16th Tony Awards


The 16th Annual Tony Awards took place on April 29, 1962, in the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom in New York City. The ceremony was broadcast on local television station WCBS-TV in New York City. The Masters of Ceremonies were Ray Bolger and Robert Preston.

The ceremony

Presenters: Judith Anderson, Art Carney, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Olivia de Havilland, Albert Dekker, Anita Gillette, Hermione Gingold, Robert Goulet, Helen Hayes, Celeste Holm, Sally Ann Howes, Ron Husman, Hal March, Helen Menken, Geraldine Page, Hugh O'Brian, Elaine Perry, Tom Poston and Jason Robards. The performer was Mimi Benzell. Music was by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra.

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold
Best PlayBest Musical

  • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  • * Carnival!
  • * Milk and Honey
  • * No Strings
    • Best Producer Best Producer
  • Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens – A Man for All Seasons
  • * Charles Bowden and Viola Rubber – The Night of the Iguana
  • * Fred Coe and Arthur Cantor – Gideon
  • * David Merrick – Ross
  • Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  • *Helen Bonfils, Haila Stoddard and Charles Russel – Sail Away
  • * David Merrick – Carnival!
  • * Gerard Oestriecher – Milk and Honey
    • Best Author Best Original Score Written for the Theatre
  • Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  • * Michael Stewart and Helen Deutsch – Carnival!
  • No Strings – Richard Rodgers
  • * Kwamina – Richard Adler
  • * Milk and Honey – Jerry Herman
  • * How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Frank Loesser
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
  • Paul Scofield – A Man for All Seasons as Sir Thomas More
  • * Fredric March – Gideon as Angel
  • * John Mills – Ross as Aircraftman Ross
  • * Donald Pleasence – The Caretaker as Davies
  • Margaret Leighton – The Night of the Iguana as Hannah Jelkes
  • * Gladys Cooper – A Passage to India as Mrs. Moore
  • * Colleen Dewhurst – Great Day in the Morning as Phoebe Flaherty
  • * Kim Stanley – A Far Country as Elizabeth von Ritter
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
  • Robert Morse – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as J. Pierrepont Finch
  • * Ray Bolger – All American as Professor Fodorski
  • * Alfred Drake – Kean as Edmund Kean
  • * Richard Kiley – No Strings as David Jordan
  • Anna Maria Alberghetti – Carnival! as Lili Daurier and Diahann Carroll – No Strings as Barbara Woodruff
  • * Molly Picon – Milk and Honey as Clara Weiss
  • * Elaine Stritch – Sail Away as Mimi Paragon
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
  • Walter Matthau – A Shot in the Dark as Benjamin Beaurevers
  • *Godfrey M. Cambridge – Purlie Victorious as Gitlow Judson
  • * Joseph Campanella – A Gift of Time as Daniel Stein
  • *Paul Sparer – Ross as Auda Abu Tayi
  • Elizabeth Ashley – Take Her, She's Mine as Mollie Michaelson
  • * Zohra Lampert – Look We've Come Through as Jennifer Lewison
  • * Janet Margolin – Daughter of Silence as Anna Albertini
  • * Pat Stanley – Sunday in New York as Eileen Taylor
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
  • Charles Nelson Reilly – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Bud Frump
  • * Orson Bean – Subways Are for Sleeping as Charlie Smith
  • * Severn Darden – From the Second City as Performer
  • * Pierre Olaf – Carnival! as Jacquot
  • Phyllis Newman – Subways Are for Sleeping as Martha Vail
  • * Elizabeth Allen – The Gay Life as Magda
  • * Barbara Harris – From the Second City as Various Characters
  • * Barbra Streisand – I Can Get It for You Wholesale as Miss Marmelstein
    • Best Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a Musical
  • Noel Willman – A Man for All Seasons
  • *Tyrone Guthrie – Gideon
  • *Donald McWhinie – The Caretaker
  • * José Quintero – Great Day in the Morning
  • Abe Burrows – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  • * Gower Champion – Carnival!
  • * Joe Layton – No Strings
  • * Joshua Logan – All American
    • Best ChoreographyBest Conductor and Musical Director
  • Joe Layton – No Strings
  • * Agnes de Mille – Kwamina
  • * Michael Kidd – Subways Are for Sleeping
  • * Dania Krupska – The Happiest Girl in the World
  • Elliot Lawrence – How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
  • * Pembroke Davenport – Kean
  • * Herbert Greene – The Gay Life
  • * Peter Matz – No Strings
    • Best Scenic DesignBest Costume Design
  • Will Steven Armstrong – Carnival!
  • * Rouben Ter-Arutunian – A Passage to India
  • * David Hays – No Strings
  • * Oliver Smith – The Gay Life
  • Lucinda Ballard – The Gay Life
  • * Donald Brooks – No Strings
  • * Motley – Kwamina
  • * Miles White – Milk and Honey

    • Multiple nominations and awards

    These productions had multiple nominations:
    The following productions received multiple awards.