‘Designing Women’ Star Jean Smart Makes History With Emmy Win No Woman Has Achieved Before

Jean Smart has officially entered the Emmy record books. The veteran actress won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fifth time for her performance as Deborah Vance in Hacks, giving her a victory for every season of the HBO Max comedy.

According to Variety, the Jean Smart Emmy win carried even more weight because it marked a first for a female performer. No woman had previously won an Emmy for every season of a series. Smart also reached another major career milestone by collecting her eighth acting Emmy overall.

Jean Smart and Emmy Win Complete a Historic ‘Hacks’ Sweep

Zendaya announced Smart as the winner, and the audience greeted her with a standing ovation. Smart quickly brought her familiar sense of humor to the moment, joking about the women in the room having to stand while wearing uncomfortable formalwear. She then shifted the spotlight toward Hacks creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky, and Paul W. Downs, crediting them for the journey.

Jean Smart wins Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for #Hacks at the #Emmys pic.twitter.com/GGjkyjo2ro

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 15, 2026

 

Her fifth win as Deborah Vance makes the run especially rare. Before Smart, only Bill Cosby had won an Emmy for every season of a show that lasted at least three seasons, taking home awards for all three seasons of I Spy in the 1960s. Smart’s latest victory also came against a field that included Lisa Kudrow, Quinta Brunson, Elle Fanning, and Ayo Edebiri.

From ‘Designing Women’ to Eight Career Emmys

Long before Hacks introduced Smart to a new generation, television audiences knew her as Charlene Frazier Stillfield on Designing Women. She starred on the CBS sitcom from 1986 to 1991 before building a career that moved easily between comedy and drama.

Smart later won Emmys for guest appearances on Frasier and for her supporting role on Samantha Who?, while earning nominations for projects including 24, Fargo, Watchmen, and Mare of Easttown. Her latest Jean Smart Emmy victory brings her career total to eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most acting Emmys won by a performer. Allison Janney also reached eight wins during the same ceremony. After decades on television, Smart’s historic Hacks run feels like both a celebration of Deborah Vance and a fitting new chapter in a career that has never stopped evolving.