# Tony Award for Best Director

The Tony Award for Best Director was one of the original 11 awards given in 1947 when the Tony Awards originated. The award was presented until 1960 when it was split into two categories: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

## Winners and nominees
### 1940s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 1947 1st Tony Awards |
| 1947 1st Tony Awards | Elia Kazan | All My Sons |
| 1948 2nd Tony Awards |
| 1948 2nd Tony Awards | Joshua Logan | Mister Roberts |
| 1949 3rd Tony Awards |
| 1949 3rd Tony Awards | Elia Kazan | Death of a Salesman |

### 1950s

| Year | Director | Production |
| 1950 4th Tony Awards |
| 1950 4th Tony Awards | Joshua Logan | South Pacific |
| 1951 5th Tony Awards |
| 1951 5th Tony Awards | George S. Kaufman | Guys and Dolls |
| 1952 6th Tony Awards |
| 1952 6th Tony Awards | José Ferrer | The Shrike, The Fourposter and Stalag 17 |
| 1953 7th Tony Awards |
| 1953 7th Tony Awards | Joshua Logan | Picnic |
| 1954 8th Tony Awards |
| 1954 8th Tony Awards | Alfred Lunt | Ondine |
| 1955 9th Tony Awards |
| 1955 9th Tony Awards | Robert Montgomery | The Desperate Hours |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Tyrone Guthrie | The Matchmaker |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Joseph Anthony | The Lark |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Harold Clurman | Bus Stop, Pipe Dream and Tiger at the Gates |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Tyrone Guthrie | The Matchmaker, Six Characters in Search of an Author and Tamburlaine the Great |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Garson Kanin | The Diary of Anne Frank |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Elia Kazan | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Albert Marre | The Chalk Garden |
| 1956 10th Tony Awards | Herman Shumlin | Inherit the Wind |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | Moss Hart | My Fair Lady |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | Joseph Anthony | A Clearing in the Woods and The Most Happy Fella |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | Harold Clurman | The Waltz of the Toreadors |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | Peter Glenville | Separate Lives |
| 1957 11th Tony Awards | José Quintero | Long Day's Journey into Night |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | Vincent J. Donehue | Sunrise at Campobello |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | Morton DaCosta | The Music Man |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | Peter Hall | The Rope Dancers |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | George Roy Hill | Look Homeward, Angel |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | Elia Kazan | The Dark at the Top of the Stairs |
| 1958 12th Tony Awards | Arthur Penn | Two for the Seesaw |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Elia Kazan | J.B. |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Peter Brook | The Visit |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Robert Dhéry | La Plume de Ma Tante |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | William Gaskill | Epitaph for George Dillon |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Peter Glenville | Rashomon |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Cyril Ritchard | The Pleasure of His Company |
| 1959 13th Tony Awards | Dore Schary | A Majority of One |

## Award records
### Multiple wins
#### 3 Wins

* Elia Kazan
* Joshua Logan

### Multiple nominations
#### 5 Nominations

* Elia Kazan

#### 3 Nominations

* Joshua Logan

#### 2 Nominations

* Joseph Anthony
* Harold Clurman
* Peter Glenville
* Tyrone Guthrie