# 12th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 12th Emmy Awards, later referred to as the 12th Primetime Emmy Awards, were held on June 20, 1960, to honor the best in television of the year. The ceremony was held at the NBC Studios, in Burbank, California. It was hosted by Fred Astaire. All nominations are listed, with winners in bold and series' networks are in parentheses.
The ceremony's format was a sharp contrast to the previous year's. Several Acting categories were either combined or simply removed, and nearly every category had only three nominees, as opposed to the traditional five or six. Due to the relatively small crop of categories, no show received more than two major awards. The NBC anthology Startime received the most major nominations with five.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

### Programs

Programs :
| Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor The Art Carney Special (NBC)‡ The Danny Thomas Show (CBS) Father Knows Best (CBS) The Jack Benny Show (CBS) The Red Skelton Show (CBS) | Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama Playhouse 90 (CBS)‡ DuPont Show of the Month (CBS) The Moon and Sixpence (NBC) Startime (NBC) The Untouchables (ABC) |
| Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Variety The Fabulous Fifties (CBS)‡ Another Evening with Fred Astaire (NBC) The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (NBC) The Garry Moore Show (CBS) The Revlon Revue (CBS) | Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming The Huckleberry Hound Show (Syndicated)‡ Captain Kangaroo (CBS) Lassie (CBS) Mr. Wizard (NBC) Quick Draw McGraw (Syndicated) |
| Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Public Affairs and Education The Twentieth Century (CBS)‡ CBS Reports (CBS) Meet the Press (NBC) Small World (CBS) The VIII Olympic Winter Games (CBS) | Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News The Huntley–Brinkley Report (NBC)‡ Chet Huntley Reporting (NBC) Douglas Edwards with the News (CBS) Journey to Understanding (NBC) |

### Acting
#### Lead performances

Lead performances :
| Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead or Support) Robert Stack – The Untouchables as Eliot Ness (ABC)‡ Richard Boone – Have Gun — Will Travel as Paladin (CBS) Raymond Burr – Perry Mason as Perry Mason (CBS) | Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead or Support) Jane Wyatt – Father Knows Best as Margaret Anderson (CBS)‡ Donna Reed – The Donna Reed Show as Donna Stone (ABC) Loretta Young – The Loretta Young Show as herself (NBC) |

#### Single performances

Single performances :
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor (Lead or Support) Laurence Olivier – The Moon and Sixpence as Charles Strickland (NBC)‡ Lee J. Cobb – Playhouse 90: "Project Immortality" as Dr. Lawrence Doner (CBS) Alec Guinness – Startime: "The Wicked Scheme of Jebal Deeks" as Jebal Deeks (NBC) | Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress (Lead or Support) Ingrid Bergman – Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" as the Governess (NBC)‡ Julie Harris – DuPont Show of the Month: "Ethan Frome" as Mattie Silver (CBS) Teresa Wright – NBC Sunday Showcase: "The Margaret Bourke-White Story" as Margaret Bourke-White (NBC) |

### Directing

Directing :
| Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy The Jack Benny Show – Ralph Levy and Bud Yorkin (CBS)‡ The Danny Thomas Show – Sheldon Leonard (CBS) The Red Skelton Show – Seymour Berns (CBS) | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama The Moon and Sixpence – Robert Mulligan (NBC)‡ Desilu Playhouse: "The Untouchables" – Phil Karlson (CBS) Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" – John Frankenheimer (NBC) |

### Writing

Writing :
| Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy The Jack Benny Show – George Balzer, Hal Goldman, Sam Perrin and Al Gordon (CBS)‡ The Ballad of Louie the Louse – Nat Hiken (CBS) Father Knows Best – Dorothy Cooper and Roswell Rogers (CBS) | Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama The Twilight Zone – Rod Serling (CBS)‡ Playhouse 90: "Project Immortality" – Loring Mandel (CBS) Startime: "The Turn of the Screw" – James Costigan (NBC) |
| Outstanding Writing Achievement in the Documentary Field CBS Reports: "The Population Explosion" – Howard K. Smith and Av Westin (CBS)‡ Project XX: "Life in the Thirties" – Richard Hanser (NBC) The Twentieth Century: "From Kaiser to Fuehrer" – James Benjamin (CBS) ||

## Most major nominations

Networks with multiple major nominations :
| Network | Number of Nominations |
| CBS | 32 |
| NBC | 17 |
| ABC | 3 |
Programs with multiple major nominations :
| Program | Category | Network | Number of Nominations |
| Startime | Drama | NBC | 5 |
| Father Knows Best | Comedy | CBS | 3 |
| The Jack Benny Show | Comedy | CBS | 3 |
| The Moon and Sixpence | Drama | NBC | 3 |
| Playhouse 90 | Drama | CBS | 3 |
| CBS Reports | Documentary/Public Affairs | CBS | 2 |
| The Danny Thomas Show | Comedy | CBS | 2 |
| DuPont Show of the Month | Drama | CBS | 2 |
| The Red Skelton Show | Comedy | CBS | 2 |
| The Twentieth Century | Documentary/Public Affairs | CBS | 2 |
| The Untouchables | Drama | ABC | 2 |

## Most major awards

Networks :
| Network | Number of Awards |
| CBS | 8 |
| NBC | 4 |
Programs with multiple major awards :
| Program | Category | Network | Number of Awards |
| The Jack Benny Show | Comedy | CBS | 2 |
| The Moon and Sixpence | Drama | NBC | 2 |

### Notes

* 1 2 "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.