Elvis Duran Group Creates The Carney Awards

L to R:   David Katz, CEO Elvis Duran Group/Co-Creator of Carney Awards, Michael Ealy (The Following), Actor/Carney Award Recipient, Brian Carney, Actor/Co-Creator of Carney Awards.

Elvis Duran Group CEO David Katz welcomed Hollywood’s finest character actors to the 1st Annual Carney Awards recently held at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills.  Actors Bob Balaban, Michael Ealy, Bruce McGill, David Paymer and CCH Pounder were named recipients, with Fred Willard serving as master of ceremonies, Andra Day performing, and Billy Crystal and John Landis presenting, among others.

“We wanted to create this event to recognize outstanding achievement in character acting, a category that has historically been overlooked by award shows,” said Katz.  “Elvis is the first to admit that his co-hosts are the backbone of his radio show.  The same can be said about character actors in television and film.  We wanted to create an event to honor and recognize their contributions.

On his show last week, Duran asked his audience to submit questions that would be asked during a Q&A portion of the awards show.  The most popular question asked was for McGill…could he still play the William Tell Overture with his fingers on his neck that his character D-Day on Animal House did.  He answered by playing it brilliantly for the audience.

Named in honor of the late, great Oscar and seven-time Emmy winning actor Art Carney, the Carney Awards were created by Katz, his brother Jim Katz (Emmy Award winning producer) and Brian Carney (actor/voice-over artist and Art’s son).