The 25 Grooviest Broadway Stars of the 1960s

Between now and the 65th Annual Tony Awards on June 12, I will be sharing my 25 favorite Broadway stars of every decade from the 1940s to the 2000s. I've already posted my Top 25 of the 1940s and 1950s, so today we will continue with the swinging '60s (in order of preference). Please note that all dates reflect the year that a show was eligible to win a Tony rather than its opening night:

1) Angela Lansbury
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for Mame (1966) and Dear World (1969)
Other Musicals: Anyone Can Whistle (1964)
Plays: A Taste of Honey (1961)




2) Carol Channing
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for Hello, Dolly! (1964)
Other Musicals: Show Girl (1961)



3) Barbra Streisand
Tony Nominations: Best Featured Actress in a Musical for I Can Get It for You Wholesale (1962) and Best Actress in a Musical for Funny Girl (1964)



4) Gwen Verdon
Tony Nominations: Best Actress in a Musical for Sweet Charity (1966)



5) Ethel Merman
Tony Nominations: Best Actress in a Musical for Gypsy (1960)
Other Musicals: Annie Get Your Gun (1967)



6) Liza Minnelli
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for Flora, The Red Menace (1965)



7) Barbara Harris
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for The Apple Tree (1967)
Tony Nominations: Best Actress in a Musical for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1966)




8) Tammy Grimes
Tonys: Best Featured Actress in a Musical for The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1961)
Other Musicals: High Spirits (1964)
Plays: The Only Game in Town (1968)



9) Carol Burnett
Tony Nominations: Best Actress in a Musical for Once Upon a Mattress (1960)
Other Musicals: Fade Out - Fade In (1965)




10) Sammy Davis, Jr.
Tony Nominations: Best Actor in a Musical for Golden Boy (1965)



11) Barbara Cook
Musicals: The Gay Life (1962), She Loves Me (1964), Something More! (1965)
Plays: Little Murders (1967)



12) Leslie Uggams
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for Hallelujah, Baby! (1968)
Other Musicals: Her First Roman (1969)



13) Robert Morse
Tonys: Best Actor in a Musical for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962)
Tony Nominations: Best Actor in a Musical for Take Me Along (1960)



14) Bea Arthur
Tonys: Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Mame (1966)
Other Musicals: Fiddler on the Roof (1965)



15) Dick Van Dyke
Tonys: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Bye Bye Birdie (1961)



16) Jerry Orbach
Tonys: Best Actor in a Musical for Promises, Promises (1969)
Tony Nominations: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Guys and Dolls (1965)
Other Musicals: Carnival! (1962), Annie Get Your Gun (1967)



17) Diahann Carroll
Tonys: Best Actress in a Musical for No Strings (1962)



18) Joel Grey
Tonys: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Cabaret (1967)
Tony Nominations: Best Actor in a Musical for George M! (1969)



19) Richard Kiley
Tonys: Best Actor in a Musical for Man of La Mancha (1966)
Tony Nominations: Best Actor in a Musical for No Strings (1962)
Other Musicals: I Had a Ball (1965), Her First Roman (1969)



20) Richard Burton
Tonys: Best Actor in a Musical for Camelot (1961)
Tony Nominations: Best Actor in a Play for Hamlet (1964)



21) Elaine Stritch
Tony Nominations: Best Actress in a Musical for Sail Away (1962)



22) Zero Mostel
Tonys: Best Actor in a Play for Rhinoceros (1961) and Best Actor in a Musical for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1963) and Fiddler on the Roof (1965)



23) Tom Bosley
Tonys: Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Fiorello! (1960)
Other Musicals: Nowhere to Go But Up (1963), The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (1968)



24) Robert Goulet
Tonys: Best Actor in a Musical for The Happy Time (1968)
Other Musicals: Camelot (1961)



25) Chita Rivera
Tony Nominations: Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Bye Bye Birdie (1961)
Other Musicals: Bajour (1965)