No Winners of Color at the Emmys

Sep 19, 2011

There were no winning actors of color at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday.

That should come as no surprise since there were less than a handful of actors of color nominated for awards. Which should also not come as a surprise because only about 28 percent of roles on TV go to actors of color, according to the Screen Actors Guild. And many of these roles would not qualify as a lead or supporting actor.  (Loretta Devine won a Guest Actress award yesterday for her four appearances on Grey’s Anatomy, but her limited time on screen in four episodes did not qualify for the highly coveted leading or supporting awards.)

Sofia Vergara, who plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on "Modern Family," was nominated in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series category but the Emmy went to her cast-mate Julie Bowen, who plays Claire. By the end of the night "Modern Family," the ABC sitcom that looks at the complicated makeup of families today, had won five awards, (ABC took home the most awards this year, ending an eight-year winning streak by HBO).

Taraji Henson, who played Tiffany Rubin in Lifetime’s "Taken From Me," was nominated in the lead actress in a miniseries of movie category. Andre Braugher who plays Owen in TNT’s "Men of a Certain Age" was also nominated in the drama series supporting role category.

Below are the night’s winners:

Outstanding comedy series: Modern Family
Outstanding drama series: Mad Men
Outstanding miniseries or movie:
Downton Abbey
Outstanding variety, music or comedy series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Outstanding lead actress, miniseries or movie: Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie:
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie:
Barry Pepper, The Kennedys
Outstanding supporting actress, miniseries or movie: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Outstanding lead actor, drama:
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Outstanding lead actress, drama:
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Outstanding supporting actor, drama: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Outstanding supporting actress, drama:
Margo Martindale, Justified
Outstanding lead actress, comedy:
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly)
Outstanding lead actor, comedy series: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Outstanding supporting actor, comedy:
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Outstanding supporting actress, comedy: Julie Bowen (Modern Family)

This story has been updated since it was originally published.