The guest actor and actress nominations are like the phantom awards at the Emmys. They aren't handed out live alongside the rest of the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast, making it easy to forget that the stars in the room (if they're in the room) can be some of the biggest in the industry. But on Sept. 12, 2004, as in other years, they were handed out at the Creative Arts Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to a room full of Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony winners, including one EGOT holder.
All the ladies honored
“The Practice” swept the drama guest-actress category this year, with Sharon Stone taking home her first and so far only Emmy for guest actress in a drama series, for playing eccentric attorney Sheila Carlisle. She accepted the award from presenters Christina Applegate and Anthony LaPaglia, noting that “The Practice” creator David E. Kelley “seems to be able to get inside our souls and know that we have something special that we need to express.”
Stone was up against Oscar winner Louise Fletcher as Eva on “Joan of Arcadia” (CBS); Oscar winner Marlee Matlin as Dr. Amy Solwey on “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC); two-time Emmy winner Mare Winningham as Sandra Blane on “SVU”; and five-time Emmy winner Betty White as Catherine Piper on “The Practice.”
In the comedy guest actress category, Laura Linney won the second of her four Emmys to date, this one for playing matchmaker Charlotte Novak on NBC’s “Frasier.” Her other Emmys have come for different series and have always been in the lead actress category. Linney was up against Emmy winner Christina Applegate as Amy Green on “Friends”; Emmy winner Eileen Brennan as Zandra Zoggin on “Will & Grace”; Georgia Engel as Pat MacDougall on “Everybody Loves Raymond”; and Cloris Leachman as Grandma Ida on Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle.” Oscar winner Leachman remains tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most acting Emmys, with eight. Linney was not present to accept her award.
Time and space wait for no one.
William Shatner also received his first Emmy that year in the category of guest actor in a drama series, also for “The Practice.” He played attorney Denny Crane on the ABC series. After Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek presented him with the award, Shatner joked to voters, “What took you so long?” He would win for the same role in 2005, but this time in the category of supporting actor in a drama series for “Boston Legal,” the spin-off of “The Practice.”
Shatner was up against the room’s leading actor, two-time 1991 Emmy winner James Earl Jones, who was nominated to play Will Cleveland on “Everwood” (WB). Also being considered: Matthew Perry as Joe Quincy on “The West Wing” (NBC) for the second year in a row; future 2013 Emmy winner Bob Newhart as Ben Hollander on “ER” (NBC); and Oscar winner Martin Landau as Frank Malone on “Without a Trace” (CBS).
In the comedy guest actor category, John Turturro earned his first nomination and only win for playing Ambrose Monk, the agoraphobic brother of Tony Shalhoub’s title character on “Monk” (USA). He was up against Emmy winner John Cleese as Lyle Finster on “Will & Grace” (NBC); Emmy winner Danny DeVito as Roy Goodbody on “Friends” (NBC); Fred Willard as Hank MacDougall on “Everybody Loves Raymond” (CBS); and Emmy winner Anthony LaPaglia, nominated for playing Simon Moon on “Frasier” for the third time. LaPaglia was also nominated for lead actor in a drama series for “Without a Trace,” but lost. Turturro was not on hand to accept his award.
