The Greatest Broadway Stars of All Time

Buster McDermott
Updated August 11, 2023 75.5K votes 8.4K voters 154.3K views
Over 8.4K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Greatest Broadway Stars of All Time
Voting Rules
Vote up the famous Broadway actors, actresses, and singers who have been shining stars on the main stage.
Latest additions: Faith Prince, Christian Borle, Billy Porter
Most divisive: Megan Hilty

These Broadway stars have been the biggest audience draws in the past, and many are sure to be in the future. All the theater stars on this list have performed at one of the forty designated Broadway theaters. Many theater actors listed here originated roles that have become beloved by audiences of all ages. From newer names (like Lea Michele) to old favorites who have passed on (such as Sammy Davis, Jr.), you’ll find them all here on this list of the greatest Broadway stars of all time.

Did you know that one amazing Broadway star performed two leading roles in a single day? Howard Keel, who later went on to star on the hit television show “Dallas,” understudied for the lead in Carousel in 1945. After he began performing in Oklahoma!, his understudy skills were needed - and he performed both plays in one night. Not only for his amazing performances, but also for his vigor, Keel has earned his place on this list of the most amazing Broadway stars.

Other Broadway stars are just beginning to make their marks. A prime example is Lea Michele, who is perhaps most widely recognized for her “Glee” character, Rachel Berry. She conquered the Broadway stage when she originated the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening. Audiences responded to her great Broadway performance, as did critics, and she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Michele and her cohort of Broadway newcomers are definitely building their names as the most popular Broadway performers.

On this list you’ll find all of the greatest Broadway stars from the past and present. Although some have left the stage, their memories live on and give new generations of Broadway stars something to aspire to. Cast your votes below for the greatest Broadway stars of all time.

Ranked by
  • Julie Andrews
    1

    Julie Andrews

    Age: 87
    2,687 votes
    • Birthplace: Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK
    Debuted on Broadway in 1954 in The Boy Friend.
    Dame Julie Andrews, (born 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer and author. Andrews, a child actress and singer, appeared in the West End in 1948 and made her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend (1954). Billed as “Britain’s youngest prima donna”, she rose to prominence starring in Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady (1956) playing Eliza Doolittle, and Camelot (1960) playing Queen Guinevere. In 1957, Andrews starred in the premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein's written-for-television musical Cinderella, a live, network broadcast seen by over 100 million viewers. Andrews made her feature film debut in Mary Poppins (1964), and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. She starred in The Sound of Music (1965), playing Maria von Trapp, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Between 1964 and 1986, she starred in The Americanization of Emily (1964), Hawaii (1966), Torn Curtain (1966), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Star! (1968), The Tamarind Seed (1974), 10 (1979), Victor/Victoria (1982), That's Life! (1986) and Duet for One (1986). In 2000, Andrews was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the performing arts. In 2002, she was ranked #59 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. In 2003, she revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend. From 2001 to 2004, Andrews starred in The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). From 2004 to 2018, she lent her voice to the Shrek animated films, Despicable Me (2010) and Aquaman (2018). Andrews has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, five Golden Globes, three Grammys, two Emmys, the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and the Disney Legends Award. Apart from her musical career, she is also an author of children's books and has published an autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (2008).
  • Lea Salonga
    2

    Lea Salonga

    Age: 52
    2,258 votes
    • Birthplace: Angeles, Philippines

    Originated the role of Kim in Miss Saigon.

    Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, , (; born February 22, 1971) is a Filipina singer and actress, best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses, and as a recording artist and television performer. At age 18, she originated the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, first in the West End and then on Broadway, winning the Olivier and Theatre World Awards, and becoming the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award. Salonga is the first Filipino artist to sign with an international record label (Atlantic Records in 1993). Salonga was the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway. She also portrayed Éponine and Fantine, respectively, in the musical's 10th and 25th anniversary concerts in London. She provided the singing voices of two official Disney Princesses: Jasmine in Aladdin (1992) and Fa Mulan in Mulan (1998). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work with The Walt Disney Company. Salonga starred as Mei-li in the 2002 Broadway version of Flower Drum Song. She has played numerous other stage, film and TV roles in the US, the Philippines and elsewhere. She has toured widely in the title role of Cinderella, among other roles, and as a concert artist. From 2015 to 2016, she returned to Broadway in Allegiance, and from 2017 to 2019 she appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island.
  • Angela Lansbury
    3

    Angela Lansbury

    Dec. at 96 (1925-2022)
    1,493 votes
    • Birthplace: London, England, UK
    Remembered for her Broadway performance in Mame.
    Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE (16 October 1925 – 11 October 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress and singer who played various roles across film, stage, and television. Her career, one of the longest in the entertainment industry, spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States; her work also received much international attention. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema at the time of her death. Lansbury was born to an upper-middle-class family in central London, the daughter of Irish actress Moyna Macgill and English politician Edgar Lansbury. To escape the Blitz, she moved to the United States in 1940, studying acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed to MGM and obtained her first film roles, in Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), earning her two Academy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award. She appeared in eleven further MGM films, mostly in minor roles, and after her
  • Bernadette Peters
    4

    Bernadette Peters

    Age: 75
    1,756 votes
    • Birthplace: Ozone Park, New York, USA
    Critically acclaimed for her performances in Gypsy, Annie Get Your Gun, and more.
    Bernadette Peters (born Bernadette Lazzara; February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo concerts and released recordings. She is one of the most critically acclaimed Broadway performers, having received seven nominations for Tony Awards, winning two (plus an honorary award), and nine nominations for Drama Desk Awards, winning three. Four of the Broadway cast albums on which she has starred have won Grammy Awards. Regarded by many as the foremost interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim, Peters is particularly noted for her roles on the Broadway stage, including in the musicals Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Song and Dance, Into the Woods, The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Follies and Hello, Dolly!.Peters first performed on the stage as a child and then a teenage actress in the 1960s, and in film and television in the 1970s. She was praised for this early work and for appearances on The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show and in other television work, and for her roles in films including Silent Movie, The Jerk, Pennies from Heaven and Annie. In the 1980s, she returned to the theatre, where she became one of the best-known Broadway stars over the next three decades. She also has recorded six solo albums and several singles, as well as many cast albums, and performs regularly in her own solo concert act. In the 2010s, Peters continues to act on stage, in films and television in such series as Smash and Mozart in the Jungle. She has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, winning once.
  • Audra McDonald
    5

    Audra McDonald

    Age: 53
    1,396 votes
    • Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
    Won a Tony Award for her performance in Porgy and Bess.
    Audra Ann McDonald (born July 3, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Primarily known for her work on the Broadway stage, she has won six Tony Awards, more performance wins than any other actor, and is the only person to win all four acting categories. She has performed in musicals, operas, and dramas such as A Moon for the Misbegotten, 110 in the Shade, Carousel, Ragtime, Master Class and Porgy and Bess. As a classical soprano, she has performed in staged operas with the Houston Grand Opera and the Los Angeles Opera and in concerts with symphony orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and New York Philharmonic. In 2008 her recording of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny with the Los Angeles Opera won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Album and the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. She has a close working relationship with composer Michael John LaChiusa who has written several works for her, including the Broadway musical Marie Christine, the opera Send (who are you? i love you), and The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle. With her full lyric soprano voice, she maintains an active concert and recording career throughout the United States performing a wide repertoire from classical to musical theater to jazz and popular songs. In 2016, McDonald was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. In 2017 she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.On television, McDonald portrayed Dr. Naomi Bennett as a main cast member of Shonda Rhimes's ABC television drama Private Practice from 2007-2011. She also portrayed the recurring character of Liz Lawrence in Season 4 of The Good Wife; a role that she reprises as a main cast member in the spinoff series The Good Fight. In 2013 she performed the role of Mother Superior in The Sound of Music Live! opposite Carrie Underwood as Maria. She has twice been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayals of Susie Monahan in Wit opposite Emma Thompson in 2001 and for her performance of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun in 2008. In 2016 she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill for HBO in which McDonald portrayed jazz legend Billie Holiday. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program in 2015 for her work hosting the program Live from Lincoln Center. On film she is best known for her portrayals of Maureen in Ricki and the Flash (2015) opposite Meryl Streep and Madame de Garderobe in the 2017 film version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. She has been nominated five times for the NAACP Image Awards for her work in television and film.
  • Patti LuPone
    6

    Patti LuPone

    Age: 74
    1,780 votes
    • Birthplace: Northport, New York, USA
    Won a Tony Award for her performance in Evita.
    Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer, best known for her work in stage musicals. She has won two Grammy Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Olivier Awards. She is also a 2006 American Theater Hall of Fame inductee.LuPone began her professional career with The Acting Company in 1972 and made her Broadway debut in Three Sisters in 1973. She received the first of seven Tony Award nominations for the 1975 musical The Robber Bridegroom. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Eva Perón in the 1979 original Broadway production of Evita. She played Fantine in the original London cast of Les Misérables and Moll in The Cradle Will Rock, winning the 1985 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in both. She won a second Tony Award for her role as Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and a second Olivier Award in 2019, winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her role as Joanne in the West End revival of Company. Other stage musical performances include her Tony-nominated role as Reno Sweeney in the 1987 Broadway revival of Anything Goes, her Olivier-nominated role as Norma Desmond in the 1993 original production of Sunset Boulevard in London, her Tony-nominated role as Mrs. Lovett in the new 2005 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, her Tony-nominated role as Lucia in the 2010 original Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and her Tony-nominated role as Helena Rubenstein in the 2017 original Broadway production of War Paint. She also won two Grammy Awards for the recording of the 2007 Los Angeles Opera production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in categories of Best Classical Album and Best Opera Recording. On television, she starred in the drama series Life Goes On (1989–1993) and received Emmy Award nominations for the TV movie The Song Spinner (1995) and her guest role in the sitcom Frasier (1998). She also had a role in the third season of the FX thriller series American Horror Story: Coven (2013–2014) and guest starred in Penny Dreadful (2014–2016) before returning in a lead role. She voices the character Yellow Diamond in the animated series Steven Universe (2013–present). She also appeared on The CW comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as Rabbi Shari (2017). Her film appearances include Witness (1985), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), State and Main (2000), Parker (2013), and The Comedian (2016). LuPone has a mezzo-soprano vocal range.