(CNN) — Christina Applegate was moved to tears during Monday’s Emmy Awards telecast when she appeared on stage to present the awards for outstanding supporting actress and outstanding lead actress in a comedy series.
The audience rose for a standing ovation as Applegate – who revealed in 2021 that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – walked to the podium while holding a walking cane and with the help of Emmys host Anthony Anderson.
While on stage, Applegate listed off some of her notable roles throughout her decades-long Hollywood career, including playing Kelly Bundy in “Married… With Children,” Samantha in “Samantha Who?” and Jen Harding in “Dead To Me.”
“But very few of you probably know me from that debut – I’m going to cry more than I’ve been crying – Baby Burt Grizzell “‘Days of Our Lives,’” she said, referring to her first-ever screen credit from 1972.
Showing a photo of herself as Baby Burt Grizzell, Applegate hilariously added, “it was really a breakout role” and went on to say that over the course of her career, it’s “been an honor to play funny, flawed complex characters.”
Applegate was also a nominee at Monday’s show, earning recognition for her performance in Netflix’s “Dead to Me” in the outstanding lead actress in a comedy series category, which “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson ended up winning.
In May 2023, Applegate told Vanity Fair in an interview that her work on “Dead To Me” might just be her last as an actor as she lives with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
“I’m probably not going to work on-camera again,” Applegate said at the time, adding that while she loved her cast and crew, working had been a “struggle.”
She will, however, always savor the friendship she built with her co-star Linda Cardellini, saying, “I’m so glad that I went out with someone who is by far the greatest actress I’ve ever worked with in my entire life, if not the greatest human I’ve ever known.”
The-CNN-Wire
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