List of awards and nominations received by Tony Kushner

Last updated

Tony Kushner awards and nominations
Tony Kushner and Angels in America's 20th Anniversary (cropped).jpg
Kushner in 2010
Totals [a]
Wins11
Nominations68
Note
  1. Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.

Tony Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. Kushner is known for his stage work on Broadway and his film collaborations with Steven Spielberg. He has received several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and two Tony Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. Kushner is also the recipient of various honorary awards including the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013. [1]

Contents

Kushner has been lauded for his work on stage, most notably known for his seminal work, the two-part American epic play Angels in America , about the AIDs crisis in New York City during the 1980s. The play's first part, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches debuted on Broadway in 1993 and its second part Angels in America: Perestroika debuted in 1994. Both parts earned individual consecutive Tony Awards for Best Play and Kushner earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play also ran in London's West End earning nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. Kushner adapted his play Angels in America for television, into a HBO six part limited series of the same name directed by Mike Nichols in 2003 earning the Humanitas Prize, the Primetime Emmy Award, the Writers Guild Award of America.

Kushner also wrote the book for the musical Caroline, or Change which made its Broadway debut in 2004 earning two Tony Award nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The musical ran in London earning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2007. Kushner was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

On film, Kushner has collaborated with director Steven Spielberg, writing four of his films. Their first collaboration was the historical action drama Munich which he co–wrote with Eric Roth. The two earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. Kushner then adapted the Doris Kearns Goodwin historical novel Team of Rivals into the Spielberg historical drama Lincoln (2012), earning the Paul Selvin Award and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Writers Guild of America for Best Screenplay.

Kushner earned acclaim for adapted the 1961 musical West Side Story for Spielberg into the 2021 musical of the same name earning nominations for the Critics' Choice Award and the Writers Guild of America Award. Kushner served as a producer on the Spielberg's semi-autographical coming-of-age film The Fabelmans (2022) for which they were nominated for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award for their screenplay. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama.

Major associations

Academy Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2005 Best Adapted Screenplay Munich Nominated [2]
2012 Lincoln Nominated [3]
2022 Best Picture The Fabelmans Nominated [4]
Best Original Screenplay Nominated

BAFTA Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
British Academy Film Awards
2012 Best Adapted Screenplay Lincoln Nominated [5]
2022 Best Original Screenplay The Fabelmans Nominated

Emmy Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
Primetime Emmy Award
2004 Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, or Movie Angels in America Won [6]

Golden Globe Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2005 Best Screenplay Munich Nominated [7]
2012 Best Screenplay Lincoln Nominated [8]
2022 Best Screenplay The Fabelmans Nominated [9]

Grammy Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2023 Best Musical Theatre Album Caroline, Or Change Nominated [10]

Laurence Olivier Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
1992 Best New Play Angels in America Nominated [11]
1994 Best New Play Angels in America: Perestroika Nominated [12]
2007 Best New Musical Caroline, or Change Won [13]

Tony Awards

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
1993 Best Play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Won [14]
1994 Best Play Angels in America: Perestroika Won [15]
2004 Best Book of a Musical Caroline, or Change Nominated [16]
Best Original Score Nominated

Miscellaneous

OrganizationsYearCategoryWorkResultRef.
Critics' Choice Awards 2012 Best Adapted Screenplay LincolnWon
2021Best Adapted ScreenplayWest Side StoryNominated
2022 Best Original Screenplay The FabelmansNominated
Drama Desk Award 1993 Outstanding Play Angels in America: Millennium Approaches Won
1994Outstanding Play Angels in America: Perestroika Won
2004 Outstanding Book of a Musical Caroline, or ChangeNominated
Pulitzer Prize 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Angels in America: Millennium ApproachesWon
Writers Guild of America Award 2005Long Form - AdaptedAngels in AmericaWon
2012 Best Adapted Screenplay LincolnNominated
Paul Selvin Award Honored
2021 Best Adapted Screenplay West Side StoryNominated
2022 Best Original Screenplay The FabelmansNominated

Honorary awards

OrganizationsYearAwardResultRef.
Whiting Foundation 1990 Whiting Award Honored
PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation 2002 Theater Award Honored
National Foundation of Jewish Culture 2004Cultural Achievement AwardHonored
American Academy of Arts and Letters 2005MemberHonored [17]
Steinberg Prize 2008Distinguished PlaywrightHonored [18]
Puffin/Nation Prize 2011 Creative Citizenship Honored [19]
Saint Louis University 2012 St. Louis Literary Award Honored [20]
Writers Guild of America 2012 Paul Selvin Award Honored
American Philosophical Society 2013Elected MemberHonored
The Lincoln Forum2013 Richard Nelson Current Achievement AwardHonored [21]

References

  1. "White House to honor Star Wars' Lucas, playwright Kushner among others". washingtontimes.com.
  2. "78th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  3. "85th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  4. "85th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  5. "66th BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  6. "56th Primetime Emmy Awards". Television Academy . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  7. "63rd Golden Globe Awards". goldenglobes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  8. "70th Golden Globe Awards". goldenglobes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  9. "80th Golden Globe Awards". goldenglobes.com . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  10. "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". Grammy Awards . Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  11. "Olivier Awards 1992". LondonTheatre. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  12. "Olivier Awards 1994". LondonTheatre. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  13. "Olivier Awards 2007". LondonTheatre. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  14. "1993 Tony Awards". YouTube. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  15. "1994 Tony Awards". YouTube. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  16. "2004 Tony Award Winners – Complete List". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  17. "Tony Kushner Made a Member of American Academy of Arts and Letters". Playbill. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  18. "PHOTO CALL: Tony Kushner Receives Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award". Playbill. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  19. Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship Archived July 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine , official website.
  20. "Saint Louis Literary Award – Saint Louis University". Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  21. The Lincoln Forum