Latinos Who Have Won Tony Awards

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theater, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theater. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. On Sunday, June 7, 2015, the 69th annual Tony Awards were presented.

In the 69 years of its existence (as of this writing), there have been numerous Latino nominees, but only fourteen (14) have won the award, including quite a few who have multiple Tony awards. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

• David Álvarez shared the Tony Award with Trent Kowalik and Kirill Kulish for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for playing the title role in Billy Elliot The Musical (2009).

• José Ferrer, shown at left, is the winner of three Tony Awards including receiving an award at the first Tony Awards ceremony, for Theatrical Performance by an Actor for his performance as the title character in Cyrano de Bergerac (he tied with Frederic March for his performance in the play Years Ago) in 1947. His other awards came in 1952 for Distinguished Dramatic Actor for The Shrike and for Outstanding Director for three plays (The Shrike, The Fourposter and Stalag 17). He remains the only person to win Tonys for directing and acting in the same year for the same project (essentially for directing himself).

• Jesús García shared a Special Tony Award for Excellence in Theater with the principal ensemble of La bohème (2003).

• Gerald Gutiérrez, shown at right, won back-to-back Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play with his work on The Heiress (1995) and A Delicate Balance (1996). He remains the first and only director to win a Tony for direction in two consecutive years.

• Wilson Jermaine Heredia won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featuring Actor in a Musical for his role as Angel Dumott Schunard in Rent (1996).

• Alex Lacamoire shared the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations with Bill Sherman for In The Heights (2008).

• Priscilla López won the Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony for A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine (1980).

• Lin-Manuel Miranda, shown at left, won two 2008 Tony Awards for In The Heights, for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre and for Best Musical. 

• Rita Moreno won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The Ritz (1975).

• Karen Olivo won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing Anita in West Side Story (2009).

• Sara Ramírez won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for playing The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot (2005).

• Chita Rivera, shown at right, has won two Tony Awards, both for Best Actress in a Musical: The Rink (1984) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993). Her 2015 Tony Award nomination for The Visit ties her with Julie Harris with the most Tony nominations given to a performer, with ten (10) apiece.

• Rubén Santiago Hudson won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in Seven Guitars (1996).

• Paulo Szot won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Émile de Becque in South Pacific (2008).