‘Night Court’: John Larroquette could (finally) win Emmy #5 for playing Dan Fielding

Charles Bright
·5 min read
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Back in the 1980s, John Larroquette dominated Best Comedy Supporting Actor at the Emmys. He won the category four times in a row (1985-88) for playing Dan Fielding on the NBC sitcom “Night Court.” Now, 35 years after his last win for the show and this time in Best Comedy Actor, he’s seeking to join an even more exclusive club of actors who have won five Emmys for playing the same character.

If Larroquette were to claim a fifth Emmy for playing Fielding, he would join three other performers who have also won that amount. Don Knotts won five times in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for his role as Deputy Sherrif Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1968. Ed Asner won three Emmys in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for playing Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then two for Best Drama Actor for the same character on the spin-off show, “Lou Grant,” in 1978 and 1980. Candice Bergen also won five time in Best Comedy Actress for taking on the titular character on “Murphy Brown” in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995.

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After winning her fifth in 1995, Bergen would no longer submit herself for Emmy consideration for the show. Larroquette made the same move after winning his fourth in 1988. The two would later play lovers on the David E. Kelley drama “Boston Legal” during the show’s final two seasons.

The queen of winning Emmys for playing the same character is still Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She took best Comedy Actress six consecutive times for playing Vice President (and later President) Selina Meyer on the HBO comedy “Veep” from 2012-17.

The actors who already are on the same level as Larroquette are some of the most legendary names in entertainment. The first person to win four Emmys for a single character was Mary Tyler Moore for playing Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She won Best Comedy Actress in 1973, 1974 and 1976 and also won Actress of the Year (Series) in 1976 for the role. Carroll O’Connor won four in Best Comedy Actor for playing Archie Bunker on “All in the Family” in 1972 and 1977-79. Tyne Daly would also reach that level for playing Det. Mary Beth Lacey on “Cagney & Lacey,” winning Best Drama Actress from 1983-85 and 1988 (the same year Larroquette won his fourth). Peter Falk won Best Drama Actor in 1972, 1976 and 1990 for playing the infamous detective Columbo on the show of the same name and won Movie/Limited Actor in 1975 for the role as well.

In the 1990s Dennis Franz also won four times in Best Drama Actor for playing Det. Andy Sipowicz on “NYPD Blue” in 1994, 1996-97 and 1999. Helen Hunt also took home four in a row in Best Comedy Actress for playing Jamie Buchman on “Mad About You” from 1996-99. David Hyde Pierce reached that level in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for playing Niles Crane on “Frasier” in 1995, 1998-99 and 2004. Doris Roberts did the same in the 2000s, winning Best Comedy Supporting Actress four times for playing Marie Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond” from 2001-03 and 2005.

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Kelsey Grammer claimed four trophies in Best Comedy Actor for playing Dr. Frasier Crane on the Emmy-powerhouse “Frasier” in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 2004. Also in 2004, Allison Janney claimed her fourth win for playing C.J. Cregg on “The West Wing.” Her first two wins in 2000 and 2001 were in Best Drama Supporting Actress and her other two were in Best Drama Actress in 2002 and 2004.

More recently we saw Jim Parsons win four times in Best Comedy Actor for portraying Dr. Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory” (2010-11 and 2013-14), Bryan Cranston win four in Best Drama Actor for playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad” (2008-10, 2014) and Peter Dinklage take home four in Best Drama Supporting Actor for playing Tyrion Lannister on “Game of Thrones” (2011, 2015, 2018-19).

A special mention should be included for Art Carney who won four statuettes for playing various characters on the different iterations of “The Jackie Gleason Show” in 1954, 1955, 1967 and 1968.

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