Rob Reiner’s posthumous Emmy for 'The Bear' leads roundup of five other after-death wins
Five actors turned their final projects into posthumous Emmy wins—proof that some goodbyes still bring the loudest applause.
Reiner’s Emmy puts him in a small, bittersweet club of performers recognized for work that arrived after they were gone — a list that stretches from Marvel ’s king of Wakanda to the nosy neighbor on Bewitched, with Hollywood royalty in between. Here are five standout posthumous Emmy wins and the roles that earned them.
Audrey Hepburn’s 1993 Emmy and her 1994 Grammy completed her EGOT — both awarded after her death.
Five others, at a glance
- Chadwick Boseman — Won in 2022 for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance, bringing T’Challa to life one last time in Marvel’s animated What If...? on Disney+. Boseman died in August 2020 at 43 after a private battle with colon cancer.
- Raúl Juliá — Honored in 1995 with Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special for HBO ’s The Burning Season (as Brazilian activist Chico Mendes). The Addams Family favorite died in 1994 at 54.
- Alice Pearce — Recognized in 1966 with Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for playing ultra-curious neighbor Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched. Pearce died of ovarian cancer that same year.
- Audrey Hepburn — Received a 1993 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Informational Programming for Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. The screen icon died earlier that year at 63; a 1994 Grammy later cemented her rare EGOT status.
- Ingrid Bergman — Awarded in 1982 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special thanks to her final role as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in A Woman Called Golda. Bergman died later that year on her 67th birthday after living with breast cancer.