ROGER BART TO HOST 35TH INTERNATIONAL EMMY® AWARDS GALA
Gala Cast of International Celebrity Presenters Includes Robert De Niro, Sam Waterston, Lorraine Bracco, Alan Cumming, Elmo, Gloria Reuben, Eric Bogosian, Carole Bouquet, Rob Morrow, Katrina Bowden and George Wendt
New York, November 5, 2007 – The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that screen and stage actor Roger Bart will be hosting the 35th International Emmy® Awards Gala on November 19, 2007, in New York. Famous worldwide for his role as the menacing pharmacist in the hit television show Desperate Housewives, Bart is now starring in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein on Broadway and Ridley Scott’s new movie American Gangster.
Robert De Niro and Sopranos lead Lorraine Bracco will join the cast of celebrity presenters, which includes Sam Waterston (Law & Order), Elmo (Seasame Street) and actors Alan Cumming (X-Men 2, Cabaret), Gloria Reuben (ER), Rob Morrow (Northern Exposure, The Bucket List), Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio), Katrina Bowden (30 Rock), Ashley Jones and Drew Tyler Bell (The Bold & The Beautiful) and George Wendt (Cheers, Hairspray) for the International Emmy® Awards Gala.
French film and television star Carole Bouquet (Sex and The City, New York Stories) will present the Directorate Award to TF1 Group Chairman, Patrick Le Lay.
Nominees in attendance include actors Stephen Fry (UK), Takeshi Kitano (Japan), Muriel Robin (France), Brenda Ngxoli, (South Africa), Lazaro Ramos (Brazil), Victoria Wood (UK), Lilia Cabral (Brazil), Pierre Bokma (The Netherlands) and Bobby AuYeung Chun Wah (Hong Kong, PR China).
The International Emmy® Awards recognize excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States. Over 1,000 international entertainment decision-makers attend the International Emmy® Awards Gala in New York every year.
This year’s sponsors include: Phoenix TV, Globo TV, Accenture, Microsoft, , NBC Universal, Ascent Media, Reed Midem, Sofitel Hotels, and Variety. Chip Quigley, Kingdom Entertainment, will produce the show for the 7th year in a row.
2007 International Emmy® Awards Host & Presenters:
Roger Bart – Host
A gifted actor, Roger Bart’s tremendous presence extends to both the small and big screens, as well as to the stage.
Bart will next be seen on Broadway in the musical Young Frankenstein as the title character, ‘Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.’ Based on the smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. Co-starring Megan Mullally, Sutton Foster, Shuler Hensley, Fred Applegate and Christopher Fitzgerald, the show is directed by Susan Stroman. The show begins previews on October 11th & premieres on November 8th.
This fall, Bart also appears in American Gangster alongside Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film was released by Universal on November 2nd. He recently wrapped Harold & Kumar 2, the follow up to the cult comedy hit.
Previous film roles include ‘Carmen Ghia’ for Universal’s film version of The Producers directed by Susan Stroman. Bart also starred in Paramount Pictures’ The Stepford Wives as the gay Stepford wife. The role was created for Bart based on his flamboyant role in the Broadway production of The Producers. Additional films include Hostel 2, the sequel to the hit horror film, Jeff Garlin’s independent comedy I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With The Insider, starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, Disney’s Hercules (singing voice of Young Hercules), and The Lady and the Tramp II (singing voice of Scamp).
On Broadway, Bart originated the role of ‘Carmen Ghia’ in The Producers, the smash hit musical by Mel Brooks and Director Susan Stroman. Bart received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for the role. In 1999, Bart received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as ‘Snoopy’ in the revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, directed by Michael Mayer. Other Broadway credits include The Frogs, starring opposite Nathan Lane, and Triumph of Love.
On television, Bart started in the critically acclaimed Sci-Fi miniseries The Lost Room and portrayed ‘George Williams,’ the menacing pharmacist on ABC’s hit Desperate Housewives. Other television credits include the CBS comedy Bram and Alice, directed by James Burrows, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The George Carlin Show.
A native of New Jersey, Bart currently divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.
Eric Bogosian
Armenian-American television and film actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist, Eric Bogosian, is Law & Order’s Captain Danny Ross and has had an illustrious career spanning stage and screen. Nominated for a Pulizer Prize for Talk Radio, Bogosian’s other credits include Blade: Trinity, Igby Goes Down and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
Carole Bouquet
The French actress best known internationally as Bond girl Melina Havelock in the 1981 movie For Your Eyes Only, Carole Bouquet has had a diverse entertainment career. Spokesmodel for Chanel in the 1990’s, Bouquet won the prestigious César award for Best Actress in Trop belle pour toi and has most recently appeared on U.S. screens as Aleksandr Petrovskys ex-wife Juliette in Sex & The City.
Katrina Bowden
Currently playing Cerie in the hit NBC series, 30 Rock, Katrina Bowden’s previous work includes roles in Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit and the daytime drama, One Life to Live. Bowden will next be seen in the upcoming comedy National Lampoon’s Ratko: The Dictator’s Son.
Lorraine Bracco
Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominated actress, Lorraine Bracco is best known for her roles as Karen Hill in Goodfellas and mob-psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi on the hit HBO TV series, The Sopranos. Bracco’s numerous film credits include Riding in Cars with Boys, The Basketball Diaries and Medicine Man.
Alan Cumming
Eclectic Tony Award winning actor Alan Cumming, wrote, directed, produced and acted (with Jennifer Jason Leigh) in The Anniversary Party, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won a National Board of Review Award and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Other films include: X Men 2, the Spy Kids trilogy, Eyes Wide Shut, Emma, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Urbania, Nicholas Nickleby, Titus, Goldeneye and Circle of Friends. Cumming’s television work includes The L Word and Reefer Madness on Showtime and Sex in the City on HBO. In Britain he wrote and starred in the cult sitcom The High Life as well as many other films for the BBC including Bernard and the Genie for which he won a British Comedy award. Alan will soon be seen in the much anticipated Sci Fi Channel mini series Tin Man, an adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro is considered as one of the greatest actors of all time. Finding fame with his first role in Bang the Drum Slowly, he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Martin Scorsese’s 1973 film, Mean Streets. De Niro went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather: Part II and received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Cape Fear. In 1980 he solidified his impressive career with another Academy Award win, this time for Best Actor in Raging Bull. De Niro currently heads his own production company, Tribeca Film Center, and made his directorial debut in 1993 with A Bronx Tale.
Elmo
Winner of 7 Daytime Emmy Awards, Elmo is a 3 ½-year-old red monster with a high-pitched voice and a contagious giggle. Enthusiastic, friendly, and cheerful, he always wants to be part of everything that goes on. However, like most preschoolers, he sometimes doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to do what he wants. But that never stops him because he has a very positive, optimistic view of himself and life. In Season 38, Elmo returns for a ninth season of “Elmo’s World.” This year, Elmo, Dorothy (his pet fish) and Mr. Noodle cover topics such as Mouths, Noses, Violins, Helping, and the Beach. In a street story, Elmo has been chosen to play the ‘Amazing Alphabet Race’ game in which Elmo has to search for all the letters of the alphabet in the hopes of winning a fabulous prize. Elmo is appearing this Holiday season in Elmo’s Christmas Countdown.
Ashley Jones
With two Daytime Emmy nominations for her role as Bridget Forrester on the number one show in the world, CBS’s Bold and the Beautiful, Ashley Jones rose to fame at Megan Dennison on The Young and the Restless. Jones’ other acting credits include the cult comedy, Old School and TV shows Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Crossing Jordan, The District, Without a Trace, and 7th Heaven.
Nai-Chian Katz
Mrs Nai-Chian Mo Katz has been the senior Washington correspondent for Phoenix Satellite Television since October 2002. Her main area of expertise is in U.S. foreign policy towards Asia, the U.S-China and also the U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relationships. Miss Katz has interviewed President Bush, Secretary of Commerce- Gutierrez, Secretary of Labor- Chao, Deputy Secretary of State- Negroponte, former Deputy Secretary of State- Zoellick, former Deputy Secretary of State- Armitage, former Secretary of Commerce- Evans, former Deputy Secretary of Defense- Wolfowitz and other senior U.S. Government officials throughout the years. She was also an embedded journalist during the Iraq war in 2003, reporting from the U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleets.
Prior to joining Phoenix Satellite Television, she built a strong track record working as a reporter and anchor-woman at a number of premier Chinese language television stations. She worked for STAR TV and also Formosa TV in Taiwan before 1997 and then later on she resided in Hong Kong and worked for CNBC Asia and Chinese Television Network before she moved to the United States in 2001.
Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow is best known for his critically acclaimed portrayal of New York doctor-gone-Alaska, Joel Fleischman, on the hit television series, Northern Exposure, for which he earned which three Golden Globe and two Emmy Award nominations. Morrow is currently starring in the television series Numb3rs and will be seen this fall in the upcoming film The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
Gloria Reuben
Multiple Emmy Award nominee Gloria Reuben is perhaps best known to TV viewers for her 5 year run as Nurse Jeanie Boulet in hit-TV series, ER. Prior to TV Reuben debuted in film, starring opposite Jean Claude Van Damme in Time Cop and Johnny Depp in John Badham’s, Nick of Time. In between a slew of other television projects Reuben also starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and in 2000, she extended her burgeoning career into contemporary music, singing back up on the North American leg of Tina Turner’s “24/7″concert tour.
Most recently, Gloria co-starred in The Sentinel with Keifer Sutherland and Michael Douglas and in the HBO feature film, Life Support, with Queen Latifah, which focuses on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the female black community in the U.S.
Drew Tyler Bell
Drew is currently making his Broadway debut in Spring Awakening at the Eugene O’Neill Theater in the role of ‘Hanschen’. He recently starred in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising for 20th Century Fox and has starred for four years as Thomas Forrester in the CBS daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful. He appeared in the feature film Jeepers Creepers 2 for MGM, television series’ Standoff for Fox and Jake 2.0 for UPN, and the recently released Love’s Abiding Joy for the Hallmark Channel. In addition, Drew has been in numerous national commercials both as an actor and dancer. He has been dancing since the age of six and is currently a member of the Los Angeles tap troupe “Tapsounds Underground”.
Sam Waterston
Most recently famous for his role as Detective Jack McCoy in the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, Sam Waterston is an Academy Award nominee who got an early break in the TV industry starring with Katherine Hepburn in The Glass Menagerie. Since then Waterston has appeared in numerous feature films including The Great Gatsby, The Killing Fields and Le Divorce. Waterston is a six-time Emmy Award nominee and 1993 Golden Globe winner for Best Actor in the television series I’ll Fly Away.
George Wendt
Best known for the role of Norm Peterson on the long-running TV series, Cheers, Wendt’s other television credits include Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Frasier.
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CONTACTS:
Eva Obadia
International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
T: 1-212-489-6969
eva.obadia@iemmys.tv
Matt Biscuiti
The Lippin Group
T: 1-212-986-7080
matt@lippingroup.com