Who Are The Tony Awards Named After?
Unlike Oscar, which is a nickname for the Motion Picture Academy’s famous statuette, the Tony is named for a real person. The highest honor in American theater is named for Antoinette Perry, an American actress, director and producer. Who Was Antoinette Perry? Born in Denver, Colorado in 1888, Antoinette Perry became fascinated with the theater at a very young age. She began acting in her uncle’s touring company as a young teen, and made her New York debut at the age of 18. While her acting career was just getting established, she left the theater to marry and raise a family. The theater beckoned once again, however, and in 1920 she began what would become a lifelong partnership with producer Brock Pemberton, investing in his show, Miss LuLu Bett. After the death of her husband, in 1922, Perry returned to the stage as an actress, eventually going on to become a director, as well. An Accomplished Woman Antoinette Perry blazed a trail for women in the theater. In the 1920s, when Perry be
