TONY AWARDS

Who has hosted the Tonys the most times? List of hosts

Brock Pemberton, the founder and the original chairman of the Tony Awards was the first to act as master of ceremonies. We take a look at all of the hosts in 77 editions of the gala.

Later this evening the top live Broadway theater performances during the 2023-24 season will be celebrated and recognized at the annual Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre - the Tonys. The Tonys has been an important part of the Broadway community since its inception in 1947. Winning a Tony is considered one of the highest honors in the theater industry.

Who was the first to host the Tonys?

Many of Hollywood’s big name artists and producers have hosted the event over the years. The first was theater director and producer Brock Pemberton, the professional partner of Antoinette Perry, co-founder and secretary of the American Theatre Wing. It was Pemberton who also gave the awards the catchy nickname by which it is known today. He hosted the first edition of the Tonys which was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan on 6 April 1947.

Pemberton was the first to host the ceremony twice and co-hosted the third edition with fellow Wing member James E. Sauter, who would become the first person to host the event multiple times. Sauter, who was also in charge of organizing the evening’s entertainment, presented the 1951 and 1954 ceremonies. Since then, several people have hosted the Tonys on at least three occasions.

Bud Collyer invited back to host the Tonys

Radio presenter, voiceover artist and Beat the Clock game show host Bud Collyer was the first to host three consecutive editions of the Tonys. He was at the mic from 1957 to 1959. Others who have appeared at least three times as hosts include Robert Preston, Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Nathan Lane, Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman. Ariana DeBose will join them when she presents the 77th edition of the Tony’s from New York’s the Lincoln Center later tonight - the third year running that she has hosted the event.

Film actor and singer Robert Preston became the first person to host four editions of the Tonys when he joined Julie Andrews on stage at the Gershwin Theatre for the 38th Tonys awards in June 1984. The Boston-born actor won two Tony awards during his professional career for his roles in Meredith Willson’s musical The Music Man (1958) and I Do! I Do! (1967).

Tony awards: list of hosts 1947-present

  • Brock Pemberton (April 6, 1947)
  • Bert Lytell, Hiram Sherman, Harry Hirshfield (March 28, 1948)
  • Brock Pemberton, James Sauter (April 24, 1949)
  • No official host (April 9, 1950)
  • James Sauter (March 25, 1951)
  • Helen Hayes (March 30, 1952)
  • Faye Emerson (March 29, 1953)
  • James Sauter (March 28, 1954)
  • Helen Hayes (March 27, 1955)
  • Jack Carter (April 1, 1956)
  • Bud Collyer (April 21, 1957)
  • Bud Collyer (April 13, 1958)
  • Bud Collyer (April 12, 1959)
  • Eddie Albert (April 24, 1960)
  • Phil Silvers (April 16, 1961)
  • Ray Bolger, Robert Preston (April 29, 1962)
  • Abe Burrows, Robert Morse (April 28, 1963)
  • Sidney Blackmer (May 24, 1964)
  • Tom Bosley, José Ferrer, Van Johnson (June 13, 1965)
  • George Abbott, Ginger Rogers (June 16, 1966)
  • Mary Martin, Robert Preston (March 26, 1967)
  • Angela Lansbury, Peter Ustinov (April 21, 1968)
  • Diahann Carroll, Alan King (April 20, 1969)
  • Julie Andrews, Shirley MacLaine, Walter Matthau (April 19, 1970)
  • Lauren Bacall, Angela Lansbury, Anthony Quayle, Anthony Quinn (March 28, 1971)
  • Henry Fonda, Deborah Kerr, Peter Ustinov (April 23, 1972)
  • Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm (March 25, 1973)
  • Peter Falk, Florence Henderson, Robert Preston, Cicely Tyson (April 21, 1974)
  • Larry Blyden, George S. Irving, Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Michele Lee, Bernadette Peters, Bobby Van (April 20, 1975)
  • Eddie Albert, Richard Burton, Jane Fonda, Diana Rigg, George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere (April 18, 1976)
  • Jack Albertson, Bea Arthur, Buddy Ebsen, Damon Evans, Jean Stapleton, Leslie Uggams (June 5, 1977)
  • No official host (June 4, 1978)
  • Jane Alexander, Henry Fonda, Liv Ullmann (June 3, 1979)
  • Mary Tyler Moore, Jason Robards (June 8, 1980)
  • Ellen Burstyn, Richard Chamberlain (June 7, 1981)
  • Tony Randall (June 6, 1982)
  • Richard Burton, Lena Horne, Jack Lemmon (June 5, 1983)
  • Julie Andrews, Robert Preston (June 3, 1984)
  • No official host (June 2, 1985)
  • No official host (June 1, 1986)
  • Angela Lansbury (June 7, 1987)
  • Angela Lansbury (June 5, 1988)
  • Angela Lansbury (June 4, 1989)
  • Kathleen Turner (June 3, 1990)
  • Julie Andrews, Jeremy Irons (June 2, 1991)
  • Glenn Close (May 31, 1992)
  • Liza Minnelli (June 6, 1993)
  • Anthony Hopkins, Amy Irving (June 12, 1994)
  • Nathan Lane, Glenn Close, Gregory Hines (June 4, 1995)
  • Nathan Lane (June 2, 1996)
  • Rosie O'Donnell (June 1, 1997)
  • Rosie O'Donnell (June 7, 1998)
  • No official host (June 6, 1999)
  • Rosie O'Donnell, Nathan Lane (June 4, 2000)
  • Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick (June 3, 2001)
  • Bernadette Peters, Gregory Hines (June 2, 2002)
  • Hugh Jackman (June 8, 2003)
  • Hugh Jackman (June 6, 2004)
  • Hugh Jackman (June 5, 2005)
  • No official host (June 11, 2006)
  • No official host (June 10, 2007)
  • Whoopi Goldberg (June 15, 2008)
  • Neil Patrick Harris (June 7, 2009)
  • Sean Hayes (June 13, 2010)
  • Neil Patrick Harris (June 12, 2011)
  • Neil Patrick Harris (June 10, 2012)
  • Neil Patrick Harris (June 9, 2013)
  • Hugh Jackman (June 8, 2014)
  • Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming (June 7, 2015)
  • James Corden (June 12, 2016)
  • Kevin Spacey (June 11, 2017)
  • Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban (June 10, 2018)
  • James Corden (June 9, 2019)
  • Audra McDonald, Leslie Odom Jr. (September 26, 2021)
  • Ariana DeBose (June 12, 2022)
  • Ariana DeBose (June 11, 2023)
  • Ariana DeBose (June 16, 2024)

Who has host the most editions of the Tonys?

Five years later Angela Lansbury set a new record, by hosting her fifth Tonys - a feat which has never been matched. Born in London, Lansbury emigrated to the United States in 1940 to escape the Blitz. Her first film roles were in Gaslight (1944), National Velvet (1944), and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). She was nominated for three Academy Awards, finally gaining recognition with her first and only Oscar, an Academy Honorary Award, in 2013.

Lansbury first hosted the Tonys in 1968 and was asked back in 1971, 1987, 1988 and 1989 - there is a clip of her performing Everything’s Coming Up Roses from the Broadway smash Gypsy in her last appearance. “That’s what the theater does - it provides both us, who are lucky enough to work in it, and the audience, a chance to share and hold a moment that belongs to no one else. Those moments live on in time and in our memories,” she told the audience from the stage at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.

In recent years, both How I Met Your Mother actor Neil Patrick Harris and Australian actor Hugh Jackman have both hosted four editions of the Tonys. Harris opened the show in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In his debut appearance, Billy Elliot the Musical swept the board with a record 15 nominations - winning 10 of them, on a night when Angela Lansbury collected the Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play award, her fifth Tony.

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