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




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

• Kenneth Branagh
 * Three nominations

• 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

• Alun Armstrong
 * Two nominations

• 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

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