The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given to honor an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting 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 b ...

industry. At the 6th

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 (N ...

held in 1979, Peter Hansen was the first winner of this award for his portrayal of Lee Baldwin on '' General Hospital''. The awards ceremony was not televised in 1983 and 1984, having been criticized for voting integrity. Following the introduction of a new category in 1985, Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series, the criteria for this category was altered, requiring all actors to be aged 26 or above. Since its inception, the award has been given to 34 actors. ''General Hospital'' is the show with the most awarded actors, with a total of twelve wins. In 1983,

Darnell Williams Darnell Williams (born 3 March 1955) is a British-born soap opera actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jesse Hubbard on the ABC soap opera ''All My Children'' from 1981 to 1988, and from 2008 to 2011, a role which has earned him two Day ...

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

Jesse Hubbard Jesse Hubbard (born September 18, 1975) is a former professional lacrosse player who played professional box lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and professional field lacrosse in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL). Background Hubbard st ...

on '' All My Children''. Since 1994,

Justin Deas Justin Deas (born March 30, 1948, in Connellsville, Pennsylvania) is an American actor. He is known primarily for his work on daytime soap operas. Personal life Deas received his Bachelor of Arts from the College of William & Mary. Deas married ...

holds the most wins with a total of four awards for his work 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 s ...

'', '' Santa Barbara'' and '' Guiding Light''. With seven each, Jerry Ver Dorn had been tied with Deas for the most nominations since 2005. In 2009, Jeff Branson and Vincent Irizarry tied for the award, which was the first tie in this category. As of the 2022 ceremony,

Jeff Kober Jeff Kober (born December 18, 1953) is an American actor, known for his television roles as Dodger in ''China Beach'', Jacob Hale Jr. in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Joe in the fourth season of '' The Walking Dead''. He is also known his movie rol ...

is the most recent winner in this category for his role as Cyrus Renault on '' General Hospital''.