The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series was an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was given annually from 1985 to 2019 to honor a young actress below the age of 25, who had delivered an outstanding performance in a role while working within the

daytime drama A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored b ...

industry. At the 12th

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

held in 1985, Tracey E. Bregman was the first winner of this award, for her role of

Lauren Fenmore Lauren Fenmore is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Introduced by William J. Bell, the character made her debut during the episode airing on January 25, 1983, portrayed by Tracey ...

on ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

''. The awards ceremony had not been aired on television for the prior two years, having been criticized for voting integrity. The award was originally called Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series, the criteria of the new category were deemed confusing, performers of differing ages were nominated, and critics argued some were of supporting or lead actress standards. Adding to the confusion, the first winner, Bregman, and the Outstanding Supporting Actress winner that year, Beth Maitland, played characters near to the same age. The category was re-named Outstanding Juvenile Female in a Drama Series in 1989, and began using its current title in 1991. The criteria were later altered, requiring that the actress be aged 25 or below. The award was presented to 23 actresses. ''The Young and the Restless'' has the most recipients of this award, with a total of eight. Since 2008, Jennifer Landon had been tied with

Jennifer Finnigan Jennifer Christina Finnigan (born August 22, 1979) is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Bridget Forrester in the American soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 2000 to 2004, for which she won three Daytime Emmy Awards for O ...

for most wins, with three each. In 1999, Heather Tom became the most nominated actress in the category, when she was nominated a seventh time, also winning a second time that year. She was nominated again the following year, holding the title with eight nominations; however, she lost to

Camryn Grimes Camryn Elizabeth Grimes (born January 7, 1990) is an American actress. Personal life Grimes is the daughter of Preston Lee and Heather Grimes and the niece of actor Scott Grimes. She is the oldest of seven children: Dakota, Shelby, Mattea, ...

. In 2000, Grimes also became the youngest recipient of the award, winning at the age of 10. At the 2019 ceremony, Hayley Erin became the last awarded actress in this category, for her role as Kiki Jerome on '' General Hospital''. In October 2019, the NATAS decided to replace both younger actor and actress categories with a single, gender-neutral one: Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series.