Bob Newhart, the television comedic icon whose career spans over five decades, received his first-ever Emmy Award for a guest role on the popular CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory."
The 84-year-old Newhart was honored at Sunday's creative arts Emmy ceremony for playing Professor Proton, a down-on-his-luck former host of a children's science show, on "The Big Bang Theory" last season, the Associated Press reported.
"This is my seventh shot at this. ... I just love this very much," he said, gazing tearfully at the trophy in his hand as the audience gave him a standing ovation.
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Newhart's long TV history includes the 1970s "The Bob Newhart Show," ''Newhart" in the 1980s and "Bob" in the '90s and six previous nominations. His 1961 variety series "The Bob Newhart Show" earned a writing bid.
Backstage, Newhart said at one point he'd given up submitting his name for Emmy consideration.
"I just felt the kind of stuff I do doesn't win awards. I didn't want to go through the process, the disappointment," he said.
In addition to Newhart, other winners for guest turns included Melissa Leo for the sitcom "Louie" and, on the drama series side, Dan Bucatinsky for "Scandal" and Carrie Preston for "The Good Wife."
With eight statuettes, HBO's Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra" was the night's top-winning individual program at the ceremony honoring technical and other achievements. The movie will compete for seven more nominations at next Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards.
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn of "Project Runway" won for outstanding host for a reality or reality-competition show, and "Undercover Boss" for outstanding reality program
Lily Tomlin received the trophy for best voice-over performance for her narration of "An Apology to Elephants," a documentary about the treatment of captive elephants.
Netflix's "House of Cards," the first online program to compete for top drama series honors, picked up trophies Sunday for casting and for cinematography for a single-camera series.
HBO earned a leading 20 awards, followed by CBS with 15 and NBC with eight.
Other winners at the creative arts Emmys included:
• Commercial: "Inspired," Canon.
• Animated Program: "South Park: Raising the Bar," Comedy Central.
• Nonfiction series: "American Masters," PBS.
• Children's Program: "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: Forgotten But Not Gone: Kids, HIV & AIDS," Nickelodeon.
• Music composition for a series (original dramatic score): "Downton Abbey: Episode 6," PBS.
• Music composition for a miniseries, movie or special: "World Without End: Medieval Life and Death," ReelzChannel.
• Casting for a miniseries, movie or a special: "Behind The Candelabra," HBO.
• Casting for a comedy series: "30 Rock," NBC.
• Costumes for a miniseries, movie or a special: "Behind The Candelabra," HBO.
• Costumes for a variety-music program or a special (more than one award possible): "The 55th Annual Grammy Awards," CBS.
• Costumes for a series: "The Borgias: The Gunpowder Plot," Showtime.
• Stunt coordination for a comedy series or variety program: "Supah Ninjas," Nickelodeon.
• Stunt coordination for a drama series, miniseries or movie: "Revolution: Nobody's Fault But Mine," NBC.
Neil Patrick Harris, who is best known as a child actor as Doogie Howser, M.D., where he played a teenage physician, and currently plays a womanizing yuppie on the show "How I Met Your Mother," will host next Sunday's ceremony airing on CBS.
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