Lead Actor Emmy winners tend to be veteran actors, but where they earn those veteran acting stripes varies widely. And at the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, held on September 19, 2004 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the night's leading actor winners included a seasoned television favorite who earned his fourth award, a Star movie star turned television star. his first Emmy and a legendary Oscar winner in his first nomination and victory.
Cherry at the top of a long television series
At the time, Kelsey Grammer was a true titan of television, having played Dr. Frasier Crane on three different television series: “Cheers,” “Wings,” and “Frasier” (all on NBC). He won four Emmy Awards for playing Crane, in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 2004, the year the series concluded (until its reboot in 2023).
Also in the running: Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” HBO), who has two Emmys for “Seinfeld” (both 1993), but none yet for “Curb”; Matt LeBlanc (“Friends,” NBC), nominated three times for the role but never won; Tony Shalhoub (“Monk,” USA), who would win in the following two years for that role and once again in 2019 for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; and John Ritter (“8 Simple Rules,” ABC), who died in 2003. Ritter won an Emmy for “Three's Company” in 1984.
The “Frasier” star accepted the award from host Conan O'Brien. He began his speech by saying that “Ritter would be missed not only for his kindness but also for his work.” He added that “'Frasier' was a gift in my life…and this is just the icing on the cake.”
'Practice makes perfect
James Spader got his start in movies, but his portrayal of Alan Shore on “The Practice” (ABC) gave new life to his television career. He received his first Emmy nomination and won in 2004, and would win two more for the role (although the other two would be in “Boston Legal” in 2005 and 2007).
His competitors, on the other hand, had plenty of Emmy experience: James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos,” HBO) won three Emmy Awards for his role (2000, 2001, 2003); Anthony LaPaglia (“Without a Trace,” CBS) scored a win for a guest role on “Frasier” in 2002; Martin Sheen (“The West Wing,” NBC) scored one win, for a guest-starring role on “Murphy Brown” in 1994; and Kiefer Sutherland (“24,” Fox) won two in 2006 as that show’s Jack Bauer.
Spader accepted the award from presenters Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes with a speech that showed he was riffing: “I should have written something,” he chuckled. He congratulated the audience: “You all made wonderful shoe and dress choices tonight” and concluded by highlighting the “hair and makeup team, I want to thank you most of all.”
Halo to an Oscar winner
“Angels in America” took the night by storm, ultimately earning 11 wins from its 21 nominations and sweeping the miniseries or movie acting categories. Oscar winner (1993, “Scent of a Woman”) Al Pacino received his first Emmy (and his first nomination) for playing Roy Cohn. He would later win a second Emmy in 2010 for “You Don't Know Jack” (HBO).
His fellow nominees included Antonio Banderas (“And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself,” HBO), who was up for his second Emmy nomination; and James Brolin (“The Reagans,” Showtime), who won his only Emmy in 1970 for “Marcus Welby, MD” (ABC). Yasiin Bey (then Mos Def) was an Emmy rookie, competing against his “Something the Lord Made” (HBO) co-star Alan Rickman, who won an Emmy in 1996 for “Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny” (HBO). .
Pacino received his Emmy from presenters Edie Falco and James Gandolfini, and shaking Gandolfini's hand made the dreams of gangster-loving movie and TV show fans come true. But it was his rambling speech that was the highlight of the night: he sent congratulations to everyone he could think of, adding: “It was a long time ago and I was blonde; you work in [shows] and then they come out and it's years [later] but I remember that the feeling was very good there.”
