Martin Balsam

American actor (1919–1996)

Martin Balsam

Balsam in the 1960s

Born|

Martin Henry Balsam

(1919-11-04)November 4, 1919

New York City, U.S.

Died| February 13, 1996(1996-02-13) (aged 76)

Rome, Italy

Resting place| Cedar Park Cemetery, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater| The New School
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1947–1995
Notable work| See list
Spouses|

* Pearl Somner

(m. 1951; div. 1954)​

* Joyce Van Patten

(m. 1957; div. 1962)​

* Irene Miller

(m. 1963; div. 1987)​

Children| 3, including Talia
Awards| See list

Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996)[1] was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television.[2][3] An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New York stage, winning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Robert Anderson's You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running (1968). He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in A Thousand Clowns (1965).

His other notable film roles include Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men (1957), private detective Milton Arbogast in Psycho (1960), Hollywood agent O.J. Berman in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Bernard B. Norman in The Carpetbaggers (1964), Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, the ship doctor, in The Bedford Incident (1965), Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22 (1970), Admiral Husband E. Kimmel in Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Signor Bianchi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Howard Simons in All the President's Men (1976). He had a recurring role as Dr. Milton Orloff on the television drama Dr. Kildare (1963–66), and Murray Klein on the sitcom Archie Bunker's Place (1979–83).

In addition to his Oscar and Tony Awards, Balsam was also a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Emmy Award nominee. With Joyce Van Patten, he was the father of actress Talia Balsam.

## Early life and education

[edit]

Martin Henry Balsam was born November 4, 1919, in the Bronx borough of New York City, to Russian Jewish parents, Lillian (née Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, who was a manufacturer of women's sportswear.[4][5] He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he participated in the drama club.[4] He studied at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the German director Erwin Piscator and then served in the United States Army Air Forces from 1941 to 1945 during World War II, achieving the rank of Sergeant.[6] He served as a sergeant radio operator in a B-24 in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations.[4]

## Career

[edit]

Martin Balsam (r) on the set of Unknown Soldier, 1995

### Theatre

[edit]

Balsam made his professional debut in August 1941 in a production of The Play's the Thing in Locust Valley.[7] After World War II, he resumed his acting career in New York.

In 1947–1949, Balsam was a resident member of the summer stock company Town Hall Players[8][9] in West Newbury, Massachusetts, a community-sponsored summer theatre.[10] In early 1948, he was selected by Elia Kazan to be a member in the recently formed Actors Studio.[11] He appeared consistently in Broadway and off-Broadway plays, something he would continue to do well into his screen acting career. Columnist Earl Wilson dubbed him "The Bronx Barrymore".[12]

In 1968, he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in the 1967 Broadway production of You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running.[citation needed]

### Television

[edit]

Balsam performed in several episodes of the studio's dramatic television anthology series, broadcast between September 1948 and 1950. He appeared in many other television drama series, including Decoy with Beverly Garland; the Route 66 episode, "Somehow It Gets To Be Tomorrow"; The Twilight Zone as a psychologist in the 1958 pilot episode "The Time Element", and appearing in the episodes "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine" and "The New Exhibit"; Five Fingers; Target: The Corruptors!; The Eleventh Hour; Breaking Point; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Fugitive; and Mr. Broadway; as a retired U.N.C.L.E. agent in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode, "The Odd Man Affair"; and in the two-part Murder, She Wrote episode, "Death Stalks the Big Top".

He played Dr. Rudy Wells when the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg was adapted as a TV movie pilot for The Six Million Dollar Man (1973), though he did not reprise the role for the subsequent series. In 1975, he appeared as James Arthur Cummins in the Joe Don Baker police drama Mitchell, a film that was eventually featured in an episode of the film parody series Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1993. He appeared as a spokesman/hostage in the TV movie Raid on Entebbe (1976) and as a detective in the TV movie Contract on Cherry Street (1977), starring Frank Sinatra. He also appeared on an episode of Quincy, M.E.. Balsam starred as Murray Klein on the All in the Family spin-off Archie Bunker's Place for two seasons (1979–81) and returned for a guest appearance in the show's fourth and final season.

### Film

[edit]

Balsam made his film debut with an uncredited role in On the Waterfront (1954), directed by his Actors Studio colleague Elia Kazan. Balsam played an official of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey investigating mob involvement in the city's waterfront unions. His breakthrough role came a few years later, when he played Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men (1957). He would collaborate with the film's director, Sidney Lumet, twice more with The Anderson Tapes (1971) and Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

In 1960, he appeared in one of his best-remembered roles as private investigator Arbogast in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, culminating in a scene in which Mrs. Bates chases him down a flight of stairs to stab him to death. Along with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, Balsam appeared in both the original Cape Fear (1962), and the 1991 Martin Scorsese remake. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965). Balsam also performed the original voice of the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. He told a journalist in August 1966, "I'm not actually seen in the picture at any time, but I sure create a lot of excitement projecting my voice through that machine. And I'm getting an Academy Award winner price for doing it, too."[13] After his lines were recorded, director Stanley Kubrick decided "Marty just sounded a little bit too colloquially American," and hired Douglas Rain to perform the role for the released film.[14]

Balsam also appeared in such notable films as Time Limit with Richard Widmark, Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, The Carpetbaggers with George Peppard and Alan Ladd, Seven Days in May with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, The Bedford Incident with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier, The Man with James Earl Jones, Hombre with Paul Newman and Fredric March, Catch-22 with Alan Arkin and Jon Voight, Tora! Tora! Tora! (as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel), Little Big Man with Dustin Hoffman, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, All the President's Men with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford, The Delta Force with Lee Marvin, and The Goodbye People. One of his final acting appearances was in the 1994 horror parody The Silence of the Hams, which paid homage to his iconic role in Psycho.

Beyond Hollywood, Balsam was also a popular character actor in Italian films, beginning in 1960 when he starred in the Luigi Comencini film Everybody Go Home. He would star in several poliziottesco films throughout the 1970s, directed by the likes of Fernando Di Leo and Enzo G. Castellari. Balsam's roles in these films would be re-dubbed into Italian, but he would loop his own lines in the English-language export versions. Balsam maintained close ties to Italy even after the end of the poliziottesco trend, traveling there for both professional and personal reasons, and starring in the Italian-produced television series Ocean and La piovra.

## Personal life

[edit]

In 1951, Balsam married his first wife, actress Pearl Somner. They divorced three years later. His second wife was actress Joyce Van Patten. This marriage lasted for four years (from 1958 until 1962) with one daughter, Talia Balsam. He married his third wife, Irene Miller, in 1963. They had two children, Adam and Zoe Balsam, and divorced in 1987.[4]

## Death

[edit]

On February 13, 1996, Balsam died of a stroke in his hotel room while vacationing in Rome, Italy. He was 76 years old. He is interred at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Emerson, New Jersey.[15]

## Filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1949 | Suspense | Abramson |
1949–1950 | Actors Studio | Soldier | 4 episodes
1950 | Danger |  | 2 episodes
1951 | The Living Christ Series | Innkeeper | Miniseries
The Big Story | Bill Pinney |
Frontiers of Faith |  |
1952 | The Living Bible | Nobleman |
1953 | Man Against Crime | Tony / Jean Pinay |
Valiant Lady | Joey Gordon |
1954 | On the Waterfront | Gillette, Secondary Investigator for Crime Commission | Uncredited
The Greatest Gift | Harold Matthews #2 |
Inner Sanctum Mystery | Wesley / Hanson / Larkin | 3 episodes
1954–1955 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Charlie Malick / Mike Galloway | 3 episodes
1954–1956 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | Perkins / Walter Gregg | 3 episodes
1955 | The United States Steel Hour | Petty Officer |
1957 | 12 Angry Men | Juror #1 |
Time Limit | Sergeant Baker |
1957–1958 | Studio One | Francis Toohey / Ed Coyne | 3 episodes
1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | Dino |
Marjorie Morningstar | Dr. David Harris |
Father Knows Best | Teacher |
Pursuit | Holden |
Decoy | Nick Santos |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Eldon Marsh | Season 3 Episode 19: "The Equalizer"
1958–59 | Playhouse 90 | Sam Gordon / Captain Mantell | 3 episodes
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Gambetta / Dr. Gillespie | 2 episodes
1958–1960 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Marshall Jim Brock / Charles Dawes | 2 episodes
1959 | Rawhide | Father Fabian |
Al Capone | Mac Keeley |
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen |  | 2 episodes
Middle of the Night | Jack |
Brenner | Arnold Joplin |
The DuPont Show of the Month | Charlie Davis |
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Sam Butler |
Winterset | Garth |
The Twilight Zone | Danny Weiss | Episode: "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine"
1959–1962 | Naked City | Captain Russell Barris / Joseph Creeley / Caldwell Wyatt / Arnold Fleischman | 4 episodes
1960 | Five Fingers | Monteverdi |
Goodyear Theater | Joe Lane |
The Robert Herridge Theater |  |
Sacco-Vanzetti Story | Nicola Sacco | NBC Sunday Showcase (1960), nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards as "program of the year"
Psycho | Detective Milton Arbogast |
Tutti a casa | Sergeant Quintino Fornaciari |
1961 | Way Out | Bill Clayton |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Leonard Thompson | Season 6 Episode 36: "Final Arrangements"
Ada | Steve Jackson |
Breakfast at Tiffany's | O.J. Berman |
The New Breed | Frank Eberhardt |
The Untouchables | Barry Leimer |
Route 66 | Corelli |
1961–1964 | The Defenders | District Attorney / Bernard Maxwell / Floyd Harker | 4 episodes
1962 | Cain's Hundred | Jack Garsell |
The Untouchables | Arnold Justin |
Cape Fear | Police Chief Mark Dutton |
Target: The Corruptors | Jeffrey Marvin |
La città prigioniera | Joseph Feinberg |
1962–1966 | Dr. Kildare | Dr. Milton Orliff / Benny Orloff / Ned Lacey | 7 episodes
1963 | Route 66 | Mike |
The Eleventh Hour | Frank Dunlear |
The Twilight Zone | Martin Lombard Senescu | Episode: "The New Exhibit"
Breaking Point | Rabbi Eli Oringer |
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? | Sanford Kaufman |
1964 | Arrest and Trial | Leo Valera |
Espionage | Richard Carey |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Dave Breslaw |
Seven Days in May | Presidential aide Paul Girard |
Wagon Train | Marcey Jones |
Suspense | Detective Jack Gross |
The Carpetbaggers | Bernard B. Norman |
Youngblood Hawke | Cameo Appearance | Uncredited
Mr. Broadway | Nate Bannerman |
1965 | ITV Play of the Week | Doc Delaney |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E | Albert Sully | Episode: "The Odd Man Affair"
Harlow | Everett Redman |
The Bedford Incident | Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, USNR, MD |
A Thousand Clowns | Arnold | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
12 O'Clock High | Army Doctor | Uncredited
1966 | Caccia alla volpe | Harry Granoff |
"Anyone Around My Base Is It" | Narrator | Short Documentary
1967 | The Fugitive | Andrew Newmark |
Hombre | Mendez |
Among the Paths to Eden | Ivor Belli |
1968 | The Name of the Game | Angie |
Around the World of Mike Todd | Michael Todd | TV movie / Documentary; Voice
1969 | Me, Natalie | Harold Miller |
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys | Mayor Wilker |
Trilogy | Ivor Belli | (segment: "Among the Paths to Eden")
1970 | CBS Playhouse | Jesse |
Hunters Are for Killing | Wade Hamilton | TV movie
Catch-22 | Colonel Cathcart | Group Commander, 256th Bomb Group
Tora! Tora! Tora! | Admiral Husband E. Kimmel |
The Old Man Who Cried Wolf | Stanley Pulska |
The Name of the Game | Herb Witmer |
Little Big Man | Mr. Merriweather |
1971 | Confessions of a Police Captain | Inspector Bonavia |
The Anderson Tapes | Tommy Haskins |
1972 | Chronicle of a Homicide | Judge Aldo Sola |
The Hassled Hooker | District Attorney Turrisi |
The Man | Jim Talley |
Night of Terror | Captain Caleb Sark | TV movie
The Infamous Column |  |
1973 | A Brand New Life | Jim Douglas | TV movie
The Six Million Dollar Man | Dr. Rudy Wells | TV movie: "The Moon and the Desert"
The Stone Killer | Al Vescari |
Counselor at Crime | Don Antonio Macaluso |
Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams | Harry Walden |
Money to Burn |  | TV movie
Police Story | Detective Al Koster |
1974 | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Harold "Green" Longman |
Trapped Beneath the Sea | T.C. Hollister | TV movie
Kojak | Ray Kaufman |
Murder on the Orient Express | Bianchi |
1975 | Miles to Go Before I Sleep | Ben Montgomery | TV movie
Smiling Maniacs | Carlo Goja |
Death Among Friends | Ham Russell Buckner | TV movie
Cry, Onion! | Petrus Lamb |
Mitchell | James Arthur Cummings |
Season for Assassins | Commissioner Katroni |
1976 | The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case | Edward J. Reilly | TV movie
All the President's Men | Howard Simons |
Maude | Chester |
Meet Him and Die | Giulianelli |
Death Rage | Commissario |
Two-Minute Warning | Sam McKeever |
Raid on Entebbe | Daniel Cooper | TV movie
1977 | The Sentinel | Professor Ruzinsky |
Silver Bears | Joe Fiore |
Contract on Cherry Street | Captain Ernie Weinberg |
The Storyteller | Ira Davidoff | TV movie
Blood and Diamonds | Rizzo |
1978 | Eyes Behind the Stars | Inspector Jim Grant |
Siege | Henry Fancher | TV movie
Rainbow | Louis B. Mayer | TV movie
The Millionaire | Arthur Haines | TV movie
The Joe Franklin Show | Himself | Television interview
A Salute to American Imagination | Himself | TV movie / Documentary
1979 | The Seeding of Sarah Burns | Dr. Samuel Melman | TV movie
Gardenia | Salluzzo |
The House on Garibaldi Street | Isser Harel | TV movie
Aunt Mary | Harry Strasburg | TV movie
Cuba | General Bello |
1979–1983 | Archie Bunker's Place | Murray Klein | series regular / guest star; 46 episodes
1980 | The Love Tapes | David Franklin |
There Goes the Bride | Elmer Babcock |
The Warning | Questore Martorana |
1981 | The Salamander | Captain Steffanelli |
The People vs. Jean Harris | Joel Aurnou | TV movie
1982 | Quincy, M.E. | Hyam Sigerski |
Little Gloria... Happy at Last | Nathan Burkan | TV movie
Night of 100 Stars | Himself | TV special
1983 | I Want to Live! | Jack Brady | TV movie
Cold Storage | Parmigian | TV movie
1984 | The Goodbye People | Max Silverman |
Innocent Prey | Sheriff Virgil Baker |
1985 | Space | Senator Glancey | Miniseries
St. Elmo's Fire | Mr. Beamish |
Murder in Space | Alexander Rostov | TV movie
Death Wish 3 | Bennett |
Great Performances | Jack |
Glitter | Bo |
1986 | La piovra, season 2 [it] | Frank Carrisi | Miniseries; 5 episodes
The Delta Force | Ben Kaplan |
Whatever It Takes | Hap Perchicksky |
Second Serve | Dr. Beck | TV movie
Murder, She Wrote | Edgar Carmody | Episodes: "Death Stalks The Big Top" Parts 1 & 2
The Twilight Zone | Rockne O'Bannon | Segment: "Personal Demons"
1987 | Hotel | Dr. Gilbert Holt |
Queenie | Marty | TV miniseries
P.I. Private Investigations | Cliff Dowling |
The Twilight Zone | Professor Donald Knowles | Segment: "Voices in the Earth"
Brothers in Blood | Major Briggs |
Kids Like These | Grandpa | TV movie
Once Again |  | TV movie
1988 | The Child Saver | Sidney Rosenberg | TV movie
The Brother from Space  | Father Howard |
1989 | Ocean | Don Matias Quintero | TV miniseries
1990 | Two Evil Eyes | Mr. Pym | (segment "The Black Cat")
Midnight Caller | Gil Solarski |
La piovra, season 5 [it] | Don Calogero Barretta |
1991 | Ľultima meta | Lawyer |
Cape Fear | Judge |
1992 | The Sands of Time |  | TV movie
1993 | "The Black Cat" |  | Movie Short
1994 | The Silence of the Hams | Detective Martin Balsam |
1995 | Soldato ignoto |  | English meaning: Unknown Soldier
1996 | O. Henry's Christmas | Wash | TV movie segment: The Gift of the Magi
1997 | Legend of the Spirit Dog | Gramps | Released posthumously on August 19, 1997, 9 months after his death (final film role)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Award

Wins

| Nominations

|
|

Academy Awards
| 1  | 1

Tony Awards
| 1  | 1

BAFTA Film Awards
| 0  | 2

Golden Globe Awards
| 0  | 1

Primetime Emmy Awards
| 0  | 1

### Academy Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1966 | Best Supporting Actor | A Thousand Clowns | Won

### Tony Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1968 | Best Actor in a Play | You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running | Won

### BAFTA Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1976 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Nominated
1977 | All the President's Men | Nominated

### Golden Globe Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1974 | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams | Nominated

### Primetime Emmy Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1977 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie | Raid on Entebbe | Nominated

### National Board of Review Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1964  | Best Supporting Actor | The Carpetbaggers | Won

### Drama Desk Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1977  | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Cold Storage | Nominated

### Obie Award

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1977  | Distinguished Performance by an Actor  | Cold Storage | Won

### Outer Critics Circle Awards

[edit]

Year  | Category  | Work  | Result

|
|
|

1967  | Outstanding Actor in a Play  | Cold Storage | Won
1978  | The Shock of Recognition | Won

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Balsam, Martin Henry". Who Was Who in America : with World Notables, v. XI (1993–96). New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p. 13. ISBN 0837902258.
2. ^ OLIVER, MYRNA (February 14, 1996). "Martin Balsam; Veteran Character Actor" - via LA Times.
3. ^ Gelder, Lawrence Van (February 14, 1996). "Martin Balsam Is Dead at 76; Ubiquitous Character Actor". The New York Times.
4. ^ a b c d Van Gelder, Lawrence (February 14, 1996). "Martin Balsam Is Dead at 76; Ubiquitous Character Actor". The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
5. ^ "Great Character Actors". Archived from the original on November 15, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
6. ^ Martin Balsam, Service Record. Together We Served. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
7. ^ Herbert, Ian, ed. (June 1, 1981). "BALSAM, Martin". Who's Who in the Theatre. Vol. 1\. Gale Research Company. pp. 39–40\. ISBN 978-0-8103-0235-8.
8. ^ Coit, Margaret (September 9, 1947). "Intense Emotional Experience Provided by Steinbeck Drama". The Newburyport Daily News and Newburyport Herald. p. 1. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
9. ^ "Town Hall Audience Is Responsive: 'My Sister Eileen' Has Laughs Galore". The Newburyport Daily News and Newburyport Herald. July 26, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
10. ^ "Communities Should Develop and Enrich Cultural Existence". The Newburyport Daily News and Newburyport Herald. June 4, 1947.
11. ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Birth of The Actors Studio: 1947–50". A Player's Place: The Story of the Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-0254-2650-4. "Others usually considered founding members in Kazan's group were added in the early months of 1948. They include Martin Balsam, Kim Hunter, and Vivian Nathan."
12. ^ Wakin, Daniel J. "Actor Martin Balsam Found Dead at Rome Hotel". Associated Press. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
13. ^ Flahive, Gerry (March 30, 2018). "The Story of a Voice: HAL in '2001' Wasn't Always So Eerily Calm". The New York Times.
14. ^ Flahive, Gerry (March 30, 2018). "The Story of a Voice: HAL in '2001' Wasn't Always So Eerily Calm". The New York Times.
15. ^ Strauss, Robert (March 28, 2004). "Sometimes the Grave Is a Fine and Public Place". The New York Times.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Martin Balsam.

* Martin Balsam at IMDb
* Martin Balsam at the Internet Broadway Database
* Martin Balsam at Find a Grave
* Martin Balsam at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
* Martin Balsam at the TCM Movie Database

Awards for Martin Balsam

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

1936–1975|

* Walter Brennan (1936)
* Joseph Schildkraut (1937)
* Walter Brennan (1938)
* Thomas Mitchell (1939)
* Walter Brennan (1940)
* Donald Crisp (1941)
* Van Heflin (1942)
* Charles Coburn (1943)
* Barry Fitzgerald (1944)
* James Dunn (1945)
* Harold Russell (1946)
* Edmund Gwenn (1947)
* Walter Huston (1948)
* Dean Jagger (1949)
* George Sanders (1950)
* Karl Malden (1951)
* Anthony Quinn (1952)
* Frank Sinatra (1953)
* Edmond O'Brien (1954)
* Jack Lemmon (1955)
* Anthony Quinn (1956)
* Red Buttons (1957)
* Burl Ives (1958)
* Hugh Griffith (1959)
* Peter Ustinov (1960)
* George Chakiris (1961)
* Ed Begley (1962)
* Melvyn Douglas (1963)
* Peter Ustinov (1964)
* Martin Balsam (1965)
* Walter Matthau (1966)
* George Kennedy (1967)
* Jack Albertson (1968)
* Gig Young (1969)
* John Mills (1970)
* Ben Johnson (1971)
* Joel Grey (1972)
* John Houseman (1973)
* Robert De Niro (1974)
* George Burns (1975)

1976–present|

* Jason Robards (1976)
* Jason Robards (1977)
* Christopher Walken (1978)
* Melvyn Douglas (1979)
* Timothy Hutton (1980)
* John Gielgud (1981)
* Louis Gossett Jr. (1982)
* Jack Nicholson (1983)
* Haing S. Ngor (1984)
* Don Ameche (1985)
* Michael Caine (1986)
* Sean Connery (1987)
* Kevin Kline (1988)
* Denzel Washington (1989)
* Joe Pesci (1990)
* Jack Palance (1991)
* Gene Hackman (1992)
* Tommy Lee Jones (1993)
* Martin Landau (1994)
* Kevin Spacey (1995)
* Cuba Gooding Jr. (1996)
* Robin Williams (1997)
* James Coburn (1998)
* Michael Caine (1999)
* Benicio del Toro (2000)
* Jim Broadbent (2001)
* Chris Cooper (2002)
* Tim Robbins (2003)
* Morgan Freeman (2004)
* George Clooney (2005)
* Alan Arkin (2006)
* Javier Bardem (2007)
* Heath Ledger (2008)
* Christoph Waltz (2009)
* Christian Bale (2010)
* Christopher Plummer (2011)
* Christoph Waltz (2012)
* Jared Leto (2013)
* J. K. Simmons (2014)
* Mark Rylance (2015)
* Mahershala Ali (2016)
* Sam Rockwell (2017)
* Mahershala Ali (2018)
* Brad Pitt (2019)
* Daniel Kaluuya (2020)
* Troy Kotsur (2021)
* Ke Huy Quan (2022)
* Robert Downey Jr. (2023)
* Kieran Culkin (2024)

* v
* t
* e

National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor

1954–1975|

* John Williams (1954)
* Charles Bickford (1955)
* Richard Basehart (1956)
* Sessue Hayakawa (1957)
* Albert Salmi (1958)
* Hugh Griffith (1959)
* George Peppard (1960)
* Jackie Gleason (1961)
* Burgess Meredith (1962)
* Melvyn Douglas (1963)
* Martin Balsam (1964)
* Harry Andrews (1965)
* Robert Shaw (1966)
* Paul Ford (1967)
* Leo McKern (1968)
* Philippe Noiret (1969)
* Frank Langella (1970)
* Ben Johnson (1971)
* Joel Grey / Al Pacino (1972)
* John Houseman (1973)
* Holger Löwenadler (1974)
* Charles Durning (1975)

1976–present|

* Jason Robards (1976)
* Tom Skerritt (1977)
* Richard Farnsworth (1978)
* Paul Dooley (1979)
* Joe Pesci (1980)
* Jack Nicholson (1981)
* Robert Preston (1982)
* Jack Nicholson (1983)
* John Malkovich (1984)
* Klaus Maria Brandauer (1985)
* Daniel Day-Lewis (1986)
* Sean Connery (1987)
* River Phoenix (1988)
* Alan Alda (1989)
* Joe Pesci (1990)
* Anthony Hopkins (1991)
* Jack Nicholson (1992)
* Leonardo DiCaprio (1993)
* Gary Sinise (1994)
* Kevin Spacey (1995)
* Edward Norton (1996)
* Greg Kinnear (1997)
* Ed Harris (1998)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman (1999)
* Joaquin Phoenix (2000)
* Jim Broadbent (2001)
* Chris Cooper (2002)
* Alec Baldwin (2003)
* Thomas Haden Church (2004)
* Jake Gyllenhaal (2005)
* Djimon Hounsou (2006)
* Casey Affleck (2007)
* Josh Brolin (2008)
* Woody Harrelson (2009)
* Christian Bale(2010)
* Christopher Plummer (2011)
* Leonardo DiCaprio (2012)
* Will Forte (2013)
* Edward Norton (2014)
* Sylvester Stallone (2015)
* Jeff Bridges (2016)
* Willem Dafoe (2017)
* Sam Elliott (2018)
* Brad Pitt (2019)
* Paul Raci (2020)
* Ciarán Hinds (2021)
* Brendan Gleeson (2022)
* Mark Ruffalo (2023)
* Kieran Culkin (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play

1947–1975|

* José Ferrer / Fredric March (1947)
* Henry Fonda / Paul Kelly / Basil Rathbone (1948)
* Rex Harrison (1949)
* Sidney Blackmer (1950)
* Claude Rains (1951)
* José Ferrer (1952)
* Tom Ewell (1953)
* David Wayne (1954)
* Alfred Lunt (1955)
* Paul Muni (1956)
* Fredric March (1957)
* Ralph Bellamy (1958)
* Jason Robards Jr. (1959)
* Melvyn Douglas (1960)
* Zero Mostel (1961)
* Paul Scofield (1962)
* Arthur Hill (1963)
* Alec Guinness (1964)
* Walter Matthau (1965)
* Hal Holbrook (1966)
* Paul Rogers (1967)
* Martin Balsam (1968)
* James Earl Jones (1969)
* Fritz Weaver (1970)
* Brian Bedford (1971)
* Cliff Gorman (1972)
* Alan Bates (1973)
* Michael Moriarty (1974)
* John Kani and Winston Ntshona (1975)

1976–2000|

* John Wood (1976)
* Al Pacino (1977)
* Barnard Hughes (1978)
* Tom Conti (1979)
* John Rubinstein (1980)
* Ian McKellen (1981)
* Roger Rees (1982)
* Harvey Fierstein (1983)
* Jeremy Irons (1984)
* Derek Jacobi (1985)
* Judd Hirsch (1986)
* James Earl Jones (1987)
* Ron Silver (1988)
* Philip Bosco (1989)
* Robert Morse (1990)
* Nigel Hawthorne (1991)
* Judd Hirsch (1992)
* Ron Leibman (1993)
* Stephen Spinella (1994)
* Ralph Fiennes (1995)
* George Grizzard (1996)
* Christopher Plummer (1997)
* Anthony LaPaglia (1998)
* Brian Dennehy (1999)
* Stephen Dillane (2000)

2001–present|

* Richard Easton (2001)
* Alan Bates (2002)
* Brian Dennehy (2003)
* Jefferson Mays (2004)
* Bill Irwin (2005)
* Richard Griffiths (2006)
* Frank Langella (2007)
* Mark Rylance (2008)
* Geoffrey Rush (2009)
* Denzel Washington (2010)
* Mark Rylance (2011)
* James Corden (2012)
* Tracy Letts (2013)
* Bryan Cranston (2014)
* Alex Sharp (2015)
* Frank Langella (2016)
* Kevin Kline (2017)
* Andrew Garfield (2018)
* Bryan Cranston (2019)
* Andrew Burnap (2020/21)
* Simon Russell Beale (2022)
* Sean Hayes (2023)
* Jeremy Strong (2024)
* Cole Escola (2025)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Italy
* Australia
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Poland
* Israel

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* FID

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie
* Deutsche Synchronkartei

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* Yale LUX

*[m.]: married
*[div.]: divorced
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