The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in Manhattan. The award is given to actresses for quality leading roles in a Broadway play. Despite the award first being presented in 1947, there were no nominees announced until 1956. There have been two ties in this category, and one three-way tie.
Ingrid Bergman won for Joan of Lorraine (1947)
Helen Hayes won twice
Judith Anderson won the award for Medea (1948)
Julie Harris
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Julia Ann Harris was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary roles, she earned numerous accolades including five Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, and a BAFTA Award. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, received the National Medal of Arts in 1994, the Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor in 2005.
Harris and James Dean in East of Eden (1955)
In an Actors Studio play, Marathon '33 (1963)
President George W. Bush and Laura Bush pose with the Kennedy Center honorees (L to R): Julie Harris, Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Suzanne Farrell, and Tony Bennett in 2005