Only One Black Woman Has Won Lead Comedy Actress Emmy — Will Quinta Brunson Break the 42-Year Shut Out With ‘Abbott Elementary?’
variety.comClayton Davis Senior Awards Editor “I am Black woman; hear me roar!” The hilarity of Black women on television has been sorely missed and ignored by the Television Academy over multiple decades.
However, this year’s slate of outstanding lead and supporting comedy actress seem to be the two spots preventing an #EmmysSoWhite moment from occurring.
Quinta Brunson is the front-runner to win her first acting Emmy for her charming turn as Janine Teagues, the optimistic 2nd-grade teacher from ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” With a beautiful sophomore season in the books and the added benefit of Jean Smart being out of the competition for “Hacks,” she seems perfectly aligned with the Emmy cosmos to land much-deserved recognition.
The possible recognition would be long overdue for Black comedians on television. In lead actress comedy, only seven 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”), Issa Rae (“Insecure”) and the Brunson above.
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