Octavia Spencer Wins First Emmy, Stops Sir David Attenborough Becoming Oldest Emmy Winner Ever
Octavia Spencer won her first Emmy at the ceremony held at the Peacock Theater, taking the Outstanding Narrator award for Investigation Discovery's true-crime series Lost Women of Alaska. The surprise victory came at the expense of Sir David Attenborough, who at 100 had been favourite to become the oldest-ever Emmy winner, meaning Norman Lear retains that record. The result also denied wins to a strong field of fellow nominees, including Jodie Foster and Werner Herzog.
Attenborough had been nominated twice in the category, for Netflix's A Gorilla Story and Nat Geo's Ocean with David Attenborough, giving him roughly a 40% chance of winning according to the article. Spencer, previously nominated in 2020 and 2024, said backstage that her long-standing interest in true crime made the project a natural fit. Norman Lear remains the oldest Emmy winner, having won in 2020 aged 98, while Attenborough retains records as the oldest Primetime Emmy nominee and the oldest Daytime Emmy winner, achieved last year aged 99.
- Octavia Spencer wins first Emmy for narrating Lost Women of Alaska
- Win denies 100-year-old David Attenborough the oldest-winner record
- Norman Lear (won aged 98) remains the oldest-ever Emmy winner
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Octavia Spencer won her first Emmy for narrating Lost Women of Alaska, a true-crime series about missing and murdered Indigenous women in Alaska, in the Outstanding Narrator category at US television's main annual awards. The category also featured Sir David Attenborough, the veteran naturalist and broadcaster, who at 100 years old was widely tipped to win and become the oldest person ever to receive an Emmy.
Attenborough had two nominations in the same category, for separate nature documentaries, and was seen as the strong favourite going into the ceremony. The record for oldest Emmy winner is currently held by the late US actor and producer Norman Lear, who won in 2020 at the age of 98.
Other well-known nominees in the running included the actor Jodie Foster and the film-maker Werner Herzog, giving the category a particularly high-profile field this year.