Tina Fey wins Emmy award for Sarah Palin spoof

* Comic actress Fey wins her sixth Emmy award

* Timberlake, Burstyn, Fox also honored

* "Little Dorrit" wins four Emmys

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Actress Tina Fey won an Emmy on Saturday for her uncanny portrayal of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live," while pop star Justin Timberlake also was honored for his appearance on the NBC network's veteran sketch-comedy series.

Both won their guest-starring awards at the creative arts portion of the Emmys, where 72 awards mostly in technical categories were handed out. Awards in 28 high-profile races will be given out during a live broadcast on Sept. 20.

The Emmys are the top awards for U.S. television.

The top network was Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N) HBO, which won 16 awards led by "Grey Gardens" and the Iraq war miniseries "Generation Kill" with three each.

In winning her Emmy, Fey beat out two contenders from her own NBC comedy, "30 Rock," which leads all shows with 22 nominations. She made reference to Palin, who resigned in July as governor of Alaska less than a year after she was chosen as Senator John McCain's running mate in last year's U.S. presidential election.

"Mrs. Palin is an inspiration to working mothers everywhere because she bailed on her job right before Fourth of July weekend. You are living my dream. Thank you, Mrs. Palin!"

It marked Fey's sixth career win, and she is in contention for two awards at the main ceremony, including best comedy actress.

Timberlake won his second career Emmy, this time for playing various characters on an episode of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" that he hosted. NBC is a unit of General Electric Co (GE.N).

In the dramatic categories, the guest-starring awards went to veteran actress Ellen Burstyn for NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and Michael J. Fox for "Rescue Me" on FX.

It marked Burstyn's first Emmy win after four nominations. She previously won an Oscar in 1975 for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore."

'I WAS A LITTLE LACKING'

"It did seem like I was a little lacking in that side of the mantelpiece. I just felt it would be balanced if I had an Emmy, too," said Burstyn, who appeared in the veteran crime show as the mother of series star Chris Meloni.