The 62nd Emmy Awards are this Sunday, which means it's Emmy Awards' week! So, we took a little time to scour the internet for our favorite Emmy speeches delivered by our favorite actresses, including a few who are actually gay. From political rabble rousers to just plain funny, a little lewd or joyfully tearful, here's a look at some Emmy speeches that made history, including Candice Bergen's thanking family values man Dan Quayle, Meryl Streep singing along with the exit music, Tina Fey winning everything for the past five years, Ellen Degeneres kissing Portia and Elaine Stritch doing what she does best --cracking people up.
This is by no means a comprehensive list and we did include a couple of Daytime Emmy speeches, although that is a separate show altogether. If you have favorite Emmy speeches, we'd love to hear about them!
First up, in 2007, Emmy took time to pat television on the back for finding a place in Hollywood for actresses over 40 -- a deserved accolade -- and a trio of heavy hitters that included Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close and Mary Louise Parker took the stage to drive home the relevance -- and cumulative hotness -- of women of a certain age.
Sally Field
The perennial argument over whether or not awards’ shows should be used as a platform for political and social pontificating surfaced with one of America’s original sweethearts – Sally Field. Really, who censors Gidget? Well, the Emmy’s did in 2007 when Sally won for her role as a mom to a bunch of navel-gazers on Brothers and Sisters, and Sally took time during her speech to lambast the Iraq war.
Cherry Jones
With two Tony Awards under her belt for The Heiress and Doubt, and an official title as one of the great reigning queens of American theater, out lesbian Cherry Jones nabbed the Emmy last year for her portrayal as President Alison Taylor on 24. A salt-of-the-earth kind of gal, Cherry gave a rousing “Wowza!” when she arrived at the podium.
Isabel Sanford
The actress known for years as Louise "Wheezy" Jefferson on The Jeffersons, Isabel Sanford, played a gag and approached the podium for her Emmy win in 1981 with a mouth full of cheese, saying she'd waited so long to win that she was just backstage eating.Here's her wry and funny speech.
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Mariska Hargitay
Her Olivia Benson has been a lesbian favorite since Law and Order: SVU's inception in 1999, and while Mariska Hargitay has been nominated for an Emmy nearly every year for the past decade, her first win in 2006 brought on a heartrending and tearful speech when she thanked her dad, Mickey Hargitay.
Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly won in 1984 for the groundbreaking female "buddy" cop show Cagney and Lacey -- She thanked her 'partner' Sharon Gless. The following year Gless won and returned the favor calling Tyne her "partner and friend." (Embedding on that one is disabled).
Jennifer Aniston
Her cracker-jack comic timing as Rachel Green on Friends earned Jennifer Aniston an Emmy fairly late in the show's run. While she and Lisa Kudrow were nominated repeatedly Lisa was the only other cast member to pull in an Emmy -- in 1998.
Kathy Griffin
This was the Daytime Emmy speech heard round the world, espcially after Fox News got a hold of it. Without further ado...
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Candice Bergen
Before there was a Bill O'Reilly / Jennifer Aniston kerfluffle over single moms raising children, in 1992 Candice Bergen and her TV alter-ego Murphy Brown became the object of then Vice President Dan Quayle's 'family values' proselytizing because Murphy was becoming a single mom. Quayle said that Candice and Murphy were "mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice." Rather than answer Quayle's accusations directly, his remarks became a plot point in the critically-acclaimed show. Here's Candoce winning an Emmy that year and thanking Quayle!
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah won a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 for The Oprah Winfrey Show and she and presenter Barbara Walters showed each other a lot of love and respect.
Barbara Stanwyck
The iconic --and oft-rumored-to-be lesbian -- Barbara Stanwyck took time out of 1984 speech when she won for the mini series The Thorn Birds to honor, praise, and, for all intents and purposes, say that Ann Margret should have won.
Cynthia Nixon
The Sex and the City gals finished the series big with Sarah Jessica Parker wining the best actress prize and her three costars all nominated for best supporting actress. But it was Cynthia Nixon's portrayal of Miranda Hobbs that won the day. While Cynthia had just met or begun dating her partner Christine Marinoni in 2004, there was no thanking the lesbian partner moment but Cynthia's grace and class is just stunning. (Her win is at about the 2.3 minute mark).
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Meryl Streep
Emmy producers should have know better than to try to shoosh Meryl Streep away from the podium when she had something to say. When the most critically acclaimed actress of our time landed an Emmy for her triple role in HBO's Angels in America and the music came up while she was talking, she didn't rush her speech, she merely sang along...
Elaine Stritch
The legendary Elaine Stritch had the audience in stitches when she delivered this acceptance speech for winning the award for her one-woman show Elaine Stritch: At Liberty!
Ellen DeGeneres
For the fourth year in a row, in 2008, Ellen DeGeneres took to the podium to accept her Daytime Emmy Award for her juggernaut talk show. But this was the year that Ellen had a big secret to reveal backstage at the Emmy's. Not only did she kiss her partner Portia and thank her upon winning that year but backstage Ellen spoke openly about the wedding she and Portia de Rossi were planning --not to mention Portia's rock got plenty of post-Emmy coverage.
Kirstie AlleyThere was a time when Kirstie Alley was more than tabloid and reality show fodder, and when she won her Emmy for Cheers in 1991, her exceptional humor was on display. She thanked her then husband, former Hardy Boy, Parker Stevenson for giving her the ‘big’ one.
Tina Fey
This scribe and funny lady has won so many awards for writing, directing and producing 30 Rock that it's hard to keep up. Luckily, a fan created this cute montage in honor of Tina and her multible Emmy wins!
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