The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor given annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance.
Inaugural recipients included Betty Comden, Judy Holliday and John Raitt. The long and eclectic list of performers who have received the award includes Julie Andrews, Carol Channing, Barbara Cook, Tim Daly, Loren Dean, Calista Flockhart, Grace Kelly, Cloris Leachman, Carol Lynley, Lizbeth MacKay, Jayne Mansfield, Audra McDonald, Helen Mirren, Patricia Neal, Brooke Shields, Maureen Stapleton, Meryl Streep, Vanessa L. Williams, Danny Aiello, Richard Burton, Marlon Brando, Dixie Carter, Billy Crudup, Ralph Fiennes, Andy Griffith, Laurence Harvey, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster, Jude Law, Anthony Perkins, Christopher Plummer, Cliff Robertson, Eli Wallach, the entire cast of A Chorus Line, and - in more recent years - Christina Applegate, Fantasia Barrino, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Antonio Banderas, Harry Connick, Jr. and Hugh Jackman.
At present, winners are selected by a committee comprised of New York-based critics. It currently includes Peter Filichia (Theatermania.com), Harry Haun (Playbill), Matthew Murray (TalkinBroadway.com), Frank Scheck (New York Post), Michael Sommers (Newhouse Papers), Doug Watt (Critic Emeritus, New York Daily News), and Linda Winer (New York Newsday), and are coordinated by Theatre World Editor John Willis and Associate Editor Ben Hodges. (Theatre World is the oldest definitive pictorial and statistical record of each American theatrical season, and serves as a reference for theater professionals, students, and historians worldwide.)
Known as "Janus" (the Roman god of Entrances, Exits, and All Beginnings), the award is a bronze sculpture designed by artist Harry Marinsky.
