Perusing the Emmy coverage yesterday (Why, I don’t know, as I haven’t seen most of the shows nominated.), I came across some House fans who are upset that Hugh Laurie has never received an Emmy, despite several nominations. I’ve seen the show, and there have been episodes where his acting skills are pretty impressive, but I haven’t seen the competition in the Best Actor in a Drama category, so I can’t say whether Laurie should have won or not. Still, it got me thinking, have any foreign actors won acting Emmies in the US (other than for guest spots)? By “foreign,” I don’t mean actors who were born in other countries but spent their entire adulthood in the US; I mean actors who immigrated within a few years of being on an American TV series, for which they were nominated for an Emmy.
Michael J. Fox?
Ian McShane for Deadwood.
Other Canadian-born Emmy winners - William Shatner, Keifer Sutherland
Peter Ustinov won an Emmy.
Eric McCormack.
Toni Collette is Australian.
Derek Jacobi also has an Emmy as a guest star.
British winners from this year alone:
Archie Panjabi, picked up best supporting actress for her role in the The Good Wife.
Julia Ormond also won best supporting actress for her role in mini-series Temple Grandin.
Tracey Ullman.
Some older English winners are Susan Hampshire and Glenda Jackson.
John Cleese, as a guest star.
Audrey Hepburn
Ingrid Bergman
Helen Mirren
Judy Davis
Maggie Smith
Raymond Burr
Peter Ustinov
Lawrence Olivier
John Gielgud
Kenneth Branagh
Partial credit for Shohreh Aghdashloo, who satisfies the first criterion (born and raised and started acting in Iran, eventually leaving for England in her mid-20s) but falls short on the second (came here “within a few years of being on an American TV series,” but didn’t actually get around to winning an Emmy until well over a decade later).
Short answer?
A lot, actually.
Ricky Gervais
Jean Marsh
Jane Seymour