During the nearly eight decades of Emmy Awards, only two dozen male performers have received posthumous nominations. Two notable late actors were in the mix this year — Rob Reiner and Eric Dane — but only one made the cut on Wednesday.
Reiner, who was killed with his wife, Michelle, last December, received a nomination for Best Comedy Guest Actor on The Bear. He played an entrepreneur named Albert, who helps Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) formulate a plan to franchise The Beef — an idea that comes to fruition in the series finale.
Dane, meanwhile, had been submitted for Best Drama Guest Actor for Euphoria, filmed following his ALS diagnosis, months before his death on Feb. 19. Dane, who won an Actor Award as part of the Grey’s Anatomy ensemble but never received an Emmy nod, reprised the role of Cal Jacobs, the closeted father of Jacob Elordi’s Nate, a part Dane played since Euphoria‘s debut in 2019.
Before Reiner, the most recent posthumous Emmy acting nominees were Treat Williams for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024) and Ray Liotta for Black Bird (2023).
To date, only three men have won Emmy Awards in acting categories following their deaths:
- David Burns for The Price (1971) in Best Drama Supporting Actor
- Raul Julia for The Burning Season (1995) in Best Movie/Limited Actor
- Chadwick Boseman for What If…? (2022) in Best Character Voice-Over Performance
Reiner, who won an Emmy for supporting actor in his breakthrough role on All in the Family, will have one more chance at a posthumous award in 2027 for his secret guest role as George Washington on Larry David’s Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness: An Almost History of America.
