Ellen DeGenres, Rachael Ray share Emmy spotlight

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Ellen DeGeneres and cooking-lifestyle guru Rachael Ray shared the Daytime Emmy spotlight on Friday as they split the top two awards for entertainment talks shows.


In another high point of the evening, Jeanne Cooper, the grand dame of U.S. television's longtime No. 1 soap opera, was named best lead actress in a drama series for her 35-year role as Katherine Chancellor on "The Young and the Restless."


It was the first Emmy win after eight nominations for Cooper, 79, who is one of only two remaining "The Young and the Restless" cast members from the early days of the show.


Veteran "General Hospital" star Anthony Geary, who plays the popular Luke Spencer character, won his sixth trophy as best lead actor. Only one other daytime drama star, actress Erika Slezak of "One Life to Live," has won six Emmys as a lead performer.


"General Hospital" was named best daytime drama series for a record 10th year.


The victory for "Rachel Ray" in the race for best talk show marked an upset triumph over "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which had won the prize in each of the last four years.


"It's extraordinary to be the new kid on the block," an exuberant Ray said backstage. "It was a shocker."


Ray, signed to her show by Oprah Winfrey's production company, made headlines last month when a Dunkin' Donuts ad she appeared in was yanked after a Fox News Channel commentator complained the scarf Ray wore resembled a Muslim kaffiyeh.