jeremy piven

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― The biggest star of the Emmy afterparties wasn't the cast of "The Sopranos" or a cigar-chomping Jeremy Piven. It was Kanye West.

The 29-year-old rapper made an explosive surprise performance at TV Guide's packed bash at Hollywood hotspot Les Deux.

Hundreds of attendees rushed the stage when West ― who had mocked himself in a comedy sketch on the broadcast ― joined John Legend just after 11 p.m. Sunday.

Wearing his customary shades and jumping atop giant speakers, West urged the crowd to roar "Hell yeah!" and "Kan-ye!" West's miniset included his 2005 hit "Gold Digger."

West began another song but said he forgot the lyrics and stopped his performance.

If West was the model of swagger, then Terry O'Quinn was the image of modest calm. Seated at a table near the stage with his wife and manager, O'Quinn said he'd left his best-supporting actor trophy for the island drama "Lost" in the car.

"In a year, most people you ask won't know who won this award tonight," O'Quinn, 55, who plays the mysterious John Locke on "Lost," told The Associated Press.

Guests at the party included Emmy nominee Kyra Sedgwick and her husband, Kevin Bacon, along with Joey Fatone and Lisa Rinna, co-hosts of TV Guide Network's red-carpet show.

"Entertainment Tonight" and People magazine held a party in downtown's sprawling Walt Disney Concert Hall, where guests including Jon Voight, Tori Spelling and nominee Masi Oka of "Heroes" feasted on smoked-scallop burgers, feta tomato tarts and watermelon martinis.

Glass cases of flowers submerged in water decorated the hall's winding interior and adjacent garden. Sets by Duran Duran and high-energy saxophonist Dave Koz added some spirit to the mix.

Across town, HBO's Thai-themed shindig at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood was still going strong at 1 a.m.

Revelers ― including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, accompanied by his daughter ― walked on a gold-and-purple carpet surrounded by gold Buddhas and tiered table umbrellas.

"Entourage" star Jeremy Piven, holding his Emmy in one hand and sucking on a sausage-thick cigar with the other, accepted congratulations and hugs. The 42-year-old actor won for supporting actor in a comedy series.

When told by fire officials to stop smoking, Piven moved to another spot ― and continued smoking.

Meanwhile, Terrence Winter, executive producer of "The Sopranos," smiled as he talked about the show's Emmy for best drama series. "The Sopranos" ended earlier this year.

Standing near his trophy, Winter said the HBO bash was for people "who truly loved each other."

"It's bittersweet. It feels like the going-away party for the cast and crew. But what a going away," he said.
A surprise win for the comedy series "30 Rock," a rousing farewell to "The Sopranos" (including an Emmy for best drama series) and a moving tribute to the classic miniseries "Roots" elevated the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards on the Fox network last night -- but three instances of government-mandated censorship brought it down again.

Early in the program, comic actor Ray Romano and actress Katherine Heigl were both cut off when they apparently used four-letter words in remarks. The performers suddenly vanished for a few seconds and were replaced by static shots from elsewhere in Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium, where the telecast originated. The program was on time-delay, which gives networks the opportunity to edit live shows.


Gallery
The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
A surprise win for "30 Rock," a rousing farewell to "The Sopranos" and a moving tribute to "Roots" elevated the awards broadcast -- but three instances of censorship brought it down again.


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An arguably obscene word uttered even spontaneously can earn a network and even performers enormous fines from the Federal Communications Commission, re-activated as a national censor under the Bush administration.

The third instance of censorship may have been political. Sally Field, making one of her long and rambling acceptance speeches (winning for best actress in a drama on "Brothers & Sisters"), was interrupted by silence when she used a God-related swear word in voicing antiwar sentiments. According to the Associated Press, she said, "If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no [expletive] wars in the first place."

If Fox censored Field for political reason, it would be an ugly first in the history of the Emmys.

Presenter Brad Garrett made smutty remarks from the stage earlier in the evening but he didn't use any forbidden words, so he survived uncut.

The evening was almost a shutout for CBS, which won only one Emmy among those given out last night -- "The Amazing Race" was chosen best reality competition. Otherwise ABC won six Emmys, NBC (the lowest-rated network last season) seven, HBO six and three to PBS (all for the imported miniseries "Prime Suspect: The Final Act").

Although "Sopranos" lost in some categories, Emmys went to David Chase, creator of the epic drama, for writing the much-talked-about series finale, and to Alan Taylor for directing an episode called "Kennedy and Heidi." HBO also won the Emmy for best TV movie: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," a long-delayed adaptation about promises broken to Native Americans in the 19th century.

America Ferrera was named best actress in a comedy series for playing the title role in ABC's "Ugly Betty," and England's Ricky Gervais was chosen best comedy actor for his series "Extras" on HBO.

Accepting the best-comedy Emmy, series creator and star Tina Fey referred to the relatively low ratings for the show when she thanked "our dozens and dozens of viewers."

James Spader was a surprise winner as best actor in a drama for the ABC courtroom series "Boston Legal." It was a category that "Sopranos" was expected to take, and Spader said in his remarks, "I feel like I just stole a pile of money from the mob." He also touched on the arcane and mysterious apparatus behind the Emmy Awards when he said, "I have no idea who votes for these things or how you even secure a ballot."

Here and there, this year's Emmys reflected the changing landscape of television. One award was given to the Web site Current TV, which runs submissions from viewers. Al Gore, cheered at last spring's Oscar ceremony for his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," popped up at the Emmys as well, accepting
Ari Gold is back, baby!

Jeremy Piven, who plays one of the most iconic characters on TV today, won his second consecutive Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series" at the 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards.

With barely any time at all to sit down the awards show was off and running with the Pivster winning the first award of the night. Piven, who was the butt of more than one "womanizing" joke throughout the night also delivered the first joke by a winner when he said "he would like to thank the crew but had no idea what any of their names were." Like last year, Piven dedicated his Emmy to his father.

'Entourage' was nominated for 7 Emmys this year and walked away with two awards including, Steve Morantz, Dennis Kirk, Mark Fleming winning for "Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (half-hour) And Animation." HBO collected 21 Emmy wins this year, more than any other network.

Piven seems to have a lock on this category (fine by me) as this was his third consecutive nomination. Maybe next year Kevin Dillon will finally get his due much like his alter ego, Johnny Drama.

Piven was born in New York, New York, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois, in north suburban Chicago. He graduated from Evanston Township High School,[2] and attended Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, as a teenager. He played the part of "Bernardo" in West Side Story, there. In Illinois, he trained at Piven Theatre Workshop,[3] founded by his parents Byrne Piven and Joyce (née Hiller), both of whom were actors and drama teachers.[4][1] He has a sister, Shira,[5] and attended Camp Chi, a Jewish Community Center camp in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, in the 1970s. He also attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.[6] While at Drake he became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He has appeared in a number of films with John Cusack, who is also from Evanston and is a fellow alumnus of the Piven Theatre Workshop (as are Cusack's sisters Joan and Ann). Piven and Cusack once shared an apartment and have been friends since high school.[7]


[edit] Career

Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold in EntouragePiven's first significant role was as a regular castmember for several seasons on HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, where he played the headwriter Jerry. Piven has appeared in several successful films, including The Family Man, Black Hawk Down, Heat, PCU, Old School and Runaway Jury. He also had a brief appearance as a gay salesman in Rush Hour 2.

Since 2004, Piven has played Hollywood agent Ari Gold in the HBO series Entourage. He has received an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor three straight years from 2005 to 2007, and won the award in 2006 and 2007. Piven was also the star and producer of the short-lived ABC dramedy series Cupid, and was a supporting cast member on the last three seasons of the sitcom Ellen. He played the part of Ellen's cousin, "Spence". Piven voiced the character "Harv" in the animated 2006 motion picture Cars as Lightning McQueen's agent. Piven plays a similar role in the HBO series Entourage as "Ari Gold" who is Vincent Chase's agent.

Piven performed "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field on Father's Day, 2006. Piven gave the cue to Chicago Cubs fans by saying, "Let's hug it out, you little bitches", a line he made famous as his character Ari Gold on the hit HBO show Entourage. The Chicago Tribune reported that he was to have said, "Hug it out, Cubs fans".[8] He apologized on WGN-TV, and later claimed it was an accident during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Piven also appeared in local television advertisements for Cincinnati Bell Telephone, a subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell, Inc. He ended each commercial with the tagline, "Welcome to Cincinnati Bell", these advertisements ended on 2/28/2007, as the rights ended on that date. Piven's voice can be heard in national television advertisements for Buffalo Wild Wings, in which he delivers the phrase, "Buffalo Wild Wings: You have to be here." He also appeared in Paul Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart" video for the movie Singles, and played a balding Michael Barth playing George Costanza on the Seinfeld episode "The Pilot".

Piven was in a series of 1998 TV commercials for the Chicago Blackhawks and hosted Saturday Night Live on January 20, 2007 with musical guest AFI. Most recently, Piven appeared in Smokin' Aces.[9]

The Australian band The Russian Brides'[10] recent EP is titled "An Ode To Jeremy Piven", and features the song "Theme Song", with the lyrics "...he owns the town/It'd take an army to bring him down/He owns the screen and he owns the stage/He blows the other man off the page/Jeremy he's the coolest of the cats..." and the refrain "Jeremy, he's our guy."

In 2007, he won an Emmy for best supporting Actor in a comedy series.


[edit] Personal life
Piven is Jewish,[11] and also shares beliefs of many Eastern Religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.[12] Piven starred in the Travel Channel special Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime detailing his journey across India.

Piven plays the drums in his spare time. He recently sat in to play live with Kelley Jimenez. Piven also has recently learned how to play the ukulele. He is planning on following his new passion as far as it will take him. He will be going on tour prior to release of his new album, "From Khan to Barney: the life of love and adventure surrounding God's instrument, the Ukulele"

Former SNL writer and comedy director Adam McKay is Jeremy's brother-in-law. Piven is uncle to Pearl from The Landlord.[13