A bite to eat with her history-making Emmy

This is one of our nine most surprising, historic and memorable moments from past Emmys. See the full list.

In casting Isabel Sanford for the role of Louise on the hit series “The Jeffersons,� Norman Lear says, “She wasn’t off the first page in the audition before I knew she was perfect for the part.� Nominated seven times, she finally won the Emmy for lead actress in a comedy series in 1981. She remains the only Black actress to have won the award. But when she choked up at the podium at the historic moment, it apparently wasn’t the applause that had moved her, says her longtime manager and publicist, Brad Lemack. Not believing her name would be called, “Isabel took a piece of cheese from the craft services table, figuring it might help hide her disappointment over another loss,� he says. “As she was announced as the winner, she had two thoughts: ‘Now people can really see my dress’ and ‘I really have to swallow this cheese.’ Eventually the audience heard Isabel utter her first words ... ‘At last.’ Most people assumed that she meant, ‘At last, I have won!’ But the truth is, her ‘At last’ was really, ‘At last, I finally swallowed this piece of cheese.’�