Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, The Young and the Restless) found himself among four "newcomers" in the Lead Actor field. All four of the other nominees had earned their first nominations in the category this year and two of those nominees - All My Children's Jack Scalia (Chris Stamp) and Guiding Light's Robert Newman (Josh Lewis) - received their first Daytime Emmy nominations in any category this year.
Bergman, whose Emmy reel was one of the shortest submitted this year, credited his portrayal of "human frailty" for helping him win this year.
"I don't think long or short matters. You have to be able to touch people," the actor explained. "It sounds quite humorous, but I had a tape with well crafted words that [let] me let people in."
This win, which follows previous wins in 1991 and 1992, presents Bergman with the challenge of finding a place for a third golden statuette.
"The first one I wanted to put in an analogous place in my home," Bergman said when asked where he keeps his Emmys. "The second is on the other end of the mantel. This one goes dead center."
In victory, Bergman remained humble and heaped praise on the man who won the Lead Actor trophy the year before.
"I think David Canary (Adam and Stuart Chandler, All My Children) is the front runner in this category every time he's nominated," Bergman praised. "He's a legend."
A mishap of epic proportions capped off the night - a case of mistaken identity.
Justin Torkildsen (Rick Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Adrienne Frantz (Amber Moore, The Bold and the Beautiful), Emmy winners in the Younger Actor and Actress categories last year, presented the Outstanding Lead Actress category. The pair tore open the envelope and read the name of the winner: Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful).
Upon hearing the mention of the name "Susan," cameras panned to Susan Lucci (Erica Kane, All My Children), who was backstage after having handed out the Outstanding Lead Actor Emmy. Lucci mouthed "Susan Flannery," but in the background, the theme music from All My Children played. Upon hearing the music, a flabbergasted Lucci put her hands to her mouth and made her way back onto the stage. Meanwhile, Flannery had taken the stage and had already started giving her acceptance speech - all the while the All My Children theme continued to play.
Flannery, who submitted what was one of the longest Emmy reels at 46 minutes in length, said she wasn't prepared to deliver an acceptance speech because she thought another actress would be named the winner.
"I thought it was Finola [Hughes (Anna Devane, All My Children)] - in my book you're the best," Flannery said.
But in victory, Flannery did find a few things that troubled her.
"I'm disappointed for two reasons," Flannery sighed. "One because Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Forrester) has never been nominated. And two, I don't mean this to be sour grapes, but we didn't get nominated for writing."
This win marked Flannery's third win. She won in 2000 for her work on The Bold and the Beautiful and in 1975 for her portrayal of Laura Horton on Days of our Lives.
Flannery didn't reveal what she planned to do with her most recent Emmy statue, but she did reveal what she'd done with her first Emmy.
"The one I got for Days of our Lives was a doorstopper for 25 years," Flannery smirked.
