Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The Oliviers 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.

Laurence Olivier Award
for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Awarded forBest Actor in a Supporting Role
Location England
Presented bySociety of London Theatre
First awarded1977
Currently held byWill Keen for Patriots (2023)
Websiteofficiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/ Edit this at Wikidata

This award was first given in 1977, then was replaced in 1985 by the commingled actor/actress Best Performance in a Supporting Role, which replaced the 1977 to 1984 pair of Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role awards. From 1991 to 2012, the general supporting category vacillated at random between the commingled singular award (presented for 12 different seasons) and the pair of awards (presented for the other 11 seasons); the commingled award was last given in 2012, and the split pair of Best Actor and Best Actress awards have been presented every year since.

Winners and nominees edit

1970s edit

Year Actor Play Character
1977
Nigel Hawthorne Privates on Parade Major Giles Flack
Michael Pennington Romeo and Juliet Mercutio
Paul Rogers The Madras House Henry Huxtable
Patrick Ryecart Candida Eugene Marchbanks
1978
Robert Eddison Twelfth Night Andrew Aguecheek / Feste
Michael Bryant The Double Dealer Sir Paul Plyant
Julian Glover Coriolanus Aufidius
Robert Stephens Brand Mayor
1979
Patrick Stewart Antony and Cleopatra Enobarbus
Michael Bryant Undiscovered Country Dr. von Aigner
Stephen Greif Death of a Salesman Biff
David Suchet Once in a Lifetime Herman Glogauer

1980s edit

Year Actor Play Character
1980
David Threlfall Nicholas Nickleby Angry Gentleman / Smike
Simon Callow Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Edward Petherbridge Nicholas Nickleby Newman Noggs
John Rogan Juno and the Paycock Joxer Daly
1981
Joe Melia Good Maurice
Tony Church Hamlet Polonius
Norman Rodway Shadow of a Gunman Seuman Shields
Tom Wilkinson Hamlet Horatio
1982
David Healy Guys and Dolls Nicely Nicely Johnson
Geoffrey Hutchings A Midsummer Night's Dream Bottom
Stephen Moore All's Well That Ends Well Parolles
Paul Rogers The Importance of Being Earnest Rev. Canon Chasuble
1983
Alan Devlin A Moon for the Misbegotten Phil Hogan
Ian McDiarmid Tales from Hollywood Bertolt Brecht
Mark Rylance Arden of Faversham Michael
Antony Sher King Lear Fool
1984
Edward Petherbridge Strange Interlude Charles Marsden
Ramolao Makhene "Master Harold"...and the Boys Sam
Richard O'Callaghan Twelfth Night Feste
Timothy Spall Saint Joan Charles, the Dauphin

1990s edit

Year Actor Play Character
1991
David Bradley King Lear The Fool
Ben Daniels Never the Sinner Richard Loeb
Mick Ford Singer Stefan
Jonathan Kent The Rehearsal Hero
1992
Oleg Menshikov When She Danced Sergei Yesenin
Simon Russell Beale Troilus and Cressida Thersites
Henry Goodman Angels in America Roy Cohn / Prior 2
Ken Stott The Recruiting Officer Sergeant Kite
1993
Julian Glover Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 Henry IV of England
Robin Bailey Trelawny of the Wells Sir William Gower
David Bradley Henry IV, Part 2 Justice Shallow
Martin Shaw An Ideal Husband Lord Goring
1994
Joseph Mydell Angels in America: Perestroika Belize
Richard McCabe The Winter's Tale Autolycus
Rufus Sewell Arcadia Septimus Hodge
1995
Ken Stott Broken Glass Dr. Harry Hyman
Simon Russell Beale The Tempest Ariel
Simon Coates As You Like It Celia
Trevor Peacock The Birthday Party Petey
1997
Trevor Eve Uncle Vanya Astrov
Stephen Boxer The Herbal Bed Barnabus Goche
Tony Haygarth Twelve Angry Men Juror 3
Owen Teale A Doll's House Torvald Helmer

2000s edit

Year Actor Play Character
2000
Roger Allam Money Henry Graves
Michael Bryant Summerfolk Semyon Dvoetochie
Ron Cook Juno and the Paycock Joxer Daly
Michael Williams The Forest Arkadiy Schastlivtsev
2001
Ben Daniels All My Sons Chris Keller
Chiwetel Ejiofor Blue/Orange Christopher
Douglas Hodge The Caretaker Aston
Jason Watkins A Servant to Two Masters Truffaldino
2002
Toby Jones The Play What I Wrote Arthur
Desmond Barrit Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 Sir John Falstaff
Ned Beatty Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Big Daddy
Adam Godley Mouth to Mouth Gompertz
Malcolm Sinclair Privates on Parade Major Giles Flack

2010s edit

Year Actor Play Character
2010
Eddie Redmayne Red Ken
Mackenzie Crook Jerusalem Ginger
Rory Kinnear Burnt by the Sun Mitya
Tim Pigott-Smith ENRON Ken Lay
2011
Adrian Scarborough After the Dance John Reid
James Laurenson Hamlet Ghost / The Player King
Hilton McRae End of the Rainbow Anthony
Lee Ross Birdsong Jack Firebrace
2013
Richard McCabe The Audience Harold Wilson
Paul Chahidi Twelfth Night Maria
Adrian Scarborough Hedda Gabler Jurgen Tesman
Kyle Soller Long Day's Journey into Night Edmund
2014
Jack Lowden Ghosts Oswald
Ron Cook Henry V Pistol
Mark Gatiss Coriolanus Menenius
Ardal O'Hanlon The Weir Jim
2015
Nathaniel Parker Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies Henry VIII
David Calder The Nether Doyle
Richard Goulding King Charles III Prince Harry
John Light Taken at Midnight Dr Conrad
2016
Mark Gatiss Three Days in the Country Shpigelsky
Michael Pennington The Winter's Tale Antigonus
Tom Sturridge American Buffalo Bobby
David Suchet The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell
2017
Anthony Boyle Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Scorpius Malfoy
Freddie Fox Travesties Tristan Tzara
Brian J. Smith The Glass Menagerie Jim O'Connor
Rafe Spall Hedda Gabler Judge Brack
2018
Bertie Carvel Ink Rupert Murdoch
John Hodgkinson The Ferryman Tom Kettle
James McArdle Angels in America Louis Ironson
Peter Polycarpou Oslo Ahmed Qurei
2019
Chris Walley The Lieutenant of Inishmore Davey
Keir Charles Quiz Various
Adam Gillen Killer Joe Chris Smith
Adrian Lukis The Price Walter Franz
Malcolm Sinclair Pressure Dwight D. Eisenhower

2020s edit

Year Actor Play Character
2020
Adrian Scarborough Leopoldstadt Hermann Merz
Arinzé Kene Death of a Salesman Biff Loman
Colin Morgan All My Sons Chris Keller
Reece Shearsmith A Very Expensive Poison The President / Jon
2021 Not presented due to extended closing of theatre productions during COVID-19 pandemic[A]
2022[A]
Fred Davis, Daisy Franks, Romina Hytten, Tom Larkin, Habib Nasib Nader, Tom Stacy and Scarlet Wilderink Life of Pi Tiger
Dino Fetscher The Normal Heart Felix Turner
Nathaniel Parker The Mirror and the Light Henry VIII
Danny Lee Wynter The Normal Heart Tommy Boatwright
2023
Will Keen Patriots Vladimir Putin
Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh and Kaine Lawrence For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy Onyx, Pitch, Jet, Sable, Obsidian, Midnight
Elliot Levey Good Maurice
David Moorst To Kill a Mockingbird Dill Harris
Sule Rimi Blues for an Alabama Sky Sam Thomas
2024 Will Close Dear England Harry Kane
Paul Hilton An Enemy of the People Peter Stockmann
Giles Terera Clyde's Montrellous
Luke Thompson A Little Life Willem
Zubin Varla Harold
  1. ^ a b Due to late March 2020[1] to late July 2021[2] 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[3]


See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Johnson, The Rt Hon Boris, MP (2020-03-23). Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020 [transcript] (Speech). Prime Minister's Televised Speech to the United Kingdom. www.gov.uk. London, UK. Archived from the original on 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2022-04-25. From this evening I must give the British people a very simple instruction — you must stay at home.{{cite speech}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ McPhee, Ryan (2021-06-14). "U.K. Postpones Reopening Roadmap; West End Theatres Will No Longer Reopen in Full in June". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25. Step 4 of the roadmap will allow productions to play without capacity restrictions. June 21 was the goal; now, the government is eyeing July 19.
  3. ^ Thomas, Sophie (2022-03-08). "Everything you need to know about the Olivier Awards". londontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-25. Any new production that opened between 19 Feb. 2020 to 22 Feb. 2022 are eligible for categories in the 2022 Olivier Awards. With two years worth of shows set for honours in one year's ceremony, the 2022 Olivier Awards will prove tougher competition than before.

External links edit