Rosemary Harris, Terrence McNally, and Harold Wheeler to Receive Special Tonys

The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced today that Tony-winning actress Rosemary Harris, Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally, and Tony-nominated composer and musician Harold Wheeler will be the 2019 recipients of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

"We are thrilled to recognize Rosemary, Terrence, and Harold with the Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre," said Heather Hitchens, president of the American Theatre Wing, and Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League. "They are pioneers in each of their crafts and their contributions to American Theatre and culture has been immeasurable."

Harris won the Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Lion in Winter (1965), and is currently starring as Mrs. Higgins in Lincoln Center Theater's Broadway revival of Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady. Her other 25 Broadway credits include Tony nominations for The Royal Family (2009), Waiting in the Wings (1999), the LCT production of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1996), Hay Fever (1985), Pack of Lies (1984), Heartbreak House (1983), and Old Times (1972).

McNally has won four Tony Awards for his plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class, and his musical books for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. A Broadway revival of his play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon, begins performances May 4 at the Broadhurst Theatre, where Anastasia (a musical for which he penned the book), recently closed after a two-year run.

Wheeler is an accomplished orchestrator, composer, conductor, record producer, and arranger. He has earned six Tony nominations for his work on The Life, Little Me, Swing!, The Full Monty, Hairspray, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and has received numerous other accolades, including Emmy and Drama Desk nominations, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the NAACP Theatre Awards.