Welsh actor Matthew Rhys makes Emmy Awards history with double win

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys makes Emmy Awards history with double win

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys has written his name into Emmy Awards history, becoming the first person ever to take home two lead acting prizes in a single night.

Rhys was honoured at the prestigious US ceremony for his performances in supernatural TV comedy Widow's Bay and psychological thriller The Beast In Me.

On stage, he dedicated his second trophy "to the great and good people of Wales, who were as much a nurture as anyone else".

"We are a small but mighty nation. This is incredible," he said, adding "Diolch yn fawr iawn" - which means "thank you very much" in Welsh.

Among the other winners at the coveted US TV awards were Jean Smart, Allison Janney and Stephen Colbert, while Dolly Parton was remembered in an emotional tribute and Michael J Fox received a special humanitarian award.

Rhys first won best lead actor in a limited series for The Beast In Me, before later claiming best lead actor in a comedy for Widow's Bay.

A small number of actors, including Alan Alda, Sally Field, John Goodman, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson, have been nominated for two lead acting prizes in the same year, but Rhys is the first to achieve a double victory.

Backstage, he said: "I'm from a small country, and I'm glad we get moments to kind of put our flag on the map and say, 'we punch higher than our weight sometimes'."

Rhys attended the ceremony with his partner, US actress Keri Russell, who was also nominated for an Emmy

The Beast In Me centres on a grieving author, played by Claire Danes, who becomes fixated on a mysterious new neighbour suspected of murder.

Rhys said winning the award was a "real shock", adding: "Thank you for letting me join the mystery machine and bringing out the beast, you are an intimidating scene partner, but I'm grateful for all this."

Later in the evening, as he accepted the comedy actor prize for playing the mayor in Widow's Bay, he thanked the family, friends and colleagues who had backed his career, including his parents who "kicked me on to the stage at a very early age".

Kate O'Flynn thanked Widow's Bay producers for "trusting this Lancashire lass"

Rhys's Widow's Bay co-star Kate O'Flynn was among the other British winners, taking best supporting comedy actress for her role as Patricia in the series about a fictional island plagued by a centuries-old curse.

"I want to thank our mayor and all the residents of Widow's Bay, in front and behind the camera," said O'Flynn, from Bury in Greater Manchester.

She added: "This is the role of a lifetime... Thank you for trusting this Lancashire lass to play a sassy broad like Patricia."

Jean Smart and Allison Janney equalled the same Emmys record, minutes apart

Elsewhere, Jean Smart won best comedy actress for her role in the fifth and final series Hacks.

It marked the fifth Emmy she has won for the Hollywood satire. "What a ride this has been," Smart said, joking that the audience only gave her a standing ovation "because I'm old".

It was Smart's eighth Emmy win overall, and The Diplomat's Allison Janney also collected the eighth Emmy of her career, winning best supporting actress in a drama series.

Smart and Janney have now both matched the record for the most acting wins ever, shared with Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Despite her previous success, Janney was an unexpected winner on Monday and said she was "genuinely shocked" to beat four stars of hospital drama The Pitt, among others.

Meanwhile, Rhea Seehorn won her first Emmy for best lead actress in a drama series for Pluribus, the Apple TV show about a woman who discovers almost everyone else in the world has been taken over by a mysterious mind virus.

The Pitt won best drama, traditionally regarded as the night's most prestigious prize.

And the show's leading star Noah Wyle also took home best lead actor in a drama series for the second year running.

"I'm a Hollywood kid. I was raised on a television, and movie theaters were my place of worship," Wyle told the audience. "This is all I've ever wanted to do and this is the only club I've ever wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me."

The former ER star praised all of his fellow nominees, but singled out veteran British star Sir Gary Oldman, who was nominated for Slow Horses.

Wyle said he had been inspired by Sir Gary's portrayal of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy, recalling that at the time he thought it was "the benchmark that I want to hit one day in my career".

Michael J Fox was given a standing ovation as he received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his campaigning for support for Parkinson's disease.

The Back to the Future star, 65, who founded the Michael J Fox Foundation in 2000, said: "When it starts getting tough, you show up, you help, and if you get a little joy while you're doing it, that's even better."

Appearing in a wheelchair, he told the ceremony he had initially kept his condition secret after being diagnosed at the age of 29.

But he added: "Eventually, I understood that accepting Parkinson's didn't mean I had to surrender to it. It just meant doing what I could for everyone living with this disease. So I set out to advocate for patients' needs and raise money, and to propel us towards a cure."

Actress Sally Field, who starred in Steel Magnolias opposite Dolly Parton, led a tribute to the country music star, who died last month.

Field described Parton as "genuine, humble, supportive and blisteringly funny" as she introduced a special performance by country singer Reba McEntire.

"She was a humanitarian whose contribution has made a profound difference across our country," Field said of Parton, who won an Emmy in 2021.

"God bless you Dolly Parton my friend, I am not the only one on Earth who will love you for ever and ever."

Earlier in the night, Field won best actress in a limited series or movie for Remarkably Smart Creatures, a Netflix film about an octopus who observes the staff in his aquarium.

Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy delivered a moving tribute to their late Home Alone and Schitt's Creek co-star Catherine O'Hara. Culkin remembered her as "our mom", and "like a good mom, she always showed up when I asked her to".

Referring to the Home Alone films, he joked: "She may have forgotten me... twice! But we will always remember her."

Noah Kahan then performed Bridge Over Troubled Water during the in memoriam segment, before Jamie Lee Curtis paid an emotional tribute to actor and director Rob Reiner.

Reiner, who died last December, received a posthumous Emmy last week for his guest appearance in The Bear.

In other award categories, Scottish TV presenter Alan Cumming accepted the best reality show prize for the US version of The Traitors, an honour he said would push the team to "do better and go bigger".

"It is so beautiful that a show about treachery and betrayal brings people together," he joked, while also thanking his dog Lala, "the perfect co-host".

On an evening otherwise light on political messages, Cumming ended his speech by urging US citizens to register to vote ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Stephen Colbert won best variety series after presenting his final episode of The Late Show in May.

The presenter said nightly talk shows were a "fantastic incubator for young people to come in, work professionally, on a deadline, in collaboration, and that is the future of our business that we have to look after".

He added: "I want to say to the audience, thank you so much for watching, we hope you enjoyed the show, we had a great time doing it for you. That's it, thank you, and catch you on the flip."