The annual Primetime Emmy Awards are the yearly celebration of excellence in television. Black women have long made waves in front of and behind the camera. Here's an overview of the women whose incredible work has been honored by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries in 1997 for Miss Evers' Boys. She won in 1987 and 2003 in the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series category. She won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1984.
Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald shared an Emmy in 2015 for Oustanding Special Class Program for hosting Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center).
Beah Richards
Beah Richards won in 1988 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2000, She won in Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for a role in The Practice.
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson became the first Black woman to win a primetime emmy in 1974 for her lead dramatic role in the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. She won again in 1994 in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie category for her role in Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.
Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen won for Outstanding Choreography in 1982, 1983, and 1990.
Esther Rolle
Rolle won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie in 1979 for her role in Summer of My German Soldier.
Gail Fisher
Gail Fisher is the first Black actress to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Mannix in 1970.
Halle Berry
In 2000, Halle Berry won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a miniseries or movies for her role in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.
Isabel Sanford
Isabel Sanford was the first and only Black actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy series in 1980 for her role in The Jeffersons. She won again in 1981.
Jackee Harry
In 1988, Jackee Harry became the first Black actress to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in 227.
Jacqueline Glover
Jacqueline Glover won a Primetime Emmy award in 2007, 2010 and 2016 for producing When the Levees Broke, Teddy: In His Own Words, and Jim: The Jim Foley Story respectively.
Ja'net Dubois
In 1999, Ja'net Dubois became the first Black person to win Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for her role in The PJs. She won again in 2001.
Judith Jamison
Judith Jamison won for best choreography in 1999 for her work on Dance in America: A Hymn for Alvin Ailey (Great Performances).
Leontyne Price
In 1983, Price won Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.
Loretta Devine
In 2011, Devine won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Grey's Anatomy.
Lynn Whitfield
Won for Lead Actress in a miniseries or movie in 1991 for her portrayal of Josephine Baker in The Josephine Baker Story.
Madge Sinclair
In 1991, Sinclair won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at Gabriel's Fire.
Mary Alice
Mary Alice won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993 for I'll Fly Away.
Olivia Cole
Cole was the first Black woman to win Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in Roots in 1977.
Oprah Winfrey
When Tuesdays with Morrie won for Outstanding Made for Television Movie in 2000, Oprah won as a producer of the film.
Queen Latifah
Bessie brought Queen Latifah an Emmy as one of its executive producers in 2015.
Regina King
In 2015, King won in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in American Crime.
Ruby Dee
In 1991, Ruby Dee won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in Decoration Day.
S. Epatha Merkerson
In 2005, S. Epatha Merkeson won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her role in Lackawanna Blues.
Suzanne de Passe
Legendary Motown Exec Suzanne deswqvscfr Passe won Emmys in 1983 and 1985 for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy program. One of the wins was for the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow best known for Michael Jackson's debut of the moonwalk.
Uzo Aduba
Uzo Aduba won in 2014 for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren in Orange is the New Black for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2015, she won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She is the first actress to win for same role in both Comedy and Drama categories.
Viola Davis
In 2015, Viola Davis became the first Black actress to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in How to Get Away with Murder.
Winifred Hervey
In 1987, Winifred Hervey shared a win for Outstanding Comedy Series for producing The Golden Girls.
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston won Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for her Grammy performance in 1986.
The 70th Tony Awards were among the most diverse in its history. Four Black actors took home awards for their performances in musicals. Three of them, Reneé Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, and Leslie Odom Jr. star in Hamilton, which took home 11 awards.
British actress Cynthia Erivo won the award for Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Celie in The Color Purple. The show, based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer prize and National Book Award-winning novel, won for Best Revival of a Musical. As a producer of the show, Oprah Winfrey won as well.
Walter McBride/WireImage
Cynthia Erivo brought down the house with a stirring performance of "I'm Here" during the cast's Tony Awards performance. She first performed the role of Celie in 2013 production of the show staged in a 180 seat theater in London.
Reneé Elise Goldsberry is a broadway veteran who took home her first Tony, Featured Actress in a Musical, for her role as Angelica Schuyler. Goldsberry has a special connection to the night's other big winner, The Color Purple. She originated the role of Nettie in the show's first Broadway production.
Photographer and video artist LaToya Ruby Frazier has been awarded the MacArhtur Fellowship, a prestigious unrestricted fellowship granted to individuals who have shown originality and dedication in their creative pursuits. Each recipient is awarded a "no-strings-attached" stipend of $625,000.
33-year-old Uzo Aduba won her first Emmy earlier this week for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren. Her award for guest actress in a comedy series will not be televised, so unfortunately we will not get to see Uzo's big moment. But thankfully an intrepid journalist recorded her in the press room immediately after she accepted her award from Morgan Freeman.
