David Attenborough becomes the oldest Daytime Emmy winner ever at the age of 99

Dick Van Dyke’s record as the oldest artist to win a Daytime Emmy didn’t last long. At this year’s ceremony, legendary British broadcaster, writer and naturalist Sir David Attenborough made history by winning the 2024 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Personality – Non-Daily – for Netflix’s ‘Secret Lives of Orangutans’ at the age of 99. (He will be 100 next May.)

That makes him a hair older than Van Dyke, who set the record at 98 last year when he won the guest performer in a drama series Daytime Emmy via his spot on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.”

Attenborough’s win was one of three for Netflix’s “Secret Lives of Orangutans,” which also won directing team for a single-camera daytime nonfiction program.

Attenborough won against Brad Bestelink, “Living with Leopards” (Netflix); Andi Sweeney Blanco, Courtney Dober, Rob North & Kirin Stone, “The Fixers” (BYUtv); Anthony Mackie, “Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast” (National Geographic); and Martha Stewart, “Martha Gardens” (Roku).

Attenborough is known as one of the world’s most famous science broadcasters, beginning with 1954’s ‘Zoo Quest’. His more recent successes as a storyteller include ‘Planet Earth’ and its sequels, ‘Blue Planet’ and its sequels, ‘The Green Planet’, ‘Wild Isles’, ‘Dinosaurs: The Final Day With David Attenborough’, ‘Life In Colour’, ‘Frozen Planet’ and more.

Here’s the tagline for “Secret Lives of Orangtutans”: “Orangutans are not only one of our closest relatives, they are perhaps more recognizable to us than any other great ape. Narrated by David Attenborough, this film follows a remarkable group of orangutans in the pristine jungle of Sumatra. At the center of this story is 8-year-old Eden, who is about to face their most challenging moment of to start her life.”

The 52nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards took place on Friday, October 17 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.