February is way more than Valentine’s Day and the frigid cold, it’s also Black History Month, and in celebration, BroadwayBox takes a chronological look at the 58 African American actors and actresses to win Tony Awards in the eight competitive acting categories.
1950: Juanita Hall, South Pacific, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1954: Harry Belafonte, John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1962: Diahann Carroll, No Strings, Best Actress in a Musical
1968: Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah, Baby!, Best Actress in a Musical
1968: Lillian Hayman, Hallelujah, Baby!, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1969: James Earl Jones, The Great White Hope, Best Actor in a Play
1970: Cleavon Little, Purlie, Best Actor in a Musical
1970: Melba Moore, Purlie, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1972: Linda Hopkins, Inner City, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1973: Ben Vereen, Pippin, Best Actor in a Musical
1974: Virginia Capers, Raisin, Best Actress in a Musical
1975: Ted Ross, The Wiz, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1975: Dee Dee Bridgewater, The Wiz, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1977: Delores Hall, Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1977: Trazana Beverley, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Best Featured Actress in a Play
1978: Nell Carter, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1981: Hinton Battle, Sophisticated Ladies, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1982: Ben Harney, Dreamgirls, Best Actor in a Musical
1982: Jennifer Holliday, Dreamgirls, Best Actress in a Musical
1982: Cleavant Derricks, Dreamgirls, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1982: Zakes Mokae, Master Harold…and the Boys, Best Featured Actor in a Play
1984: Hinton Battle, The Tap Dance Kid, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1985: Ron Richardson, Big River, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1985: Leilani Jones, Grind, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1987: James Earl Jones, Fences, Best Actor in a Play
1987: Mary Alice, Fences, Best Featured Actress in a Play
1988: L. Scott Caldwell, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Best Featured Actress in a Play
1989: Ruth Brown, Black and Blue, Best Actress in a Musical
1991: Hinton Battle, Miss Saigon, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1992: Gregory Hines, Jelly’s Last Jam, Best Actor in a Musical
1992: Tonya Pinkins, Jelly’s Last Jam, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1992: Laurence Fishburne, Two Trains Running, Best Featured Actor in a Play
1994: Audra McDonald, Carousel, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1994: Jeffrey Wright, Angels in America: Perestroika, Best Featured Actor in a Play
1995: Gretha Boston, Show Boat, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1996: Ann Duquesnay, Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1996: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Seven Guitars, Best Featured Actor in a Play
1996: Audra McDonald, Master Class, Best Featured Actress in a Play
1997: Chuck Cooper, The Life, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
1997: Lillias White, The Life, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
1997: Lynne Thigpen, An American Daughter, Best Featured Actress in a Play
1998: Audra McDonald, Ragtime, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2000: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kiss Me, Kate, Best Actor in a Musical
2000: Heather Headley, Aida, Best Actress in a Musical
2001: Viola Davis, King Hedley II, Best Featured Actress in a Play
2004: Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Actress in a Play
2004: Anika Noni Rose, Caroline, or Change, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2004: Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Featured Actress in a Play
2005: Adriane Lenox, Doubt, Best Featured Actress in a Play
2006: LaChanze, The Color Purple, Best Actress in a Musical
2009: Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Best Featured Actor in a Play
2010: Denzel Washington, Fences, Best Actor in a Play
2010: Viola Davis, Fences, Best Actress in a Play
2011: Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2012: Audra McDonald, Porgy and Bess, Best Actress in a Musical
2013: Billy Porter, Kinky Boots, Best Actor in a Musical
2013: Patina Miller Pippin, Best Actress in a Musical
2013: Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful, Best Actress in a Play
2013: Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy, Best Featured Actor in a Play
2014: Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Best Actress in a Play
2014: James Monroe Iglehart, Aladdin, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
2014: Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun, Best Featured Actress in a Play
2016: Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple, Best Actress in a Musical
2016: Leslie Odom Jr, Hamilton, Best Actor in a Musical
2016: Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton, Best Featured Actress in a Musical
2016: Daveed Diggs, Hamilton, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
2019: André De Shields, Hadestown, Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Fun Bonus Facts: Stew is the only winner of Best Book of a Musical, and the late Geoffrey Holder is the only winner for Best Costumes and he’s also the first African American director to win Best Director of a Musical. Bill T. Jones is the only African American choreographer to win more than once, and George C. Wolfe is the most nominated African American artist with 22 nominations and five wins.
