The Primetime Emmy Awards celebrate the best in television. And while it might seem sometimes like the same faces win, over and over again, there's actually only a few who have taken home five or more coveted acting awards. So which male actors have earned the most Primetime Emmy Awards for acting? The number-one name has won seven. And while there are plenty of actors who have won more Emmys than that, not all of them were for acting. Hank Azaria has won six but four of those were for voice, not on screen, acting. What's more, actors like Alan Alda, who won three Emmys for acting, was also nominated an incredible 21 times, which is worth kudos on its own.
That said, here's a list of 11 men with the most acting Emmys, ranked first by number of Emmy acting wins and secondarily by total number of nominations.
Peter Dinklage: 4 Wins (8 Nominations)
Every one of Dinklage's wins and nominations were for the HBO hit series Game of Thrones, on which he played the misfit and outcast but eventually heroic youngest child of the wealthy and ruling Lannister family. He was nominated for the role of Tyrion Lannister every year the series was on the air, from 2011 through to 2019, 2017 excepted. He won in 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2019.
Dinklage, 51, has been acting since the '90s but this was without a doubt his breakout role. And he has the statues to prove it.
Jim Parsons: 4 Wins (8 Nominations)
It seemed for a while like there was no beating Parsons in the Lead Actor in a Comedy Series category. He won for playing the quirky Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014. He was nominated for the role in 2009 and 2012 as well.
While he has since dived into films as well, Parsons earned several more nomination in TV land, including for The Normal Heart in 2014 and Netflix series Hollywood in 2020. At 47, he's the youngest actor to crack the top 10.
Bryan Cranston: 4 Wins (11 Nominations)
Not surprisingly, all four of Cranston's Emmy wins have been for the most defining character of his career and one of the best ever to grace the small screen: Walter White in Breaking Bad. He won in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014.
His other nominations income three for his role as the father Hal on the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2002, 2003, and 2006) twice more for Breaking Bad in 2012 and 2013, once for the TV movie All the Way (2016), and for a guest role on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2018). With his career seemingly in its prime, chances are Cranston will enjoy a rapid rise up this list.
Don Knotts: 5 Wins (5 Nominations)
While the hilarious Knotts is 10th on this list, he accomplished something pretty amazing: he won every single time he was nominated. All five times were for his work on The Andy Griffith Show; he won in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, and 1967.
Knotts' most recognizable role after that was as the landlord Ralph Furley on the sitcom Three's Company, in which he starred from 1979 through to 1984. He appears on TV Guide's list of the Greatest TV Stars of All Time. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 81.
John Larroquette: 5 Wins (7 Nominations)
In terms of ratio of nominations to wins, Larroquette ranks second behind Knotts, despite the pair bringing up the rear in terms of total wins. He won four years in a row for his role as Dan Fielding on Night Court from 1985-1988, then again in 1998 for The Practice.
His other nominations came in the '90s and early '00s for The John Larroquette Show (1994) and The Practice in 2002. He continues his acting career today, now at the age of 72.
Tim Conway: 5 Wins (9 Nominations)
Conway's wins were for numerous series, including three for The Carol Burnett Show (1973, 1977, and 1978), one for Coach in 1996, and one for 30 Rock in 2008.
His first nomination was in 1963 for McHale's Navy. Other times he was nominated but did not win include in 1974, 1975, and 1976 for The Carol Burnett Show. It should be noted that he was technically nominated 12 times when including his nominations as part of the writing team for the show as well. He passed away at the age of 85 in 2019.
Peter Falk: 5 Wins (12 Nominations)
With an impressive 12 nominations, Falk also has a total of five wins, including five for playing the title character in Columbo in 1972, 1975, 1976, and 1990, and one, his first, in 1962 for The Dick Powell Show.
His first nomination came in 1961 for The Law and Mr. Jones and his others include six more nominations for Columbo from 1973 through to 1978 and in 1991 and 1994. Falk, who was the first actor to ever be nominated for both an Emmy and an Academy Award in the same year, died in 2011 at the age of 83.
Kelsey Grammer: 5 Wins (14 Nominations)
Grammer's series Frasier remains one of the most successful spin-offs every in sitcom history. He won four times for Frasier, in 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2004 and a fifth time in 2006 for voicing the character of Sideshow Bob on the animated sitcom The Simpsons. (Even without counting the voice role, Grammer would still crack the top 10.)
He was first nominated for Cheers in 1988 and 1990 followed by Wings in 1992, and received additional nominations for Frasier in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002, but did not win.
Michael J. Fox: 5 Wins (17 Nominations)
While he's often thought of as a movie star thanks to films like Back to the Future, it's easy to forget that Fox got his start on television and has indeed appeared in many very successful TV series. He won three times for Family Ties from 1986 to 1988 as well as in 2000 for Spin City and in 2009 as a guest actor on Rescue Me.
He was first nominated for Family Ties in 1985 and his other nominations include Family Ties in 1989, Spin City every year from 1997-2000, Boston Legal in 2006, The Good Wife from 2011-2016 (2014, excepted) and Curb Your Enthusiasm, where he appeared as himself, in 2012.
Art Carney: 6 Wins (12 Nominations)
Carney earned his Emmys for The Jackie Gleason Show in 1954, 1955, 1967, and 1968, along with one for The Honeymooners in 1956 and a sixth in 1984 for Terrible Joe Moran.
He was nominated for The Jackie Gleason Show two other times (1957 and 1966) and his other nominations include Katherine (1976), The Cavanaughs (1987), and Where Pigeons Go to Die (1990). He died in 2003 at the age of 85.
Ed Asner: 7 Wins (17 Nominations)
Asner not only has the most Emmy wins but he also ties Fox for the most nominations as well. He first won back-to-back in 1971 and 1972, and again in 1975 for Mary Tyler Moore. He won again in 1976 for Rich Man, Poor Man and in 1977 for Roots, while he was also nominated both those years for Mary Tyler Moore as well. His other two wins were from Lou Grant in 1978 and 1980.
His remaining nominations include others for Mary Tyler Moore (1973, 1974), Lou Grant (1979, 1981, 1982), and three more in recent years for The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1992), The Christmas Card (2007), and CSI: NY (2009). Now 90, Asner was most recently seen in The Good Wife and had a small role in the first season of Netflix series Dead to Me.