General Hospital Wins Best Daytime Drama For Record-Breaking 15th Time!
General Hospital won for Outstanding Daytime Drama for the 15th time- breaking the record it set by winning last year. GH has been nominated a grand total of 32 times for the top prize at the Daytime Emmy Awards. In the soap opera’s first ten nominations, GH only won twice in 1981 shortly before the marriage of Luke and Laura and again in 1984 in the lead up to Luke and Laura’s exit from the show. While GH was popular with viewers, the show struggled to get recognition from the academy.
However, things changed for the ABC soap beginning in 1995 when it won its first Emmy for Best drama in over a decade. GH wouldn’t just win that year, it won four out of the next five years with wins in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000.
Since the beginning of the millenium, GH has been nominated for Best Daytime Drama another sixteen times. The ABC soap has taken home the top prize eight of those times with wins in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022. But GH doesn’t just win the big prize- it consistently has won more Emmy awards than any other soap opera. Here’s a look back at all the wins so far!
General Hospital holds the record for the most Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.
Since its first win in the category back in 1982, General Hospital has won a total of 12 Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding performance by a lead actor in a daytime drama. GH holds the record for most wins in the lead actor category.
Oddly enough, the twelve awards were won by just three different actors. Maurice Bernard has won a total of three, with his first in 2003, followed by his second in 2019. In 2021, Bernard earned his most recent award.
Legendary actor, Anthony Geary holds the record for most wins among all daytime actors for a grand total of eight awards. Geary became the first lead actor on GH to win the award back in 1982. No cast member from GH won in the category for 17 years. The drought ended when Geary won his second and third Emmy awards back to back in 1999 and 2000.
Geary followed those wins with a sucession of victories in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, before he took home his eight and final award in 2015. That year, Geary exited GH but the actor earned one final nomination in the lead actor category in 2016.
The winner that year, however, wasn’t Geary but fellow GH co-star Tyler Christopher. Christopher took won his first and only Emmy award in the category and became only the third actor to win for lead actor on the ABC soap opera.
Out of all the Daytime Emmy categories, GH has won the most (14!) in Outstanding Supporting Actor
GH holds the record for most awards for supporting actor as well, with fourteen total wins. Peter Hansen was the first cast member from GH to win an Emmy in 1978 for his portrayal of Lee Baldwin and was followed by David Lewis as Edward Quartermaine three years later. The ABC soap wouldn’t win again until Gerald Anthony won in 1993 for his portrayal if Marco Dane.
Five years later, Steve Burton and Stuart Damon would win the award back-to-back for their portrayals of Jason Morgan and Dr. Alan Quartermaine respectively. Ric Hearst would win the next two times GH took home the award for supporting actor, taking home the trophy in 2004 and 2007 for his portrayal of Ric Lansing.
Jonathan Jackson would win the award for two consecutive years in 2011 and 2012 and marking his fourth and fifth Emmy overall for playing Lucky Spencer on GH. Chad Duell would win for playing Michael Corinthos in 2015 while Sean Blakemore would become the first Black actor from GH to win an Emmy the following year.
Mike Gail won in 2019 and 2021 for his portrayal of Mike Corbin, becoming the third actor two win the award twice in that category. Jeff Kober became the eleventh actor to win in the category for his portrayal of Cyrus Renault.
GH took home its first Outstanding Younger Performer Emmy this year- but it holds the record for most wins in the two categories that new award replaced.
In 1989, Kimberly McCullough became the first actress to win in the younger actress category at just 11 years old. McCullough would win again for playing Robin Scorpio seven years later, becoming the first performer on GH to win her second Emmy. Sarah Joy Brown followed her co-star’s lead by winning in the younger actress category in both 1997 and 1998 for the role of Carly Roberts.
.In the category for Outstanding Younger Actor, the ABC soap opera has won seven times. Jonathan Jackson took home the award in 1995, 1998 and 1999 for his portrayal of Lucky Spencer. Jacob Young became the second actor from GH to win in the category in 2002. Ironically, Young earned the award by becoming the second person to play Lucky Spencer.
Chad Brannon became the third actor to win in the younger actor category for his portrayal of Zander Smith in 2004. Julie Marie Berman became the third performer from GH to not only win the award for younger actress- but the third to win twice as she took home the award in 2009 and 2010. In 2013, Kristen Alderson won the award for her portrayal of Starr Manning, a character she originated on One Life To Live.
Brian Craig would take home thge award in 2016 and 2017 for hid portrayal of Morgan Corinthos. Lexi Ainsworth took home the award for playing Kristina Davis in 2017 followed by Haley Erin’s win in 2019 for her portrayal of Kiki Jerome. Erin would be the last actress to win from in the category before it was replaced with the gender neutral award.Nicholas Chavez became the first GH cast member to win in the condensed category in 2022 for his portrayal of Spencer Cassidine..
GH has won 11 awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress, with a different actress winning each time.
In 1981, Jane Elliot became the first actress from GH to win an Emmy- taking home the award for her role as Tracy Quartermaine. GH did not win again in the category until 1995 when Rena Sofer took home the Emmy for her portrayal of Lois Cerullo.
In 2000, Sarah Brown took home her first Emmy for supporting actress- her third award win in four years. Three years later, Vanessa Marcil took home her first Emmy as Brenda Barrett just six months after she was let go in a contract dispute. Natalia Livingston became the fifth actress to win in this category for her portrayal of Emily Quartermaine in 2005.
In 2007, Genie Francis finally won an award for playing Laura Spencer- even though she was onscreen for slightly less than a month. Five years later, Nancy Lee Grahn took home her first award for playing Alexis Davis, and her second Emmy award overall. Julie Marie Berman won her third Emmy but first as a supporting actress in 2013.
In 2019, Vernee Watson-Johnson became the first Black woman on GH to win for supporting actress. The following year Tamara Braun won her third Emmy and her first for GH in role as Dr. Kim Nero. Kelly Thiebaud became the 11th actress to win in the category for her role as Dr. Britt Westbourne.
GH has the most wins in every Daytime Emmy category except for two: Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Guest Performer
In 1991, Finola Hughes became the first GH actress to win an Emmy as a lead actress for her portrayal of Anna Devane. Twenty years would pass before GH won again in the category. In 2011, Laura Wright became the second actress to win an Emmy for playing Carly Corinthos. Fun fact: all three actress associated with playing Carly have won a Daytime Emmy. In 2015, Maura West won her third Daytime Emmy award, her first award playing Ava Jerome on GH. Maura West is the third and most recent performer from GH to win an award in the lead actress category.
In the category of outstanding guest performer, Donna Mills took home the prize in 2015 for playing Madeline Reeves, he scheming mother of Nina Reeves. Vernee Watson-Johnson took home her first Daytime Emmy as Stella Henry. Watson-Johnson is the only Black performer in GH history to have won multiple Emmy awards. Patricia Bethune became the third guest performer from GH to win am Emmy for their role. Bethune played the scheming Nurse Mary Pat who found herself running afoul of Ryan Chamberlain schemes.