The Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance, originally known as the Delia Austrian Medal, is a theater award presented annually since 1935 by The Drama League for the "most distinguished" performance of the theater season. An artist may only win the award once in their lifetime.
Winners 1930s YearRecipientWorkRef1935 Katherine Cornell Romeo and Juliet 1936 Helen Hayes Victoria Regina 1937 Maurice Evans King Richard II 1938 Cedric Hardwicke Shadow and Substance 1939 Raymond Massey Abe Lincoln in Illinois 1940s YearRecipientWorkRef1940 Paul Muni Key Largo 1941 Paul Lukas Watch on the Rhine 1942 Judith Evelyn Angel Street 1943 Alfred LuntLynn Fontanne The Pirate 1944 Elisabeth Bergner The Two Mrs. Carrolls 1945 Mady Christians I Remember Mama 1946 Louis Calhern The Magnificent Yankee 1947 Ingrid Bergman Joan of Lorraine 1948 Judith Anderson Medea 1949 Robert Morley Edward, My Son 1950s YearRecipientWorkRef1950 Grace George The Velvet Glove 1951 Claude Rains Darkness at Noon 1952 Julie Harris I Am a Camera 1953 Shirley Booth The Time of the Cuckoo 1954 Josephine Hull The Solid Gold Cadillac 1955 Viveca Lindfors Anastasia 1956 David Wayne The Ponder Heart 1957 Eli Wallach Major Barbara 1958 Ralph Bellamy Sunrise at Campobello 1959 Cyril Ritchard The Pleasure of His Company 1960s YearRecipientWorkRef1960 Jessica Tandy Five Finger Exercise 1961 Hume Cronyn Big Fish, Little Fish 1962 Paul Scofield A Man for All Seasons 1963 Charles Boyer Lord Pengo 1964 Alec Guinness Dylan 1965 John Gielgud Tiny Alice 1966 Richard Kiley Man of La Mancha 1967 Rosemary Harris The Wild Duck 1968 Zoe Caldwell The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969 Alec McCowen Hadrian the Seventh 1970s YearRecipientWorkRef1970 James Stewart Harvey 1971 Anthony Quayle Sleuth 1972 Eileen AtkinsClaire Bloom Vivat! Vivat Regina! 1973 Alan Bates Butley 1974 Christopher Plummer The Good Doctor 1975 John Wood Sherlock Holmes 1976 Eva Le Gallienne The Royal Family 1977 Tom Courtenay Otherwise Engaged 1978 Frank Langella Dracula 1979 Frances Sternhagen On Golden Pond
1980s YearRecipientWorkRef1980 Roy Scheider Betrayal 1981 Ian McKellen Amadeus 1982 Milo O'Shea Mass Appeal1983 Kate NelliganEdward Herrmann Plenty1984 Jeremy Irons The Real Thing1985 Derek Jacobi Cyrano de Bergerac and Much Ado About Nothing1986 Bernadette Peters Song and Dance1987 James Earl Jones Fences1988 John Lithgow M. Butterfly1989 Pauline Collins Shirley Valentine 1990s YearRecipientWorkRef1990 Robert Morse Tru1991 Stockard Channing Six Degrees of Separation1992 Glenn Close Death and the Maiden1993 Stephen Rea Someone Who'll Watch Over Me1994 Sam Waterston Abe Lincoln in Illinois1995 Cherry Jones The Heiress1996 Uta Hagen Mrs. Klein1997 Charles DurningBebe Neuwirth The Gin GameChicago1998 Brian Stokes Mitchell Ragtime1999 Kathleen Chalfant Wit 2000s YearRecipientWorkRef2000 Eileen Heckart The Waverly Gallery2001 Mary-Louise ParkerGary Sinise ProofOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest2002 Liam Neeson The Crucible2003 Harvey Fierstein Hairspray2004 Hugh Jackman The Boy from Oz2005 Norbert Leo Butz Dirty Rotten Scoundrels2006 Christine Ebersole Grey Gardens2007 Liev Schreiber Talk Radio and Macbeth2008 Patti LuPone Gypsy2009 Geoffrey Rush Exit the King 2010s YearRecipientWorkRef2010 Alfred Molina Red2011 Mark Rylance Jerusalem and La Bête2012 Audra McDonald Porgy and Bess2013 Nathan Lane The Nance 2014 Neil Patrick Harris Hedwig and the Angry Inch 2015 Chita Rivera The Visit 2016 Lin-Manuel Miranda Hamilton 2017 Ben Platt Dear Evan Hansen 2018 Glenda Jackson Three Tall Women 2019 Bryan Cranston Network 2020s YearRecipientWorkRef2020 Danny Burstein Moulin Rouge! 2021 No award given due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2022 Sutton Foster The Music Man 2023 Annaleigh Ashford Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2024 Sarah Paulson Appropriate 2025Nicole Scherzinger Sunset Boulevard 2026 Joshua Henry Ragtime
Notes
References
External links Awards History at Drama League of New York Paul Scofield's 1962 medallion in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum