FELICITY HUFFMAN, HUGH LAURIE, JULIA LOUIS DREYFUS,
MATTHEW PERRY AND JON STEWART CONFIRMED AS THE FIRST
PRESENTERS FOR THE 58^TH ANNUAL PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS

Telecast Airs Live from Shrine Auditorium on NBC on Sunday, August 27

North Hollywood, CA, July 24, 2006 – Felicity Huffman, Hugh Laurie, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Matthew Perry and Jon Stewart are the first group of presenters confirmed for the 58^th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Hosted by Conan O’Brien of NBC's critically-acclaimed Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the awards telecast will broadcast live from Los Angeles’ historic Shrine Auditorium, Sunday, August 27 (8:00-11:00 ET Live/ PT tape delayed) on NBC.

Felicity Huffman stars as Lynette Scavo on ABC’s primetime hit Desperate Housewives, in which she won an Emmy as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005.  This year, she was nominated for an Academy Award, was the recipient of a Golden Globe award and an Independent Spirit Award for her performance as Bree, a transgendered woman, in the critically acclaimed film Transamerica. 

Huffman's other film credits include appearances in Christmas with the Cranks, Raising Helen; TV movies, Reversible Errors, Out of Order, Door to Door, among others.  She has also been featured in numerous plays such as Dangerous Corner and Shaker Heights, to name a few.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus currently stars on CBS’ hit comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine and was just nominated for an Emmy award for her role on that series as "Christine Campbell," a recently divorced working mom who’s juggling career, motherhood and romance.  Best known for her portrayal of Elaine Benes in the hit NBC series Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus received an Emmy award, a Golden Globe, five Screen Actors Guild awards and four American Comedy Awards during the show’s nine-year run. 

Having made her mark on television during a three-year stint (1982- 1985) on Saturday Night Live opposite the likes of Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest and Eddie Murphy, Louis-Dreyfus' other recent television credits include: Fox’s Arrested Development, NBC’s Watching Ellie, and TNT’s Animal Farm.  Her feature film credits include: Pixar’s A Bug’s Life; Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters and Deconstructing Harry; Rob Reiner’s North; Ivan Reitman’s Father’s Day and Jack the Bear. Louis-Dreyfus began her career at Northwestern University, where she studied theater, and was a member of The Practical Theater Company, and Chicago’s Second- City comedy troupe.

Hugh Laurie, best known for his role on the Fox Emmy-nominated medical drama series House, received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2005.  In 2006, he was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild and Television Critics Association Award for the same role. In Britain, he has starred in several comedy series such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie, which he also helped co-write; three seasons of Blackadder; three seasons of Saturday Live; and four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster which aired on Masterpiece Theater.  In the U.S., Laurie has appeared in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, Tracy Takes On, and Friends.  He has also appeared in several big screen hits such as The Man and the Iron Mask, 101 Dalmatians, Sense and Sensibility, and most recently, Flight of the Phoenix. 

In addition to acting, Laurie has directed television programs and commercials, composed and recorded numerous original songs and written articles for London’s Daily Telegraph.  His first novel, The Gun Seller, published in both the UK and US has not only received critical acclaim, but has been adapted into a screenplay for MGM.  Laurie is also responsible for producing The Cellar Tapes along with Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson.  The show won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1981. 

Matthew Perry is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on NBC’s long-running hit show Friends for which he received an Emmy nomination in 2003.  He also received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations from 1999-2004 for the same role.  In addition, he received a 2004 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series as Joe Quincy’ on The West Wing.  This fall he will appear in Aaron Sorkin’s highly anticipated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing a talented but tortured writer brought in to help to save a failing SNL- esque show. Perry will also star in the TNT’s The Ron Clark Story. 

In 1988, Perry made his film debut was in A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon. His other feature film credits include: The Whole Ten Yards, its sequel, The Whole Nine Yards, Three to Tango, Almost Heroes, Fools Rush In, and Serving Sara. In the Spring of 2004, Perry made his stage debut in London’s West End in David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago, which broke the largest box-office advance for a West End show.

Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, is considered one of America’s top social and comedic voices.  For the past five years, Stewart and The Daily Show received seven Emmy Awards and 10 nominations in the category of Outstanding Variety Music or Comedy Series.  In 2004, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was also honored by the Television Critics Association winning Outstanding Achievement in News and Information, beating out traditional news shows in the category. Stewart also won for Individual Achievement in Comedy and the show won for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy in 2003. 

Stewart's Daily Show also received the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in its indecision 2000 campaign coverage in 2001 and again in 2005 for Indecision 2004. Stewart has also been honored with Entertainment Weekly's 2004 Entertainer of the Year and New York Entertainer of the Year by Variety.   Most recently, he hosted the 78^th Annual Academy Awards.

The 58^th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards is being produced by NBC Universal Television Studio and is presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.  Ken Ehrlich and Jeff Ross are the executive producers; Renato Basile and Michael B. Seligman are the producers; Danette Herman is the coordinating producer and executive in charge of talent.  Louis J. Horvitz will direct.

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