And the Emmy goes to...

Last night at the Emmy Awards, big names walked away with big prizes. But not every winner is Al Pacino or Tom Hanks. Here's a look at a few not-so-famous Emmy winners.

Last night at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, big shows (Mad Men, Modern Family) and big names (Tom Hanks, Al Pacino) went home with big prizes. At times, it felt like the Oscars with Academy Award winners like Hanks, Pacino, Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, and Susan Sarandon contending for Emmys. But, even though there weren't many knock-your-socks-off surprises, there were a few less-familiar faces grinning giddily from behind the podium.

My very funny and very un-famous friend, Rob, has often been one of those giddy grinners; he's won four (or is it five?) Emmys for comedy writing over the past few years. You haven't heard of him. I promise. He's just a guy who went to college with my husband — no offense, Rob — and has found success as a writer in an industry that happens to broadcast its annual awards on national television.

But Rob, with his many past podium appearances, and all those unfamiliar folks happily accepting their awards on Sunday night got me thinking. There must be lots of Robs out there, lots of people who are not famous, who have never been famous, but who've won one or two or ten Emmys in their careers. A quick search of our database of newspaper obituaries revealed hundreds of not-so-famous Emmy winners who have died in the past few years.

Here are just a few of those folks. They may have different backgrounds, interests and passions (one was a pilot, another a flamenco dancer), but they have a couple of things in common — they all won Emmys, and you've probably never heard of them. Until now.

I don't watch many NFL games, and I'm not sure what a "location sound engineer" does exactly. But you don't have to know much about either topic to be impressed by Scott Scharf: "During a career spanning more than 25 years, Scott won 10 Emmy Awards engineering location sound for some of NFL Films most popular television shows and specials as well as National Football League game coverage. He provided location sound for 22 Super Bowl games." And he was a devoted father. Quite a set of accomplishments. Scott died July 23, 2010, at the age of 50. He is survived by his son, daughter and fiancée. More at CourierPostOnline.com.