Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History With Double Win

The Primetime Emmys, first presented in 1949 and voted on by members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), are among the most prestigious awards in American television, ranking 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 — a winged woman holding an atom — takes its name from "immy", industry slang for the image orthicon tube used in early television cameras. Winning two lead acting categories in one evening had never been done before. Performers including Alan Alda, Sally Field, John Goodman, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson had been nominated for two lead prizes in the same year, but none had turned both nominations into wins.

Backstage, Rhys said he was glad his small country could "put our flag on the map" and "punch higher than our weight sometimes". His former music teacher, Delyth Medi Lloyd, told the Daily Mail that his talent had been obvious three decades earlier at a Welsh-language school in Cardiff, where an original 1993 musical was built around him because he resembled Elvis Presley. Other winners included his Widow's Bay co-star Kate O'Flynn, named best supporting comedy actress, while Jean Smart and Allison Janney each collected an eighth Emmy, equalling the record for the most acting wins. The medical drama The Pitt took best drama series, and Widow's Bay ended the night as the most decorated programme, with 14 awards.