Brendan Gleeson has been named outstanding lead actor at the annual Emmy awards, beating Belfast’s Kenneth Branagh to the title.

The Dubliner won the award for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the acclaimed biopic Into The Storm.

Accepting the award, the 54-year-old said: "Now there's a turn-up for the books."

He went on to give an emotional speech, thanking the production team for giving his parents the chance to see an early cut of the film. His mother died shortly afterwards.

Gleeson got the nod ahead of Branagh, Sir Ian McKellen and Kiefer Sutherland. Branagh was nominated for his portrayal of Swedish detective Wallander.

Into The Storm, a joint BBC/HBO venture, won a second gong for its musical score.

It was a good night all-round for talent this side of the pond with the BBC drama Little Dorrit proving to be the big winner.

The Charles Dickens adaptation took home seven trophies including that of outstanding mini-series. Even before the televised segment of the award show began the series could boast a handful of trophies including those for art direction, costumes and cinematography.

More success was to come as the evening progressed with Dearbhla Walsh taking home the gong for outstanding directing of a mini-series, movie or a dramatic special.

\[Stephen Holland\]Writer Andrew Davis also won an award for penning the script.

Its success culminated with being named best mini-series — one of the event's blue riband awards.

Other notable winners during the evening included Alec Baldwin, who took home an Emmy for best actor in a comedy. It was one of a slew of gongs taken home by the 30 Rock crew, including that for outstanding comedy.

Glenn Close took home the title for lead actress in a drama, with Bryan Cranston taking the male title for his role as Walter White in Breaking Bad.

During a poignant break from the award giving the star-studded audience paused to pay tribute to stars of TV who had died in recent months.

Those remembered included Golden Girl Bea Arthur and Liam Neeson’s wife, actress Natasha Richardson. But the biggest round of applause was saved for Patrick Swayze, whose death was announced just days before the ceremony.