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The win by Julia Louis-Dreyfus for lead actress in a comedy series sent Emmys historians scrambling to the record books to discover whether anyone had previously won trophies for regular roles in three different series — as Louis-Dreyfus now has for Seinfeld (supporting comedy actress, 1996), The New Adventures Of Old Christine (lead comedy actress, 2006) and this year for HBO’s Veep (lead comedy actress). There had been speculation that it had been done previously by Betty White for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls and — way back in 1952 — something called Life With Elizabeth. But the only problem is, neither IMDb nor the TV Academy have a record of White winning for Life With Elizabeth.
There was, however, one previous winner of Emmys for roles in three different shows: Tyne Daly, for lead in Cagney & Lacey (1983-1985, 1988) and her supporting work in Christy (1996) and Judging Amy (2003). The significance of the achievement wasn’t lost on Louis-Dreyfus: Asked backstage to compare tonight’s win with her victories in other years, she said, “I would say this is a helluva lot of good fortune. I mean, I need an Advil. I have a headache….But really, I can’t believe it. I’m very thrilled and moved.”
Related: 2012 Primetime Emmys Winners’ List
(Photo: Getty Images)
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