The award, which was established in 1973 in memory of Equity member St. Clair Bayfield, honors "the best performance in a supporting role by an Actor in a Shakespearean play in the New York metropolitan area," according to Equity.

Westrate will receive a $1,000 check and a crystal plaque, which will be presented at Equity’s Eastern Regional Membership Meeting Jan. 6, 2012, at the Equity office in Manhattan.

Westrate has appeared on Broadway in A Moon for the Misbegotten and Off–Broadway in Unnatural Acts (Classic Stage Company) and The Little Foxes (New York Theatre Workshop), and he received a Drama Desk nomination as Featured Actor in the Transport Group’s production of The Boys in the Band.

The judges panel for the Bayfield Award included Joe Dziemianowicz, Daily News; Adam Feldman, Time Out NY; Harry Haun, Playbill; and David Rosenberg, Back Stage.

Previous recipients of Equity’s St. Clair Bayfield Award include Carmen DeLavalade, Dana Ivey, Nathan Lane, Brian Murray, Bradley Whitford and, in 2010, Charles Kimbrough.