By Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Jean Smart won her fifth Primetime Emmy Award for portraying a tenacious stand-up comic on "Hacks," and Matthew Rhys became the first person to win two lead acting honors at the same ceremony, as Hollywood stars toasted the best of television on Monday.
Smart's accolade made her the first performer to win the Emmy for best comedy actress for every season of a show's run. "Hacks" aired its final season on HBO Max this year.
"What
a ride this has been!" Smart said on stage after thanking the show's creators.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won best comedy actress for six of the seven seasons of "Veep," is the only woman to come close to Smart's milestone.
Rhys claimed awards for best comedy actor for Apple TV horror comedy "Widow's Bay" and for best actor in a limited series for the Netflix psychological thriller "The Beast in Me."
The Emmys offered a rare night of celebration as Hollywood grapples with production cutbacks, anxiety over artificial intelligence and the proposed Paramount Skydance purchase of HBO owner Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal that has divided the industry and faces legal challenges.
"The Pitt" star Noah Wyle said it felt "overwhelming" to land his second straight Emmy for playing Dr. "Robby" Robinavitch on the medical drama set in a Pittsburgh trauma center. The show was the frontrunner for the night's top award of best drama.
Describing himself as a "Hollywood kid," Wyle told the Emmy audience, "This is the only club I've ever wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me."
In other awards, "Widow's Bay" star Stephen Root upset favorite Harrison Ford of "Shrinking" for best supporting actor in a comedy.
Best drama actress went to Rhea Seehorn, who plays a misanthropic woman at war with an unfailingly kind alien hive mind on the new Apple TV series "Pluribus." It was her first Emmy win. Seehorn addressed her fellow nominees, including "The Diplomat" star Keri Russell and Zendaya of "Euphoria," with a quote from the feminist activist Gloria Steinem, who died this month aged 92.
"We are linked, not ranked. I feel that way about all you women," Seehorn said.
Emmy winners are chosen by the more than 27,000 writers, directors, performers, producers and craftspeople in the Television Academy.
FOX HONORED FOR HIS HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS
The academy honored Michael J. Fox during the ceremony for his advocacy for Parkinson's disease research and treatment.
Speaking from a wheelchair, Fox said support from Hollywood had allowed him to keep acting after his own diagnosis with Parkinson's. "It's because you stood up for me," he told the crowd.
Mariska Hargitay, star of NBC's drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," hosted the ceremony, breaking with a tradition of having a comedian serve as emcee. It was broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
"It's a lot of pressure, but it is so reassuring to see so many familiar faces out there, and I'm not just talking about how many of you I've arrested on SVU," Hargitay told the crowd.
In one pre-recorded sketch, Hargitay's "SVU" character, Olivia Benson, tried to piece together clues to determine if singer Taylor Swift, an Emmy nominee this year for a concert film, would attend the ceremony.
Swift made a surprise cameo in the bit as a rookie detective who pointed out that the singer's categories had been considered in a separate ceremony a week earlier. Benson correctly deduced that Swift would be in Kansas City watching her husband, Travis Kelce, play on Monday Night Football.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway;Additional reporting by Matt Silverstein; Editing by Howard Goller)
