A list of actors, television series, and films that won and were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
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1970s
- 1975note : Juliet Mills for QB VII as Samantha Cady
- Eileen Heckart for Wedding Band as Herman's Mother
- Charlotte Rae for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom as Helen
- Lee Remick for QB VII as Lady Margaret
- 1976note : Rosemary Murphy for Eleanor and Franklin as Sara Roosevelt
- Lois Nettleton for Fear on Trial as Nan Claybourne
- Lilia Skala for Eleanor and Franklin as Mlle. Souvestre
- Irene Tedrow for Eleanor and Franklin as Mary Hall
- 1977note : Diana Hyland for The Boy in the Plastic Bubble as Mickey Lubitch
- Ruth Gordon for The Great Houdinis as Cecilia Weiss
- Rosemary Murphy for Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years as Sara Roosevelt
- Patricia Neal for Tail Gunner Joe as Margaret Chase Smith
- Susan Oliver for Amelia Earhart as Neta "Snookie" Snook
- 1978note : Eva La Gallienne for The Royal Family as Fanny Cavendish
- Tyne Daly for Intimate Strangers as Karen Renshaw
- Patty Duke for A Family Upside Down as Wendy
- Mariette Hartley for The Last Hurrah as Claire Gardener
- Cloris Leachman for It Happened One Christmas as Clara Oddbody
- Viveca Lindfors for A Question of Guilt as Dr. Rosen
- 1979note : Esther Rolle for Summer of My German Soldier as Ruth
- Ruby Dee for Roots: The Next Generations as Queen Haley
- Colleen Dewhurst for Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story as Mrs. O'Neil
- Eileen Heckart for Backstairs at the White House as Eleanor Roosevelt
- Celeste Holm for Backstairs at the White House as Florence Harding
1980s
- 1980note : Mare Winningham for Amber Waves as Marlene Burkhardt
- Patricia Neal for All Quiet on the Western Front as Mrs. Baumer
- Eileen Heckart for F.D.R.: The Last Year as Eleanor Roosevelt
- Carrie Nye for The Scarlett O'Hara War as Tallulah Bankhead
- 1981note : Jane Alexander for Playing for Time as Alma Rosé
- Colleen Dewhurst for The Women's Room as Val
- Patty Duke for The Women's Room as Lily
- Shirley Knight for Playing for Time as SS-Lagerführerin Maria Mandl
- Piper Laurie for The Bunker as Magda Goebbels
- 1982note : Penny Fuller for The Elephant Man as Madge Kendal
- Claire Bloom for Brideshead Revisited as Lady Marchmain
- Judy Davis for A Woman Called Golda as young Golda Meir
- Vicki Lawrence for Eunice as Thelma "Mama" Harper
- Rita Moreno for Portrait of a Showgirl as Rosella DeLeon
- 1983note : Jean Simmons for The Thorn Birds as Fiona "Fee" Cleary
- Judith Anderson for Medea as the Nurse
- Polly Bergen for The Winds of War as Rhoda Henry
- Bette Davis for Little Gloria... Happy at Last as Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt
- Piper Laurie for The Thorn Birds as Anne Mueller
- 1984note : Roxana Zal for Something About Amelia as Amelia Bennett
- Beverly D'Angelo for A Streetcar Named Desire as Stella Kowalski
- Patty Duke for George Washington as Martha Washington
- Cloris Leachman for Ernie Kovacs: Behind the Laughter as Mary Kovacs
- Tuesday Weld for The Winter of Our Discontent as Margie Young-Hunt
- 1985note : Kim Stanley for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Ida "Big Mama" Pollitt
- Ann Jillian for Ellis Island as Nellie Byfield
- Penny Fuller for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Mae
- Alfre Woodard for WonderWorks: Words by Heart as Claudie Sills
- Deborah Kerr for A Woman of Substance as Emma Harte
- 1986note : Colleen Dewhurst for Between Two Women as Barbara Petherton
- Dorothy McGuire for Amos as Hester Farrell
- Vanessa Redgrave for Peter the Great as Tsarvena Sophia Alekseyevna
- Phyllis Frelich for Love Is Never Silent as Janice Ryder
- Sylvia Sidney for An Early Frost as Beatrice McKenna
- 1987note : Piper Laurie for Promise as Annie Gilbert
- Christine Lahti for Amerika as Alethea Milford
- Claudette Colbert for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles as Alice Grenville
- Olivia de Havilland for Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna as Maria Feodorovna
- Elizabeth Wilson for Nutcracker: Money, Madness, and Murder as Berenice Bradshaw
- 1988note : Jane Seymour for Onassis: The Richest Man in the World as Maria Callas
- Stockard Channing for Echoes in the Darkness as Susan Reinert
- Ruby Dee for Lincoln as Elizabeth Keckley
- Julie Harris for The Woman He Loved as Alice Warfield
- Lisa Jacobs for The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank as Anne Frank
- 1989note : Colleen Dewhurst for Those She Left Behind as Margaret Page
- Peggy Ashcroft for A Perfect Spy as Miss Dubber
- Polly Bergen for War and Remembrance as Rhoda Henry
- Glenne Headly for Lonesome Dove as Elmira Johnson
- Paula Kelly for The Women of Brewster Place as Theresa
1990s
- 1990note : Eva Marie Saint for People Like Us as Lil Van Degan Altemus
- Stockard Channing for Perfect Witness as Liz Sapperstein
- Colleen Dewhurst for Lantern Hill as Hepzibah
- Swoosie Kurtz for The Image as Joanne Winstow-Darvish
- Irene Worth for The Shell Seekers as Dolly Keeling
- 1991note : Ruby Dee for Decoration Day as Rowena
- Olympia Dukakis for Lucky Day as Katherine Campbell
- Vanessa Redgrave for Young Catherine as Empress Elizabeth of Russia
- Doris Roberts for The Sunset Gang as Mimi Finklestein
- Elaine Stritch for An Inconvenient Woman as Rose
- 1992note : Amanda Plummer for Miss Rose White as Lusia Weiss
- Anne Bancroft for Broadway Bound as Kate Jerome
- Bibi Besch for Doing Time on Maple Drive as Lisa Carter
- Penny Fuller for Miss Rose White as Kate Ryan
- Maureen Stapleton for Miss Rose White as Tanta Perla
- 1993note : Mary Tyler Moore for Stealing Babies as Georgia Tann
- Ann-Margret for Queen as Sally Jackson
- Lee Grant for Citizen Cohn as Dora Cohn
- Peggy McCay for Women on the Run as Virginia Bembenek
- Joan Plowright for Stalin as Olga Alliluyeva
- 1994note : Cicely Tyson for Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All as Castalia
- Anne Bancroft for Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All as Lucy Marsden
- Swoosie Kurtz for And the Band Played On as Mrs. Johnstone
- Lee Purcell for Secret Sins of the Father as Ann Theilman
- Lily Tomlin for And the Band Played On as Dr. Selma Dritz
- 1995note : Tie
- Shirley Knight for Indictment: The McMartin Trial as Peggy Buckley
- Judy Davis for Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story as Diane Divelbess
- Sônia Braga for The Burning Season as Regina de Carvalho
- Sissy Spacek for The Good Old Boys as Spring Renfro
- Sada Thompson for Indictment: The McMartin Trial as Virginia McMartin
- 1996note : Greta Scacchi for Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
- Kathy Bates for The Late Shift as Helen Kushnick
- Diana Scarwid for Truman as Bess Truman
- Mare Winningham for The Boys Next Door as Sheila
- Alfre Woodard for Gulliver's Travels as the Queen of Brobdingnag
- 1997note : Diana Rigg for Rebecca as Mrs. Danvers
- Kirstie Alley for The Last Don as Rose Marie Clericuzio
- Bridget Fonda for In the Gloaming as Anne
- Glenne Headly for Bastard out of Carolina as Ruth
- Frances McDormand for Hidden in America as Gus
- 1998note : Mare Winningham for George Wallace as Lurleen Wallace
- Helena Bonham Carter for Merlin as Morgan le Fay
- Julie Harris for Ellen Foster as Leonora Nelson
- Judith Ivey for What The Deaf Man Heard as Lucille
- Angelina Jolie for George Wallace as Cornelia Wallace
- 1999note : Anne Bancroft for Deep in My Heart as Geraldine "Gerry" Cummins
- Jacqueline Bisset for Joan of Arc as Isabelle d'Arc
- Olympia Dukakis for Joan of Arc as Mother Babette
- Bebe Neuwirth for Dash and Lilly as Dorothy Parker
- Cicely Tyson for A Lesson Before Dying as Tante Lou
- Dianne Wiest for The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn as Sarah McClellan
2000s
- 2000note : Vanessa Redgrave for If These Walls Could Talk 2 as Edith Tree
- Kathy Bates for Annie as Agatha Hannigan
- Elizabeth Franz for Death of a Salesman as Linda Loman
- Melanie Griffith for RKO 281 as Marion Davies
- Maggie Smith for David Copperfield as Betsey Trotwood
- 2001note : Tammy Blanchard for Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows as young Judy Garland
- Anne Bancroft for Haven as Mama Gruber
- Brenda Blethyn for Anne Frank: The Whole Story as Auguste Van Pels
- Holly Hunter for Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her as Rebecca Waynon
- Audra McDonald for Wit as Susie Monahan
- 2002note : Stockard Channing for The Matthew Shepard Story as Judy Shepard
- Joan Allen for The Mists of Avalon as Viviane, Lady of the Lake
- Anjelica Huston for The Mists of Avalon as Morgause
- Diana Rigg for Victoria and Albert as Baroness Louise Lehzen
- Sissy Spacek for Last Call as Zelda Fitzgerald
- 2003note : Gena Rowlands for Hysterical Blindness as Virginia Miller
- Anne Bancroft for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone as the Contessa
- Kathy Baker for Door to Door as Gladys Sullivan
- Juliette Lewis for Hysterical Blindness as Beth Toczynski
- Helen Mirren for Door to Door as Mrs. Porter
- 2004note : Mary-Louise Parker for Angels in America as Harper Pitt
- Julie Andrews for Eloise At Christmastime as the Nanny
- Anne Heche for Gracie's Choice as Rowena Lawson
- Anjelica Huston for Iron Jawed Angels as Carrie Chapman Catt
- Angela Lansbury for The Blackwater Lightship as Dora Devereux
- 2005note : Jane Alexander for Warm Springs as Sara Roosevelt
- Kathy Bates for Warm Springs as Helena Mahoney
- Camryn Manheim for Elvis as Gladys Presley
- Charlize Theron for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers as Britt Ekland
- Joanne Woodward for Empire Falls as Francine Whiting
- 2006note : Kelly Macdonald for The Girl in the Cafe as Gina
- Ellen Burstyn for Mrs. Harris as Gerda Stedman
- Shirley Jones for Hidden Places as Aunt Batty
- Cloris Leachman for Mrs. Harris as Pearl Schwartz
- Alfre Woodard for The Water Is Wide as Mrs. Brown
- 2007note : Judy Davis for The Starter Wife as Joan McAllister
- Toni Collette for Tsunami: The Aftermath as Kathy Graham
- Samantha Morton for Longford as Myra Hindley
- Anna Paquin for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee as Elaine Goodale
- Greta Scacchi for Broken Trail as Nola Johns
- 2008note : Eileen Atkins for Cranford as Deborah Jenkyns
- Laura Dern for Recount as Katherine Harris
- Ashley Jensen for Extras: The Extra Special Season Finale as Maggie Jacobs
- Audra McDonald for A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger
- Alfre Woodard for Pictures of Hollis Woods as Edna Reilly
- 2009note : Shohreh Aghdashloo for House of Saddam as Sajida Khairallah Talfah
- Marcia Gay Harden for The Courageous Heart Of Irena Sendler as Janina Krzyżanowska
- Janet Mc Teer for Into the Storm as Clementine Churchill
- Jeanne Tripplehorn for Grey Gardens as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- Cicely Tyson for Relative Stranger as Pearl
2010s
- 2010note : Julia Ormond for Temple Grandin as Eustacia Cutler
- Kathy Bates for Alice as the Queen of Hearts
- Catherine O'Hara for Temple Grandin as Aunt Ann
- Susan Sarandon for You Don't Know Jack as Janet Good
- Brenda Vaccaro for You Don't Know Jack as Margaret "Margo" Janus
- 2011note : Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham
- Eileen Atkins for Upstairs Downstairs as Lady Maud Holland
- Melissa Leo for Mildred Pierce as Lucy Gessler
- Mare Winningham for Mildred Pierce as Ida Corwin
- Evan Rachel Wood for Mildred Pierce as Veda Pierce
- 2012note : Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Murder House as Constance Langdon
- Frances Conroy for American Horror Story: Murder House as Moira O'Hara
- Judy Davis for Page Eight as Jill Tankard
- Sarah Paulson for Game Change as Nicolle Wallace
- Mare Winningham for Hatfields & McCoys as Sally McCoy
- 2013note : Ellen Burstyn for Political Animals as Margaret Barrish
- Sarah Paulson for American Horror Story: Asylum as Lana Winters
- Charlotte Rampling for Restless as Sally Gilmartin / Eva Delectorskaya
- Imelda Staunton for The Girl as Alma Reville
- Alfre Woodard for Steel Magnolias as Louisa "Ouiser" Boudreaux
- 2014note : Kathy Bates for American Horror Story: Coven as Delphine LaLaurie
- Angela Bassett for American Horror Story: Coven as Marie Laveau
- Ellen Burstyn for Flowers in the Attic as Olivia Foxworth
- Frances Conroy for American Horror Story: Coven as Myrtle Snow
- Julia Roberts for The Normal Heart as Dr. Emma Brookner
- Allison Tolman for Fargo as Chief Molly Solverson
- 2015note : Regina King for American Crime as Aliyah Shadeed
- Angela Bassett for American Horror Story: Freak Show as Desiree Dupree
- Kathy Bates for American Horror Story: Freak Show as Ethel Darling
- Zoe Kazan for Olive Kitteridge as Denise Thibodeau
- Sarah Paulson for American Horror Story: Freak Show as Bette Tattler / Dot Tattler
- Mo'Nique for Bessie as Gertrude "Ma" Rainey
- 2016note : Regina King for American Crime as Terri LaCroix
- Kathy Bates for American Horror Story: Hotel as Iris
- Olivia Colman for The Night Manager as Angela Burr
- Melissa Leo for All the Way as Lady Bird Johnson
- Sarah Paulson for American Horror Story: Hotel as Billie Dean Howard
- Jean Smart for Fargo as Floyd Gerhardt
- 2017note : Laura Dern for Big Little Lies as Renata Klein
- Judy Davis for Feud as Hedda Hopper
- Jackie Hoffman for Feud as Mamacita
- Regina King for American Crime as Kimara Walters
- Michelle Pfeiffer for The Wizard of Lies as Ruth Madoff
- Shailene Woodley for Big Little Lies as Jane Chapman
- 2018note : Merritt Wever for Godless as Mary Agnes McNue
- Sara Bareilles for Jesus Christ Superstar as Mary Magdalene
- Penélope Cruz for The Assassination of Gianni Versace as Donatella Versace
- Judith Light for The Assassination of Gianni Versace as Marilyn Miglin
- Adina Porter for American Horror Story: Cult as Beverly Hope
- Letitia Wright for Black Mirror: Black Museum as Nish Leigh
- 2019note : Patricia Arquette for The Act as Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard
- Marsha Stephanie Blake for When They See Us as Linda McCray
- Patricia Clarkson for Sharp Objects as Adora Crellin
- Vera Farmiga for When They See Us as Elizabeth Lederer
- Margaret Qualley for Fosse/Verdon as Ann Reinking
- Emily Watson for Chernobyl as Ulana Khomyuk
2020s
- 2020note : Uzo Aduba for Mrs. America as Shirley Chisholm
- Toni Collette for Unbelievable as Detective Grace Rasmussen
- Margo Martindale for Mrs. America as Bella Abzug
- Jean Smart for Watchmen as Special Agent Laurie Blake / Silk Spectre II / The Comedienne
- Holland Taylor for Hollywood as Ellen Kincaid
- Tracey Ullman for Mrs. America as Betty Friedan
- 2021note : Julianne Nicholson for Mare of Easttown as Lori Ross
- Renée Elise Goldsberry for Hamilton as Angelica Schuyler
- Kathryn Hahn for WandaVision as Agnes / Agatha Harkness
- Moses Ingram for The Queen's Gambit as Jolene
- Jean Smart for Mare of Easttown as Helen Fahey
- Phillipa Soo for Hamilton as Elizabeth "Eliza" Hamilton
- 2022: Jennifer Coolidge for The White Lotus as Tanya McQuoid
- Connie Britton for The White Lotus as Nicole Mossbacher
- Alexandra Daddario for The White Lotus as Rachel Patton
- Kaitlyn Dever for Dopesick as Betsy Mallum
- Natasha Rothwell for The White Lotus as Belinda Lindsey
- Sydney Sweeney for The White Lotus as Olivia Mossbacher
- Mare Winningham for Dopesick as Diane Mallum
- 2023: Niecy Nash for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story as Glenda Cleveland
- Annaleigh Ashford for Welcome to Chippendales as Irene Banerjee
- Maria Bello for Beef as Jordan Foster
- Claire Danes for Fleishman Is In Trouble as Rachel Fleishman
- Juliette Lewis for Welcome to Chippendales as Denise
- Camila Morrone for Daisy Jones & The Six as Camila Alvarez-Dunne
- Merritt Wever for Tiny Beautiful Things as Frankie Pierce
