Photos: Emmy Awards hosts through the years

After winning the hearts of TV critics for his 2009 Emmy emcee debut and successfully guiding three years of Tony Awards to fruition, this “host-savant” anchored both the Tony and Emmy Awards shows in 2013.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

TV veteran Kimmel presented the 64th Primetime Emmys, perhaps a surprising first for a man toting a bevy of emcee gigs throughout his career. Nielsen reports that Kimmel’s performance delivered a 6% viewer increase from 2011, but scored a 3.8 rating to tie the all-time Emmys low in 2008.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

After snagging an Emmy in 2010 for supporting actress in a comedy series as Sue Sylvester in “Glee,” Lynch swapped sweatpants for floor-length gowns as the 2011 Emmys host. According to Nielsen, the awards show’s 63rd edition took an 8% dip in total viewers from its previous year.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The 60th Primetime Emmys was a historical disaster, yielding the show’s lowest-ever ratings (an unmemorable 3.8). Producers learned their lesson next year: Get Neil Patrick Harris to do the job five reality TV show hosts couldn’t.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

With a 6-foot-4 stature, the comedian and seasoned television host tends to make a statement. Critics lauded his Emmy performance in 2006 as a high point in the show (pun intended). Here Emmy host O’Brien is pictured serenading the audience during the 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards.   (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)

Warning alarms should have sounded when the sportscaster and long-time co-host of NBC’s “Today” show admitted to his lack of comedy experience. Successful in all things serious, Gumbel didn’t fair as well during the dignified but forgettable awards night.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

In 2001, DeGeneres was tasked with entertaining a post-9/11 audience. The Louisiana native returned to the 2005 Emmy stage, again bringing much-needed laughter to viewers less than a month after Hurricane Katrina. (DeGeneres and Emmy nominee Patricia Richardson during the 1994 telecast.)  (Patrick Downs / Los Angeles Times)

Actor Bruce Willis, whose lengthy career began in television, hosted the Emmys the same year he won this award. A 1987 file photo shows Willis, winner of lead actor in a drama series for his work in the detective series “Moonlighting,” backstage.   (Marissa Roth / Los Angeles Times)

At 28, the comedian became not only the first African American to win an Emmy for a leading role in a television series, but also the first to co-host the Emmy Awards. In this 1970 photo, Bill Cosby and co-host Dick Cavett hold Emmy statuettes.  (ABC photo archives / via Getty Images )

While crooner Frank Sinatra and funnyman Dick Van Dyke both pack impressive sets of vocal chords, their career similarities end there. The odd duo was a smash hit when they showed unexpected chemistry as emcees during the Emmys in 1968.  (Library of Congress / Los Angeles Times)

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, power couple of the ‘50s, hosted the 4th Emmy Awards show. Their night as emcees marked the first time television personalities had hosted the ceremony. A coincidence in numbers: Ball won a total of four Emmys throughout her career.  (Hulton Archive / Getty Images )