Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance
Awarded for	Best Comedy Performance
Location	United Kingdom
Presented by	The Society of London Theatre
Currently held by	Niall Buggy for Dead Funny (1995)
Official website	Olivier Awards.com

The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance was an annual award presented by The Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and, renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor Lord Olivier.

Winners and nominees

1970s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1976
	Penelope Keith	Donkeys' Years	Lady Driver
	Peter Barkworth	Crown Matrimonial	Edward VIII
	Richard Beckinsale	Funny Peculiar	Trevor Tinsley
	Geraldine McEwan	Oh, Coward!	Performer
1977
	Denis Quilley	Privates on Parade	Terri Dennis
	Jane Carr	Once a Catholic	Mary Mooney
	Joan Hickson	Bedroom Farce	Delia
	Leslie Phillips	Sextet	Unknown
1978
	Ian McKellen	The Alchemist	Face
	Sheila Hancock	Annie	Miss Hannigan
	Geraldine McEwan	Look After Lulu!	Lulu
	Donald Sinden	Shut Your Eyes and Think of England	Performer
1979
	Barry Humphries	A Night with Dame Edna	Dame Edna Everage
	Richard Griffiths	Once in a Lifetime	George Lewis
	Oscar James	Gloo Joo	Meadowlark Warner
	Maureen Lipman	Outside Edge	Maggie

1980s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1980
	Beryl Reid	Born in the Gardens	Maud
	Edward Duke	Jeeves Takes Charge	Jeeves
	Ben Kingsley	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Ford
	Julie Walters	Educating Rita	Rita
1981
	Rowan Atkinson	Rowan Atkinson in Revue	Himself
	Georgina Hale	Steaming	Josie
	Donald Sinden	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine
	Angela Thorne	Anyone for Denis?	Margaret Thatcher
1982
	Geoffrey Hutchings	Poppy	Lady Dodo
	Jane Carr	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Hermia
	Paul Eddington	Noises Off	Lloyd Dallas
	Bill Paterson	Schweik in the Second World War	Schweyk
1983
	Griff Rhys Jones	Charley's Aunt	Lord Fancourt Babberley
	Susan Colverd	The Provok'd Wife	Lady Brute
	Michael Hordern	The Rivals	Sir Anthony Absolute
	Peter Ustinov	Beethoven's Tenth	Ludwig van Beethoven
1984
	Maureen Lipman	See How They Run	Miss Skillon
	Lavinia Bertram	Intimate Exchanges	Various Characters
	Leonard Rossiter	Loot	Truscott
	Michael Williams	Two into One	George
1985
	Michael Gambon	A Chorus of Disapproval	Dafydd Llewellyn
	Roger Rees	Love's Labours Lost	Berowne
	Griff Rhys Jones	Trumpets and Raspberries	Antonio Berardi / Agnelli
	Maggie Smith	The Way of the World	Mrs. Millamant
1986
	Bill Fraser	When We Are Married	Gerald Forbes
	Brian Cox	Misalliance	John Tarleton
	Nigel Hawthorne	The Magistrate	Posket
	Paul Scofield	I'm Not Rappaport	Nat
1987
	John Woodvine	The Henrys	Falstaff
	Frank Ferrante	Groucho: A Life in Revue	Groucho Marx
	Geoffrey Hutchings	Three Men on a Horse	Irwin
	Les Marsden	Groucho: A Life in Revue	Harpo Marx
1988
	Alex Jennings	Too Clever by Half	Gloumov
	Kenneth Branagh	As You Like It	Celia
	Lesley Sharp	A Family Affair	Unknown
	Sian Thomas	Countrymania	Vittoria
1989/90
	Michael Gambon	Man of the Moment	Douglas Beechey
	Alex Jennings	The Liar	Dorante
	Alfred Molina	Speed-the-Plow	Fox
	Peter O'Toole	Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell	Jeffrey Bernard

1990s

Year	Actor	Musical	Character
1991
	Alan Cumming	Accidental Death of an Anarchist	The Madman
	Richard Briers	The Wind in the Willows	Rat
	Griff Rhys Jones	The Wind in the Willows	Mr. Toad
	Joseph Maher	What the Butler Saw	Dr. Rance
1992
	Desmond Barrit	The Comedy of Errors	Antipholus of Ephesus / Syracuse
	Robin Bailey	Black Snow	Ivan Vassilevich
	Alan Cumming	La Bête	Valere
	Lia Williams	The Revengers' Comedies	Karen
1993
	Simon Cadell	Travels with My Aunt	Henry Pulling
	Sara Crowe	Hay Fever	Sorel Bliss
	Guy Henry	The Alchemist	Ananias
	Robert Lindsay	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano de Bergerac
1994
	Griff Rhys Jones	An Absolute Turkey	Redillon
	Ken Campbell	Jamais Vu	Performer
	Nicholas Le Prevost	An Absolute Turkey	Pontagnac
	Maggie Smith	The Importance of Being Earnest	Lady Bracknell
1995
	Niall Buggy	Dead Funny	Brian
	Nigel Hawthorne	The Clandestine Marriage	Lord Ogleby
	Tony Slattery	Neville's Island	Gordon
	Debra Gillett	The Country Wife	Mrs. Pinchwife

References

London Theatre Guide (2008). "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners, 1976-2008" (.PDF). 1976-2008. The Society of London Theatre: 20. Retrieved 2008-08-30.

External links

Laurence Olivier Awards official website

Laurence Olivier Awards

Drama	New Play New Comedy Revival Actor Actress Performance in a Supporting Role (Actor in a Supporting Role, Actress in a Supporting Role)

Musical	New Musical Musical Revival Actor in a Musical Actress in a Musical Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical) Achievement in Music

Production/Creatives	Director Theatre Choreographer Set Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design

Dance/Opera	New Dance Production New Opera Production Achievement in Dance Achievement in Opera

Special/Other	Special Award Entertainment and Family Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre Audience Award

Retired	Actor of the Year in a New Play Actress of the Year in a New Play Actor of the Year in a Revival Actress of the Year in a Revival Comedy Performance Performance in a Musical Supporting Artist of the Year Newcomer in a Play Most Promising Performer Company Performance Director of a Play Director of a Musical Set Designer Most Promising Playwright Achievement in a Musical

Ceremonies	1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 (none) 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance

Penelope Keith (1976)
Denis Quilley (1977)
Ian McKellen (1978)
Barry Humphries (1979)
Beryl Reid (1980)
Rowan Atkinson (1981)
Geoffrey Hutchings (1982)
Griff Rhys Jones (1983)
Maureen Lipman (1984)
Michael Gambon (1985)
Bill Fraser (1986)
John Woodvine (1987)
Alex Jennings (1988)
Michael Gambon (1989/1990)
Alan Cumming (1991)
Desmond Barrit (1992)
Simon Cadell (1993)
Griff Rhys Jones (1994)
Niall Buggy (1995)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.