The Tony Award, which is presented annually, recognizes the top performers in Broadway live theatre. Officially named the “Antoinette Perry Award”, this honor has been given out since 1947. The award was named for Antoinette Perry, who was an actress, director and producer who passed away in 1946. She was also the co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. The winner of the 1952 Tony Award for Best Actor- Musical was Phil Silvers, who had top billing as Jerry Biffle in the critically acclaimed “Top Banana”. The musical ran for 350 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre from November 1, 1951 to October 4, 1952.

This prestigious award is a 3-inch diameter medallion is made of a mix of brass and bronze with nickel plating colored in gold. This award has “ANTOINETTE PERRY AWARD” around the edge in raised relief that was designed by Herman Rosse. His design features an adaptation of the tragedy and comedy masks, all in raised relief. The back of this medallion has a profile image of Antoinette Perry on the top and in raised relief “THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING PRESENTS TO” and engraved with “Phil Silvers This award for his performance in “TOP BANANA” 1951-52”. The medallion was the original award given out until 1967 when it was mounted on a black base.

This medallion is in good condition, only displaying age wear and minor abrasion marks. This comes with a 4 x 6-inch soft pouch colored black with gold borders. It has a zipper to close the pouch and a snap-button to cover the zipper portion. This prestigious award comes with a letter of provenance from Tracey Silvers, who is Phil Silvers’ daughter and states in her letter that “This is my Father, Phil Silvers’ Tony award for his performance in the Broadway Musical, “Top Banana” in 1951-52.”

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