British talent triumphed at the Emmy awards last night with Kate Winslet (above) and Downton Abbey emerging as the big winners.
Winslet won an Emmy for her highly acclaimed title role in Mildred
Pierce, playing a mother in the Great Depression.
The 35-year-old actress she paid tribute to her own mother while accepting the award. She had filmed the five part mini-series in the wake of her own marriage break
up from director Sam Mendes.
Winslet, clad in a full length red gown by designer Elie Saab, was
presented with the award for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or
movie, by fellow British actor Hugh Laurie.
Downton Abbey collected a total of four Emmys including best miniseries or
movie, and a supporting actress award for Dame Maggie Smith, who was not at
the ceremony.
Writer Julian Fellowes said: "This is really a David and Goliath story, except
in this case Goliath was wonderful, some wonderful shows that we were up
against, and it seems perfectly extraordinary that we've won.
“None of us know what's going to be a hit, we make these shows, we hope for
the best, but we don't know why sometimes it comes right and this evening is
such a marvellous moment in all our lives because this evening it came
right.”
US series Mad Men, set in the set in the world of advertising half a century ago, won
the Emmy for best TV drama series for the fourth straight year.
Laurie, the star of medical drama House, lost out to Kyle Chandler of Friday
Night Lights in the lead actor in a drama series category.
