olivia (May 11, 2020). "Moulin Rouge! Leads 2020 Outer Critics Circle Award Honorees". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
64. Culwell-Block, Logan (May 17, 2022). "The Lehman Trilogy Leads 2022 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Six Wins Best Musical; See the Complete List of Winners". Playbill. Retrieved September 3, 2025.