# Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play

The Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a New Play was an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
This award was presented from 1976 to 1984, then in 1985 the award was combined with the Actor of the Year in a Revival award to create the Best Actor award. The original Actor of the Year in a New Play award returned one last time, for the 1988 ceremony.

## Winners and nominees
### 1970s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 1976 |
| 1976 | Paul Copley | For King and Country | Pte. Hamp |
| 1976 | Richard Beckinsale | Funny Peculiar | Trevor Tinsley |
| 1976 | Frank Finlay | Watch It Come Down and Weapons of Happiness | Ben Prosser / Josef Frank |
| 1976 | Alec McCowen | The Family Dance | Ben Musgrave |
| 1977 |
| 1977 | Michael Bryant | State of Revolution | Vladimir Lenin |
| 1977 | Colin Blakely | Just Between Ourselves | Dennis |
| 1977 | Alec Guinness | The Old Country | Hilary |
| 1977 | Ralph Richardson | The Kingfisher | The Author |
| 1978 |
| 1978 | Tom Conti | Whose Life is it Anyway? | Ken Harrison |
| 1978 | Gordon Chater | The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin | Robert O'Brien |
| 1978 | John Gielgud | Half-Life | Sir Noel Cunliffe |
| 1978 | Peter McEnery | The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs | Albie Sachs |
| 1979 |
| 1979 | Ian McKellen | Bent | Max |
| 1979 | Michael Gambon | Betrayal | Jerry |
| 1979 | Dinsdale Landen | Bodies | Mervyn |
| 1979 | John Standing | Close of Play | Benedict |

### 1980s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 1980 |
| 1980 | Roger Rees | The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | Nicholas Nickleby |
| 1980 | Tom Courtenay | The Dresser | Norman |
| 1980 | David Schofield | The Elephant Man | John Merrick |
| 1980 | Paul Scofield | Amadeus | Antonio Salieri |
| 1981 |
| 1981 | Trevor Eve | Children of a Lesser God | James |
| 1981 | Edward Fox | Quartermaine's Terms | St. John Quartermaine |
| 1981 | James Grout | Quartermaine's Terms | Henry Windscape |
| 1981 | Karl Johnson | Television Times | Unknown |
| 1982 |
| 1982 | Ian McDiarmid | Insignificance | Albert Einstein |
| 1982 | Rupert Everett | Another Country | Guy |
| 1982 | Alec McCowen | The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H. | Adolf Hitler |
| 1982 | David Swift | 84, Charing Cross Road | Frank Doel |
| 1983 |
| 1983 | Jack Shepherd | Glengarry Glen Ross | Richard Roma |
| 1983 | Michael Gambon | Tales from Hollywood | Ödön von Horváth |
| 1983 | Ben Kingsley | Kean | Edmund Kean |
| 1983 | Michael Williams | Pack of Lies | Bob Jackson |
| 1984 |
| 1984 | Brian Cox | Rat in the Skull | Nelson |
| 1984 | Ian Charleson | Fool for Love | Eddie |
| 1984 | John Kani | "Master Harold"...and the Boys | Willie |
| 1984 | Michael Pennington | Strider: The Story of a Horse | Strider |
| 1988 |
| 1988 | David Haig | Our Country's Good | Second Lieutenant Ralph Clark |
| 1988 | Brian Cox | Fashion | Paul Cash |
| 1988 | Alec Guinness | A Walk in the Woods | Andrey Botvinnik |
| 1988 | David Suchet | Separation | Joe Green |