Women reign supreme on ABC’s “General Hospital.”
As General Hospital celebrates its 60th anniversary, much of the show remains the same, but today many of Port Charles' influential residents are women. (4. April)
AP
LOS ANGELES – “General Hospital” won six trophies at the Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, including four for acting, while “All My Children” star Susan Lucci won the Lifetime Achievement Award and “The View” creator Barbara Walters won Connie Chung was honored.
“Hospital” also won the award for best daytime drama series. “This is truly a special evening and I'm very grateful and a little worried,” said executive producer Frank Valentini. Acting honorees included Sonya Eddy, who won for her role as “Hospital” head nurse Epiphany Johnson but died last December at age 55 of a post-operative infection; Producer N'Neka Garland, also a winner, worked as a producer on the series for 22 years before she died of a heart attack in March at age 49.
“We want to dedicate this to Sonya Eddy and N'Neka Garland, we love you so much,” Valentini said at the ceremony at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.
The ceremony was the first major awards ceremony since the end of the writers' and actors' strike this fall and was postponed from a planned June 16 date to Friday.
Susan Lucci wins the Lifetime Achievement Award, thanks to her late husband Helmut Huber
Susan Lucci received the lifetime achievement award for her 40-year role as Erica Kane on the ABC series “All My Children.”
Lucci, 76, famously had one of the longest losing streaks at the Emmys. She was nominated 18 times in the Lead Actress category before finally winning in 1999. Shemar Moore shouted, “The series is over!” When he presented her with the trophy, he came back to introduce her. “She’s the leading lady of the day,” Moore said before Lucci was greeted with a standing ovation. “How lucky I was to be placed in the hands of (creator) Agnes Nixon. Agnes was the trailblazer. She was the visionary storyteller who gave me the part of my life: The fabulously flawed Erica Kane.
Lucci thanked her son Andreas Huber and her husband Helmut Huber, who died in 2022: “The icing on the cake for me tonight is that my son Andreas is with me.” It means so much to me to have you here with me. And you know what else? I also feel your father's presence here with us this evening. I would like to thank my husband Helmut Huber, because he played a key role in ensuring that I stand here tonight and accept this incredible award.”
Connie Chung pays tribute to Barbara Walters
News anchor Connie Chung paid tribute to Barbara Walters, a pioneer who, among other things, created ABC's hit daytime talk show “The View” in 1997. She died last December at the age of 93. Walters “revolutionized the face of daytime television” with the show as “the creator, the producer, the star – the engine behind it,” Chung said. “And that’s in addition to her pioneering career in news and interviews. She was the icon who paved the way for all women in television news, especially me. She raised me. And even though they would never admit it, she taught me that. “I can't imagine her being dead. We remember her and everyone else who died for their contributions to television.”
'Wonder Years' star Alley Mills wins first Emmy for 'Hospital'
Alley Mills, 72, known for her role as a mother in the 1988-93 ABC original version of “The Wonder Years,” won her first Emmy for a guest appearance in a daytime drama. (Her husband, actor Orson Bean, was killed in 2020 after being hit by two cars while crossing a street in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles.) “I had just lost my beloved husband – it was pretty traumatic – and then I'll I asked “To play a severely traumatized person who kills a lot of people but has a heart of gold,” Mills said. “And she's running toward the light all the time, and that gave me the ability to keep going and racing toward the light. The world is so messed up right now that all I can say to all you traumatized people out there is: just keep going toward the light.
Among other awards, Thorsten Kaye won his first Emmy after seven nominations for Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series for his role as Ridge Forrester on CBS's “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
Kelly Clarkson wins third Emmy for her daytime talk show
Kelly Clarkson received her third consecutive daytime talk series trophy, winning for daytime talk host. The singer, who was not present, moved her syndicated show from Los Angeles to New York this year. “It is a pleasure to work with her. She makes it fun, she's a joy every day and that makes it a little easier,” said executive producer Alex Duda. “She wanted me to thank all of our viewers for joining us in this migration as we moved.”
The 50th annual ceremony honoring talk shows and soap operas is the first major awards show since the end of the Hollywood writers and actors strike. The planned June date has been postponed. To celebrate the awards show's golden anniversary, the previous winner of a category was paired with a long-ago winner as presenters.
Contribution: The Associated Press