Kate McKinnon’s recently announced departure from NBC’s Saturday Night Live after eight seasons was a loss for the long-running series. McKinnon won back-to-back Emmy Awards in 2016 and 2017 for her work on the show. She is one of six people to win two Emmys as a performer on the show – along with Justin Timberlake, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Dave Chappelle and Maya Rudolph. If McKinnon wins another Emmy in September for her final season, she’ll become the first person to win three times for performing on the show.
McKinnon is perhaps best known for her impressions of celebrities ranging from Justin Bieber to Ellen DeGeneres. She has had particular success playing political figures, including Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Kellyanne Conway. Clinton appeared alongside McKinnon in a memorable sketch during the show’s season 41 premiere on Oct. 3, 2015.
McKinnon was the fourth SNL cast member to win an Emmy as a performer while still on the show. The first three were Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Dana Carvey. Five other former cast members have won Emmys on triumphant returns to the show, often as guest hosts. They are Fallon, Rudolph, Fey, Eddie Murphy and Amy Poehler.
Six other people who were never SNL cast members have won Emmys for performing on the show. They are Timberlake, Chappelle, Betty White, Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish.
In addition to these 15 performers who won Emmys in competition, the show’s original cast was ushered into the Television Hall of Fame in 2011. Those Not Ready For Prime Time Players were Chase, Radner, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman.
The list of people who have won Emmys in competition for performing on SNL is about evenly split between women (eight) and men (seven). Seven of these 15 Emmy winners have also won Grammys. Three are past Oscar nominees. Three have received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. All will be revealed below.
Here’s a complete list of the stars who have won Emmys in competition as performers on SNL. They’re listed in chronological order: