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Actor Bryan Cranston, winner of Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for 'Breaking Bad,' attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball held at Los Angeles Convention Center on August 25, 2014
Bryan Cranston at the 2014 Emmy Awards.
  • The Emmys are pretty much the Oscars for television.
  • We compiled a list of actors with the most Emmys, from Mary Tyler Moore to Bryan Cranston.
  • The 2025 Emmy Awards will air on Sunday, September 14, on CBS and Paramount+.

An Emmy is the biggest award an actor can win for their work on the small screen — and when there’s a show or a performance Emmy voters love, it often gets multiple nominations and wins.

We’ve pored over the stats and compiled a list of the most Emmy-awarded actors of all time. It includes some of the biggest TV stars of all time, including Bryan Cranston, Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

In fact, Louis-Dreyfus is tied with Cloris Leachman for eight Emmy wins as a performer, and has the solo record for most overall wins if you include her awards as a producer.

The total Emmy wins listed here aren’t exclusively for performances: Some on this list have won for writing, directing, or producing — Cranston was a producer on “Breaking Bad” and Louis-Dreyfus is an executive producer for “Veep,” for example — but the majority of their Emmys are for acting. 

Here are the actors who have the most Emmy awards.

Carrie Wittmer contributed to a prior version of this article.

15 (tie). Don Knotts — 5 wins and 5 nominations
Aired 05/22/1962 -- Pictured: Actor Don Knotts
Don Knotts at the 1962 Emmy Awards.

Knotts was nominated for five Emmy Awards (in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, and 1967) for his performance as Barney Fife in “The Andy Griffith Show” — and he won them all.

15 (tie). John Larroquette — 5 wins and 7 nominations
John Larroquette with his Emmy Award, Linda Lavin appearing on the ABC tv special the 37th Primetime Emmy Awards / the 1985 Emmy Awards,
John Larroquette at the 1985 Emmy Awards.

Larroquette won four consecutive Emmys from 1985 to 1988 for his performance in “Night Court.” His last win came for his guest role in “The Practice” in 1998.

15 (tie). Candice Bergen — 5 wins and 9 nominations
Candice Bergen at the 47th Primetime Emmy Awards Show on September 10, 1995, in Pasadena, California. (
Candice Bergen at the 1995 Emmy Awards.

All five of Bergen’s wins came from her performance as the titular role in the CBS sitcom “Murphy Brown.” She was nominated for an additional two awards in the 2000s for “Boston Legal.”

15 (tie). Peter Falk — 5 wins and 12 nominations
Peter Falk holding Emmy Award in the press room at the 28th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on May 17, 1976
Peter Falk at the 1976 Emmy Awards.

All but one of Falk’s Emmys came from his long-running performance as one of the most iconic TV detectives: Frank Columbo on “Columbo.”

He also won in 1962 for “The Dick Powell Show.”

11 (tie). Tim Conway — 6 wins and 13 nominations
Winner Tim Conway at Emmy Awards Show, September 8, 1996 in Pasadena, California.
Tim Conway at the 1996 Emmy Awards.

Conway was nominated for both his acting and his writing. He won for acting on “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Coach,” and “30 Rock.”

11 (tie). Michael J. Fox — 5 wins and 18 nominations
Emmy Winner Michael J. Fox backstage at the 52nd Emmy Awards Show at the Shrine Auditorium, September 10, 2000
Michael J. Fox at the 2000 Emmy Awards.

Fox won three consecutive Emmys in ’86, ’87, and ’88 for playing Alex P. Keaton in “Family Ties.”

He won another two for “Spin City” and “Rescue Me.”

11 (tie). Kelsey Grammer — 5 wins and 17 nominations
Kelsey Grammer at the 50th Annual Emmy Awards, on September 13, 1998 in Los Angeles
Kelsey Grammer at the 1998 Emmy Awards.

Four of Grammer’s wins came from his long-running performance as Frasier Crane on “Frasier.”

His fifth (and most recent) win came from his vocal performance as Sideshow Bob in an episode of “The Simpsons.”

11 (tie). Betty White — 5 wins and 21 nominations
Actress Betty White accepts Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award onstage during The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 i
Betty White at the 2015 Daytime Emmy Awards.

White’s wins were for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls,” “The John Larroquette Show,” and “Saturday Night Live.”

8 (tie). Maya Rudolph — 6 wins and 15 nominations
Maya Rudolph at day 1 of the 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards held at the Peacock Theater on September 7, 2024 i
Maya Rudolph at the 2024 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Rudolph won twice while on “Saturday Night Live,” and won four times for voicing Connie the Hormone Monstress on “Big Mouth.”

8 (tie). Art Carney — 6 wins and 12 nominations
Art Carney holding his Emmy Award.
Art Carney and one of his Emmy Awards.

Carney won four times for “The Jackie Gleason Show,” once for “The Honeymooners,” and once for the made-for-TV film “Terrible Joe Moran.”

8 (tie). Tyne Daly — 6 wins and 16 nominations
Emmy Winner Actress Tyne Daly at the 48th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, September 8, 1996 in Pasadena, California.
Tyne Daly at the 1996 Emmy Awards.

In 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1988, Daly took home the Emmy Award for lead actress in a drama series for “Cagney and Lacey.”

She won twice more in 1996 and 2003 for roles in “Christy” and “Judging Amy,” respectively.

8 (tie). Alan Alda — 6 wins and 34 nominations
Alan Alda holding Emmy Award at The 31st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 9, 1979
Alan Alda at the 1979 Emmy Awards.

Alda won five Emmys across acting, writing, and directing on “MASH.” His last win came in 2006 for appearing on “The West Wing.”

4 (tie). Bryan Cranston — 7 wins and 16 nominations
Actor Bryan Cranston, winner of Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for 'Breaking Bad,' attends the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Governors Ball held at Los Angeles Convention Center on August 25, 2014
Bryan Cranston at the 2014 Emmy Awards.

Just this month, at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Cranston won his seventh Emmy for his guest role on “The Studio.”

Prior to that, all of Cranston’s wins came from starring in and producing “Breaking Bad.

4 (tie). Allison Janney — 7 wins and 15 nominations
Actress Allison Janney, winner of the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for 'Mom', poses in the press room at the 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 20, 2015
Allison Janney at the 2015 Emmy Awards.

Janney won three Emmys in a row for “The West Wing” from 2000 to 2002 (and then another in 2004).

She won three more times for “Masters of Sex” and “Mom.”

4 (tie). Ed Asner — 7 wins and 17 nominations
Edward Asner with his award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama at the 1977 / 29th Primetime Emmy Awards, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium
Ed Asner at the 1977 Emmy Awards.

Asner won for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rich Man, Poor Man,” “Roots,” and “Lou Grant.”

Asner’s wins for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant” made him one of the few actors to win for playing the same character across two different shows.

4 (tie). Mary Tyler Moore — 7 wins and 15 nominations
Actress Mary Tyler Moore attends the 45th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19, 1993 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. (
Mary Tyler Moore at the 1993 Emmy Awards.

Moore won twice for “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” four times for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and once for the TV movie “Stolen Babies.”

3. Cloris Leachman — 8 wins and 22 nominations
Cloris Leachman, winner Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "Malcolm in the Middle" at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California
Cloris Leachman at the 2006 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

If we’re just counting performances, Leachman would be tied for No. 2; however, the two actors above her have also won for writing and producing.

Leachman won for acting in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “A Brand New Life,” “Cher,” the “Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration,” “Promised Land,” and “Malcolm in the Middle” across 33 years.

1 (tie). Carl Reiner — 11 wins and 18 nominations
Carl Reiner during The 47th Annual Emmy Awards in 1995
Carl Reiner at the 1995 Emmy Awards.

Reiner’s three acting Emmys came from “Caesar’s Hour” and “Mad About You.”

His other eight wins came from writing and producing “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special.”

1 (tie). Julia Louis Dreyfus — 11 wins and 26 nominations
Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 2016 Emmy Awards.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the 2016 Emmy Awards.

Most famously, Louis-Dreyfus won a record-breaking six consecutive Emmy Awards for playing Selina Meyer on “Veep” (she also won three more for producing the show).

She won one Emmy apiece for her performances on “Seinfeld” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” as well.

Read the original article on Business Insider

 

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