Anthony George Franciosa was an American actor most often billed as Tony Franciosa at the height of his career. He began his career on stage and made a breakthrough portraying the brother of the drug addict in the play A Hatful of Rain, which earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He reprised his role in its subsequent film adaptation, for which he won the 1957 Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Franciosa in 1969
Tony Franciosa with Robert Stack (left) and Gene Barry in the TV series The Name of the Game (1968)
With Laraine Stephens in a publicity photo for the TV series Matt Helm in 1975
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play
The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor 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 actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. 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."
2023 recipient: Brandon Uranowitz
Arthur Kennedy won for Death of a Salesman (1949)
Eli Wallach won for The Rose Tattoo (1951)
Ed Begley won for Inherit the Wind (1956)
