Kathy Bates just made Emmys history.
With Tuesday’s nomination for her starring turn in CBS’ “Matlock,” the Oscar-winning actress became the oldest woman ever nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, at 77. The record was previously held by Angela Lansbury, who was nominated in 1996 for “Murder, She Wrote” at age 70. That marked Lansbury’s sixth consecutive year of being nominated for the series, and her 12th overall.
Bates, on the other hand, received her nomination for the first season of “Matlock,” a reboot of the classic legal drama starring Andy Griffith that premiered in 1986. Bates stars as Madeline Kingston, a retired lawyer who reenters the profession for personal aims under the alias Madeline “Matty” Matlock.
Bates is now a 14-time Emmy nominee. She was first nominated in 1996 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for “The Late Shift” and nabbed her first win in 2012, when she took home Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for “Two and a Half Men.” In 2014, she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for “American Horror Story: Coven.” This is her third time nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, following nods in 2011 and 2012 for “Harry’s Law.”
Bates is a triple-crown acting nominee. She has received four Academy Award nominations (she won best actress for “Misery” in 1991 and was recognized in the supporting category for “Primary Colors,” “About Schmidt” and “Richard Jewel”) and a Tony nod in 1983 for Best Leading Actress in a Play for “’night, Mother.”
In February, Bates’ performance in “Matlock” won her a Critics Choice Award. She will reprise the role in Season 2 on CBS this fall.
Even though Bates is the oldest nominee ever in her category, she is far from the oldest acting nominee. Cicely Tyson set that record with her 2018 nomination for a guest role on “How to Get Away With Murder,” which came when she was 93 years old.
And the oldest nominees in every other acting category are also older that Bates. The oldest nominee in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category is Jane Fonda, who was 79 when she was nominated for “Grace and Frankie” in 2017; the oldest in Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie is once again Tyson, 89 when nominated for “The Trip to Bountiful” in 2014.
In the three male lead actor categories, the oldest nominees are Anthony Hopkins for “Westworld” in drama (79), Steve Martin for “Only Murders in the Building” in comedy (78) and John Gielgud for “Summer’s Lease” in limited series (87).
The oldest winners in the supporting categories are Ray Walston for “Picket Fences” and Maggie Smith for “Downton Abbey” (both 81) in drama, Alan Arkin for “The Kominsky Method” (86) and Betty White (89) for “Hot in Cleveland” in comedy, and Hume Cronyn for “12 Angry Men” (87) and Cicely Tyson for “The Trip to Bountiful” (89) for limited series.
So while Kathy Bates is the oldest nominee ever in her category, she’s also the youngest of the oldest Emmy nominees.
The 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live Sunday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+. Comedian Nate Bargatze will host.
