Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been presented since 1947.
There have been no ties in the history of this category.
Never in the history of this category has a performer won a Tony Award by portraying a character previously embodied by a former winner. There have been winners emerging from the same musical, however, but never for playing the same role:
From A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: David Burns, as Senex, in 1963, and Larry Blyden, as Hysterium, in 1972 (Jack Gilford had been nominated in 1963, also for his portrayal of Hysterium, but he did not win);
From Damn, Yankees: Russ Brown, as Van Buren, in 1966, and Jarrod Emick, as Joe Hardy, in 1994;
From Cabaret: Joel Grey, as The Master of Ceremonies, in 1967, and Ron Rifkin as Herr Schultz, in 1998 (Werner Klemperer had been nominated in 1988, also for his portrayal of Herr Schultz, but he did not win).
The role of Herbie, in Gypsy, holds the record for most nominations in this category, with four:
1960 ? Jack Klugman
1990 ? Jonathan Hadary
2003 ? John Dossett
2008 ? Boyd Gaines
Of all these performers, only Boyd Gaines won the Tony Award.
Hinton Battle remains the most successful performer in the history of this category with a perfect score of three wins in three nominations. Scott Wise and René Auberjonois have also attained three nominations each, but have only been victorious once. Gregg Edelman, also with three nominations, has never won and is this category?s greatest ?loser?.
There has never been a consecutive winner in this category. There have been, though, some consecutive nominations. Jack Cassidy was consecutively nominated in 1964 and 1965, while Bruce Adler achieved the same honor in 1991 and 1992. Cassidy won in 1964, for his portrayal of Steve Kodaly, in ?She Loves Me?.
The record for the longest span between wins is held by Hiram Sherman, whose wins for Two?s Company, in 1953, and How Now, Dow Jones, in 1968, are set apart by 15 years.
The record for the longest span between nominations is held by John McMartin, whose nominations for Sweet Charity, in 1966, and High Society, in 1998, are set apart by 32 years. McMartin has never won a Tony Award in this category.
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