Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris O'Dowd and Stephen Fry are among the big-name Tv stars nominated for top prizes at the 2014 Tony Awards.

Breaking Bad star Cranston is up for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play trophy for his turn in All The Way, which is also nominated in the Best Play category at the awards, held to honour the year's best Broadway performances.

He will compete with Irish actor O'Dowd (Of Mice and Men), Brit Mark Rylance (Richard Iii), Tony Shalhoub (Act One), and Samuel Barnett (Twelfth Night), who are all nominated in the same category.

Samuel L. Jackson's wife LaTanya Richardson is nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play category for her part in A Raisin in the Sun, but she will have to fend off competition from Tyne Daly (Mothers and Sons), Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie), Audra MCDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill), and Estelle Parsons (The Velocity of Autumn).

How I Met Your Mother star Harris leads the nominations in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category for his flamboyant turn in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, while singer Idina Menzel is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her part in If/Then.

Beloved British actor Stephen Fry scooped a nod in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category for Twelfth Night, but his fellow Brits Daniel Radcliffe, Sir Ian MCKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart were all overlooked despite giving acclaimed performances on the Great White Way.

Fry took to his Twitter.com page on Tuesday (29Apr14) to share his excitement at being nominated, writing, "Oh my goodness, apparently I've been nominated for a Tony award. I can't believe it. How rippingly thrilling."

The winners will be revealed at the 68th annual Tony Awards on 8 June (14) at New York's Radio City Music Hall.