by Nathaniel R
Final Emmy voting starts on Monday and the most exciting thing is that for the first time in ages, the Emmy voters will be forced to choose at least one major new winner (Drama Series). One could argue that only one incumbent is considered the frontrunner to win again making this a potentially unusual Emmy night -though knowing the Academy they'll probably deliver more repeats than people expect. That leading incumbent would be Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she who is already buried in trophies.
For the record she has seven Emmys, five of them consecutively for Veep's first five seasons. If she wins a sixth for the sixth season she breaks her tie with Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown) as most lead actress wins for the same series, drama OR comedy. But Louis-Dreyfus is already the record holder for most lead wins, drama or comedy (overall) and most lead nominations in a comedy (overall).
You know what all of that means --> TRIVIA after the jump!
Most Leading Nominations Overall, Drama AND/OR Comedy Series
- Edie Falco (12, in Drama and Comedy)
- Angela Lansbury (12, all in Drama)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Comedy (11 all in Comedy)
Most Leading Nominations Drama AND Comedy (because not many people are nominated for both!)
- Edie Falco (12, six for The Sopranos and six for Nurse Jackie)
- Allison Janney (5* noms, four for West Wing and one for Mom)
* Janney has a weird Emmy track record because her lead nominations always spring from supporting nominations for the same roles! (Her actual record once you include every type of category -- she's been nominated in five different categories -- is 13 nominations and 7 wins)
Most Leading Nominations, Drama Series
- Angela Lansbury (12, all for Murder She Wrote - curiously she never won)
- Sharon Gless (8, six for Cagney & Lacey, two for The Trials of Rosie O'Neill)
- Michael Learned (8, six for The Waltons, two for Nurse)
- Julianna Marguiles (8, four for The Good Wife, four for ER*)
- Mariska Hargitay (8, all for Law & Order: SVU)
* Originally she was considered a supporting actress on ER so she actually has six nominations from that series)
Curiously the 'Most Likely To Enter This All Time List Next' looks to be Elisabeth Moss despite only becoming famous 10 years ago. She's already been nominated 6 times for Leading Actress, Drama Series - five times for Mad Men and once for The Handmaid's Tale. Like Marguiles she has an additional nomination for her breakthrough role but in supporting. The other possibility is Claire Danes who also has six nominations for lead drama actress (five from Homeland, one for My So-Called Life) but she seems less likely to return to the nominee pool next year unless she wraps up Homeland and moves on to a new series.
Most Leading Nominations, Comedy Series
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (11, six for Veep, five for The New Adventures of Old Christine)
- Mary Tyler Moore (10, seven for Mary Tyler Moore, three for The Dick Van Dyke Show)
- Bea Arthur (9, five for Maude, four for The Golden Girls)
- Lucille Ball (9, five for I Love Lucy*, four for The Lucy Show)
- Jean Stapleton (8, all for All in the Family)
* the category was changing titles so much in the original Emmys that some people say she was only nominated four times for I Love Lucy. It seems to us that it's five... even more if you count "Best Comedienne" nominations with no specifity)
P.S. Curiously, even if you included male leads in these statistics, they wouldn't top the lists. For instance, Bergen and Louis-Dreyfuss have each won five Emmys in lead; no man ever has. But three men would tie for #1 with Louis-Dreyfuss in 'Most Leading Nominations, Comedy Series' with 11 noms each for Alan Alda, Kelsey Grammer, and Ted Danson