'Mad Men' stars to present honorary International Emmy to show's creator Matthew Weiner

"Mad Men" stars Christina Hendricks and John Slattery will be presenting a special award at the International Emmys Gala to the show's creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner who's preparing the final episodes of the 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency saga slated to air in spring 2015.

Weiner will be receiving the honorary International Emmy Founders Award at Monday night's ceremony at the Hilton New York.

"'Mad Men' has really come to define television for a whole generation of viewers," said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "It's an amazing global cultural phenomenon ... a force of nature as much as just a television series."

"Although these are stories in theory out of the '60s, part of the success of the show is that it's a touchstone for how we think about ourselves and our own relationships even today."

The presentation to Weiner will be the centerpiece of the awards ceremony, hosted by British comedian Matt Lucas, creator of the comedy series "Little Britain," a two-time International Emmy winner.

A total of 40 nominees from 19 countries will be competing in 10 categories for International Emmys, established to honor excellence in TV programming outside the U.S.

Britain had a leading six nominations, including best actor and actress nods for Stephen Dillane and Olivia Colman for their roles in popular crime dramas.

Brazil had five nominations, including nods for three Globo TV productions: "The Mayor's Wife" (comedy), "Precious Pearl" (telenovela) and "Alexander and Other Heroes" (TV movie/miniseries).

Argentina, Canada and Japan each had three nominations.

Dillane, who portrays Stannis Baratheon in "Game of Thrones," was recognized for his role as an aging British police detective in the British/French crime drama "The Tunnel," which as an entry from France was among the nominees for best drama series.

Colman was nominated for her role in "Broadchurch" as a detective investigating the murder of an 11-year-old boy in a coastal Dorset town.

Other British nominees include: the crime-thriller "Utopia" (drama series), "An Adventure in Space and Time" (TV movie/miniseries) about the creation and early years of the "Dr. Who" sci-fi series, "No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka" (documentary) and "Educating Yorkshire" (non-scripted entertainment).

The Argentine drama "Television por la Justicia," about cases inspired by real-life people harmed by bad judicial rulings, had two nominations in the acting categories — for Pablo Rago and Romina Gaetani.

The other actor nominees were Canada's Claude Legault for "19-2" and China's Xiubo Wu for "The Orphan of Zhao." Rounding out the actress nominees were Turkey's Tuba Buyukustun for "20 Dakika" ("20 Minutes") and the Netherlands' Bianca Krijgsman for "De Nieue Wereld" ("The New World").

A new category was introduced this year to recognize non-English language U.S. prime-time programs. The nominees include three Telemundo Internacional productions — "Pasion Prohibida," ''La Patrona" and "El Senor de los Cielos" — and Nat Geo Mundo's "Temple de Acero."

Brazilian telenovela stars Gloria Pires and Milton Goncalves will present the honorary International Emmy Directorate Award to Roberto Irineu Marinho, chairman and CEO of the Globo Group of Companies, Brazil's leading media and entertainment conglomerate. His father, Roberto Marinho, who received the same award in 1983, founded TV Globo, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year.

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Online:

www.iemmys.tv

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Follow Charles J. Gans at www.twitter.com/chjgans.