Who won an Emmy Award fifty something years ago, without being alive?

A wild stab in the dark.....

Spencer Tracy ?

Nope.hint: It wasn't a person.

Geeeeze !
The only animals I can think of from the 50's were Cheeta from the Tarzan series, Lassie, and J.Fred Muggs....
Oh ya, there was Francis the talking Mule, but I don't remember if he did TV...
I'm at a slight disavantage as I was not living in the states during that period...

No sorry,here's some more help: A living person accepted the Emmy on behalf of that non living "body" (not an animal either).

Puppet 'Judy Splinters' in 1948?

Yes Karrow, good answer.

The first Emmy for Outstanding Personality, presented in 1949, went to a puppet. Shirley Dinsdale, a 15 year-old ventriloquist on the Eddie Cantor radio show in the 40s, received the award for her puppet Judy Splinters.