Twenty-six people who won Emmys that you may not have known won Emmys

Ray Richmond
·8 min read

Presidents of the United States (both sitting and former) have won. So have former Beatles. And a First Lady. And a lot of other unlikely movie types. The truth is, with so many Primetime Emmy Awards handed out – well over 100 annually – it’s easy for some intriguing victors in both the deeper past and more recently to slip through the cracks.

So as a public service, here are a few dozen-plus Emmy winners you may have missed.

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  • Barack Obama – Yes, our 44th President took home an Emmy trophy in 2022 as best narrator for an episode of the doc series “Our Great National Parks.” He thus became the second President to be so honored. To find out the first, see below.

  • Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr – It may have escaped your gaze, but the former Beatles won an Emmy last year for top documentary/nonfiction series (shared with Peter Jackson and Yoko Ono) for “The Beatles: Get Back” on Disney+. It was McCartney’s third nomination and first win, Starr’s first and first.

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  • Dwight D. Eisenhower – The 34th American President was bestowed a 1956 Governors Award from the academy for his appreciation of the burgeoning medium. In 1955, he’d become the first chief executive to give a televised news conference.

  • Justin Timberlake – It may not surprise you to learn that the multi-talented former member of the boy band *NSYNC has in fact won four Emmys, or four more than Fred Rogers ever won. They’ve all come for his appearances on “Saturday Night Live”: for original music and lyrics in 2007 and 2011 and as guest actor in a comedy series in 2009 and 2011 (both for hosting stints).

  • Brad Pitt – He was an executive producer on the 2014 winner for Best Made-For-TV Movie, HBO’s “The Normal Heart.” So he has an Emmy beside the pair of Oscars on his mantel.

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  • Jacqueline Kennedy – The legendarily elegant First Lady (wife of John F. Kennedy) was the only First Lady ever to win a Primetime Emmy. It actually was for something called the Trustees Award in 1962, for a CBS News special that February entitled “A Tour of the White House” with correspondent Charles Collngwood.

  • John Legend – Legend became the youngest (at 39) and the first African American male to achieve EGOT status (Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-Tony) when he won an Emmy as an exec producer on the 2018 Best Live Variety Special winner “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.”

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  • Ingrid Bergman – The acting legend who won Oscars for “Gaslight” (1945), “Anastasia (1957) and “Murder on the Orient Express” (1975) also won a couple of Emmys, moving gracefully between screens big and small. Her Emmy triumphs came in Best Single Performance by an Actress in 1960 for the drama “The Turn of the Screw” in the series “Startime” and in 1982 for her portrayal of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in “A Woman Called Golda” (awarded posthumously three weeks after her death).

  • Audrey Hepburn – It’s a fact that the elegant movie star Hepburn won as many Emmys for her acting as she did Oscars: one in both cases. Her Oscar came in her first nomination, as lead actress in 1954 for “Roman Holiday.” The Emmy was awarded posthumously in 1993 as host of the information series “Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn.” The victory made her a posthumous EGOT winner.

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  • Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork – OK, the truth is that the four musicians who formed the Monkees didn’t actually win Emmys themselves. But they get credit here anyway because their comedy series “The Monkees” astoundingly won Best Comedy Series in its first season (1966-67), beating out “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Bewitched,” “Get Smart” and “The Andy Griffith Show.” (Fun fact: Jones, Dolenz, Nesmith and Tork each earned $450 per episode that first season, raised to $750 per in season two. Quite the bargain.)

  • Cyndi Lauper – The beloved pop songstress earned two nominations for a comedy series guest stint on “Mad About You” in the mid-1990s – taking home the gold in 1995.

  • Tom Hanks – It’s probably not a shock that film superstar Hanks has had more than a passing relationship with the Primetime Emmys. But it’s surprising he’s been as successful as he has, winning seven trophies: as an executive producer on “From the Earth to the Moon” (1998), “Band of Brothers” (2002), “John Adams” (2008), “The Pacific” (2010), “Game Change” (2012) and “Oliver Kitteridge” (2015) and as a director on “Band of Brothers.”

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  • Sharon Stone – The steamy film star won her Emmy in 2004 as guest actress in a drama series for a spot on David E. Kelley’s “The Practice.”

  • Martin Scorsese – If he were playing baseball, the great director would be batting well under .100 at the Oscars, with just a single win (in 2007 for directing “The Departed”) to show for 14 nominations. He’s faring significantly better at Emmys, winning three times as many statues as at the Academy Awards (three in 12 nominations) and sporting an average of .250. Hi Emmy wins came in 2011 for directing the “Boardwalk Empire” pilot and in 2012 for exec producing and directing “George Harrison: Living in the Material World.”

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  • Julie Andrews – Much like several other film icons, Andrews has won more Emmys than Oscars – with a pair of Emmys to show for her 10 nominations. Her Oscar came in 1965 as lead actress for “Mary Poppins.” Her Emmys are for variety musical series (“The Julie Andrews Hour,” 1973) and nonfiction series (as host of “Broadway: The American Musical” in 2005).

  • Barbra Streisand – Babs has four Emmys to go with her two Academy Awards (as lead actress in 1969 for “Funny Girl” and in 1977 for original song for “A Star is Born”). The Emmys came in 1965 for the special “My Name is Barbra,” a pair in 1995 for “Barbra: The Concert” and individual performance in 2001 for “Timeless: Live in Concert.”

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  • Liza Minnelli – Few know or remember that the same year Liza won her lone lead actress Oscar for “Cabaret” (1973) she also took home an Emmy for her variety special “Liza with a Z” (co-produced and directed by Bob Fosse). And now, you know.

  • Hugh Jackman – The Aussie actor, singer, dancer and producer landed an Emmy in 2005 for hosting the 58th Annual Tony Awards in the Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program category. He’s a scant Oscar short of EGOT status, so far just an EGT.

  • Bette Midler – She has a pair of lead Oscar noms to her credit (1980 for “The Rose and 1992 for “For the Boys”) and three Emmy triumphs on her resume’: for the special “Bette Midler: Ol’ Red Hair is Back” (1978), for her appearance on the final “Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” (1992) and for “Bette Midler in Concert: Diva Las Vegas” (1997).

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  • Taylor Swift – The music superstar has a long Emmy to go with her dozen Grammy wins. It came in 2015 when she snagged a statue for Best Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Original Interactive Program for “AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience.”

  • Lin-Manuel Miranda – The genius behind “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” garnered Emmys in 2014 for writing the opening tune “Bigger” for host Neil Patrick Harris at the 67th Annual Tony Awards – earning him an original music and lyrics victory – and in 2021 for top variety special (pre-recorded) for the Disney+ presentation of “Hamilton” on Broadway.

  • Cher – The 1988 lead actress Oscar winner for “Moonstruck” also grabbed a Primetime Emmy in 2003 – top variety, music or comedy special for “Cher: The Farewell Tour.”

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

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