David Harbour Wins First Emmy for 'DTF St. Louis' at Creative Arts Emmys
David Harbour has won his first Emmy, taking Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role as Floyd Smernitch in HBO Max's DTF St. Louis Variety. The award was announced on night two of the Creative Arts Emmys on 7 September 2026.
Harbour had been nominated in the same category twice before — in 2017 and 2018 — for playing Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. Both of those bids came up short. This time, the Television Academy's voters gave him the statue.
The competition was steep. Fellow nominees in the category included Jason Bateman and Richard Jenkins, both also for DTF St. Louis, Richard Gadd for Half Man, Charles Melton for Beef, and Nick Offerman for Death by Lightning Variety.
DTF St. Louis debuted on HBO Max in March and was well received by audiences and critics. The series collected 13 Emmy nominations this season, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Casting, and Directing Variety. Harbour was not only a performer on the show; he also served as an executive producer and earned a nomination for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series in that capacity.
The Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series category, one of the Emmys' top prizes, featured five nominees at the 78th ceremony: Netflix's The Beast in Me and Beef, Peacock's All Her Fault, and HBO Max's DTF St. Louis, alongside one additional title Television Academy. A limited or anthology series is a show designed to tell a complete story in a single season, as opposed to an ongoing drama that returns year after year.
Ahead of the ceremony, DTF St. Louis held an Emmy contender panel moderated by actor Tom Pelphrey, himself a nominee that year for his performance in the HBO drama Task Television Academy. These panels give Television Academy members a closer look at the work and the people behind it before final voting closes.
For Harbour, the win caps a journey that started with recognition for a streaming megahit and now lands on a very different kind of role. Floyd Smernitch, the character that earned him the statue, is a world away from the small-town police chief of Stranger Things — and it is this performance that the Academy chose to reward.
