First Jewish Winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Paul Muni became the first Jewish winner of the Tony Award for Actor in a Play when he won for his performance as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind at the 10th Tony Awards on 1 April 1956. The official Tony Awards archive lists Muni as the 1956 Actor (Play) winner and provides the chronological basis for reviewing earlier winners in the category. JWR’s counter-candidate review of the preceding winners found no earlier recipient verified as Jewish under the project’s eligibility standard. Muni’s Jewish identity is independently documented by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which described him as a famous Jewish American actor and recorded his roots in a Yiddish-theatre family. The record therefore combines official award evidence, chronology and independent Jewish-eligibility evidence.