New Delhi: Jean Smart has won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fifth and final season of the HBO Max series Hacks, earning her the fifth consecutive Emmy for playing veteran comedian Deborah Vance.
The victory makes Jean the first woman and the first performer in this category to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series.
This win adds the eighth Emmy to Jean’s collection, same as Julia Louis Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman, who held the record for the most acting Emmy wins by a performer. Allison Janney also reached her eighth acting Emmy at the 2026 ceremony, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in The Diplomat.
Before Jean, the only performer to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series was Bill Cosby, who won for all three seasons of I Spy between 1965 and 1968, across three different roles and categories.
Before Hacks, Jean won two Emmys for her guest appearances as Lana Gardner on Frasier and another for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Samantha Who? Her five victories for Hacks have now taken her career total to eight.
Jean dedicates Emmy to ‘Hacks’ creators
Zendaya presented the award to Jean, who received it to a standing ovation. She dedicated the award to Hacks creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs.
“It all begins and ends with them. I love you guys so much. What a ride this has been,” she said.
What makes her achievement remarkable is that even performers with longer Emmy-winning runs have not managed the same consistency. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, for instance, won six times for Veep across its seven-season run, but did not win in its final season.
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What ‘Hacks’ is about
Hacks started in 2021 and follows Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a veteran Las Vegas stand-up comedian, and Ava Daniels, played by Hannah Einbinder, a young comedy writer, as they navigate their complicated professional partnership and personal lives.
The series has won 13 Emmys across its run, including its latest victory in 2026. In addition to its Emmy wins, Hacks has also won the Writers Guild of America Award for Comedy Series and the Golden Globe for Best Television Series.
For her performance as Deborah, Jean has also won six Critics’ Choice Awards, three SAG Awards, and three Golden Globes.
Edited by Maryam Hassan