June Squibb Becomes Oldest Tony Awards Nominee at 96

June Squibb made Tony history this morning by becoming the oldest actor to receive a nomination. At age 96, Squibb is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her performance as the title character in the Broadway production of Marjorie Prime.

Squibb breaks a record previously set by Lois Smith, who, at 89, won a Tony Award for her performance in The Inheritance in 2020. Smith herself also played Marjorie in the original off-Broadway production and the subsequent film adaptation. 

This is the first Tony nomination for Squibb, whose other Broadway credits include Watiress, Sacrilege, Gorey Stories, and more. Fellow nominees in the category are Betsy Aidem, Marylouise Burke, Aya Cash, and Laurie Metcalf.

Find the full list of 2026 Tony nominees here.

The Second Stage Theater production of Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime on Broadway was directed by Tony Award Nominee and Obie Award-winner Anne Kauffman. It played a limited run at the Hayes Theatre, opening December 15, 2025 and ran until February 15, 2026.

The Marjorie Prime company featured Tony Award-winner Danny Burstein, Christopher Lowell, Two-time Tony Award-winner Cynthia Nixon, and Academy Award nominee June Squibb in the title role of Marjorie Prime. The play was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize.

About June Squibb

June Squibb made her Broadway debut in 1959 in the original production of Gypsy, where she played ‘Electra,’ performing opposite Ethel Merman. Her career spans stage, screen, and television, with appearances on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theater, USO Tours, and cruise ships. She earned Academy Award, Golden Globe, and SAG nominations for her role in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska.

Recent credits include the titular role in Thelma (Magnolia Pictures), Inside Out 2, and Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Other film highlights include Alice, Martin Brest’s Scent of a Woman, Martin Scorsese’s Age of Innocence, In and Out, Meet Joe Black, About Schmidt, Hubie Halloween, Table 19, The Humans, Palmer, Family Squares, Godmothered, Soul, Palm Springs, Toy Story 4, Blow the Man Down, Lost & Found in Cleveland and the remake of the cult classic, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead.

Television appearances include “Little America,” “Life and Beth,” “Little Ellen,” “Room 104,” “Good Girls,” “The Good Doctor,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Shameless,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Modern Family,” “Getting On,” Mom,” “Triumph the Wonder Dog,” “Glee,” “Girls,” “Mike and Molly,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Judging Amy,” and “ER.” She last appeared on Broadway in Waitress (2018) and is thrilled to return to the stage.