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 The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

(NATAS) and

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

(ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a

leading In typography, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies. In hand typesetting, leading is the thin strips of lead (or aluminium) that were inserted between lines of type in the composing stick to incr ...

role while working within the daytime drama industry. The

1st First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

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 ...

ceremony was held in 1974 with

Macdonald Carey Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast member. ...

receiving the award for his portrayal of

Tom Horton Dr. Thomas Horton is a fictional character and patriarch of the Horton family on the NBC soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''. He was played by Macdonald Carey Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best ...

on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

''. 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. The awards ceremony was not aired on television in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for lack of integrity. 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. Since its inception, the award has been given to 26 actors. ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

'' has the most awarded actors in this category with a total of twelve wins. In 1979,

Al Freeman, Jr. Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. (March 21, 1934 – August 9, 2012) was an American actor, director, and educator. A life member of The Actors Studio, Freeman appeared in a wide variety of plays, ranging from Leroi Jones' ''Slave/Toilet'' to Joe Pa ...

became the first African-American to have garnered the award, winning for his role as Ed Hall on ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

''. In 2008,

Anthony Geary Anthony Geary (born May 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Luke Spencer on the ABC daytime drama ''General Hospital''. He originated the role of Luke in 1978 and received a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for ...

became the actor with the most wins in the category when he won for a sixth time, surpassing

David Canary David Hoyt Canary (August 25, 1938 – November 16, 2015) was an American actor. Canary is best known for his role as ranch foreman Candy Canaday in the NBC Western drama ''Bonanza'', and as Adam Chandler in the television soap opera ''All My ...

'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 2022 ceremony, John McCook is the most recent winner in this category for his portrayal of Eric Forrester on ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

''.

Winners and nominees

Listed below are the winners of the award for each year, as well as the other nominees. Macdonald Carey 1969

Patricia Barry Val Dufour First Love 1954

Christian LeBlanc - Monte-Carlo Television Festival

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins and nominations

The following individuals received two or more wins in this category: Anthony Geary

The following individuals received two or more nominations in this category:

Series with most awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daytime Emmy Award For Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series Daytime Emmy Awards

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Awards established in 1974 1974 establishments in the United States