The NY Times reported that Smith was the oldest actor to win a Tony. I can't seem to find any reference online to the oldest winner in any category. The only winners who were over 80 that I know of are Smith, Cicely Tyson who won at 88, Elaine May who was 87, and Ann Roth who was 81.
Interesting about the first-time winners. I wonder if that's a reflection of the loss of the spring, which is when a lot of the heavy hitters would be performing, at least for plays. The winners were all so excited to win, which was nice to see. I guess there were few meaningful precursors, so even a seeming shoo-in like Lauren Patten was probably more nervous than under normal circumstances. |
