Octavia Spencer Wins First Emmy Over Attenborough — SkimNews
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- Octavia Spencer won her first Emmy in the Outstanding Narrator category for narrating Investigation Discovery's true-crime series 'Lost Women of Alaska'
- Sir David Attenborough, 100, was denied the title of oldest Emmy winner despite double nominations for Netflix's 'A Gorilla Story: Told By David Attenborough' and Nat Geo's 'Ocean with David Attenborough,' and a stated 40% pre-award chance of winning
- Norman Lear, who won at age 98 in 2020, remains the oldest Emmy winner in Primetime history after Attenborough's loss
- Spencer also beat out Jodie Foster, nominated for Netflix's 'Breakdown: 1975,' and Werner Herzog for Nat Geo's 'Ghost Elephants'
- Spencer had been nominated previously in 2024 for the same narrator award and in 2020 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for 'Self Made: Inspired By The Life Of Madam C.J. Walker'
- Spencer campaigned aggressively, telling Deadline at Contenders: The Nominees Studio that she began studying true crime after reading a true-crime story at age 11
- Attenborough still holds the record as the oldest Primetime Emmy nominee and the oldest Daytime Emmy winner (age 99, for 'Secret Lives of Orangutans' last year)
Why it matters: Spencer's win as a stated 40% underdog denied centenarian broadcaster Attenborough the distinction of oldest Emmy winner and preserved Norman Lear's age-98 record. For Spencer, the victory converts a years-long push into true-crime narration — complete with a backstage jab at the genre's network 'implosion' — into her first Emmy after two prior nominations.
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