Norman Lear becomes the oldest Emmy winner in history with "Live" – ​​Deadline

Tonight at Creative Arts Emmys, Norman Lear, 97, became the oldest Emmy winner with a win in the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) category for Live in front of a studio audience: "All In the Family" and "The Jeffersons" by Norman Lear.

"Thank you, thank you, and holy shit," laughed Lear, who produced and wrote the special. "I had a good reaction by saying this when opening a Christmas present when I was seven years old. It's 90 years later and I feel pretty much the same. "

Qualifying the project as "one of the greatest things that ever happened to me," the television icon largely credited the win to its executive producer, Jimmy Kimmel, who was the driving force of the project.

"It was Jimmy Kimmel's idea," he said, thanking "all the farmers and ranchers around the world who have fed me all these years and brought me here tonight. . "

Behind the scenes, Lear and Kimmel talked about the next installment of the Live in front of a studio audience The ABC franchise was taken over for two more outings in August – a special holiday live offer later this year, and another in the spring of 2020.

"We will do [a special] again. In fact, in December, we will do something, "Kimmel said behind the scenes. "We did not specify what we would do, but we will do it again on ABC in December."

Lear beat Our planet narrator Sir David Attenborough for the title of the oldest Emmy winner when the results of the last category of the evening, Outstanding Variety Special (Live). time for Our planet. Last year, he became Emmy's oldest winner with his win in the same category for Blue Planet II.

A television icon, Lear has been nominated 15 times at the Emmy Awards with five statuettes. Live in front of a studio audience was a one-night event, which mobilized stars to play episodes of Lear's iconic sitcom, All in the family and The Jefferson. While Live in front of a studio audience was nominated for three Emmys, his only win tonight was for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).