Massey takes home an Emmy

LOS ANGELES - Chandler Massey, who grew up in Atlanta but has strong Gainesville ties, won an Emmy Saturday night for Younger Actor in a Drama Series.

Massey is the son of Gainesville native Lewis Massey and wife Amy and is the grandson of Abit and Kayanne Massey of Gainesville.

He won for a role in "Days of Our Lives."

Massey graduated from Norcross High School in May, 2009, and moved to California to attend UCLA and pursue a career in acting. Later than year, he auditioned for and won the role of "Will Horton" in "Days of Our Lives." Last year, he was also nominated for - but did not win - a Younger Actor in a Drama Series Emmy for his work in "Days of Our Lives."

His Emmy this year was awarded at the Daytime Emmy awards, where "General Hospital" was showered with five trophies, including best drama, while giving Regis Philbin a fond farewell as a departing talk-show host.

NBC's "Today" show won as best morning show and the syndicated "Jeopardy!" was named best game show at the annual ceremony Saturday.

"Live with Regis and Kelly" was saluted as best entertainment talk show (its first-ever nod in that category) and for best talk-show hosts. Philbin ended his long run as its co-host last November, with a replacement yet to be named to join Kelly Ripa as the syndicated series continues.

Heather Tom, who won as best lead actress for CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful," made history as the first to win in that category after having previously won as both best younger actress and supporting actress.

Anthony Geary won as lead actor for "General Hospital." The ABC soap also won for supporting actress (Nancy Lee Grahn), supporting actor (Jonathan Jackson), and directing team.

The syndicated "Dr. Oz" was named best informative talk show.

Bill Geddie, longtime associate of Barbara Walters and executive producer of her ABC talk show "The View," received the life achievement award.

"There's not a lot of glamour and glory in daytime," Geddie told the room in his acceptance remarks. "But when you think about it, we're all here with the best of intentions: We just love making TV!"

Held in Beverly Hills, Calif., the 39th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards was telecast on the HLN channel, having moved to cable for the first time after airing on CBS the past two years. The awards are bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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Daytime Emmy Winners:

Drama series: "General Hospital."

Lead actress in a drama series: Heather Tom, "The Bold and the Beautiful."

Lead actor in a drama series: Anthony Geary, "General Hospital."

Supporting actress in a drama series: Nancy Lee Grahn, "General Hospital."

Supporting actor in a drama series: Jonathan Jackson, "General Hospital."

Younger actor in a drama series: Chandler Massey, "Days of Our Lives."

Younger actress in a drama series: Christel Khalil, "The Young and the Restless."

Drama series directing team: "General Hospital."

Drama series writing team: "Days Of Our Lives."

Game show: "Jeopardy!"

Game-show host: Todd Newton, "Family Game Night."

Informative talk show: "Dr. Oz."

Entertainment talk show: "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Talk-show host: Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, "Live with Regis and Kelly."

Morning show: "Today."

Culinary program: "Bobby Flay's Barbecue Addiction."

Culinary/lifestyle host: Sandra Lee, "Semi-Homemade Cooking."

Children's animated program: "Penguins of Madagascar."

Performer in a children's program: Kevin Clash (as Elmo), "Sesame Street."

Legal/courtroom program: "Last Shot with Judge Gunn."

New approaches in daytime entertainment: "Take This Lollipop" (online).

(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)