Terrence McNally, Rosemary Harris & Howard Wheeler to receive special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

McNally, Harris & Wheeler will be honored at The 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019.

The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing have officially announced that Tony Award-winning actress Rosemary Harris (who can currently be seen on the Broadway stage as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady), four-time Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally (soon to be represented by the upcoming Broadway revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune), and six-time Tony-nominated composer and musician Harold Wheeler (currently represented on the Great White Way by Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations) will be honored with special Tony Awards for "Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre" at The 73rd Annual Tony Awards, which will be held on Sunday, June 9, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

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

Rosemary Harris made her Broadway debut in 1952, won a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Play" for her performance as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter in 1966 and has gone on to receive further Tony Award nominations for her roles in Old Times (1972), The Royal Family (1976), Heartbreak House (1984), Pack of Lies (1985), Hay Fever (1986), A Delicate Balance (1996), Waiting in the Wings (2000), and another revival of The Royal Family (2010). Recently, she originated the role of Miss Helen in The Road to Mecca in 2012 and assumed the role of Mrs. Higgins in Lincoln Center Theater's acclaimed revival of Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady on September 11, 2018.

Terrence McNally made his Broadway debut in 1963 with The Lady of the Camellias. He currently has 25 Broadway credits to his résumé and has won Tony Awards for his work on Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1993), Love! Valour! Compassion! (1995), Master Class (1996), and Ragtime (1998). He has also received Tony nominations for The Full Monty (2001), Mothers and Sons (2014), and The Visit (2015). Most recently, he was represented on Broadway as the book writer of the 2017 Broadway musical Anastasia, which closed on March 31, 2019, and his classic two-hander Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune will be revived from May 4, 2019.

Harold Wheeler has 30 Broadway credits to date, beginning with his Broadway debut as musical director for Promises, Promises in 1968. His Tony Award nominations in the category of "Best Orchestrations" include The Life (1997), Little Me (1999), Swing! (2000), The Full Monty (2001), Hairspray (2003), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005) and other notable Broadway credits include the likes of The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Carrie, Side Show, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, and, most recently, Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.

The 73rd Annual Tony Awards will be hosted once again by Tony and 7-time Emmy Award winner James Corden, as previously reported, on Sunday, June 9, 2019. Continuing the long-standing tradition, CBS will broadcast the ceremony live, as it has done since 1978.

Also as previously reported, two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth and two-time Tony Award nominee Brandon Victor Dixon are set to co-host the Nominations Announcement for the biggest night in Broadway's theatre calendar on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

All Broadway productions in the 2018-2019 season, who officially opened on or before yesterday's eligibility cut-off date of Thursday, April 25, 2019 (and meet all other requirements) can be considered for nominations.

^{(Rosemary Harris photo by Joan Marcus)}