Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

For the Primetime Emmy Awards, see Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Awarded forOutstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actor
CountryUnited States
Presented by
First awarded1974
Currently held byThorsten Kaye,
The Bold and the Beautiful (2024)
Most awardsAnthony Geary, (8)
Most nominationsPeter Bergman, (23)
Websitetheemmys.tv/daytime/

The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role while working within the daytime drama industry.

The 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held in 1974 with Macdonald Carey receiving the award for his portrayal of Tom Horton on Days of Our Lives.[1] The award has undergone several name changes, originally honoring actors in leading and supporting roles. Following the introduction of a new category in 1979, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, the award's name was altered to Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series before changing once again, to its current title, years later.[1][2] The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for lack of integrity.[3][4] In 1985, another category was introduced, Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series, one criterion for this category was altered, requiring all actors to be age 26 or younger.[5]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 26 actors. General Hospital has the most awarded actors in this category with a total of twelve wins. In 1979, Al Freeman, Jr. became the first African-American to have garnered the award, winning for his role as Ed Hall on One Life to Live. In 2008, Anthony Geary became the actor with the most wins in the category when he won for a sixth time, surpassing David Canary's previous record. Geary went on to win again in 2012 and 2015, thus far winning on eight occasions. Peter Bergman has been nominated on 23 occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2024 ceremony, Thorsten Kaye is the most recent winner in this category for his portrayal of Ridge Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful.

  1. ^ a b "The Daytime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series". Philadelphia: Soapcentral. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  2. ^ "The Sixth Annual Daytime Emmy Awards". Philadelphia: Soapcentral. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  3. ^ "Controversial Daytime Emmy show will go on". The Gainesville Sun. Gainesville, Florida: Halifax Media Group. June 9, 1985. p. 142. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  4. ^ Passalacqua, Connie (August 23, 1985). "Soap scoop: Daytime Emmys need improvement". Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alberta: (Postmedia Network Inc.). p. 89. Archived from the original on July 13, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  5. ^ "The 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Award General Rules and Procedures". New York: emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 3, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.