Before today, the five women competing for lead actress in a drama series had tallied up an impressive 28 Emmy nominations among them. All but Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") have won at least one Emmy and Sally Field ("Brothers & Sisters") and Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: SVU") are both previous champs in this category.

Field's other two Emmys (out of seven noms) came for starring in the telefilm "Sybil" in 1977 and guesting on "ER" in 2001. Glenn Close ("Damages") won her only Emmy (out of 10 noms) for starring in the 1995 telefilm "Serving in Silence" while Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace") won two Emmys (out of 5 noms) for headlining the telefilms "Roe vs. Wade" (1989) and "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleading-Murdering Mom" (1993).

1993 was a great year for Hunter as she won her only Oscar as well for her starring role in "The Piano" and picked up a second supporting nod for "The Firm." Hunter has two other Oscar noms (1987 lead -- "Broadcast News;" 2004 supporting –- "Thirteen") for a total of four. Field has only two Oscar nominations but she won both times for her leading roles in "Norma Rae" (1979) and "Places in the Heart" (1984). While Close lost all five of her Oscar bids, she is one of the rare performers to win lead Tony Awards for both plays ("The Real Thing," 1984, and "Death and the Maiden," 1992) and a musical ("Sunset Boulevard," 1995).

While Sedgwick has not won an Emmy yet (her two previous nods were for the first two seasons of "The Closer"), she did pick up her first Golden Globe (out of 5 noms) last year for the series. Close won that same award this year for "Damages" adding to the one (out of 6 noms) she won in 2005 for the telefilm "The Lion in Winter." Close has lost all three of her movie Globe races. Hunter won her only movie Globe (out of 3 noms) for "The Piano" and has lost all four of her TV Globe races. Field won her only movie Globes (out of 7 noms) for the same roles that won her those Oscars and she has lost both of her TV Globe bids. While Hargitay won her only Globe race in 2005 for "SVU," this year marks her fifth consecutive year as an Emmy nominee for the show.

(Miramax)