Emmy Awards pay tribute to Dolly Parton, Catherine O'Hara and more

Sally Field and Reba McEntire paid an emotional tribute to the late Dolly Parton at the Emmy Awards on Monday (14.09.26).

The Jolene singer passed away last month at the age of 80 and the ceremony took some time to pay tribute to the beloved star, led by her Steel Magnolias co-star and fellow country icon.

Sally said: “Over the years, I never stopped loving her though we lived very far apart. I adored her from day one. How could you not?

“She was genuine and humble, supportive and blisteringly funny with a bawdy sense of humour that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide.

“I couldn’t see then what a real giant Dolly was — not just as an artist, but as a human. She was a humanitarian whose contributions have made a profound difference in the lives of so many in her home state of Tennessee and across our country.

“God bless you Dolly Parton, my friend. I am not the only one on Earth that will love you forever and ever.”

Reba then took to the stage for an orchestral performance of Appalachian Memories.

The track was chosen because Dolly had performed it at the 1983 Emmy Awards, and a clip from the broadcast was shown before Reba's rendition.

In the clip, Dolly said: “I grew up in the smoky mountains, the Appalachian Mountains. I have written a song that touches me very deep. I’m sure in your own way, you will to this. This song, like I say, is very important to me. And I hope you don’t like it. If you don’t like it, if you don’t mind, I would rather not hear about it later.”

Later in the ceremony, Macaulay Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy honoured Catherine O'Hara - who died in January at the age of 71 - during the In Memoriam segment.

Macaulay was overcome with emotion as he shared a tribute to his beloved "mom", who he starred with in the Home Alone films.

He said: "She was encouraging, she was warm, funny. But the word that I think of is momma. She wasn’t just a wife and mother to Beau and Matthew and Luke, she was my mom. Our mom. And by extension, all of our moms. By the way, call your mother tonight.

"For real. Like a good mom, she showed up when you asked her to. That was Catherine, that’s what she did, she showed up and this is the best we can do for her tobight, we are showing up for her.

"She may have forgotten me – twice – but we will always remember her."