NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series explained

This page lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. The award was first given during the 1996 ceremony. Since its inception, Loretta Devine holds the record for the most wins with five.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

1990s

Year	Actress	Series	Ref.
1996
	Fatima Faloye	New York Undercover	[1]
	Jasmine Guy	Melrose Place
	C. C. H. Pounder	ER
	Gloria Reuben
	Vanessa Estelle Williams	Murder One
1997	colspan="3"
1998
	Lynn Whitfield	Touched by an Angel
	Lisa Nicole Carson	ER
	C. C. H. Pounder
	Gloria Reuben
	Ja'net Dubois	Touched by an Angel
1999
	Ruby Dee	Promised Land	[2]
	Lisa Nicole Carson	Ally McBeal
	Toni Lewis
	Gloria Reuben	ER

2000s

Year	Actress	Series	Ref.
2000
	Rosa Parks	Touched by an Angel
	LisaGay Hamilton	The Practice
	Gloria Reuben	ER
	Lucy Liu	Ally McBeal
	Lisa Nicole Carson
2001
	Loretta Devine	Boston Public
	Beah Richards	The Practice
	Michael Michele	ER
	Irma P. Hall	Soul Food
	Marla Gibbs	Touched by an Angel
2002
	Debbi Morgan	Soul Food
	Khandi Alexander
	Vanessa Bell Calloway	Boston Public
	Rashida Jones
	C. C. H. Pounder
2003
	Loretta Devine	Boston Public
	Anna Deavere Smith	The West Wing
	Kimberly Elise	Soul Food
	Pam Grier
	Rita Moreno	Oz
2004
	Loretta Devine	Boston Public	[3]
	Vanessa Bell Calloway	The District
	Anna Deavere Smith	The West Wing
	Pam Grier
	Terri J. Vaughn	Soul Food
2005
	Khandi Alexander
	Diahann Carroll	Soul Food
	Pam Grier	The L Word
	Jasmine Guy	Dead Like Me
	Sonja Sohn	The Wire
2006
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
	Pam Grier	The L Word
	Aisha Tyler	24
	Kerry Washington	Boston Legal
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
2007
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
	Khandi Alexander
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Without a Trace
	Sanaa Lathan	Nip/Tuck
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
2008
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
	Pam Grier	The L Word
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Without a Trace
	Audra McDonald	Private Practice
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
2009
	Angela Bassett	ER
	Audra McDonald	Private Practice
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
	Sonja Sohn	The Wire
	Alfre Woodard	My Own Worst Enemy

2010s

Year	Actress	Series	Ref.
2010
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
	Audra McDonald	Private Practice
	Anika Noni Rose	The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency
	Jurnee Smollett	Friday Night Lights
	Gabrielle Union	FlashForward
2011
	S. Epatha Merkerson	Law & Order
	Vanessa Bell Calloway	HawthoRNe
	Sandra Oh	Grey's Anatomy
	Sara Ramirez
	Alfre Woodard	Memphis Beat
2012
	Archie Panjabi	The Good Wife
	Diahann Carroll	White Collar
	Loretta Devine	Grey's Anatomy
	Anika Noni Rose
	Alfre Woodard	Memphis Beat
2013
	Loretta Devine	Grey's Anatomy	[4]
	Joy Bryant	Parenthood
	Lucy Liu	Southland
	Archie Panjabi	The Good Wife
	Rutina Wesley	True Blood
2014
	Taraji P. Henson	Person of Interest	[5]
	Debbie Allen	Grey's Anatomy
	Diahann Carroll	White Collar
	Archie Panjabi	The Good Wife
	Vanessa Williams	666 Park Avenue
2015
	Khandi Alexander	Scandal	[6]
	Aja Naomi King	How to Get Away With Murder
	Jada Pinkett Smith	Gotham
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
	Alfre Woodard	State of Affairs
2016
	Regina King	American Crime	[7]
	Grace Gealey	Empire
	Danai Gurira	The Walking Dead
	Naturi Naughton	Power
	Cicely Tyson	How to Get Away with Murder
2017
	Naturi Naughton	Power	[8]
	C. C. H. Pounder
	Cicely Tyson	How to Get Away with Murder
	Amirah Vann	Underground
	Lynn Whitfield	Greenleaf
2018
	Naturi Naughton	Power
	Lynn Whitfield	Greenleaf
	Samira Wiley	The Handmaid's Tale
	Susan Kelechi Watson	This Is Us
	Tina Lifford	Queen Sugar

2020s

Year	Actress	Series	Ref
2020
	Lynn Whitfield	Greenleaf	[9]
	Tina Lifford	Queen Sugar
	CCH Pounder
	Lyric Ross	This Is Us
	Susan Kelechi Watson	This Is Us
2021
	Mary J. Blige		[10]
	Adjoa Andoh	Bridgerton
	Aunjanue Ellis	Lovecraft Country
		This Is Us
	Lynn Whitfield	Greenleaf
2022
	Mary J. Blige		[11]
	Bianca Lawson	Queen Sugar
	Susan Kelechi Watson	This Is Us
	Chandra Wilson	Grey's Anatomy
	Alfre Woodard	SEE

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

5 wins

• Loretta Devine

3 wins

• S. Epatha Merkerson

2 wins

• Khandi Alexander
• Mary J. Blige
• Chandra Wilson
• Naturi Naughton

Nominations

6 nominations

• S. Epatha Merkerson

5 nominations

• Loretta Devine
• Pam Grier
• Lynn Whitfield
• Chandra Wilson
• Alfre Woodard

4 nominations

• Khandi Alexander
• C. C. H. Pounder
• Gloria Reuben
• Susan Kelechi Watson

3 nominations

• Vanessa Bell Calloway
• Diahann Carroll
• Lisa Nicole Carson
• Audra McDonald
• Archie Panjabi
• Naturi Naughton

2 nominations

• Khandi Alexander
• Mary J. Blige
• Anna Deavere Smith
• Jasmine Guy
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste
• Tina Lifford
• Lucy Liu
• Anika Noni Rose
• Sonja Sohn
• Cicely Tyson

Notes and References

1. Web site: Snow. Shauna. 5 Films Head Nominations for NAACP Image Awards. Los Angeles Times. 21 January 2017. 22 February 1996.
2. News: The Crisis. 21 January 2017. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.. 1 April 1999. en.
3. Web site: 2004 Image Award Winners. IMDb. August 2, 2016.
4. Web site: 2013 Image Winners. Couch. Aaron . February 1, 2013. The Hollywood Reporter. August 2, 2016.
5. Web site: 2014 Image Winners. Couch. Aaron. February 22, 2014. The Hollywood Reporter. August 2, 2016.
6. Web site: 2015 Image Winners. Washington. Arlene . February 6, 2015. The Hollywood Reporter. August 2, 2016.
7. Web site: 2016 Image Winners. Variety. August 2, 2016.
8. Web site: Ruth Negga, Angela Bassett and Taraji P. Henson nominated. Hipes. Patrick. December 13, 2016. Deadline. January 2, 2017.
9. Web site: NAACP Winners 2020: The Complete List . . February 23, 2020.
10. Web site: 2021 NAACP Image Awards: The Complete Winners List . . April 4, 2021 . March 29, 2021.
11. Web site: Jennifer Hudson, Will Smith, And Issa Rae Win Big At NAACP Image Awards 2022 . . March 2, 2022 . Feb 28, 2022.