STARS OF THE OFFICE, ENTOURAGE, HEROES, AND MANY MORE ABOARD AS PRESENTERS FOR THE 59TH PRIMETIME EMMY® AWARDS,

North Hollywood, CA, Aug. 22, 2007 – Steve Carell, Kyle Chandler, the cast of "Entourage,” Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Katherine Heigl, Hayden Panettiere, Jimmy Smits, Jon Stewart, Kiefer Sutherland and Kate Walsh have been confirmed as presenters for the 59^th Primetime Emmy® Awards, telecast executive producer Ken Ehrlich announced today.

Hosted by Ryan Seacrest (“American Idol"), the show will broadcast live from the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Sunday, Sept. 16 (8:00-11:00 ET live/ PT tape delayed) on FOX.



Steve Carell



Steve Carell currently stars in NBC’s “The Office” for which he received a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Michael Scott. In addition, he was the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards in 2006 and 2007 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy.

He first gained recognition for his contributions as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s Emmy Award-winning news program “The Daily Show.” Carell’s other television credits include NBC’s “Watching Ellie,” CBS’ “Over the Top” and “The Dana Carvey Show.”



His first feature lead was Universal Pictures’, “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” which he co-wrote with Judd Apatow, earning Best Comedy Movie at the 11th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards.  The film also earned Carell a nomination for Best Original Screenplay by the Writers Guild Association in 2006.

His other feature credits include Fox Searchlight’s “Little Miss Sunshine,” Universal Pictures’ “Evan Almighty,” DreamWorks’ animated feature “Over the Hedge,” and can be seen in the upcoming film “Get Smart” by Warner Bros.



Kyle Chandler



Kyle Chandler, currently stars on NBC's drama “Friday Night Lights” as Eric Taylor. Chandler was most recently seen in ABC's medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” which garnered him a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Performance in a Drama Series in 2006. 

His additional television credits include “The Lyons Den,” “Homefront,” “Early Edition,” “What About Joan,” “Starring Pancho Villa as Himself” and “China Beach.” He recently completed the film “The Kingdom,” opposite Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. Chandler’s additional film credits include the box-office hit “King Kong,” “Mulholland Falls,” “Angel’s Dance,” “Pure Country,” and “The Color of Evening.”



Kevin Connolly



Kevin Connolly can currently be seen in the 4th season of HBO’s "Entourage," as Eric, the best friend and manager to a young actor whose film career is in its heady first stages. The show was recently nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.  He will soon begin shooting New Line's "He's Just Not That Into You" opposite Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore, Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long and Bradley Cooper.

Connolly finished directing the indie feature "Gardener of Eden," a dark comedy centering on alienated youth in suburban New Jersey.  He was most recently seen on screen in Nick Cassavetes’ film "The Notebook" with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.



Additional feature film credits include "Alan & Naomi," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Angus," "John Q" opposite Denzel Washington, "Antwone Fisher" directed by Denzel Washinton, and "Rocky V," with Sylvester Stallone.



Kevin Dillon

Kevin Dillon’s portrayal of Johnny Drama in HBO’s comedy series, “Entourage,” has earned him a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Dillon garnered attention for his roles in Oliver Stone's films, “Platoon” and “The Doors.” He also starred in “The Blob” and “Immediate Family” opposite James Woods and Glenn Close. Dillon was a regular on CBS’ “That’s Life” and had recurring roles on NBC’s “NYPD BLUE” and Fox’s “24.”

Jerry Ferrara



Jerry Ferrara is best known for his role as Turtle on HBO’s “Entourage,” which has earned a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. A Brooklyn transplant, Ferrara landed his first role on CBS’ comedy “The King of Queens.” His television credits include “NYPD Blue” and “Grounded for Life.”  Upcoming projects include "Gardener of Eden” and “Where God Left His Shoes.”  He recently starred in the feature film "Brooklyn Rules."

Kelsey Grammer



Kelsey Grammer’s portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane on NBC’s “Frasier” has earned him four Primetime Emmy Awards in 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2004 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, in addition to two Golden Globes in 1996 and 2001 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical.

Grammer earned another Emmy Award in 2006 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance as Side Show Bob in “The Simpsons.” He has received a total of 16 Primetime Emmy nominations, eight Golden Globe nominations and 16 Screen Actor Guild nominations.



This fall Grammer will introduce a new character on FOX’s “Back to You,” co-starring Patricia Heaton.  He plays a womanizing news anchor sent back to his small-market beginnings after an on-air blunder. Grammer’s feature credits include FOX’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” New Line Cinema’s “Fifteen Minutes” and 20^th Century Fox’s “Down Periscope.” 

His television credits include NBC’s “Father of the Pride,” NBC’s “A Christmas Carol,” A&E’s “Benedict Arnold,” and ABC’s Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Mr. St. Nick.” Grammer’s FOX-based production company, Grammnet, has produced hit television projects for nearly 15 years.  Currently in production is the Primetime Emmy-winning “Medium,” for which Kelsey also guest-starred.  For the CW, Grammnet is producing “Girlfriends” and “The Game.”



Adrian Grenier



Adrian Grenier can be seen on HBO’s “Entourage,” which has earned a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, as Vincent Chase. He most recently appeared and directed in the documentary “Shot in the Dark.”

Grenier's credits include “The Devil Wears Prada,” indie film “The Adventures of Sebastian Cole” and has worked with directors such as Woody Allen, John Waters and Steven Spielberg.  Grenier has also written and directed several short films, including festival favorite “Euthanasia.”



Patricia Heaton

Patricia Heaton, an actress whose career spans television, theater and film, has been honored with two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (2000 and 2001) for her portrayal of Debra Barone CBS series “Everybody Loves Raymond.” In this role, she was also nominated for 11 Screen Actors Guild Awards.



Heaton was recently seen in the romantic comedy, “The Engagement Ring” on TNT.  She also appeared in “The Path to 9/11” for ABC and revived the role of Paula, in a contemporary version of the original Neil Simon classic “The Goodbye Girl,” opposite Jeff Daniels, for TNT.


Heaton will return to television this fall in FOX’s "Back to You" with Kelsey Grammer.  Her television credits include roles on the series “Room for Two,” “Someone Like Me,” “Women of the House,” and “Thirtysomething.” 

She also starred in the television movie, “Miracle in the Woods,” with Della Reese, and the CBS holiday movie, “A Town Without Christmas.” In addition to television, Heaton's film credits include “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” “Beethoven,” “New Age” and “Space Jam.”

 

Katherine Heigl



Katherine Heigl received a Primetime Emmy Nomination this year for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on ABC’s drama “Grey’s Anatomy," which is also nominated for an Emmy Award this year for Outstanding Drama Series. In this role, she was also the recipient of a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in 2007. 

Heigl recently completed production on the romantic comedy, 27 Dresses, opposite James Marsden and Malin Akerman and starred in Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up.”  Heigl’s other television credits include the WB’s sci-fi drama series, “Roswell,” the Hallmark Channel’s “Love Comes Softly,” TBS’ “Evil Never Dies,” and “Love’s Enduring Promise.”



Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere is best known as the indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet, on NBC's drama “Heroes,” which earned a Primetime Emmy Nomination this year for Outstanding Drama Series. She recently completed filming “Fireflies in the Garden” opposite Julia Roberts, Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson.



Hayden’s other film credits include “Message in a Bottle,” “Object of My Affection,” and has featured her voice talent in two animation features “A Bug’s Life,” as Princess Dot and as Suri in Disney’s “Dinosaurs.” Currently, she is working on a CD which will debut from Hollywood Records in the Fall.

Jeremy Piven



Jeremy Piven’s role as the slick, fast talking super agent, Ari Gold on the HBO original series “Entourage,” has earned him a Primetime Emmy in 2006 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He received an Emmy nomination for the same role in 2005, and is again nominated this year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. The role has earned him Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Piven was a series regular on ABC’s “Cupid” and NBC’s “Ellen” and in the telepic “Don King: Only in America.” Prior to “Entourage,” Piven had already established his presence in over 40 feature film credits which include: “The Player,” “Runaway Jury,” “Old School,” “Serendipity,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Very Bad Things,” “Singles,” “Rush Hour 2” and “The Family Man.” 



In 2005, Piven returned to his theater acting roots when he starred alongside Keri Russell and Andrew McCarthy in the off-Broadway hit, “Fat Pig” by Neil LaBute. For his role, Piven received a Distinguished Performance Honor from the Drama League.



Jimmy Smits



Jimmy Smits returns to television both on screen and off in CBS' new drama “Cane,” in which the Primetime Emmy Award-winner also serves as executive producer.  In 2006, Smits completed his role in the long-running NBC series “The West Wing,” as President Matthew Santos. 

Smits was also seen in HBO’s multiple award-winning television movie “Lackawanna Blues,” which received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Made for Television Movie in 2005. Other television credits include “The Broken Cord,” “The Tommyknockers,” “The Cisco Kid” and “Marshal Law.”



He received six consecutive Emmy nominations for his role as Victor Sifuentes on “L.A. Law,” winning the Emmy in 1990, and also five Emmy nominations for his role as Bobby Simone on the Emmy-winning drama, “NYPD Blue.”



Additionally, Smits received an ALMA Award and an Imagen Award for Best Actor in “West Wing,” has four Golden Globe nominations – winning as an Actor in a Leading Role, Drama Series, in 1996 for his role in “NYPD Blue” – and eight SAG Award nominations.  His highly touted departure from “NYPD Blue” also won the Humanitas Award.

Jon Stewart



Jon Stewart is best known for his hosting role on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”  For the past five years, Stewart and “The Daily Show” received eight Primetime Emmy Awards and numerous other nominations in addition to its winning in the category of Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series, which earned another nomination this year. “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” has also been bestowed with two prestigious Peabody Awards.

Kiefer Sutherland



Kiefer Sutherland received his sixth Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his portrayal of Jack Bauer on the FOX drama, "24." In this role, he won an Emmy Award in 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, a Golden Globe Award, and two SAG Awards. Most recently, Sutherland wrapped production in Romania on New Regency’s thriller “Mirrors."

Kate Walsh



Kate Walsh can next be seen in ABC’s debut series, “Private Practice,” a spin-off of “Grey's Anatomy” in which she will continue her role as Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery.  Her television credits include roles on ABC's “The Mike O’Malley Show,” HBO's “Mind of a Married Man” and ABC's "The Drew Carey Show.”  Walsh recently co-starred opposite Will Ferrell and Robert Duvall in the feature film “Kicking and Screaming.”



Walsh's other feature credits include “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “After the Sunset,” “Inside Out” and “The Family Man.”

The 59^th Primetime Emmy® Awards is being produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures LLC and is presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.  Ken Ehrlich is the executive producer; Renato Basile and Danette Herman are the producers; Herman also serves as the executive in charge of talent.  Bruce Gowers will direct.

Visit to the 59^th Primetime Emmy Awards area for more awards information.

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About the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences



The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946 just one month after network television was born. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry. In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Emmy® Award, the Television Academy publishes Emmy® Magazine and stages many industry-related programs, services and year-round events for the television community.

For additional press information and resources concerning the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, please direct your inquiries to Robin Mesger of The Lippin Group at (323) 965-1990.

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