The

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a

Creative Arts Emmy Award The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...

given out by the

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 ...

. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors could be nominated for their performance in the live action acting categories. The award was first given in 1992 when six voice actors from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' shared the award. From 1992 to 2008, it was a juried award, so there were no nominations and there would be multiple or no recipients in one year. In 2009, the rules were changed to a category award, with five nominees. Usually, the winner is a voice actor from an animated show, but some narrators of live action shows have won such as

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

in 2005 and 2008. No winner was named in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

. Nine voice actors from ''

'' have won a combined 14 Emmys. Of those,

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...

has won four and

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...

has won three. Ja'net Dubois has won two for ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult animated stop-motion black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago. ...

'',

has won two for his narration of various documentaries and

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

has won two for ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years ...

''. Voice actors from shows on Fox have won 17 of 27 awards. In 2014, the category was separated into two categories – Outstanding Narrator and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. As with longform and reality, this split acknowledges and accommodates a general industry uptrend in the distinctly different achievements that are VO narration and VO character performance.

Rules

While most of the Primetime Emmy Awards choose winners from a group of nominees, the award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance was juried from 1992 to 2008. Each entrant was screened by a panel of Academy of Television Arts and Sciences members from the Animation branch as well as members of the Acting branch with voiceover credits. Potential nominees had to submit a DVD that contained an edited version of a single episode and a picture of the character(s) that were voiced. Submissions that were less than 30 minutes had to be edited to be shorter than five minutes; entries longer than 30 minutes were edited to be less than ten. Prior to 2007, the maximum edited lengths were ten and fifteen minutes respectively. Each entrant with majority approval went on to a second panel. Emmy winners had to be unanimous choices of this second panel, except that for every 12 persons or fraction thereof on the panel, one "no" vote was allowed, except from the head of the panel. In 2009, the Academy changed the award from a "juried" award to a "category", with six nominees and one winner.

Winners (1992–2008)

Winners and nominations (2009–2013)

References

External links

Advanced Primetime Awards database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voice-Over Performance Awards established in 1992 Primetime Emmy Awards Voice acting awards Awards disestablished in 2013 Retired Primetime Emmy Awards