- Lear – King of Britain
- Goneril – Lear's eldest daughter
- Regan – Lear's middle daughter
- Cordelia – Lear's youngest daughter
- The Fool – attendant on Lear
- Duke of Albany – Goneril's husband
- Duke of Cornwall – Regan's husband
- King of France – suitor and later husband to Cordelia
- Duke of Burgundy – suitor to Cordelia
- Earl of Gloucester – loyal to Lear
- Edgar – Gloucester's first-born son
- Edmund – Gloucester's illegitimate son
- Earl of Kent – loyal to Lear
- Oswald – Goneril's steward
- Doctor – attends on Cordelia
- Curan – Gloucester's servant
- Old Man – tenant of Gloucester
Notable casts
| Character | Broadway revival (1956) | West End revival (1962) | Broadway revival (1968) | Broadway revival (2004) | West End revival (2007) | West End revival (2010) | Off-Broadway revival (2011) | Broadway revival (2019) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lear | Orson Welles | Paul Scofield | Lee J. Cobb | Christopher Plummer | Ian McKellen | Derek Jacobi | Sam Waterston | Glenda Jackson |
| Goneril | Geraldine Fitzgerald | Irene Worth | Marilyn Lightstone | Domini Blythe | Frances Barber | Gina McKee | Enid Graham | Elizabeth Marvel |
| Regan | Sylvia Short | Patience Collier | Patricia Elliott | Lucy Peacock | Monica Dolan | Justine Mitchell | Kelli O’Hara | Aisling O’Sullivan |
| Cordelia | Viveca Lindfors | Diana Rigg | Barbette Tweed | Claire Jullien | Romola Garai | Pippa Bennett-Warner | Kristen Connolly | Ruth Wilson |
| The Fool | Alvin Epstein | Alec McCowen | René Auberjonois | Barry MacGregor | Sylvester McCoy | Ron Cook | Bill Irwin | |
| Duke of Albany | Sorrell Booke | Peter Jeffrey | Charles Cioffi | Guy Paul | Julian Harries | Tom Beard | Richard Topol | Dion Johnstone |
| Duke of Cornwall | Thayer David | Tony Church | John Devlin | Stephen Russell | Guy Williams | Gideon Turner | Frank Wood | Russell Harvard |
| King of France | Robert Blackburn | Barry MacGregor | Robert Phalen | Christopher Randolph | Ben Addis | Ashley Zhangazha | Michael Izquierdo | Ian Lassiter |
| Duke of Burgundy | Walter Matthews | Tony Steedman | Bill Moor | Eric Sheffer Stevens | Peter Hinton | Stefano Braaschi | Che Ayende | Justin Cunningham |
| Earl of Glouchester | Lester Rawlins | Alan Webb | William Myers | James Blendick | William Gaunt | Paul Jesson | Michael McKean | Jayne Houdyshell |
| Edgar | Robert Fletcher | Brian Murray | Robert Phalen | Brent Carver | Ben Meyjes | Gwilym Lee | Arian Moayed | Sean Carvajal |
| Edmund | John Colicos | James Booth | Stacy Keach | Geraint Wyn Davies | Philip Winchester | Alec Newman | Seth Gilliam | Pedro Pascal |
| Earl of Kent | Roy Dean | Brewster Mason | Philip Bosco | Benedict Campbell | Jonathan Hyde | Michael Hadley | John Douglas Thompson | |
| Oswald | Francis Carpenter | Clive Swift | Tom Sawyer | Andy Prosky | John Hefferman | Amit Shah | Michael Crane | Matthew Maher |
| Doctor | Walter Matthews | Gareth Morgan | William Myers | William Cain | Russell Byrne | N/A | Craig Bockhorn | N/A |
| Curan | Tom Clancy | Philip Brack | Jerome Dempsey | Eric Sheffer Stevens | Seymour Matthews | N/A | Herb Foster | N/A |
| Old Man | N/A | Michael Burrell | Don McHenry | Leo Leyden | N/A | Derek Hutchinson | Herb Foster | Stephanie Roth |
