Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play was an annual award given to the best actress in a non-musical play on Broadway or Off-Broadway, as determined by Outer Critics Circle. The award was first given out in 1977, preceded by a "Best Performance" category.
The award was preceded by an award for Best Performance, but the newly gendered award for musical performance was first given out the 1987–1988 season through the season. The award was retired in 2022 and replaced by Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play and Outstanding Lead Performer in an Off-Broadway Play in gender-neutral performance categories.
Cherry Jones won the award the most times, with four wins out of four nominations. Following her, both Mercedes Ruehl and Viola Davis won the award twice each. Laura Linney has received the most nominations, with six, winning once.
Awards winners
- Key
1970s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 |
||||
Liv Ullmann |
Anna Christie |
Anna Christie |
||
1978 |
||||
Nancy Snyder |
Fifth of July |
Shirley Talley |
||
Vicki Frederick |
Dancin |
Ensemble |
||
1979 |
No award given. |
|||
1980s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 |
No award given. |
|||
1981 |
||||
Swoosie Kurtz |
Fifth of July |
Gwen Landis |
||
1982 |
||||
Amanda Plummer |
Agnes of God'' /A Taste of Honey'' |
Agnes / Jo |
||
1983 |
||||
Kathy Bates |
'night, Mother |
Jessie Cates |
||
Jessica Tandy |
Foxfire |
Annie Nations |
||
1984 |
||||
Marian Seldes |
Painting Churches |
Fay Chatham |
||
1985 |
||||
Rosemary Harris |
Pack of Lies |
Maggie Hunt |
||
1986 |
||||
Lily Tomlin |
The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe |
Various |
||
1987 |
||||
Linda Lavin |
Broadway Bound |
Kate Jerome |
||
1988 |
||||
Dana Ivey |
Driving Miss Daisy'' /Wenceslas Square'' |
Miss Daisy / Various |
||
1989 |
||||
Pauline Collins |
Shirley Valentine |
Shirley Valentine |
||
1990s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|---|---|---|---|
1990 |
|||
Maggie Smith |
Lettice and Lovage |
Lettice Douffet |
|
Vanessa Redgrave |
Orpheus Descending |
Lady Torrance |
|
Lois Smith |
Grapes of Wrath |
Ma Joad |
|
Kathleen Turner |
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
Margaret |
|
Margaret Tyzack |
Lettice and Lovage |
Lotte Schoen |
|
1991 |
|||
Mercedes Ruehl |
Lost in Yonkers |
Bella Kurnitz |
|
Eileen Atkins |
A Room of One’s Own |
Virginia Woolf |
|
Stockard Channing |
Six Degrees of Separation |
Ouisa Kittredge |
|
Julie Harris |
Lucifer's Child |
Isak Dinesen |
|
1992 |
|||
Laura Esterman |
Marvin's Room |
Bessie |
|
Jane Alexander |
The Visit |
Claire Zachanassian |
|
Glenn Close |
Death and the Maiden |
Paulina Salas |
|
Pauline Flanagan |
Grandchild of Kings |
Mother |
|
Jessica Lange |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
Blanche DuBois |
|
1993 |
|||
Madeline Kahn |
The Sisters Rosensweig |
Gorgeous Teitelbaum |
|
Jane Alexander |
The Sisters Rosensweig |
Sara Goode |
|
Debra Monk |
Redwood Curtain |
[Role Name] |
|
Maryann Plunkett |
Saint Joan |
Joan |
|
1994 |
|||
Myra Carter |
Three Tall Women |
Woman C |
|
1995 |
|||
Cherry Jones |
The Heiress |
Catherine Sloper |
|
1996 |
|||
Zoe Caldwell |
Master Class |
Maria Callas |
|
Catherine Byrne |
Molly Sweeney |
Molly Sweeney |
|
Uta Hagen |
Mrs. Klein |
Mrs. Klein |
|
Judith Ivey |
A Fair Country |
Patrice Burgess |
|
1997 |
|||
Janet McTeer |
A Doll’s House |
Nora Helmer |
|
Dana Ivey |
The Last Night of Ballyhoo |
Boo Levy |
|
Kate Nelligan |
An American Daughter |
Lyssa Dent Hughes |
|
Mary-Louise Parker |
How I Learned to Drive |
Li'l Bit |
|
1998 |
|||
Cherry Jones |
Pride's Crossing |
Martha |
|
Anna Manahan |
The Beauty Queen of Leenane |
Mag Folan |
|
Marie Mullen |
Maureen |
||
J. Smith-Cameron |
As Bees in Honey Drown |
Alexa |
|
1999 |
|||
Kathleen Chalfant |
Wit |
Vivian Bearing |
|
Judi Dench |
Amy's View |
Esme Allen |
|
Elizabeth Franz |
Death of a Salesman |
Linda Loman |
|
Swoosie Kurtz |
The Mineola Twins |
Myrna/Myra |
|
Zoe Wanamaker |
Electra |
Electra |
2000s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|---|---|---|---|
2000 |
|||
Eileen Heckart |
The Waverly Gallery |
Gladys Green |
|
Rosemary Harris |
Waiting in the Wings |
May Davenport |
|
Laura Linney |
Uncle Vanya |
Yelena Andreyevna Serebryakova |
|
J. Smith-Cameron |
Fuddy Meers |
Claire |
|
2001 |
|||
Viola Davis |
King Hedley II |
Tonya |
|
Mary-Louise Parker |
Proof |
Catherine |
|
Marthe Keller |
Judgment at Nuremberg |
Frau Bertholt |
|
Juliette Binoche |
Betrayal |
Emma |
|
Michael Learned |
The Best Man |
Alice Russell / Mabel Cantwell |
|
Leslie Uggams |
King Hedley II |
Ruby |
|
Eileen Atkins |
The Unexpected Man |
The Woman |
|
Marian Seldes |
The Play About the Baby |
Woman |
|
2002 |
|||
Mercedes Ruehl |
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? |
Stevie |
|
Laura Linney |
The Crucible |
Elizabeth Proctor |
|
Kate Burton |
Hedda Gabler |
Hedda Gabler |
|
Helen Mirren |
Dance of Death |
Alice |
|
2003 |
|||
Jayne Atkinson |
Enchanted April |
Lottie Wilton |
|
Christine Ebersole |
Dinner at Eight |
Millicent Jordan |
|
Victoria Hamilton |
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg |
Sheila |
|
Clare Higgins |
Vincent in Brixton |
Ursula Loyer |
|
Marylouise Burke |
Kimberly Akimbo |
Kimberly Levaco |
|
2004 |
|||
Eileen Atkins |
The Retreat From Moscow |
Alice |
|
Zilah Mendoza |
Living Out |
Ana Hernandez |
|
Phylicia Rashad |
A Raisin in the Sun |
Lena Younger |
|
Viola Davis |
Intimate Apparel |
Esther |
|
Swoosie Kurtz |
Frozen |
Nancy Shirley |
|
2005 |
|||
Cherry Jones |
Doubt, A Parable |
Sister Aloysius Beauvier |
|
L. Scott Caldwell |
Going to St. Ives |
May N'Kame |
|
Laura Linney |
Sight Unseen |
Patricia |
|
Natasha Richardson |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
Blanche DuBois |
|
Kathleen Turner |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
Martha |
|
2006 |
|||
Lois Smith |
The Trip to Bountiful |
Mrs. Carrie Watts |
|
Cynthia Nixon |
Rabbit Hole |
Becca |
|
Julie White |
The Little Dog Laughed |
Diane |
|
Zoë Wanamaker |
Awake and Sing! |
Bessie Berger |
|
2007 |
|||
Eve Best |
A Moon for the Misbegotten |
Josie Hogan |
|
Jennifer Ehle |
The Coast of Utopia |
Liubov / Natalie Herzen / Malwida von Meysenbug |
|
Carla Gugino |
Suddenly Last Summer |
Catharine Holly |
|
Alison Pill |
Blackbird |
Una |
|
2008 |
|||
Deanna Dunagan |
August: Osage County |
Violet Weston |
|
Laura Linney |
Les Liaisons Dangereuses |
La Marquise de Merteuil |
|
S. Epatha Merkerson |
Come Back, Little Sheba |
Lola |
|
Eve Best |
The Homecoming |
Ruth |
|
2009 |
|||
Marcia Gay Harden |
God of Carnage |
Veronica Novak |
|
Saidah Arrika Ekulona |
Ruined |
Mama Nadi |
|
Carla Gugino |
Desire Under the Elms |
Abbie Putnam |
|
Harriet Walter |
Mary Stuart |
Elizabeth Tudor |
|
Janet McTeer |
Mary Stuart |
Mary Stuart |
2010s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|---|---|---|---|
2010 |
|||
Viola Davis |
Fences |
Rose |
|
Laura Benanti |
In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) |
Mrs. Catherine Givings |
|
Laura Linney |
Time Stands Still |
Sarah Goodwin |
|
Jan Maxwell |
The Royal Family |
Julie Cavendish |
|
Nina Arianda |
Venus in Fur |
Dunayev / Vanda |
|
2011 |
|||
Frances McDormand |
Good People |
Margie Walsh |
|
Nina Arianda |
Born Yesterday |
Billie Dawn |
|
Judith Light |
Lombardi |
Marie Lombardi |
|
Laurie Metcalf |
The Other Place |
Juliana Smithton |
|
Edie Falco |
The House of Blue Leaves |
Bananas Shaughnessy |
|
2012 |
|||
Tracie Bennett |
End of the Rainbow |
Judy Garland |
|
Linda Lavin |
The Lyons |
Rita Lyons |
|
Laila Robins |
The Lady from Dubuque |
Jo |
|
Nicole Ari Parker |
A Streetcar Named Desire |
Blanche DuBois |
|
Tyne Daly |
Master Class |
Maria Callas |
|
2013 |
|||
Cicely Tyson |
The Trip to Bountiful |
Carrie Watts |
|
Vanessa Redgrave |
The Revisionist |
Maria |
|
Tracee Chimo |
Bad Jews |
Daphna |
|
Amy Morton |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
Martha |
|
Joely Richardson |
Ivanov |
Anna Petrovna |
|
2014 |
|||
Cherry Jones |
The Glass Menagerie |
Amanda Wingfield |
|
Tyne Daly |
Mothers and Sons |
Katharine Gerard |
|
Rebecca Hall |
Machinal |
Young Woman |
|
Jessica Hecht |
Stage Kiss |
She |
|
Estelle Parsons |
The Velocity of Autumn |
Alexandra |
|
2015 |
|||
Helen Mirren |
The Audience |
Queen Elizabeth II |
|
Jan Maxwell |
The City of Conversation |
Hester Ferris |
|
Elisabeth Moss |
The Heidi Chronicles |
Heidi Holland |
|
Tonya Pinkins |
Rasheeda Speaking |
Jaclyn |
|
Greta Gerwig |
The Village Bike |
Becky |
|
2016 |
|||
Jessica Lange |
Long Day's Journey Into Night |
Mary Cavan Tyrone |
|
Jayne Houdyshell |
The Humans |
Deirdre Blake |
|
Lupita Nyong'o |
Eclipsed |
Girl |
|
Nicola Walker |
A View from the Bridge |
Beatrice |
|
Michelle Williams |
Blackbird |
Una |
|
2017 |
|||
Laura Linney |
The Little Foxes |
Regina Giddens |
|
Janie Dee |
Linda |
Linda Wilde |
|
Laurie Metcalf |
A Doll's House, Part 2 |
Nora |
|
Sally Field |
The Glass Menagerie |
Amanda Wingfield |
|
Allison Janney |
Six Degrees of Separation |
Ouisa Kittredge |
|
2018 |
|||
Glenda Jackson |
Three Tall Women |
A |
|
Lauren Ridloff |
Children of a Lesser God |
Sarah Norman |
|
MaameYaa Boafo |
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play |
Paulina Sarpong |
|
Katy Sullivan |
Cost of Living |
Ani |
|
Jessica Hecht |
Admissions |
Sherri Rosen-Mason |
|
2019 |
|||
Elaine May |
The Waverly Gallery |
Gladys Green |
|
Glenn Close |
Mother of the Maid |
Isabelle Arc |
|
Edie Falco |
The True |
Dorothea "Polly" Noonan |
|
Glenda Jackson |
King Lear |
Lear |
|
Mandi Masden |
The Light |
Genesis |
2020s
Year |
Actor |
Work |
Role |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 (Hon.) |
Eileen Atkins |
The Height of the Storm |
Claire |
|
Judith Ivey |
Greater Clements |
Cora |
||
Joaquina Kalukango |
Slave Play |
Kaneisha |
||
April Matthis |
Toni Stone |
Toni Stone |
||
Mary-Louise Parker |
The Sound Inside |
Portia Stew |
||
2021 |
No award given due to COVID-19 pandemic. |
|||
2022 |
||||
LaChanze |
Trouble in Mind |
Wiletta Mayer |
||
Betsy Aidem |
Prayer for the French Republic |
Marcelle Salomon Benhamou |
||
Stephanie Berry |
On Sugarland |
Evelyn |
||
Edie Falco |
Morning Sun |
Charley |
||
Debra Messing |
Birthday Candles |
Ernestine Ashworth |
||
Multiple wins
- 4 wins
- Cherry Jones
- 2 wins
- Mercedes Ruehl
- Viola Davis
Multiple nominations
- 6 nominations
- Laura Linney
- 4 nominations
- Eileen Atkins
- Cherry Jones
- 3 nominations
- Swoosie Kurtz
- Mary-Louise Parker
- Viola Davis
- Edie Falco
- 2 nominations
- Marian Seldes
- Rosemary Harris
- Linda Lavin
- Dana Ivey
- Vanessa Redgrave
- Lois Smith
- Kathleen Turner
- Mercedes Ruehl
- Jane Alexander
- Glenn Close
- Jessica Lange
- Judith Ivey
- Janet McTeer
- J. Smith-Cameron
- Zoe Wanamaker
- Helen Mirren
- Eve Best
- Carla Gugino
- Jan Maxwell
- Nina Arianda
- Laurie Metcalf
- Tyne Daly
- Jessica Hecht
- Glenda Jackson
See also
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play
- Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
References
Outstanding Actress in a Play Category:Theatre acting awards Category:Awards for actresses