The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series was an award presented annually by the

National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

(NATAS) and

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...

(ATAS). It was given annually from 1985 to 2019 to honor a young actor below the age of 25, who had delivered an outstanding performance in a role while working within the

daytime drama A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

industry. At the

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

held in 1985,

Brian Bloom Brian Keith Bloom (born June 30, 1970) is an American actor and screenwriter. He co-wrote the screenplay and starred in ''The A-Team'', produced by brothers Tony and Ridley Scott. Bloom is the voice of Captain America in '' The Avengers: Earth' ...

was the first winner of this award for his portrayal of

Dusty Donovan Dustin "Dusty" Donovan is a fictional character on CBS's daytime drama ''As the World Turns.'' He was recently portrayed by Grayson McCouch from February 18, 2003, to January 18, 2008. McCouch returned to the role on September 24, 2008. Character ...

on ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

''. The awards ceremony had not been aired on television for the prior two years, having been criticized for voting integrity. The award category was originally called Outstanding Young Man or Outstanding Juvenile Male in a Drama Series, and began using its current title in 1991. Years before this category was introduced, networks declined to broadcast the show during a time of voting integrity rumors and waning interest. Confusion rose around the criteria of the new category due to the varying ages of the nominees. Within the first set of nominees, Bloom became the youngest actor nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award at the time at age 15, while the other actors nominated in the category were over 25. The criteria were later altered, requiring that the actor be aged 25 or below. The award was presented to 25 actors. ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' had the most recipients of this award, with a total of seven wins. In 1992,

Kristoff St. John Kristoff St. John (July 15, 1966 – February 3, 2019) was an American actor best known for playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' from 1991 until his death in 2019, which earned him two Daytime Emmy Aw ...

became the first African-American to have garnered the award, winning for his role as

Neil Winters Neil Winters is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, the role was portrayed by Kristoff St. John from 1991 until St. John's death in 2019 ...

on ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''.

Chandler Massey Chandler Abit Massey (born September 10, 1990)"Will & Grace". ''Soap Opera Digest''. October 30, 2017. pg. 44. is an American actor and singer, best known for his portrayal of Will Horton on the daytime soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. Massey ...

and Jonathan Jackson were the actors with the most awards, with a total of three each. In 2000, Jackson also became the actor to have received the most nominations, surpassing

Bryan Buffington Bryan Buffington (born April 1, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Bill Lewis III on ''Guiding Light''. Filmography Awards and nominations ;Daytime Emmy Awards ;Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originall ...

's previous record of five.

Scott Clifton Scott Clifton Snyder (born October 31, 1984), better known as Scott Clifton, is an American actor, and video blogger. He played Dillon Quartermaine in ''General Hospital'' (2003–2007), Schuyler Joplin in ''One Life to Live'' (2009–2010), an ...

Bryton James Bryton McClure (born August 17, 1986), also credited as Bryton James and mononymously as Bryton, is an American musical theatre, film and television actor. As a child actor, he played Richie Crawford on the ABC/CBS sitcom ''Family Matters''. He c ...

David Lago David Scott Lago (; born January 18, 1979, in Downey, California) is a Cuban-American actor. He is best known for playing ''Raul Guittierez'' on ''The Young and the Restless'' from 1999 to 2004. He has also had a recurring role as Jeremy on '' ...

and

Joshua Morrow Joshua Jacob Morrow (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. In 1994, he began his career when he was cast in the role of Nicholas Newman on ''The Young and the Restless''. In 1998, he joined the soul-pop group 3Deep; the group disbanded in ...

have also received five nominations each. At the 2019 ceremony,

Kyler Pettis Kyler Mackenzie Pettis (born October 16, 1992) is an American actor. In 2015, he was cast in the SORASed Theo Carver on the NBC soap opera, ''Days of Our Lives'', a role he remained in until 2018. In 2019, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

became the last awarded actor in this category for his portrayal of

Theo Carver Theo Carver is a fictional character from '' Days of Our Lives'', an American soap opera on the NBC network. Created under head writer Dena Higley, Theo was born onscreen in 2003. The character was portrayed by two sets of twins and three child a ...

, on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

''. In October 2019, the NATAS decided to replace both younger actor and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

categories with a single gender-neutral one: Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series.