Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical

For thoughtful child sponsors

The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is awarded to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been announced since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been announced since 1956.

In the lists below, the winner is displayed first, the non-winning nominees second.

1948 Grace Hartman. Angel in the Wings
1949 Nanette Fabray. Love Life
1950 Mary Martin. South Pacific
1951 Ethel Merman. Call Me Madam
1952 Gertrude Lawrence. The King and I
1953 Rosalind Russell. Wonderful Town
1954 Dolores Gray. Carnival in Flanders
1955 Mary Martin. Peter Pan
1956 Gwen Verdon. Damn Yankees
- Carol Channing. The Vamp
- Nancy Walker. Phoenix '55
1957 Judy Holliday. Bells Are Ringing
- Julie Andrews. My Fair Lady
- Ethel Merman. Happy Hunting
1958 (tie) Thelma Ritter. New Girl In Town; Gwen Verdon. New Girl In Town
- Lena Horne. Jamaica
- Beatrice Lillie. Ziegfeld Follies
1959 Gwen Verdon. Redhead
- Miyoshi Umeki. Flower Drum Song
1960 Mary Martin. The Sound of Music
- Carol Burnett. Once Upon a Mattress
- Dolores Gray. Destry Rides Again
- Eileen Herlie. Take Me Along
- Ethel Merman. Gypsy
1961 Elizabeth Seal. Irma La Douce
- Julie Andrews. Camelot
- Carol Channing. Show Girl
- Nancy Walker. Do Re Mi
1962 (tie) Anna Maria Alberghetti. Carnival; Diahann Carroll. No Strings
- Molly Picon. Milk and Honey
- Elaine Stritch. Sail Away
1963 Vivien Leigh. Tovarich
- Georgia Brown. Oliver
- Nanette Fabray. Mr. President
- Sally Ann Howes. Brigadoon
1964 Carol Channing. Hello, Dolly
- Beatrice Lillie. High Spirits
- Barbra Streisand. Funny Girl
- Inga Swenson. 110 in the Shade
1965 Liza Minnelli. Flora, the Red Menace
- Elizabeth Allen. Do I Hear a Waltz
- Nancy Dussault. Bajour
- Inga Swenson. Baker Street
1966 Angela Lansbury. Mame
- Barbara Harris. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
- Julie Harris. Skyscraper
- Gwen Verdon. Sweet Charity
1967 Barbara Harris. The Apple Tree
- Lotte Lenya. Cabaret
- Mary Martin. I Do! I Do
- Louise Troy. Walking Happy
1968 (tie) Patricia Routledge. Darling of the Day; Leslie Uggams. Hallelujah, Baby
- Melina Mercouri. Illya Darling
- Brenda Vaccaro. How Now, Dow Jones
1969 Angela Lansbury. Dear World
- Maria Karnilova. Zorba
- Dorothy Loudon. The Fig Leaves Are Falling
- Jill O'Hara. Promises, Promises
1970 Lauren Bacall. Applause
- Katharine Hepburn. Coco
- Dilys Watling. Georgy
1971 Helen Gallagher. No, No Nanette - Revival
- Susan Browning. Company
- Sandy Duncan. The Boy Friend
- Elaine Stritch. Company
1972 Alexis Smith. Follies
- Jonelle Allen. Two Gentlemen of Verona
- Dorothy Collins. Follies
- Mildred Natwick. 70, Girls, 70
1973 Glynis Johns. A Little Night Music
- Leland Palmer. Pippin
- Debbie Reynolds. Irene
- Marcia Rodd. Shelter
1974 Virginia Capers. Raisin
- Carol Channing. Lorelei
- Michele Lee. Seesaw
1975 Angela Lansbury. Gypsy
- Lola Falana. Doctor Jazz
- Bernadette Peters. Mack and Mabel
- Ann Reinking. Goodtime Charley
1976 Donna McKechnie. A Chorus Line
- Vivian Reed. Bubbling Brown Sugar
- Chita Rivera. Chicago
- Gwen Verdon. Chicago
1977 Dorothy Loudon. Annie
- Clamma Dale. Porgy and Bess
- Ernestine Jackson. Guys and Dolls
- Andrea McArdle. Annie
1978 Liza Minnelli. The Act
- Madeline Kahn. On the Twentieth Century
- Eartha Kitt. Timbuktu
- Frances Sternhagen. Angel
1979 Angela Lansbury. Sweeney Todd
- Tovah Feldshuh. Sarava
- Dorothy Loudon. Ballroom
- Alexis Smith. Platinum
1980 Patti Lupone. Evita
- Christine Andreas. Oklahoma
- Sandy Duncan. Peter Pan
- Ann Miller. Sugar Babies
1981 Lauren Bacall. Woman of the Year
- Meg Bussert. Brigadoon
- Chita Rivera. Bring Back Birdie
- Linda Ronstadt. The Pirates of Penzance
1982 Jennifer Holliday. Dreamgirls
- Lisa Mordente. Marlowe
- Mary Gordon Murray. Little Me
- Sheryl Lee Ralph. Dreamgirls
1983 Natalia Makarova. On Your Toes
- Lonette McKee. Show Boat
- Chita Rivera. Merlin
- Twiggy. My One and Only
1984 Chita Rivera. The Rink
- Rhetta Hughes. Amen Corner
- Liza Minnelli. The Rink
- Bernadette Peters. Sunday in the Park with George
1986 Bernadette Peters. Song & Dance
- Debbie Allen. Sweet Charity
- Cleo Laine. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
- Chita Rivera. Jerry's Girls
1987 Maryann Plunkett. Me and My Girl
- Catherine Cox. Oh Coward
- Teresa Stratas. Rags
1988 Joanna Gleason. Into the Woods
- Alison Fraser. Romance/Romance
- Judy Kuhn. Chess
- Patti Lupone. Anything Goes
1989 Ruth Brown. Black and Blue
- Charlotte d'Amboise. Jerome Robbins' Broadway
- Linda Hopkins. Black and Blue
- Sharon McNight. Starmites
1990 Tyne Daly. Gypsy
- Georgia Brown. Threepenny Opera
- Beth Fowler. Sweeney Todd
- Liliane Montevecchi. Grand Hotel, The Musical
1991 Lea Salonga. Miss Saigon
- June Angela.
- Dee Hoty. The Will Rogers Follies
- Cathy Rigby. Peter Pan
1992 Faith Prince. Guys and Dolls
- Jodi Benson. Crazy for You
- Josie de Guzman. Guys and Dolls
- Sophie Hayden. The Most Happy Fella
1993 Chita Rivera. Kiss of the Spider Woman--The Musical
- Ann Crumb. Anna Karenina
- Stephanie Lawrence. Blood Brothers
- Bernadette Peters. The Goodbye Girl
1994 Donna Murphy. Passion
- Susan Egan. Beauty and the Beast
- Dee Hoty. The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public
- Judy Kuhn. She Loves Me
1995 Glenn Close. Sunset Boulevard
- Rebecca Luker. Show Boat
1996 Donna Murphy. The King and I
- Julie Andrews. Victor/Victoria
- Crista Moore. Big - The Musical
- Daphne Rubin-Vega. Rent
1997 Bebe Neuwirth. Chicago
- Pamela Isaacs. The Life
- Tonya Pinkins. Play On
- Karen Ziemba. Steel Pier
1998 Natasha Richardson. Cabaret
- Betty Buckley. Triumph of Love
- Marin Mazzie. Ragtime
- Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner. Side Show
1999 Bernadette Peters. Annie Get Your Gun
- Carolee Carmello. Parade
- Dee Hoty. Footloose
- Sian Phillips. Marlene
2000 Heather Headley. Aida
- Toni Collette. The Wild Party
- Rebecca Luker. The Music Man
- Marin Mazzie. Kiss Me, Kate
- Audra McDonald. Marie Christine
2001 Christine Ebersole. 42nd Street
- Blythe Danner. Follies
- Randy Graff. A Class Act
- Faith Prince. Bells Are Ringing
- Marla Schaffel. Jane Eyre
2002 Sutton Foster. Thoroughly Modern Millie
- Louise Pitre. Mamma Mia
- Vanessa Williams. Into the Woods
- Nancy Opel. Urinetown The Musical
- Jennifer Laura Thompson. Urinetown The Musical
2003 Marissa Jaret Winokur. Hairspray
- Melissa Errico. Amour
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Man of La Mancha
- Elizabeth Parkinson. Movin' Out
- Bernadette Peters. Gypsy