Has Anyone Named Tony Ever Won a Tony Award?
Have you ever noticed that some entertainment awards have human names? The Tony Awards, the Emmy Awards, and the Oscars could all conceivably be won by a person that bears the same name. Has it ever happened, though? It has happened, especially at the Tony Awards. Over the years, several people named Tony have picked up wins at the awards ceremony centered around celebrating excellence on the stage.
How many awards are handed out at the Tonys?
The Tony Awards are the most important night in the theater calendar. Stage actors vie for a chance to take home a famed statue for their excellence on the stage. The Tonys are neither the youngest nor the oldest major awards ceremony. The first awards ceremony was held in 1947, making this year the 74th annual ceremony. The awards are officially older than the Emmy Awards, though. The first Emmy Awards were held in 1949. The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929.
So, how many awards are handed out each year? According to Tony Awards Productions, the event names winners in 26 different categories. Several other honors are offered each year to deserving performers and patrons of the arts. For example, the 2020 Isabelle Stevenson Award went to Julie Halston.
Several people named Tony have won Tony Awards, but no one named Antoinette has taken home the prize
Tony is an easily recognizable name, so it would stand to reason several people with the moniker have taken home Tony Awards over the years. Still, the Tony Awards have a much longer name. The award is actually the Antionette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre. No one named Antionette has won a Tony, nor has anyone bearing the name been nominated. In the show’s 74-year history, nine awards have gone home with people named Tony, though.
Tony Shalhoub is the most recent Tony to win a Tony Award. Shalhoub won the Best Actor in a Musical category in 2018 for his work on The Band’s Visit. Shalhoub might be recognizable to some as Abe Weissman in the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Plays written by Tony Kushner have also won top honors, and Tony Walton took home two statues in the 1980s and 1990s for scenic designs for Guys and Dolls and The House of Blue Leaves.
A couple of people named Anthony and one Antonio have taken home honors, too. In 2003 Antonio Banderas won a Tony for his work in Nine The Musical. Anthony Ward won an award in 2008 and 2009, and more recently, Anthony Boyle won for his work in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two.
No one named Emmy has ever won an Emmy Award
While several Tonys have taken home honors at the famed Tony Awards, another awards show has yet to crown a winner with the same name. The Emmy Awards has never had a winner with the first name Emmy. In the show’s 73-year run, there has only ever been one nominee who shared the name of the famed statue. Emmy Blotnick was nominated in 2019 for Outstanding Writing For a Variety Series for her work on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
There have been several actors named Emily or Emma who have taken home top honors, though. Still, none of them have gone by the nickname of Emmy, at least not professionally. Most recently, Emma Corrin was nominated for her work in The Crown. She didn’t take home a prize, although her co-star, Olivia Colman did.
