The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, an American actress who died in 1946. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." Originally called the "Tony Award for Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic)", Patricia Neal first won the award at the inception of the ceremony for her portrayal of Regina Hubbard in Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public: the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". The award was renamed in 1976, when Shirley Knight became the first winner under the new title for her role as Carla in Robert Patrick's Kennedy's Children. Its most recent recipient is Phylicia Rashad, for the role of Faye, in Skeleton Crew. Six actresses (Christine Baranski, Judith Ivey, Judith Light, Swoosie Kurtz, Audra McDonald, and Frances Sternhagen) hold the record for most awards in this category, each with a total of two. Portrayals of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun have won twice, for Audra McDonald and Sophie Okonedo. Supporting actresses in two of three plays in Neil Simon's Eugene trilogy (Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound) were nominated for the Tony, and featured actresses in six parts of August Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle have also been nominated for the award. Recipients Win total 2 Wins Christine Baranski Judith Ivey Swoosie Kurtz Judith Light Audra McDonald Frances Sternhagen Nomination total 5 Nominations Frances Sternhagen 4 Nominations Dana Ivey 3 Nominations Elizabeth Franz Eileen Heckart Jayne Houdyshell Judith Ivey Celia Keenan-Bolger Swoosie Kurtz Judith Light Condola Rashād Marian Seldes Lois Smith Zoë Wanamaker Julie White 2 Nominations Jane Alexander Rae Allen Christine Baranski Leora Dana Viola Davis Johanna Day Linda Emond Fionnula Flanagan Alice Ghostley Mary Beth Hurt Zohra Lampert Linda Lavin Anna Manahan Jan Maxwell Audra McDonald Laurie Metcalf Debra Monk Rosemary Murphy Cynthia Nixon Martha Plimpton Amy Ryan Carole Shelley Maureen Stapleton Margaret Tyzack Character win total 2 Wins Ruth Younger from