The 12th Emmy Awards, later referred to as the 12th Primetime Emmy Awards, were held on June 20, 1960, to honor the best in television of the year. The ceremony was held at the NBC Studios, in Burbank, California. It was hosted by Fred Astaire. All nominations are listed, with winners in bold and series' networks are in parentheses.
The ceremony's format was a sharp contrast to the previous year's. Several Acting categories were either combined or simply removed, and nearly every category had only three nominees, as opposed to the traditional five or six. Due to the relatively small crop of categories, no show received more than two major awards. The NBC anthology Startime received the most major nominations with five.
Winners and nominees Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).
Programs
+ The Art Carney Special (NBC) The Danny Thomas Show (CBS) Father Knows Best (CBS) The Jack Benny Show (CBS) The Red Skelton Show (CBS) Playhouse 90 (CBS) DuPont Show of the Month (CBS) The Moon and Sixpence (NBC) Startime (NBC) The Untouchables (ABC) The Fabulous Fifties (CBS) Another Evening with Fred Astaire (NBC) The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (NBC) The Garry Moore Show (CBS) The Revlon Revue (CBS) The Huckleberry Hound Show (Syndicated) Captain Kangaroo (CBS) Lassie (CBS) Mr. Wizard (NBC) Quick Draw McGraw (Syndicated) The Twentieth Century (CBS) CBS Reports (CBS) Meet the Press (NBC) Small World (CBS) The VIII Olympic Winter Games (CBS) The Huntley–Brinkley Report (NBC) Chet Huntley Reporting (NBC) Douglas Edwards with the News (CBS) Journey to Understanding (NBC)
Acting
Lead performances + Robert Stack – The Untouchables as Eliot Ness (ABC) Richard Boone – Have Gun — Will Travel as Paladin (CBS) Raymond Burr – Perry Mason as Perry Mason (CBS) Jane Wyatt – Father Knows Best as Margaret Anderson (CBS) Donna Reed – The Donna Reed Show as Donna Stone (ABC) Loretta Young – The Loretta Young Show as herself (NBC)
Single performances + Laurence Olivier – The Moon and Sixpence as Charles Strickland (NBC) Lee J. Cobb – Playhouse 90: "Project Immortality" as Dr. Lawrence Doner (CBS) Alec Guinness – Startime: "The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks" as Jebal Deeks (NBC) Ingrid Bergman – Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" as the Governess (NBC) Julie Harris – DuPont Show of the Month: "Ethan Frome" as Mattie Silver (CBS) Teresa Wright – NBC Sunday Showcase: "The Margaret Bourke-White Story" as Margaret Bourke-White (NBC)
Directing + The Jack Benny Show – Ralph Levy and Bud Yorkin (CBS) The Danny Thomas Show – Sheldon Leonard (CBS) The Red Skelton Show – Seymour Berns (CBS) The Moon and Sixpence – Robert Mulligan (NBC) Desilu Playhouse: "The Untouchables" – Phil Karlson (CBS) Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" – John Frankenheimer (NBC)
Writing + The Jack Benny Show – George Balzer, Hal Goldman, Sam Perrin and Al Gordon (CBS) The Ballad of Louie the Louse – Nat Hiken (CBS) Father Knows Best – Dorothy Cooper and Roswell Rogers (CBS) The Twilight Zone – Rod Serling (CBS) Playhouse 90: "Project Immortality" – Loring Mandel (CBS) Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" – James Costigan (NBC) CBS Reports: "The Population Explosion" – Howard K. Smith and Av Westin (CBS) Project XX: "Life in the Thirties" – Richard Hanser (NBC) The Twentieth Century: "From Kaiser to Fuehrer" – James Benjamin (CBS)
Most major nominations +Networks with multiple major nominations"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network Number ofNominations CBS 32 NBC 17 ABC 3
+Programs with multiple major nominations Program Category Network Number ofNominations Startime Drama NBC 5 Father Knows Best Comedy CBS 3 The Jack Benny Show The Moon and Sixpence Drama NBC Playhouse 90 CBS CBS Reports Documentary/Public Affairs 2 The Danny Thomas Show Comedy DuPont Show of the Month Drama The Red Skelton Show Comedy The Twentieth Century Documentary/Public Affairs The Untouchables Drama ABC
Most major awards +Networks"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network Number ofAwards CBS 8 NBC 4
+Programs with multiple major awards Program Category Network Number ofAwards The Jack Benny Show Comedy CBS 2 The Moon and Sixpence Drama NBC
Notes
References
External links Emmys.com list of 1960 Nominees & Winners