Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series

This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Award winners and nominations

;1950s
*1950: Gertrude Berg – "The Goldbergs"
*1951: Imogene Coca – "Your Show of Shows"
*1952: Lucille Ball – "I Love Lucy"
*1953: Eve Arden – "Our Miss Brooks"
*1954: "no award"
*1955: Lucille Ball – "I Love Lucy"
*1956: Nanette Fabray – "Caesar's Hour"
*1957: Jane Wyatt – "Father Knows Best"
*1958: "no award"
*1959: Jane Wyatt – "Father Knows Best"

;1960s
*1960: Jane Wyatt – "Father Knows Best"
*1961: "no award"
*1962: Shirley Booth – "Hazel"
*1963: Shirley Booth – "Hazel"
*1964: Mary Tyler Moore – "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
*1965: "no award"
*1966: Mary Tyler Moore – "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
*1967: Lucille Ball – "The Lucy Show"
*1968: Lucille Ball – "The Lucy Show"
*1969: Hope Lange – "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir"

1970s

* 1970: Hope Lange – "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir"
** Elizabeth Montgomery – "Bewitched"
** Marlo Thomas – "That Girl"

* 1971: Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Marlo Thomas – "That Girl"
** Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

* 1972: Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Sandy Duncan – "Funny Face"
** Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

* 1973: Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
** Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Beatrice Arthur – "Maude"

* 1974
** Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Beatrice Arthur – "Maude": Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

* 1975: Valerie Harper – "Rhoda"
** Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

* 1976: Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"
** Lee Grant – "Fay"
** Beatrice Arthur – "Maude"
** Cloris Leachman – "Phyllis"
** Valerie Harper – "Rhoda"

* 1977: Beatrice Arthur – "Maude"
** Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Valerie Harper – "Rhoda"
** Suzanne Pleshette – "The Bob Newhart Show
** Mary Tyler Moore – "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

* 1978: Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Beatrice Arthur – "Maude"
** Valerie Harper – "Rhoda"
** Cathryn Damon – "Soap"
** Katherine Helmond – "Soap"
** Suzanne Pleshette – "The Bob Newhart Show

* 1979: Ruth Gordon – "Taxi
** Linda Lavin – "Alice"
** Jean Stapleton – "All in the Family"
** Katherine Helmond – "Soap"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

1980s

* 1980: Cathryn Damon – "Soap"
** Sheree North – "Archie Bunker's Place"
** Polly Holliday – "Flo"
** Katherine Helmond – "Soap"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

* 1981: Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"
** Lynn Redgrave – "House Calls"
** Katherine Helmond – "Soap"
** Cathryn Damon – "Soap"
** Eileen Brennan – "Taxi"

* 1982: Carol Kane – "Taxi"
** Nell Carter – "Gimme a Break!"
** Swoosie Kurtz – "Love, Sidney"
** Bonnie Franklin – "One Day at a Time"
** Charlotte Rae – "The Facts of Life"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

* 1983: Shelley Long – "Cheers"
** Rita Moreno – "9 to 5"
** Nell Carter – "Gimme a Break!"
** Mariette Hartley – "Goodnight, Beantown"
** Swoosie Kurtz – "Love, Sidney"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

* 1984: Jane Curtin – "Kate & Allie"
** Joanna Cassidy – "Buffalo Bill"
** Shelley Long – "Cheers"
** Susan Saint James – "Kate & Allie"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

* 1985: Jane Curtin – "Kate & Allie"
** Shelley Long – "Cheers"
** Susan Saint James – "Kate & Allie"
** Phylicia Ayers-Allen – "The Cosby Show"
** Isabel Sanford – "The Jeffersons"

* 1986: Betty White – "The Golden Girls"
** Shelley Long – "Cheers"
** Phylicia Rashad – "The Cosby Show"
** Rue McClanahan – "The Golden Girls"
** Beatrice Arthur – "The Golden Girls"

* 1987: Rue McClanahan – "The Golden Girls"
** Jane Curtin – "Kate & Allie"
** Blair Brown – "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"
** Beatrice Arthur – "The Golden Girls"

* 1988: Beatrice Arthur – "The Golden Girls"
** Kirstie Alley – "Cheers"
** Blair Brown – "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"
** Rue McClanahan – "The Golden Girls"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"

* 1989: Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Blair Brown – "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"
** Rue McClanahan – "The Golden Girls"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"
** Beatrice Arthur – "The Golden Girls"

1990s

* 1990: Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Kirstie Alley – "Cheers"
** Blair Brown – "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"
** Delta Burke – "Designing Women"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"

* 1991: Kirstie Alley – "Cheers"
** Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Blair Brown – "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd"
** Delta Burke – "Designing Women"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"

* 1992: Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Kirstie Alley – "Cheers"
** Roseanne Arnold – "Roseanne"
** Tyne Daly – "Wings"
** Marion Ross – "Brooklyn Bridge"
** Betty White – "The Golden Girls"

* 1993: Roseanne Arnold – "Roseanne"
** Kirstie Alley – "Cheers"
** Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Marion Ross – "Brooklyn Bridge"

* 1994: Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Roseanne Arnold – "Roseanne"
** Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Annie Potts – "Love & War"
** Patricia Richardson – "Home Improvement"

* 1995: Candice Bergen – "Murphy Brown"
** Roseanne Arnold – "Roseanne"
** Ellen DeGeneres – "Ellen"
** Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Cybill Shepherd – "Cybill"

* 1996: Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Ellen DeGeneres – "Ellen"
** Fran Drescher – "The Nanny"
** Patricia Richardson – "Home Improvement"
** Cybill Shepherd – "Cybill"

* 1997: Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Ellen DeGeneres – "Ellen"
** Fran Drescher – "The Nanny"
** Patricia Richardson – "Home Improvement"
** Cybill Shepherd – "Cybill"

* 1998: Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Kirstie Alley – "Veronica's Closet"
** Ellen DeGeneres – "Ellen"
** Jenna Elfman – "Dharma & Greg"
** Calista Flockhart – "Ally McBeal"
** Patricia Richardson – "Home Improvement"

* 1999: Helen Hunt – "Mad About You"
** Jenna Elfman – "Dharma & Greg"
** Calista Flockhart – "Ally McBeal"
** Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"

2000s

* 2000: Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Jenna Elfman – "Dharma & Greg"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"
** Debra Messing – "Will & Grace"
** Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"

* 2001: Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Calista Flockhart – "Ally McBeal"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"
** Debra Messing – "Will & Grace"
** Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"

* 2002: Jennifer Aniston – "Friends"
** Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"
** Debra Messing – "Will & Grace"
** Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"

* 2003: Debra Messing – "Will & Grace"
** Jennifer Aniston – "Friends"
** Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"
** Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"

* 2004: Sarah Jessica Parker – "Sex and the City"
** Jennifer Aniston – "Friends"
** Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Bonnie Hunt – "Life With Bonnie"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"

* 2005: Felicity Huffman – "Desperate Housewives"
** Marcia Cross – "Desperate Housewives"
** Teri Hatcher – "Desperate Housewives"
** Patricia Heaton – "Everybody Loves Raymond"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"

* 2006: Julia Louis-Dreyfus – "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
** Stockard Channing – "Out of Practice"
** Jane Kaczmarek – "Malcolm in the Middle"
** Lisa Kudrow – "The Comeback"
** Debra Messing – "Will & Grace"

* 2007: America Ferrera – "Ugly Betty"
** Tina Fey – "30 Rock"
** Felicity Huffman – "Desperate Housewives"
** Julia Louis-Dreyfus – "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
** Mary-Louise Parker – "Weeds"

* 2008: Tina Fey – "30 Rock"
** Christina Applegate – "Samantha Who?"
** America Ferrera – "Ugly Betty"
** Julia Louis-Dreyfus – "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
** Mary-Louise Parker – "Weeds"