title: Delia Austrian Medal
text: # Delia Austrian Medal
  
  The Delia Austrian Medal, also known as the Distinguished Performance Award, is a theater award presented annually since 1935 by The Drama League for the "most distinguished" performance of the theater season. The award is named for theater reviewer Delia Austrian.
  
  ## Winners
  
  | Year | Recipient | Work |
  | - | - | - |
  | 1935 | Katherine Cornell | Romeo and Juliet |
  | 1936 | Helen Hayes | Victoria Regina |
  | 1937 | Maurice Evans | King Richard II |
  | 1938 | Cedric Hardwicke | |
  | 1939 | Raymond Massey | Abe Lincoln in Illinois |
  | 1940 | Paul Muni | |
  | 1941 | Paul Lukas | Watch on the Rhine |
  | 1942 | Judith Evelyn | |
  | 1943 | Alfred Lunt | |
  | 1944 | Elisabeth Bergner | The Two Mrs. Carrolls |
  | 1945 | Mady Christians | I Remember Mama |
  | 1953 | Claude Rains | Darkness at Noon |
  | 1954 | Paul Newman | |
  | 1955 | Julie Newmar | |
  | 1956 | Jack Nicholson | |
  | 1957 | Kathleen Nolan | |
  | 1958 | Carroll O'Connor Al Pacino | |
  | 1959 | Geraldine Page | |
  | 1960 | Albert Paulsen Estelle Parsons | |
  | 1961 | Hume Cronyn | |
  | 1962 | Paul Scofield | |
  | 1963 | Charles Boyer | |
  | 1964 | Alec Guinness | Dylan |
  | 1965 | John Gielgud | |
  | 1966 | Richard Kiley | |
  | 1967 | Rosemary Harris | |
  | 1968 | Zoe Caldwell | |
  | 1969 | Alec McCowen | |
  | 1970 | James Stewart | |
  | 1971 | Anthony Quayle | |
  | 1972 | Eileen Atkins Claire Bloom | |
  | 1973 | Alan Bates | |
  | 1974 | Christopher Plummer | |
  | 1975 | John Wood | |
  | 1976 | Eva Le Gallienne | |
  | 1977 | Tom Courtenay | |
  | 1978 | Frank Langella | |
  | 1979 | Frances Sternhagen | |
  | 1980 | Roy Scheider | Betrayal |
  | 1981 | Ian McKellen | Amadeus |
  | 1982 | Milo O'Shea | |
  | 1983 | Kate Nelligan Edward Herrmann | |
  | 1984 | Jeremy Irons | |
  | 1985 | Derek Jacobi | |
  | 1986 | Bernadette Peters | |
  | 1987 | James Earl Jones | |
  | 1988 | John Lithgow | |
  | 1989 | Pauline Collins | |
  | 1990 | Robert Morse | |
  | 1991 | Stockard Channing | |
  | 1992 | Glenn Close | |
  | 1993 | Stephen Rea | |
  | 1994 | Sam Waterston | |
  | 1995 | Cherry Jones | |
  | 1996 | Uta Hagen | |
  | 1997 | Charles Durning Bebe Neuwirth | |
  | 1998 | Brian Stokes Mitchell | |
  | 1999 | Kathleen Chalfant | |
  | 2000 | Eileen Heckart | |
  | 2001 | Mary-Louise Parker Gary Sinise | |
  | 2002 | Liam Neeson | |
  | 2003 | Harvey Fierstein | |
  | 2004 | Hugh Jackman | |
  | 2005 | Norbert Leo Butz | |
  | 2006 | Christine Ebersole | |
  | 2007 | Liev Schreiber | |
  | 2008 | Patti LuPone | |
  | 2009 | Geoffrey Rush | |
  | 2010 | Alfred Molina | |
  | 2011 | Mark Rylance | |
  | 2012 | Audra McDonald | |
  | 2013 | Nathan Lane | |
  | 2014 | Neil Patrick Harris | |
  | 2015 | Chita Rivera | |
  | 2016 | Lin-Manuel Miranda | |
  | 2017 | Ben Platt | |
  | 2018 | Glenda Jackson | |
  | 2019 | Bryan Cranston | |
  | 2020 | Danny Burstein | |
  | 2022 | Sutton Foster | |
  
  ## Footnotes
  
  * ↑ "Award History". Drama League of New York. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  * 1 2 "Paul Lukas Gets Drama Group Prize. Star of Watch on the Rhine Receives the Delia Austrian Medal for His Acting". The New York Times. May 10, 1941. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  * 1 2 "Receives Delia Austrian Medal for Distinguished Acting". The New York Times. May 10, 1944. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  * 1 2 3 4 Ken Bloom (15 April 2013). "Delia Austrian medal". Broadway: An Encyclopedia. ISBN 9781135950200. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  * ↑ "Drama League Betows Medal on Helen Hayes". Associated Press in the Reading Eagle. May 22, 1936. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  * ↑ "Evans Gets Medal Of Drama League. English Actor Is Honored for 'Richard II' in Presentation by Daniel Frohman". The New York Times. May 12, 1937. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Delia Austrian medal". Winners, the blue ribbon encyclopedia of awards.
  * ↑ "Alec Guinness". Corbis. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  * ↑ "'Cage Aux Folles' Due As Musical Comedy Set In New Orleans". The New York Times. May 8, 1981. Retrieved 2013-12-12.
  