When “Saturday Night Live” premiered in 1975, its initial cast consisted of seven “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. Five of these performers, whose average age was 28, were nominated for acting Emmys during their original tenures on the sketch show, and Chase and Radner pulled off one win each. Belushi was a double nominee on his first of three outings and went home with a writing award, which he shared with Aykroyd and 11 others.
Belushi earned his first of two acting nominations for SNL when he was 28 years old. He was recognized in the Best Variety/Music Supporting Actor category, which no longer exists and has essentially been absorbed by the Best Comedy Supporting Actor one. Compared to the men who had been nominated across both categories at the time, he was the third youngest of all. Over four decades later, he has moved to 10th place on that list, with the only comedic featured male child nominee having joined in the meantime.
The television academy has recognized the work of supporting actors on continuing comedy programs since the sixth Emmys ceremony in 1954. The award’s inaugural recipient was Art Carney (“The Jackie Gleason Show”), while the most recent was Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”).
Scroll through our photo gallery to find out who ranks ahead of Belushi on the list of 10 youngest Best Comedy Supporting Actor Emmy nominees. All other nominees for the now-retired variety performance awards were factored into this list as well, since regular cast members on continuing variety series now compete here.
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10. John Belushi (‘Saturday Night Live,’ 1977)
Image Credit: NBC Age: 28
Role: Various
Belushi remained on “Saturday Night Live” until the conclusion of its fourth season in 1979.
Other nominees:
Chevy Chase (“Saturday Night Live”)
Tim Conway (“The Carol Burnett Show”) – WINNER
Harvey Korman (“The Carol Burnett Show”)
Ben Vereen (“The Bell Telephone Jubilee”) -
9. Dan Aykroyd (‘Saturday Night Live,’ 1978)
Image Credit: NBC Age: 26
Role: Various
Like Belushi, Aykroyd’s tenure as an SNL repertory player lasted from the first episode to the end of the fourth season. He also received three writing nominations for the sketch series.
Other nominees:
John Belushi (“Saturday Night Live”)
Tim Conway (“The Carol Burnett Show”) – WINNER
Louis Gossett Jr. (“Ben Vereen: His Roots”)
Peter Sellers (“The Muppet Show”) -
8. Woody Harrelson (‘Cheers,’ 1987)
Image Credit: NBC Age: 26
Role: Woody Boyd
Harrelson joined the cast of “Cheers” as a replacement for original member Nicholas Colasanto, who died toward the end of the third season at age 61. The role eventually brought him six nominations and a win in 1989.
Other nominees:
John Larroquette (“Night Court”) – WINNER
Tom Poston (“Newhart”)
Peter Scolari (“Newhart”)
George Wendt (“Cheers”) -
7. Toheeb Jimoh (‘Ted Lasso,’ 2022)
Image Credit: Apple TV+ Age: 25
Role: Sam Obisanya
Jimoh made his TV acting debut in a 2019 episode of “London Kills.”
Other nominees:
Anthony Carrigan (“Barry”)
Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”)
Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”)
Tony Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)
Tyler James Williams (“Abbott Elementary”)
Henry Winkler (“Barry”)
Bowen Yang (“Saturday Night Live”) -
6. Rob Reiner (‘All in the Family,’ 1972)
Image Credit: CBS Age: 25
Role: Michael Stivic
Reiner competed for this award five times, triumphing in 1974 and 1978. His father, Carl Reiner, also bagged two trophies in this category for “Caesar’s Hour” when he was 34 and 36.
Other nominees:
Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) – WINNER
Ted Knight (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) -
5. Michael J. Fox (‘Family Ties,’ 1985)
Image Credit: NBC Age: 24
Role: Alex P. Keaton
Fox, who began playing this high schooler at age 21, contended for this prize once before being promoted to a lead and scoring three wins from 1986 to 1988. Nearly four decades after his first outing, Fox has a total of 17 acting bids to his name.
Other nominees:
Nicholas Colasanto (“Cheers”)
John Larroquette (“Night Court”) – WINNER
John Ratzenberger (“Cheers”)
George Wendt (“Cheers”) -
4. Eddie Murphy (‘Saturday Night Live,’ 1983)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures Age: 22
Role: Various
Murphy debuted as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member partway through the series’ sixth season and remained in the role for over three years. In 2020, he won his first Emmy for guest hosting an episode of the 45th season.
Other nominees:
Nicholas Colasanto (“Cheers”)
Danny DeVito (“Taxi”)
Christopher Lloyd (“Taxi”) – WINNER
Harry Morgan (“M*A*S*H”) -
3. Billy Gray (‘Father Knows Best,’ 1959)
Image Credit: CBS Age: 21
Role: Bud Anderson
Gray played the only son of Jim and Margaret Anderson (Robert Young and Jane Wyatt) from ages 16 to 22 and later reprised the role in two 1977 TV movies.
Other nominees:
Richard Crenna (“The Real McCoys”)
Paul Ford (“The Phil Silvers Show”)
Maurice Gosfield (“The Phil Silvers Show”)
Harry Morgan (“December Bride”)
Tom Poston (“The Steve Allen Show”) – WINNER -
2. Chris Colfer (‘Glee,’ 2010)
Image Credit: Fox Age: 20
Role: Kurt Hummel
At 18, Colfer was the youngest of the original “Glee” cast members by nearly two years. He was also the only regular to receive multiple nominations for the series besides 2010 Best Comedy Supporting Actress champ Jane Lynch.
Other nominees:
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”)
Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”)
Neil Patrick Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”)
Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”) – WINNER -
1. Malcom-Jamal Warner (‘The Cosby Show,’ 1986)
Image Credit: NBC Age: 15
Role: Theo Huxtable
Warner’s only Emmy nomination to date came for his work on the second season of this family-centric sitcom. At the time, he was the fourth male child actor to ever compete for a Primetime Emmy, and he remains one of only nine.
Other nominees:
John Larroquette (“Night Court”) – WINNER
Tom Poston (“Newhart”)
John Ratzenberger (“Cheers”)
George Wendt (“Cheers”)
