Welsh Actor Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History

The Primetime Emmys were first presented in 1949 and are voted on by members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). They rank alongside the Oscar for film, the Grammy for music and the Tony for theatre as one of the country's four major entertainment prizes. The trophy shows a winged woman holding an atom, and its name comes from "immy", an old industry word for a tube used inside early television cameras. No performer had ever won two lead acting categories in one evening. Actors such as Alan Alda, Sally Field and Ted Danson had been nominated twice in the same year, but none had won both.

Backstage, Rhys said he was glad his small country could "put our flag on the map". His former music teacher, Delyth Medi Lloyd, told the Daily Mail that his talent was clear three decades earlier at a Welsh-language school in Cardiff, where a 1993 school musical was built around him because he looked like Elvis Presley. Jean Smart and Allison Janney each collected an eighth Emmy, equalling the record for the most acting wins, and Widow's Bay ended the night with 14 awards.