The veteran actress opened up to ET ahead of the show about her decades of work in service of the LGBTQ community.
Judith Light got emotional while accepting the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the 2019 Tony Awards on Sunday night.
The veteran actress was presented with the honor at Radio City Music Hall for her contributions to humanitarian, social service or charitable causes. Throughout the years, she's committed herself to work fighting for the LGBTQ community and raising awareness for HIV and AIDS, aligning herself with organizations like Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, GLAAD, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, Project Angel Food and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Previous recipients of the Isabelle Stevenson Award include Phyllis Newman, David Hyde Pierce, Eve Ensler, Bernadette Peters, Larry Kramer, Rosie O'Donnell, Stephen Schwartz, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Baayork Lee and Nick Scandalios.
"It has long been my privilege to support the HIV/AIDS and the LGBTQ+ communities," Light shared as she accepted the award. "So, to be honored in this way tonight is extremely humbling."
Light has a lot of history with the Tonys. She received her first Tony nomination in 2011 for Lombardi, and then won back-to-back Tonys for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Other Desert Cities in 2012 and The Assembled Parties in 2013. The actress' most recent Broadway appearance was starring opposite Keira Knightley in Therese Raquin in 2015.
Light spoke with ET's Denny Directo and Montego Glover on the red carpet ahead of the awards show, where she opened up about just how much weight the Isabelle Stevenson Award holds.
"This one means just about everything. I mean, the Tonys mean a lot, of course, and I love the Tonys. but this is for service, and for the HIV and AIDS work and the LGBTQ work that I've done for so many years," she shared. "It's this community that really inspired me to start that work, and so that's why it means so much for me tonight."
"We are incredibly proud. And if you look back over the history of all the work that's been done out of this community for the support of HIV and AIDS and also all the LGBTQ+ in this community, people have been able to come out in ways they never would have been able to, because of the artistry of what was created."
See more from the Tonys in the video below.
RELATED CONTENT:
