The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator is awarded to one individual each year.
In 2014, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance was separated into two categories – Outstanding Narrator and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance. Rules hold that the "submission must be performed/read as a traditional narration and may not be audio lifted from an on-camera performance or interview. If the narration is performed in the first person as a character rather than the narrator, even if credited as narrator, it should be submitted in the character voice-over category."
In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which are listed in alphabetical order. The years given are those in which the ceremonies took place:
Winners and nominations
1990s Year Narrator Program Network 1994(46th) Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational ProgrammingThis program was nominated as Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming. As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.In 2020, the TV Academy rescinded a win in this category for the Disney Channel special George Stevens: D-Day to Berlin, narrated by George Stevens Jr. The program was a re-edit of the 1985 BBC documentary D-Day to Berlin, in violation of a rule that "a program that is a foreign acquisition without benefit of a domestic co-production cannot be re-introduced into eligibility in a current awards year, even though it may have been modified with new footage, sound track, musical score, etc." David Marshall Grant The Legend of Billy the Kid Disney
2010s Year Narrator Program Episode submission Network 2014(66th) Jeremy IronsGame of Lions Nat Geo Daniel CraigOne Life Nat Geo Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley HBO Jane LynchPenguins: Waddle All the Way Discovery Henry Strozier Too Cute! "Holiday Special" Animal Planet 2015(67th) Peter Coyote The Roosevelts: An Intimate History "Episode 1: Get Action 1858–1901" PBS Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin "Chapter Fourteen" The CW Miranda RichardsonOperation Orangutan Nat Geo Henry Strozier Too Cute! "Tubby Puppies" Animal Planet Neil deGrasse TysonHubble's Cosmic Journey Nat Geo 2016(68th) Keith DavidJackie Robinson PBS David Attenborough Life Story "First Steps" Discovery Adrien Brody Breakthrough "Decoding the Brain" Nat Geo Laurence FishburneRoots History Anthony Mendez Jane the Virgin "Chapter Thirty-Four" The CW 2017(69th) Meryl Streep Five Came Back "The Price of Victory" Netflix Laurence Fishburne Year Million "Homo Sapien 2.0" Nat Geo Ewan McGregorWild ScotlandNat Geo Sam NeillWild New ZealandLiev SchreiberMuhammad Ali: Only OneHBOUConn: The March to Madness 2018(70th) David Attenborough Blue Planet II "One Ocean" BBC America Charles Dance Savage Kingdom "Uprising: First Blood" Nat Geo Morgan FreemanMarch of the Penguins 2: The Next Step Hulu Carl ReinerIf You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast HBO Liev Schreiber 24/7 "Canelo-Golovkin" 2019(71st) David Attenborough Our Planet "One Planet" Netflix Angela Bassett The Flood "First Pulse" Nat Geo Charles Dance Savage Kingdom "Fall of the Queen" Anthony MendezWonders of Mexico PBS Liev SchreiberThe Many Lives of Nick Buoniconti HBO Juliet Stevenson Queens of Mystery "Murder in the Dark: First Chapter" Acorn TV
2020s Year Narrator Program Episode submission Network2020(72nd)David AttenboroughSeven Worlds, One Planet "Antarctica"BBC AmericaKareem Abdul-JabbarBlack Patriots: Heroes of the RevolutionHistoryAngela BassettThe Imagineering Story "The Happiest Place on Earth"Disney+Chiwetel EjioforThe Elephant QueenApple TV+Lupita Nyong'oSerengeti "Destiny"Discovery2021(73rd)Sterling K. BrownLincoln: Divided We Stand "The Dogs of War"CNNDavid AttenboroughA Perfect Planet "Volcano"Discovery+The Year Earth ChangedApple TV+Anthony HopkinsMythic Quest "Everlight"Sigourney WeaverSecrets of the Whales "Ocean Giants"Disney+2022(74th)Barack ObamaOur Great National Parks "A World of Wonder"NetflixKareem Abdul-JabbarBlack Patriots: Heroes of the Civil WarHistoryDavid AttenboroughThe Mating Game "In Plain Sight"Discovery+W. Kamau BellWe Need to Talk About Cosby "Part 1"ShowtimeLupita Nyong'oSerengeti II "Intrigue"Discovery+2023(75th)Barack ObamaWorking: What We Do All Day "The Middle" NetflixMahershala AliChimp Empire "Reckoning"NetflixAngela BassettGood Night OppyPrime VideoMorgan FreemanOur Universe "Chasing Starlight" NetflixPedro PascalPatagonia: Life on the Edge of the World "Mountains"CNN2024(76th)Angela BassettQueens"African Queens"Nat GeoDavid AttenboroughPlanet Earth III"Human"BBC AmericaMorgan FreemanLife on Our Planet"Chapter 1: The Rules of Life"NetflixPaul RuddSecrets of the Octopus"Masterminds"Nat GeoOctavia SpencerLost Women of Highway 20 "Vanished"ID2025(77th)Barack ObamaOur Oceans"Indian Ocean"NetflixDavid AttenboroughPlanet Earth: Asia"The Frozen North"BBC AmericaIdris ElbaErased: WW2's Heroes of Color"D-Day"Nat GeoTom HanksThe Americas"The Andes"NBCPhoebe Waller-BridgeOctopus!"Part 1"Prime Video2026(78th)Octavia SpencerLost Women of Alaska"The Missing"IDDavid AttenboroughA Gorilla Story: Told by David AttenboroughNetflixOcean with David AttenboroughNat GeoJodie FosterBreakdown: 1975NetflixWerner HerzogGhost ElephantsNat Geo
Performers with multiple wins Total include wins for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.
3 wins David Attenborough (consecutive) Keith David Barack Obama (2 consecutive)
2 wins Jeremy Irons
Performers with multiple nominations Total include nominations for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.
11 nominations David Attenborough
4 nominations Angela Bassett Liev Schreiber
3 nominations Keith David Morgan Freeman Anthony Mendez Barack Obama
2 nominations Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Charles Dance Laurence Fishburne Jeremy Irons Lupita Nyong'o Octavia Spencer Henry Strozier
Notes
References