Most theatre performances - one person show

By 26 February 2012, the American actor Hal Holbrook (USA, b. 17 February 1925) had performed his one man show, “Mark Twain Tonight!”, 2,237 times since 1954. The 87-year-old actor, who, in 2008 also became the oldest actor to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for “Into The Wild” (2007)), is touring with the show in 2012, marking the 58th consecutive year that he has played the man who many consider the greatest American to put pen to paper. He has plans to continue touring with the show in 2013. The show grew out of a college (university) project at Denison University (Ohio) following World War II. His first performance as Twain was at Lock Haven State Teachers College in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1954. Holbrook started to tour with the show around the US as well as appearing at the Edinburgh Festival, and the US State Department sponsored an international tour in the late 1950s. He arrived in New York in 1959 for a successful off-Broadway run followed by three separate runs on Broadway (1966, 1977, 2005). His portrayal of the legendary American writer won him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play in 1966. An Emmy Award nomination came in 1967 for the television version. He marked his 2,000th performance on 17 January 2005. In 1985, to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of Twain’s birth, Holbrook went on a world tour with the show, playing the role from London, UK, to New Dehli, India.