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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series
This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series winners
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Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor. Highly regarded as a film character actor, Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor three times. He is tied with Jack Nicholson for the most Academy Award wins...
Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film actor.
Born Ira Dean Jagger in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Jagger made his film debut in The Woman from Hell (1929) with Mary Astor. He became a successful character actor, without...
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule....
Award Nominations:
Wally Cox
Wallace Maynard Cox (December 6, 1924 – February 15, 1973) was an American comedian and actor, particularly associated with the early years of television in the United States. He appeared in the U.S. TV series Mr. Peepers (1952-55), plus several...
Award Nominations:
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director and author, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet. He was also the founder...
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile...
Award Nominations:
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974), born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film. Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny...
Jack Paar
Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best noted for his stint as host of The Tonight Show.
Paar was born in Canton, Ohio, the son of Howard and Lillian M. Paar. He moved...
Perry Como
Pierino "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943. "Mr. C",...
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers (May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedy actor. He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S. Army post in which he played Sergeant Bilko.
Born Philip Silversmith in...
Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990), known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor.
Cummings performed mainly in comedies, but was effective in his few dramas,...
Jackie Gleason
Herbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, (February 26, 1916–June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph...
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns. He was best known as the star of the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.
Boone was born in Los Angeles...
David Janssen
David Janssen (March 27, 1931 – February 13, 1980) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive (1963–1967).
Janssen was born David Harold Meyer in...
Bob Crane
Robert Edward "Bob" Crane (July 13, 1928 – June 29, 1978) was an American disc jockey and actor, best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E. Hogan in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes from 1965 to 1971, and for his unsolved death.
Crane...
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch (born January 8, 1923) is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr. Whoopee on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, and his live-action role...
Award Nominations:
Jack Albertson
Jack Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981) was an American character actor dating to vaudeville. A comedian, dancer, singer, and musician, Albertson is perhaps best known for his roles as Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure and Grandpa Joe...
Dick York
Richard Allen "Dick" York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as Darrin Stephens in Bewitched
Born Richard Allen York in Fort Wayne, Indiana, York grew up in Chicago, where a Catholic nun...
Award Nominations:
Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including the 1969 film Goodbye, Columbus, based on the novella of the same name by Philip Roth, and with Yul Brynner in...
Award Nominations:
Don Adams
Don Adams (April 13, 1923 – September 25, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, game show panelist and occasional director, who in his five decades of television was best known for his role as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) in the TV situation comedy Get...
Brian Keith
Brian Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney film, The Parent Trap, the 1966 movie, The...
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. (born July 12, 1937) is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action...
William Windom
William Windom (born September 28, 1923) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his work on television, including several episodes of The Twilight Zone; playing the character of Glen Morley, a congressman from Minnesota like his own...
Award Nominations:
Lloyd Haynes
Samuel Lloyd Haynes (September 19, 1934 – December 31, 1986) was an African-American actor and television writer. Haynes was a member of the Bahá'í Faith.
Haynes served in the Marines from 1952-1964 and during the Korean War. He was a public-affairs...
Award Nominations:
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an Academy Award-winning American stage and film actor, director, and producer. He was best known for his bravura stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in...
Award Nominations:
Ted Bessell
Ted Bessell (March 20, 1935–October 6, 1996) was an American television actor.
Born in Flushing, New York, on March 20, 1935, Bessell was originally gearing up for a career as a classical musician. As a 12-year-old child prodigy, he performed a...
Award Nominations:
Robert Young
Robert George Young (February 22, 1907 – July 21, 1998) was an American actor, best known for his leading roles of Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best (NBC and then CBS) and physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).
Born in...
Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.
Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side....
Tony Randall
Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor , comic, producer and director.
Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia (née Finston) and Mogscha Rosenberg, who was an art and antiques...
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman (born April 27, 1922) is an American stage, film and television actor, known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, television and on Broadway. He is best-known for his role as Tony Randall's sloppy roommate, Oscar Madison,...
Bill Bixby
Bill Bixby, born Wilfred Bailey Bixby, (January 22, 1934 – November 21, 1993) was an American film and television actor, director and frequent game show panelist. His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and...
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer, and author.
Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days. "The Fonz", a leather-clad greaser and auto mechanic, started...
Jack Warden
Jack Warden (September 18, 1920 – July 19, 2006) was an American character actor.
Warden was born John H. Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. (née Costello) and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. His father...
Carroll O'Connor
John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001), best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades. Known at first for playing the role of Major General Colt in the 1970...
Judd Hirsch
Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor known for playing the characters Alex Reiger on the television comedy series Taxi and Alan Eppes on the current CBS series Numb3rs.
Hirsch was born in the Bronx, New York, the son of...
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC (born February 11, 1926) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Although Nielsen's acting career crosses a variety of genres in both television and films, he has achieved his greatest film success as Commander John J. Adams in...
Hal Linden
Hal Linden (born March 20, 1931) is a Jewish-American stage and television actor and television director, best known for his Emmy-nominated role in the television comedy series Barney Miller, and as presenter on the ABC educational series Animals,...
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow (pronounced /ˈlɪθɡoʊ/; born October 19, 1945) is an American actor, musician, and author, best known for his starring role as Dr. Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He has also achieved success on stage, film,...
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (born February 1, 1938) is an American actor, most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons and as Deacon Ernest Frye on Amen. He also played Earl Sinclair's...
Award Nominations:
Robert Guillaume
Robert "Bob" Guillaume (born November 30, 1927) is an American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King, as Isaac Jaffe on...
Steve Allen
Steve Allen (December 26, 1921(1921-12-26) – October 30, 2000), born Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen, was an American television personality, musician, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best-known for...
Bob Newhart
George Robert "Bob" Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American stand-up comedian and actor who is best known for playing psychologist Dr. Robert "Bob" Hartley on the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show and as innkeeper Dick Loudon on the 1980s...
Bronson Pinchot
Bronson Alcott Pinchot (born May 20, 1959) is an American actor.
Pinchot was born in New York City, New York, the son of Rosina (née Asta), a typist, and Henry Poncharavsky, a bookbinder. His father, who was born in New York and raised in Paris, was...
Award Nominations:
Harry Anderson
Harry Laverne Anderson (born October 14, 1952) is an American actor and magician.
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a street magician before becoming an actor. He is famous for the role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984-1992 television...
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. He is best known for his abrasive characters and his usually present mustache.
Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary Wharton (née Johns) and Melvin Randolph Coleman. He...
Tim Reid
Timothy L. "Tim" Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as WKRP in Cincinnati.
Reid was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the son of Augustine...
Award Nominations:
Fred Savage
Fredrick Aaron Savage (born July 9, 1976) is an American actor, director and producer of television and film.
He is best known for his role as Kevin Arnold in the television series The Wonder Years.
In later years, he has directed and produced...
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne “Dick” Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is best known for his starring roles in the films Bye Bye Birdie, Mary Poppins, and Chitty Chitty Bang...
Larry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David (born July 2, 1947) is an American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and film director. David is the co-creator and producer of two successful television comedies, Seinfeld (1989-1998) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000...
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 – September 26, 2000) was an American television and film actor.
He was born in New York City, the younger brother of director Robert Mulligan. After attending Columbia University, Mulligan began working in...
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas (January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy, or The Danny Thomas Show. He is also the founder of St. Jude...
Craig T. Nelson
Craig Theodore Nelson (born Craig Richard Nelson; April 4, 1944) is an American actor.
Nelson was born in Spokane, Washington to a drummer father. He has a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and attended the University of Arizona and Central Washington...
John Larroquette
John Bernard Larroquette (born November 25, 1947) is an American film and television actor. His best known roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride and Carl Sack in Boston Legal....
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He is best known for his role on the television series Roseanne, as well as his film work with the Coen brothers.
Goodman was born in Affton, Missouri, the son of Virginia, a store...
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (born July 21, 1951) is an American actor and comedian.
Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980....
Award Nominations:
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. (born February 11, 1936) is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in The Longest Yard, Coach Nate Scarborough in the 2005 remake of The Longest...
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar (born September 8, 1922) is an American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2...
Garry Shandling
Garry Shandling (born November 29, 1949) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show.
Shandling began his career writing for sitcoms such as Sanford and Son, and...
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an American comedian, actor and writer, whoms style is often described as observational comedy. Aside from being a stand-up comedian, he is best known for playing a semi-fictional version of...
