Jean Smart, 74, won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2026 Emmy Awards for her role in "Hacks," becoming the first actress to win the award in every single season the show has been on the air.
Smart's performance as fading comedy legend Deborah Vance had already won the category four times before this latest victory. The HBO Max series also picked up 24 nominations in total this year, according to figures cited around the ceremony.
With the win, Smart became the first actress to dominate the Best Actress in a Comedy Series category across a show's entire run. Julia Louis-Dreyfus had previously held the closest comparable mark, winning the same award in six of the seven seasons of "Veep."
Hacks and Jean Smart's Career
"Hacks" follows Deborah Vance, a veteran stand-up comedian, as she works alongside a young comedy writer, and has been one of the most awarded comedies of recent Emmy seasons. Smart has built a decades-long career in television, with earlier roles including "Designing Women," "Fargo" and "Watchmen."
Mariska Hargitay Hosts the Ceremony
The 2026 Emmy Awards were hosted by Mariska Hargitay, who became the first woman to serve as host of the ceremony in 15 years. The show began at 9 p.m. Brasilia time.
The Pitt's Creative Arts Wins
In the past week, the Emmy Creative Arts Awards handed out a number of categories ahead of the main ceremony, including several technical honors. Shailene Woodley won her first Emmy statuette, taking Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work on "Paradise," while Ernest Harden Jr. won the equivalent guest actor category for his role in "The Pitt."
"The Pitt" collected five awards at that pre-ceremony event in total. Alongside Harden's win, the medical drama took Best Cast in a Drama Series, Best Prosthetic Makeup, Original Music and Lyrics, and Best Short-Form Nonfiction or Reality Series for its spinoff, "Inside The Pitt."
