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When it comes to the race to win an Emmy, there will be a collective buzz around the award’s 60+ categories until Sept. 15 when we find out who gets the gold.

Arguably one of the most highly competitive awards doesn’t happen at the main event but the weekend before at the Creative Arts ceremony. That’s when the winners in the four guest performer categories (which include guest actor and actress in both comedy and drama genres) are awarded for a one-time or re-curring role. (Think Jamie Lee Curtis’ two-episode performance on FX’s “The Bear” — a likely candidate.)

In looking back at early precursors, this award has quite a checkered past with numerous category name changes and head-scratching nominee groupings over the years. For example, in 1977, the bracket was called outstanding single appearance in a comedy or drama series. There was no separation by genre, so nominees included...

Austin Stoker, the Trinidadian-American actor best known for his starring role in John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13, has died at the age of 92.

News of his death was announced on Facebook by Robin Stoker, his wife of 43 years.

Stoker died of renal failure at the Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Los Angeles on Friday 7 October, surrounded by loved ones.

Born Alphonso Marshall in Trinidad on 7 October 1930, Stoker moved to New York to pursue a career as an actor after serving in the US military.

He had a prominent role in 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes, playing Macdonald, a human who serves Roddy McDowall’s ape Caesar.

For many, though, Stoker is best remembered for his role in Assault on Presinct 13. In the groundbreaking thriller, Stoker played Ethan Bishop, a cop who defends a police station under seige from a violent street gang.

In 1977, Stoker also had a...

Austin Stoker, a veteran actor who most notably starred in John Carpenter’s sophomore feature “Assault on Precinct 13” and co-starred with Pam Grier in the 1975 blaxploitation feature “Sheba, Baby,” died Friday of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 92.

Details regarding Stoker’s death were shared by his wife of 43 years, Robin Stoker, on her personal Facebook Monday evening. Robin called Austin “the love of my life” in her tribute.

In another tribute, actor and director Bill Duke hailed Stoker as “one of Hollywood’s unsung actors” and shared his blessings to his family.

In the landmark independent thriller “Assault on Precinct 13,” Stoker starred as Lt. Ethan Bishop, a Black cop who must lead a group of criminals, civilians and office workers as a police station is besieged by a relentless army of street gang members. The lead role furthered Stoker’s acting career at the...

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Austin Stoker, the actor from Trinidad who starred as the heroic cop battling a band of marauding gang members inside a decommissioned police station in the John Carpenter thriller Assault on Precinct 13, has died. He was 92.

Stoker died Friday of renal failure on his birthday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his wife, Robin, told The Hollywood Reporter. “His transition was beautiful,” she said.

Stoker also portrayed Macdonald, the human assistant of Roddy McDowall’s Caesar, in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), the fifth and final chapter in the original movie series, and he was Brick Williams, the love interest of Pam Grier’s private investigator, in Sheba, Baby (1975).

On the landmark 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, he played Virgil Harvey, father of Olivia Cole‘s Mathilda.

In the cult classic Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Stoker starred as Lt. Ethan Bishop, who goes...

Kaitlin Olson won over legions of fans with the zany comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but her go-for-broke performance never caught on with Emmy voters. Luckily, the TV academy made it up to the actress with a Best Short Form Actress nomination for “Flipped” in 2020, but Olson has finally earned a nomination for a full-length series this year, for Best Comedy Guest Actress for her role as DJ in HBO Max’s “Hacks.” Can this longtime comedy favorite finally score a win?

Emmy voters clearly love this series as “Hacks” managed to grab a whopping four nominations in this category. In addition to Olson, Jane Adams, Laurie Metcalf and Harriet Sansom Harris are also nominated. Adams and Olson are reprising characters they played in Season 1, while Metcalf and Harris are new additions to the ensemble. Five-time Emmy winner Jane Lynch (“Only Murders in the Building”) and three-time nominee Harriet Walter...

One of the saddest and most important segments of the SAG Awards each year is the In Memoriam segment. For the 2019 event, it turns out to be even sadder for family members of certain long-time members of the Screen Actors Guild. Which actors and actresses were not even featured in this portion of the program on Sunday night? Check out this list below:

Marty Allen (actor)

Charles Aznavour (actor)

Kaye Ballard (actor)

Dushon Monique Brown (actor)

Joseph Campanella (actor)

Roy Clark (actor/singer)

Vic Damone (actor/singer)

Daryl Dragon (host/musician)

Louise Latham (actor)

Robin Leach (host)

Stan Lee (executive/host)

Katherine MacGregor (actor)

Robert Mandan (actor)

Peggy McKay (actor)

Tim O’Connor (actor)

Roger Perry (actor)

Douglas Rain (actor)

Ken Swofford (actor)

Clint Walker (actor)

Nancy Wilson (actor/singer)

Louis Zorich (actor)

SEE2019 SAG Awards: Full winners list in the 6 film and 9 TV categories

For the ceremony hosted by...

Sunday’s telecast of the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards will feature a special In Memoriam segment devoted to many of the actors and actresses who have died since last year’s ceremony in late January. Sure to be among those saluted include actress and director Penny Marshall, Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Burt Reynolds and Grammy winner Aretha Franklin. Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam galleries for the year of 2018 and the newly-started gallery for 2019.

The 25th annual ceremony will be hosted by past winner Megan Mullally (“Will and Grace”) for TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27, at 8:00 p.m. Et; 5:00 p.m. Pt. Tom Hanks will be presenting the SAG life achievement award to Alan Alda.

SEE2019 SAG Awards nominations: Full list of Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees

Over 100 people in SAG/AFTRA have passed away in the past 12 months. Which of the following 50 names will also...

Throughout 2018, we will continue to update this photo gallery with major celebrity deaths from film, television, theater and music.

For this year, losses have included Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, Marvel founder Stan Lee, Tony winner Neil Simon, Oscar winners Bernardo Bertolucci, Milos Forman, Dorothy Malone, Emmy winners Steven Bochco, Anthony Bourdain, Reg E. Cathey, Olivia Cole and Burt Reynolds, Emmy nominees Harry Anderson, John Mahoney, Charlotte Rae and Jerry Van Dyke, Oscar-nominated composer Johann Johannsson, and legendary sports announcer Keith Jackson.

The Emmys paid their final respects tonight to dozens of industry notables who died over the past year, including 10-time Emmy-winning writer-producer Steven Bochco, who employed half the town on such shows as Hill Street Blues, La Law and NYPD Blue; five-time Emmy-winner Anthony Bourdain, whose suicide shocked his friends and fans; and three-time winning actress and humanitarian Nanette Fabray. Sen. John McCain also was honored, as was Neil Simon and Aretha Franklin, whose moving rendition of “Amazing Grace” was played throughout.

Presented by Tina Fey, the In Memoriam portion of the show also paid tribute to dozens of actors including Burt Reynolds, Rose Marie, Jim Nabors, Della Reese, Jerry Van Dyke, Charlotte Rae, Bill Daily and David Cassidy. Emmy-winning actors Robert Guillaume, Reg E. Cathey and Olivia Cole also were honored.

David Ogden Stiers, who was nominated for three Emmys – twice for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester...

The special “In Memoriam” segment on the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony was tearful as beloved television legends Steven Bochco, Anthony Bourdain, Robert Guillaume, Monty Hall, John Mahoney, Jim Nabors, Charlotte Rae, Burt Reynolds, Neil Simon and Craig Zadan were part of the annual tribute.

SEEEmmy winners 2018: Full list of winners and nominees at the 70th Emmy Awards

But who was missing from the memoriam this time? Some of those surprising omissions included:

Marty Allen (actor/comedian)

Peter Baldwin (director)

Brent Briscoe (actor)

Dushon Monique Brown (actor)

Frank Buxton (writer/director)

Joseph Campanella (actor)

Olivia Cole (actor)

Vic Damone (actor/singer)

Bradford Dillman (actor)

Roy Dotrice (actor)

John Dunsworth (actor)

Harlan Ellison (writer)

Nanette Fabray (actor)

Dominic Frontiere (composer)

Michael Gershman (cinematographer)

Billy Graham (host)

Vanessa Greene (producer)

Doug Grindstaff (sound editor)

John Hillerman (actor)

Rance Howard (actor)

Tab Hunter (actor)

Earle Hyman (actor)

Anne Jeffreys (actor)

Margot Kidder (actor)

Louise Latham...

The special “In Memoriam” segment on the 2018 Emmy Awards ceremony will be especially tearful this year. Beloved television legends Steven Bochco, Anthony Bourdain, Robert Guillaume, Monty Hall, John Mahoney, Jim Nabors, Charlotte Rae, Burt Reynolds, Neil Simon and Craig Zadan will certainly be just a few people honored with in a musical tribute.

Let’s take a look back at these TV icons as well as over 50 others who have died since mid-September last year. Many will be included in the memoriam for the live Emmys ceremony hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost for NBC on September 17.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2018: In Memoriam Gallery

Bochco died on April 1 at age 74. The 10-time Emmy winner was the creator of such TV classics as “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.” He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1996.

Bourdain died in France on June...

To honor Memorial Day with a tribute on Monday, Gold Derby takes a look back at celebrity and entertainment deaths so far in 2018. We are continuing to update our memoriam photo gallery above with major celebrity deaths from film, television, theater and music.

For this year, losses have included Oscar winners Milos Forman and Dorothy Malone, Emmy winners Steven Bochco, Reg E. Cathey and Olivia Cole, Emmy nominees Harry Anderson, John Mahoney and Jerry Van Dyke, Oscar-nominated composer Johann Johannsson, and legendary sports announcer Keith Jackson. Here is a brief summary of the careers of 14 people who have died in 2018:

See Over 100 video interviews with 2018 Emmy contenders

Actress Margot Kidder died at age 69 on May 13. She was best known for playing reporter Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in “Superman: The Movie” (1978). She won a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for the children’s TV show “R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.

Actress Olivia Cole, best known for her performances in Roots and The Women of Brewster Place, passed away on January 19. She was 75.

Cole died in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her agent, Susie Schwarz at Sbb Partners, told Variety. Her cause of death is currently unknown.

“She was a very eccentric woman and a wonderful woman,” Schwarz said of Cole, who didn’t own a cell phone and shied away from technology.

Cole was born in Memphis, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

She returned to the U.S. in 1964 and appeared in "Romeo and Juliet" at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut.

In 1966, Cole made her Broadway debut in a revival of "The School for Scandal" — just one of the many stage appearances during her career — and then landed a gig as Deborah Mehren on CBS soap opera The Guiding Light.

She won...

Olivia Cole, the Emmy-winning star of the original “Roots” miniseries, has died at the age of 45. The actress died on Friday at her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, according to her agent Susie Schwarz of Sdb Partners. Born November 26, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, Cole got her start in acting on the CBS soap “Guiding Light” in 1969. Her breakout role, however, came a few years later on the hit ABC miniseries “Roots” in 1977. Also Read: Mark E Smith, Singer of The Fall, Dies at 60 For her work as Mathilda, the wife of Ben Vereen’s “Chicken George” Moore, Cole won...

Olivia Cole, the Emmy-winning actress best known for her performances in the 1970s miniseries Backstairs at the White House and Roots, has died. She was 75.

Cole died Friday at her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her agent, Susie Schwarz at Sdb Partners, told The Hollywood Reporter. The New York Times reported that she had suffered a heart attack.

Cole also portrayed the gossipy Miss Sophie alongside Oprah Winfrey on the 1989 ABC miniseries The Women of Brewster Place and on a subsequent, short-lived series.

Cole received her supporting actress Emmy for her turn as Matilda...

Quick Hits• Last Year's Winner: Regina King, "American Crime" • Was It an Upset? Yes. Vegas money was on Sarah Paulson ("American Horror Story") or Mo'nique ("Bessie").• Still Eligible? Yes• Hot Streak: Kathy Bates has the most nominations in this category of any actress ever, with six nods spanning from 1996 to 2015. • Fun Fact: Olivia Cole was the first black actress to be nominated in this category and the first black actress to win. Her role? Mathilda in "Roots," a miniseries being remade in 2016. Last year, in a crowded field made up of three "American Horror Story" nominees and two major HBO players, it was the talented Regina King who took home the gold for ABC's "American Crime." Technically, the same thing could happen again in 2016, though the field is a bit more competitive than it was a year ago. For starters, Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson and Angela Bassett are all again.

Even as a new version of the classic mini-series is in the works, Warner Bros. is aiming to please fans by bringing the entire original series of Roots to the high definition format with a slew of bonus features. Come inside to learn more!

If you're a fan of the original Roots series, or weren't old enough to remember the iconic mini-series, then you're in luck. Today WB has announced a new blu-ray set to bring the entire series to blu-ray with loads of special features that dive into the heart of the story on June 7, 2016. All the details are below:

The groundbreaking, acclaimed television miniseries that captivated the entire nation and won multiple awards, Roots, will be released on Blu-ray™ for the first time, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) on June 7, 2016. The legendary family saga, which follows the inspiring story of Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton, Transformers: Rescue Bots,...

In 1976, there was Alex Haley’s novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. In 1977, there was Roots, the popular miniseries starring Olivia Cole, Ben Vereen, and LeVar Burton, among others. And now, EW has confirmed that the History Channel is remaking Roots into a brand-new eight-hour miniseries.

Mark Wolper, son of Roots original executive producer David L. Wolper, will executive produce the remake, which is said to offer a contemporary take on both the book and the original miniseries.

A few photos from the London after-party for the premiere of A Dangerous Method have been making the rounds on the Internet. And, based on the images, it appears Michael Fassbender very much enjoyed himself at the event. (I’m particularly fond of the one in which he’s tinkering around on a piano, but the waltz with co-star Viggo Mortensen is pretty amazing in its own right.) UK tabloid The Sun initially reported that the actor “was politely asked to leave ” and “was becoming a bit of a handful for the other guests.” (Insert “handful” joke here.) But according...

Don't feel bad for Michael Fassbender, who was left out of the Best Actor Oscar race despite his critically-acclaimed turn in Shame. He appears to be in very good spirits. The Irish actor, 34, was photographed Tuesday having a grand ol' time at the London afterparty for the premiere of his new film, A Dangerous Method. Fassbender was snapped taking a turn at the piano and dancing with his costar Keira Knightley - and Viggo Mortensen. The night got so crazy that he made an unorthodox exit from the GQ-hosted bash, reports The Sun tabloid. "Michael was politely asked to leave...

A GQ editor has rushed to defend Michael Fassbender following reports he was kicked out of a showbiz party for drunken behaviour.

Fassbender was said to have been asked to leave after becoming "a bit of a handful" at the glitzy bash, hosted by the men's magazine following the premiere of A Dangerous Method in London on Tuesday.

A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper, "He was grabbing his co-stars and waltzing around the room with them. He lit a cigarette indoors and that was the point it had gone too far."

But Olivia Cole, a literary editor for GQ, has taken to her Twitter.com page to set the record straight.

She writes, "Dear (journalist) Gordon Smart of The Sun your story about Michael Fassbender at GQ's party on Tuesday is complete fiction. Check your facts. We were glad he was there and no one was asked to leave early, but hey, feel free to just make it up."...

The Travel Bookshop played a starring role in the 1999 film with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, but is now due to close

Poets and writers are engaged in fighting to save a west London bookshop which served as the backdrop for the on-screen romance between Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in the film Notting Hill.

The Travel Bookshop, which is due to close in two weeks unless a last-minute buyer can be found, is offering all its stock at half price. The shop's staff have been told that they will be made redundant after its owners failed to find a buyer.

The 1999 film which starred Roberts as a Hollywood star who falls in love with the store owner (Grant), grossed more than $360m (£220m) and the bookshop remains a popular tourist attraction.

A campaign has been launched to save the store with a handful of writers and poets offering to...

The one-off BBC drama stars Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson

Times are tough in broadcasting – it's all about the money these days. Share prices, attacks on the licence fee, takeovers and the internet. Broadcasters are scared. They will reach for safety. The last thing they would do is commission a one-off drama in verse about longing, failure and death inspired by a scene in James Joyce's Ulysses. Obviously.

And yet that is what the BBC has done with The Song Of Lunch – which drips with such mournful beauty and grace that you figure it has to have been an accident. Someone turned on a camera while no one was looking so Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson could perform Christopher Reid's bittersweet poem.

The Song of Lunch tells the story of Rickman's publisher meeting his former love, Thompson, for a nostalgic lunch at the Soho restaurant they used to frequent.