Jean Smart Wins Fifth Hacks Emmy, Ties Acting Record — SkimNews
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- Jean Smart won her fifth Emmy for lead comedy actress for playing Deborah Vance in Season 5 of HBO Max's 'Hacks,' making her the first female performer to win Emmys for every season of a single show.
- Bill Cosby was the only other actor to sweep Emmys across each season of a show, taking the award for all three seasons of 'I Spy' between 1966 and 1968.
- Smart is now an eight-time Emmy winner, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most Emmy wins by an actor of any gender, one ahead of Ed Asner's seven.
- Smart joked about the standing ovation she received from presenter Zendaya: 'Just the men stay standing. The girls get to sit down,' adding that women in uncomfortable Spanx and corsets would resent having to stand again.
- Smart dedicated the win to 'Hacks' creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs, telling them: 'It all begins and ends with them. I love you guys so much. What a ride this has been.'
- Smart's additional past wins include guest-starring roles in 'Frasier' in 2000 and 2001 and a supporting role in 'Samantha Who?' in 2008, with nominations spanning '24,' 'Fargo,' 'Watchmen,' and 'Mare of Easttown.'
- Lisa Kudrow ('The Comeback'), Quinta Brunson ('Abbott Elementary'), Elle Fanning ('Margo's Got Money Troubles'), and Ayo Edebiri ('The Bear') were also nominated for lead comedy actress.
Why it matters: Smart's fifth consecutive win for 'Hacks' rewrites a record that had stood since Bill Cosby's 'I Spy' sweep in the 1960s, and her eighth career Emmy pulls her even with two of the most decorated comedic performers in television history, cementing her status as arguably the most awarded comedy actress ever. The standing-ovation joke — delivered in Spanx-cutting heels — turned the moment into a widely quotable line about the physical cost women pay on awards stages.
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