Jean Smart One Win From Tying All-Time Emmy Record
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Jean Smart won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for all four seasons of Hacks and just earned another nomination in the category, positioning her for a potential clean sweep of every season the show was eligible.
- A September win would give Smart eight career acting Emmys, tying the all-time record currently held by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman.
- Smart's seven existing Emmys include four for Hacks, two Guest Actress wins for Frasier (as Lana Gardner in seasons seven and eight), and one Supporting Actress win for the ABC sitcom Samantha Who?.
- Her competition in the category is Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Elle Fanning (Margo's Got Money Troubles), and Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary).
- Louis-Dreyfus's record includes six wins for Veep plus one each for Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine; Leachman's spans two wins for The Mary Tyler Moore Show plus Emmys for Malcolm in the Middle, A Brand New Life, Cher, and Promised Land.
- A Hacks win would make Smart only the third performer to take home an Emmy for every season their show was eligible, after Bill Cosby (I Spy) and Blythe Danner (Huff).
Why it matters: The source notes the TV Academy's documented tendency to reward stars of acclaimed series in their farewell seasons, making Smart's tie highly plausible. A win would also place her in an ultra-exclusive club of just three performers who swept every eligible season of a show, alongside Cosby and Danner.
