Watching last night’s Emmy Awards, this librarian had her heart set on hearing Timothy Olyphant’s name called when the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series was handed out. It didn’t happen (but it will, one day). But my disappointment affirmed one thing: There are shows that can do a book or short story justice, and there are actors who can bring familiar characters to beautiful, vital life on the screen. Such is the case with Olyphant, who plays Raylan Givens, a character that appeared in several of Elmore Leonard’s books, and Justified, the outstanding series that pits U.S. Marshalls against drug runners, conmen, and murderers.
But don’t take my word for it; check out the first season of Justified, and along with it Elmore Leonard’s When the Women Come Out to Dance: Stories, Pronto or Riding the Rap.
Other Emmy nominees/winners with bookish ties include:
- Kyle Chandler snagged that Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama series for his role as Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights (based on the movie which was based on the book by H.G. Bissinger.) The library owns all five seasons of the unfortunately canceled drama.
- Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce took home Emmy gold for their work in Mildred Pierce, based on the book by James M. Cain.
- I was also sad to see Sherlock passed over, but there’s always the second series pin one’s hopes on! Read “A Study in Scarlet” (the story that “A Study in Pink”, the episode nominated for the Emmy, was based on), or watch Benedict Cumberbatch bring the iconic detective into the 21st century in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’s Sherlock (also starring Martin Freeman as John Watson).
- Martin Scorcese won for Boardwalk Empire; the show is based on Nelson Johnson’s Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City.
- Peter Dinklage, whose take on Tyrion Lannister is one of the best things to come out of HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, won for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series.
All links lead to the NOBLE catalog.