Harvey Fierstein to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor at the 2025 Tony Awards

Harvey Fierstein, the gravel-voiced playwright, performer and activist who helped rewrite Broadway’s rulebook on representation and resilience, will receive the 2025 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, the Tony Awards Administration Committee announced Wednesday.

The four-time Tony winner will be celebrated during the 78th Annual Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 8, where Oscar-, Emmy- and GRAMMY-winner Cynthia Erivo is set to host the three-hour CBS telecast, also streaming live on Paramount+.

A career defined by firsts and fan favourites

Fierstein, 72, blasted onto the scene with Torch Song Trilogy in 1982, collecting Tonys for both Best Play and Best Actor in a Play. He followed a year later with La Cage Aux Folles, winning Best Book of a Musical, and returned to the winners’ circle in 2003 as larger-than-life Edna Turnblad in Hairspray.

Beyond the trophies, his pen has powered some of Broadway’s biggest box-office draws, including Kinky Boots, Newsies, A Catered Affair and the 2022 revival of Funny Girl. His 2014 drama Casa Valentina showcased his flair for complex, under-told stories, while his memoir I Was Better Last Night and children’s classic The Sissy Duckling extended that storytelling well beyond the footlights.

Big screen, bigger impact

Mainstream audiences know Fierstein from scene-stealing turns in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Independence Day (1996), plus memorable voice work on The Simpsons and Family Guy. In 2016 he reprised Edna for NBC’s Hairspray Live!, earning rave reviews and reminding a new generation why his comedic timing remains second to none.

“An extraordinary legacy”

“Harvey Fierstein’s contributions to the American theatre, both as an artist and activist, represent an extraordinary legacy,” said American Theatre Wing president Heather Hitchens and Broadway League president Jason Laks in a joint statement. “We are thrilled to honor him.”

Fierstein joins an elite roster of Lifetime Achievement laureates that includes Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera.

What’s next

With the eligibility window closing April 27, nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards will be revealed on Thursday, May 1.

For Broadway fans—and anyone who believes theatre can change hearts as well as box-office records—June 8 promises to be a night when one of the stage’s loudest, proudest voices gets the standing ovation he’s long deserved.

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