It was a victorious evening for former Days of Our Lives stars Darin Brooks (ex-Max Brady) and Tamara Braun (ex-Ava Vitali), who took home the winning trophies on Sunday, August 30, 2009 at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Darin Brooks won in the category for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series, while Tamara Braun won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Fans may recall that Darin Brooks portrayed Max Brady from June 2005 until July 2009. This is his second nomination and his first win in the category of Outstanding Younger Actor for his heartfelt portrayal of Max Brady. I feel especially honored since I can now say I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing a Daytime Emmy Award winner! Darin was embraced by his fellow Daytime Emmy nominees, Blake Berris (ex-Nick) and Peter Reckell (Bo) before taking the stage. “Um, I thought this would be a little easier, the speech thing,” said Darin as he was clearly shaking. He thanked Ken Corday, Ed Scott, Gary Tomlin, and Marnie Saitta before a brief portion of his speech was edited out. “Oh, did I swear? Ah, I knew that was gonna happen!” he grimaced. Hey, we forgive you Darin! It’s not every day you win a Daytime Emmy.
Tamara Braun portrayed Ava Vitali from February 2008 until August 2008 and made quite a mark with her complex, multi-layered portrayal. When her name was announced as the winner, Tamara stood up in shock and was embraced by Arianne Zucker (Nicole) and Kristian Alfonso (Hope) before taking the stage. “I really really didn’t expect this at all, I’ve prepared nothing. I love you guys at DAYS. Thank you so, so much for welcoming me for the amount of time I was there. To Ken Corday, to Ed Scott, Marnie, to my mom, who I love dearly more than anything because without you I am nothing,” gushed the actress. Perhaps several fans might’ve been surprised that she was even nominated since she only had a sixth-month stint on the show, but I was not at all surprised by her victory. Ava Vitali is one of the most fascinating, complex characters in the history of DAYS, and nobody could’ve done crazy Ava better than Tamara. This amazing actress exuded chemistry with everyone she interacted with on the show.
The last time DAYS won in the Outstanding Younger Actor category was back in 1988. Coincidentally, Darin’s former onscreen brother, Billy Warlock, won the trophy for this same category. Longtime fans recall that Billy Warlock portrayed Frankie Brady from 1986 until 1988 and from 1990 until 1991. He also returned to his former role in June 2005 until he was let go in November 2006.
It was 23 years ago in 1986 when DAYS last won in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. The award was won by the lovely Leann Hunley for her portrayal of Anna DiMera. Unfortunately, the talented actress was let go earlier this year shortly after Daytime Emmy nominee Thaao Penghlis (ex-Tony DiMera) was let go, to the dismay of many fans.
James Scott (E.J.) and Jay Kenneth Johnson (Philip) presented the award for Outstanding Directing Team in a Drama Series, which went to One Life to Live.
Other 2009 Daytime Emmy Award winners include:
Outstanding Drama Series:
The Bold and the BeautifulOutstanding Writing Team:
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
Christian LeBlanc (Michael, The Young and the Restless)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:Susan Haskell (Marty, One Life to Live)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:
Vincent Irrizary (David, All My Children)
Jeff Branson (Shane, Guiding Light)
Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series:
Julie Berman (Lulu, General Hospital)
Eric Martsolf (Brady) and Shelley Hennig (Stephanie) represented DAYS as they strutted their stuff on stage with a daytime fashion show segment, introduced by Tyra Banks.
There was a segment shown when Daytime Gives Back teamed up with Feed the Children, in which several daytime stars were shown actively participating. Three of daytime’s finest, Susan Lucci (Erica, AMC), Kelly Monaco (Sam, GH), and Anthony Geary (Luke, GH), along with Montel Williams, accepted the invitation from Feed the Children and traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, home to some of Africa’s biggest and poorest slums. Their mission was to bring the starving children of Africa a message of hope and help. Anthony Geary and Kelly Monaco announced that proceeds from the Daytime Emmy Award show would be able to feed more than 50,000 hungry children in the U.S. and in Africa. Larry and Frances Jones from Feed the Children were acknowledged by the stars.
It is also noteworthy to mention that the legendary Emmy Award-winning actress Betty White expressed her love for the longest running show in television history, Guiding Light, before introducing the tribute, in which a brief series of clips was played in honor of the CBS soap before it will last air on Friday, September 18, 2009.
Heartfelt Congratulations once again go out to Darin Brooks and Tamara Braun for their much-deserved Daytime Emmy wins! They were both a huge asset to DAYS and are sorely missed. Best of luck to both of them in their future endeavors.
