Henry Winkler has been in acting a long time, and in all those decades he's been a household name, only a few accolades have escaped his grasp. That changed during the 70th Emmy Awards when the former Happy Days standout took the stage to accept his first Primetime Emmy ever. After 42 years of waiting, Winkler took home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal as Gene Cousineau in the acclaimed HBO dramedy Barry.
The Emmy win was very emotional for Henry Winkler, who mentioned in his brief speech that he'd been waiting for this day for a very long time. And you can watch him continuing to enjoy himself in the Thank You Cam footage below.
Winkler's first Emmy nomination came in 1976, where he received the nod for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his jukebox-smacking portrayal of Arthur Fonzarelli. Winkler would get nominated for his work on Happy Days again in the next two years, but would ultimately miss out on the award. Winkler got considered again in 1979 for Outstanding Informational Program for his work on Who Are the DeBolts? [And Where Did They Get 19 Kids?], but would miss the mark yet again just ahead of a long gap between nominations.
Henry Winkler remained active in Hollywood from the late 70s on, but it wasn't until 2000 he found himself in the running yet again, this time nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for a role in _Battery Park. _But his nomination was revoked by the Academy prior to the awards telecast. Apparently, Winkler's appearance happened after the Academy's cutoff date, which meant he couldn't be on the ballot. Winkler wouldn't get another shot at an Emmy until 2018, and as we saw, the rest was history.
Henry Winkler mentioned during his speech that those who stay at it long enough have the chips come to them. Not long after winning the award, Winkler snapped a picture with another big actor from those good ol' Happy Days, Ron Howard, who would probably agree with his former co-star's statement.
Henry Winkler won the first Emmy of the night for HBO, and the first for Barry. Winkler plays actor-turned-acting coach Gene Cousineau, who becomes a mentor to aspiring actors like assassin-turned-actor, Barry. Winkler wasn't the only Barry star to win something tonight, as series lead Bill Hader won the Emmy for Outstanding Actor in A Comedy Series. The news is, of course, a good look towards the series future on the network, although it was already renewed for Season 2 long before it started raking in the awards.
There's lots of stuff happening during the 70th Primetime Emmy's so be sure to keep checking CinemaBlend for all the big updates of the night. For a look at upcoming television over the next few months be sure to visit our fall premiere guide.
