John Lithgow just rewrote the Tony Awards record books, and he did it in the most Lithgow way possible. With grace, humor, and a genuinely stunning performance behind him.
At Sunday’s 79th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, the veteran stage and screen actor took home Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his work in Giant, Mark Rosenblatt’s drama about Roald Dahl’s antisemitism. It is his third Tony win overall, and it comes 53 years after his first.
John Lithgow Becomes the Oldest Competitive Acting Tony Winner in History
The record he broke had been standing since 2000, when Roy Dotrice won Best Featured Actor in a Play at 77 for A Moon for the Misbegotten. Lithgow, at 80, surpassed that mark by three years to become the oldest man ever to claim a competitive acting prize at the Tonys.
But the age record is only part of the story. His first Tony came in 1973 for The Changing Room, his Broadway debut. That 53-year gap between wins also shatters the previous record for the longest span between competitive acting Tonys, a record previously held by Angela Lansbury. Lithgow himself acknowledged the symmetry from the stage.
“Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them,” he told the audience. “In those years, I have worked with hundreds of just fantastic theatre artists. I’ve had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments on the stage, but I have to tell you right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”
The win also places Lithgow in an elite club of just four performers to win in three different acting categories. With Tonys now spanning a featured play role, a leading musical role (Sweet Smell of Success, 2002), and a leading play role, he joins Kevin Kline and Boyd Gaines as three-category winners. Only Audra McDonald has won in four.
Giant opened on Broadway on March 23 after a successful West End run, where it picked up three Olivier Awards, including Best New Play. The production earned four Tony nominations in total.
Lithgow beat out a stacked field that included Nathan Lane, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mark Strong to claim the prize.
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