# Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play is 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 introduced in 1985, as Actor of the Year, then retitled to its current name for the 1993 ceremony. Prior to this award, from 1976 to 1984 (and again in 1988), there was a pair of awards given each year for this general category, one for Actor of the Year in a New Play and the other for Actor of the Year in a Revival.

## Winners and nominees
### 1980s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 1985 |
| 1985 | Antony Sher | Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy | Richard III of England / Arnold Beckoff |
| 1985 | Alun Armstrong | The Crucible and The Winter's Tale | John Proctor / Leontes |
| 1985 | Kenneth Branagh | Henry V | Henry V of England |
| 1985 | Anthony Hopkins | Pravda | Lambert Le Roux |
| 1986 |
| 1986 | Albert Finney | Orphans | Harold |
| 1986 | Derek Jacobi | Breaking the Code | Alan Turing |
| 1986 | Ian McKellen | The Cherry Orchard | Lopakhin |
| 1986 | Martin Sheen | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks |
| 1987 |
| 1987 | Michael Gambon | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone |
| 1987 | Tokusaburo Arashi | Medea | Medea |
| 1987 | Hugh Quarshie | The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Great White Hope and The Rover | Arcite / Jack Jefferson / Belville |
| 1987 | Nicholas Woodeson | Sarcophagus and Flight | Bessmertny / Mike Levine |
| 1989/90 |
| 1989/90 | Oliver Ford Davies | Racing Demon | The Rev. Lionel Espy |
| 1989/90 | Nigel Hawthorne | Shadowlands | Lewis |
| 1989/90 | Ian McKellen | Othello and Bent | Iago / Max |
| 1989/90 | Michael Pennington | The Wars of the Roses | Various Characters |

### 1990s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 1991 |
| 1991 | Ian McKellen | Richard III | Richard III of England |
| 1991 | Richard Harris | Henry IV | Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor |
| 1991 | John Malkovich | Burn This | Pale |
| 1991 | Warren Mitchell | The Homecoming | Max |
| 1992 |
| 1992 | Nigel Hawthorne | The Madness of George III | George III |
| 1992 | Marcus D'Amico | Angels in America | Louis Ironson |
| 1992 | Robert Lindsay | Becket | Henry II of England |
| 1992 | Ian McKellen | Uncle Vanya | Uncle Vanya |
| 1993 |
| 1993 | Robert Stephens | Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 | Falstaff |
| 1993 | Kenneth Cranham | An Inspector Calls | Inspector Goole |
| 1993 | Paul Eddington | No Man's Land | Spooner |
| 1993 | Paul Scofield | Heartbreak House | Captain Shotover |
| 1994 |
| 1994 | Mark Rylance | Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick |
| 1994 | Henry Goodman | Hysteria | Sigmund Freud |
| 1994 | Patrick Stewart | A Christmas Carol | Various Characters |
| 1994 | David Suchet | Oleanna | John |
| 1995 |
| 1995 | David Bamber | My Night with Reg | Guy |
| 1995 | James Bolam | Glengarry Glen Ross | Shelly Levene |
| 1995 | Adrian Lester | As You Like It | Rosalind |
| 1995 | Bob Peck | Rutherford and Son | John Rutherford |
| 1996 |
| 1996 | Alex Jennings | Peer Gynt | Peer Gynt |
| 1996 | Michael Gambon | Skylight | Tom Sergeant |
| 1996 | Daniel Massey | Taking Sides | Wilhelm Furtwängler |
| 1996 | Donal McCann | The Steward of Christendom | Thomas Dunne |
| 1997 |
| 1997 | Antony Sher | Stanley | Stanley Spencer |
| 1997 | Paul Scofield | John Gabriel Borkman | John Gabriel Borkman |
| 1997 | Ken Stott | Art | Yvan |
| 1997 | David Suchet | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | George |
| 1998 |
| 1998 | Ian Holm | King Lear | King Lear |
| 1998 | Simon Russell Beale | Othello | Iago |
| 1998 | Michael Gambon | Tom & Clem | Tom Driberg |
| 1998 | Rupert Graves | Hurlyburly | Eddie |
| 1998 | John Wood | The Invention of Love | A. E. Housman |
| 1999 |
| 1999 | Kevin Spacey | The Iceman Cometh | Theodore "Hickey" Hickman |
| 1999 | Michael Gambon | The Unexpected Man | Parsky |
| 1999 | Iain Glen | The Blue Room | Various Characters |
| 1999 | Jim Norton | The Weir | Jack |
| 1999 | David Suchet | Amadeus | Salieri |

### 2000s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Henry Goodman | The Merchant of Venice | Shylock |
| 2000 | Roger Allam | Summerfolk | Bassov |
| 2000 | Stephen Dillane | The Real Thing | Henry |
| 2000 | Michael Sheen | Look Back in Anger | Jimmy Porter |
| 2000 | Antony Sher | The Winter's Tale | Leontes |
| 2001 |
| 2001 | Conleth Hill | Stones in His Pockets | Charlie Conlon |
| 2001 | Simon Russell Beale | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2001 | Sean Campion | Stones in His Pockets | Jake Quinn |
| 2001 | Michael Gambon | The Caretaker | Davies |
| 2001 | Bill Nighy | Blue/Orange | Professor Smith |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | Roger Allam | Privates on Parade | Terri Dennis |
| 2002 | Simon Russell Beale | Humble Boy | Felix Humble |
| 2002 | Sean Foley | The Play What I Wrote | Sean |
| 2002 | Hamish McColl | The Play What I Wrote | Hamish |
| 2002 | Alan Rickman | Private Lives | Elyot |
| 2003 |
| 2003 | Simon Russell Beale | Uncle Vanya | Uncle Vanya |
| 2003 | Michael Gambon | A Number | Salter |
| 2003 | Mark Rylance | Twelfth Night | Olivia |
| 2003 | David Tennant | Lobby Hero | Jeff |
| 2004 |
| 2004 | Matthew Kelly | Of Mice and Men | Lennie Small |
| 2004 | Roger Allam | Democracy | Willy Brandt |
| 2004 | Kenneth Branagh | Edmond | Edmond Burke |
| 2004 | Greg Hicks | Coriolanus | Coriolanus |
| 2004 | Michael Sheen | Caligula | Caligula |
| 2005 |
| 2005 | Richard Griffiths | The History Boys | Douglas Hector |
| 2005 | Michael Gambon | Endgame | Hamm |
| 2005 | Jonathan Pryce | The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? | Martin |
| 2005 | Ben Whishaw | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2006 |
| 2006 | Brian Dennehy | Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman |
| 2006 | Richard Griffiths | Heroes | Henri |
| 2006 | Derek Jacobi | Don Carlos | Philip II of Spain |
| 2006 | Con O'Neill | Telstar | Joe Meek |
| 2006 | David Threlfall | Someone Who'll Watch Over Me | Michael |
| 2007 |
| 2007 | Rufus Sewell | Rock 'n' Roll | Jan |
| 2007 | Iain Glen | The Crucible | John Proctor |
| 2007 | David Haig | Donkeys' Years | Christopher Headingley |
| 2007 | Frank Langella | Frost/Nixon | Richard Nixon |
| 2007 | Michael Sheen | Frost/Nixon | David Frost |
| 2008 |
| 2008 | Chiwetel Ejiofor | Othello | Othello |
| 2008 | Ian McKellen | King Lear | King Lear |
| 2008 | Mark Rylance | Boeing Boeing | Robert |
| 2008 | John Simm | Elling | Elling |
| 2008 | Patrick Stewart | Macbeth | Macbeth |
| 2009 |
| 2009 | Derek Jacobi | Twelfth Night | Malvolio |
| 2009 | David Bradley | No Man's Land | Spooner |
| 2009 | Michael Gambon | No Man's Land | Hirst |
| 2009 | Adam Godley | Rain Man | Raymond Babitt |

### 2010s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Mark Rylance | Jerusalem | Johnny |
| 2010 | James Earl Jones | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Big Daddy |
| 2010 | Jude Law | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2010 | James McAvoy | Three Days of Rain | Walker / Ned |
| 2010 | Ken Stott | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone |
| 2010 | Samuel West | ENRON | Jeffrey Skilling |
| 2011 |
| 2011 | Roger Allam | Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 | Falstaff |
| 2011 | Derek Jacobi | King Lear | King Lear |
| 2011 | Rory Kinnear | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2011 | Mark Rylance | La Bête | Valere |
| 2011 | David Suchet | All My Sons | Joe Keller |
| 2012 |
| 2012 | Benedict Cumberbatch & Jonny Lee Miller | Frankenstein | Victor Frankenstein / The Creature |
| 2012 | James Corden | One Man, Two Guvnors | Francis Henshall |
| 2012 | David Haig | The Madness of George III | George III |
| 2012 | Douglas Hodge | Inadmissible Evidence | William Maitland |
| 2012 | Jude Law | Anna Christie | Mat Burke |
| 2013 |
| 2013 | Luke Treadaway | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Christopher Boone |
| 2013 | Rupert Everett | The Judas Kiss | Oscar Wilde |
| 2013 | James McAvoy | Macbeth | Macbeth |
| 2013 | Mark Rylance | Twelfth Night | Olivia |
| 2013 | Rafe Spall | Constellations | Roland |
| 2014 |
| 2014 | Rory Kinnear | Othello | Iago |
| 2014 | Henry Goodman | The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Arturo Ui |
| 2014 | Tom Hiddleston | Coriolanus | Coriolanus |
| 2014 | Jude Law | Henry V | Henry V of England |
| 2015 |
| 2015 | Mark Strong | A View from the Bridge | Eddie Carbone |
| 2015 | Richard Armitage | The Crucible | John Procter |
| 2015 | James McAvoy | The Ruling Class | Jack Gurney |
| 2015 | Tim Pigott-Smith | King Charles III | King Charles lll |
| 2016 |
| 2016 | Kenneth Cranham | The Father | Andre |
| 2016 | Kenneth Branagh | The Winter's Tale | Leontes |
| 2016 | Benedict Cumberbatch | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2016 | Adrian Lester | Red Velvet | Ira Aldridge |
| 2016 | Mark Rylance | Farinelli and the King | King Philippe V of Spain |
| 2017 |
| 2017 | Jamie Parker | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Harry Potter |
| 2017 | Ed Harris | Buried Child | Dodge |
| 2017 | Tom Hollander | Travesties | Henry Carr |
| 2017 | Ian McKellen | No Man's Land | Spooner |
| 2018 |
| 2018 | Bryan Cranston | Network | Howard Beale |
| 2018 | Paddy Considine | The Ferryman | Quinn Carney |
| 2018 | Andrew Garfield | Angels in America | Prior Walter |
| 2018 | Andrew Scott | Hamlet | Prince Hamlet |
| 2019 |
| 2019 | Kyle Soller | The Inheritance | Eric Glass |
| 2019 | Simon Russell Beale Adam Godley Ben Miles | The Lehman Trilogy | Henry Lehman Emanuel Lehman Mayer Lehman |
| 2019 | Arinzé Kene | Misty | Arinzé |
| 2019 | Ian McKellen | King Lear | King Lear |
| 2019 | David Suchet | The Price | Gregory Solomon |

### 2020s

| Year | Actor | Play | Character |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Andrew Scott | Present Laughter | Garry Essendine |
| 2020 | Toby Jones | Uncle Vanya | Uncle Vanya |
| 2020 | James McAvoy | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| 2020 | Wendell Pierce | Death of a Salesman | Willy Loman |
| 2021 | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic | Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Hiran Abeysekera | Life of Pi | Pi Patel |
| 2022 | Ben Daniels | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks |
| 2022 | Omari Douglas | Constellations | Manuel |
| 2022 | Charles Edwards | Best of Enemies | Gore Vidal |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Paul Mescal | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley Kowalski |
| 2023 | Tom Hollander | Patriots | Berezovsky |
| 2023 | Rafe Spall | To Kill a Mockingbird | Atticus Finch |
| 2023 | David Tennant | Good | John Halder |
| 2023 | Giles Terera | Blues for an Alabama Sky | Guy Jacobs |
| 2024 |
| 2024 | Mark Gatiss | The Motive and the Cue | Sir John Gielgud |
| 2024 | Joseph Fiennes | Dear England | Gareth Southgate |
| 2024 | James Norton | A Little Life | Jude St Francis |
| 2024 | Andrew Scott | Vanya | All characters |
| 2024 | David Tennant | Macbeth | Macbeth |
| 2025 | Adrien Brody | The Fear of 13 | Nick Yarris |
| 2025 | Billy Crudup | Harry Clarke | Harry Clarke |
| 2025 | Paapa Essiedu | Death of England: Delroy | Delroy |
| 2025 | John Lithgow | Giant | Roald Dahl |
| 2025 | Mark Strong | Oedipus | Oedipus |
* 1 2 Due to late March 2020 to late July 2021 closing of London theatre productions during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2022 awards recognise productions that launched anytime from February 2020 to February 2022

## Multiple awards and nominations for Best Actor

Note: The below awards and nominations include individuals awarded and nominated under the now-defunct categories Actor of the Year in a New Play and Actor of the Year in a Revival as well as the current combined Best Actor category.

### Awards
#### Four awards

* Ian McKellen

#### Two awards

* Roger Allam
* Brian Cox
* Alan Howard
* Derek Jacobi
* Mark Rylance
* Antony Sher

### Nominations
#### Eleven nominations

* Michael Gambon

#### Ten nominations

* Ian McKellen

#### Seven nominations

* Derek Jacobi
* Mark Rylance
* David Suchet

#### Five nominations

* Simon Russell Beale

#### Four nominations

* Roger Allam
* James McAvoy
* Antony Sher

#### Three nominations

* Kenneth Branagh
* Brian Cox
* Henry Goodman
* David Haig
* Alan Howard
* Jude Law
* Alec McCowen
* Warren Mitchell
* Bob Peck
* Jonathan Pryce
* Paul Scofield
* Andrew Scott
* Michael Sheen
* Patrick Stewart
* David Tennant

#### Two nominations

* Alun Armstrong
* Michael Bryant
* Tom Conti
* Kenneth Cranham
* Benedict Cumberbatch
* Rupert Everett
* Albert Finney
* Iain Glen
* Richard Griffiths
* Alec Guinness
* Nigel Hawthorne
* Tom Hollander
* Emrys James
* Rory Kinnear
* Adrian Lester
* Daniel Massey
* Peter McEnery
* Michael Pennington
* Donald Sinden
* Rafe Spall
* Ken Stott
* John Wood

## Multiple awards and nominations for a character
### Awards
#### Two awards

* Falstaff from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2
* Richard III of England from Richard III
* Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman
* Eddie Carbone from A View from the Bridge

### Nominations
#### Six nominations

* Prince Hamlet from Hamlet

#### Four nominations

* King Lear from King Lear
* Uncle Vanya from Uncle Vanya

#### Three nominations

* Coriolanus from Coriolanus
* Eddie Carbone from A View from the Bridge
* Falstaff from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2
* Henry V of England from Henry V
* Iago from Othello
* Leontes from The Winter's Tale
* Shylock from The Merchant of Venice
* Spooner from No Man's Land
* Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman

#### Two nominations

* Captain Shotover from Heartbreak House
* Davies from The Caretaker
* George III from The Madness of George III
* John Procter from The Crucible
* Macbeth from Macbeth
* Max from The Homecoming
* Ned Weeks from The Normal Heart
* Olivia from Twelfth Night
* Richard III of England from Richard III