Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor

Simon Russell Beale has won the award the most frequently, with four separate wins. Albert Finney, Ian Holm, Alec McCowen, Laurence Olivier, and Paul Scofield have each won the award thrice, while thirteen other actors have won twice. Chiwetel Ejiofor was the first black actor to win, and Adrian Lester was the second. Two instances have occurred where two actors have been awarded as winners from the same play: In 2011, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller from Frankenstein; and again in 2013, Rory Kinnear and Lester from Othello. 2001 was the first year in which additional runner-ups/nominees were recognized, rather than just the winners as in all the years' prior.