Two Monmouth County NJ natives win big at the Emmys

🔥 Two Monmouth County natives just gave New Jersey another reason to brag.

🎬 Tom Pelphrey picked up his first Primetime Emmy for his role in “Task.”

🏆 Katie Dippold’s “Widow’s Bay” swept the Emmys with 14 wins in its first season.

As a lifelong resident, I can confidently say that New Jersey is well aware of our outsized crop of very talented individuals.

Focusing on entertainment alone, we are, after all, the home state of icons like Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito.

Fresh off the primetime Emmy Awards this week, two winners provide clear evidence that the talent did not skip any generations.

NJ Emmy winners 2026 — Tom Pelphrey, winner of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Award for "Task" at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Sept. 14, 2026 (Amy Sussman /Getty Images)

Monmouth County's Tom Pelphrey scores his first Primetime Emmy

Monmouth County native Tom Pelphrey has been charming fans near and far since his unforgettable role that debuted last fall on HBO’s crime drama “Task.”

Pelphrey grew up in Howell Township and graduated from the Freehold Regional Performing Arts Center (FPAC) high school program.

He then attended Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University as a member of the class of 2004.

Professionally, Pelphrey spent a number of years on the long running CBS daytime drama, “Guiding Light.”

He honed his craft well, winning two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actor.

NJ Emmy winners — Tom Pelphrey and his NJ mom, Laurie Pelphrey in 2022 at Netflix Creative Arts Emmy After Party (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix)

Then came a breakout role with Netflix series “Ozark” — followed by his turn with “Task” as Robbie Prendergrast.

Adding to his credibility around New Jersey has been his quickness to profess his undying love of the New York Giants — to the point where he wouldn’t even wear green on the field with his “Task” co-stars at a Philadelphia Eagles game

Another Freehold native helped make Emmy history

As if that wasn’t enough, another New Jersey native and Rutgers graduate also won big —as the comedy show she created won a record 14 Emmys for its first season.

Katie Dippold, like Pelphrey, is a Monmouth County native.

She grew up in Freehold, attending Freehold Township High School and then Rutgers University School of Communication and Information (SC&I), where she graduated in 2002.

Dippold previously wrote for the comedy series, “Park and Rec,” before getting to create the Apple Plus series “Widow’s Bay” — 14 years after writing the pilot.

The series described as a horror-comedy debuted to instant buzz this year. Its first season was capped with 14 Emmy wins.

Dippold won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

She then also accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, as the show’s creator, writer, and executive producer.

“I always told myself if I ever won one of these, I would stay humble,” Dippold said on stage Monday night.

She said she thought maybe she wouldn’t even display the gold statuette.

“Standing here now, I promise all of you that no one will ever set foot in my home without seeing this thing,” she joked.

Earlier this year, Dippold even revealed that her show idea was rooted at the Jersey Shore.

Dippold told New Jersey Monthly she remembers “a haunted house on the boardwalk in Long Branch,” that spurred the same mixture of being scared and fully entertained that she was looking to recapture.

Pelphrey is at least the third Rutgers Mason Gross grad, behind James Gandolfini (yes, as Tony Soprano) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (co-star of currently running hit, “Abbott Elementary") who have won Primetime Emmys for acting.

Dippold joins fellow Rutgers grads-turned Emmy winning writers Mike Sweeney (longtime writer for Conan O’Brien) comedy writer and Christopher Markus (writer for Avengers blockbusters, Infinity War and Endgame).