Lack of Emmy-Winning Black Women Comedians Is No Laughing Matter: 12 Reminders for TV Academy
variety.comlead actress comedy, only six Black women have been nominated since its inception in 1966 — Diahann Carroll (“Julia”), Isabel Sanford (“The Jeffersons”), Nell Carter (“Gimme a Break!”), Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”), Tracee Ellis Ross (“Black-ish”) and Issa Rae (“Insecure”).
Sanford was the only Black woman to win the category in 1981.Read more: Variety’s Awards Circuit Emmys Predictions HubIn supporting actress comedy, we’ve seen a minor increase in the representation of Black talent but still not enough compared to the presence in the industry.
Ten individual women have been recognized in this category — Marla Gibbs (“The Jeffersons”), Paula Kelly (“Night Court”), Lisa Bonet and Keisha Knight Pulliam (“The Cosby Show”), Jackee Harry (“227”), Alfre Woodard (“Desperate Housewives”), Vanessa Williams (“Ugly Betty”), Niecy Nash (“Getting On”), Leslie Jones (“Saturday Night Live”), Zazie Beetz (“Atlanta”) and Yvonne Orji (“Insecure”).
Harry is the only one ever to win.In 2020, we saw history made with the first two Black women, Ellis and Rae, nominated for outstanding comedy series and lead actresses in a comedy.With the submission deadline for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards looming on May 12 and ahead of nomination voting opening on June 16, Variety is listing the Black women that demand the TV Academy’s consideration down below.To see where the list of women stands among this year’s Emmy contenders, go to Variety‘s Awards Circuit prediction pages to see the current rankings.
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