If you’re like me, the return of Jack Kevorkian to the media spotlight came as an unsettling shock over the weekend.

The sight of the de-licensed pathologist and convicted killer in a tuxedo, smiling and waving his arms about to the applause of an audience of stylish sycophants at the Emmy Awards Aug. 29 was unnerving for those of us who hoped his days in the spotlight were past.

During the Emmy telecast, Kevorkian – who, lest we forget, claims to have helped 130 people kill themselves – was hailed by actor Al Pacino.

Pacino, who copped a best actor Emmy for his rather sympathetic portrayal of Kevorkian in the madefor- TV film, “You Don’t Know Jack,” called him “brilliant and interesting and unique…The fun I had just trying to get into his head,” Pacino said.

Stars lined up later to have their pictures taken with Kevorkian even as pro-life Internet sites started decrying the whole spectacle.

Lifenews.com, for instance, panned Pacino’s Emmy as “another example of the Hollywood elite glorifying those actors and films that promote anti-life values.”

Kevorkian was imprisoned from 1999 to 2007 after being convicted of murder for giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk, an immobile ALS patient and one of 14 people with that disease he helped to die.

He infamously recorded the action to kill Youk on videotape which later aired on television.

Sentenced to 10-25 years by a Michigan court, Kevorkian served eight before, in an ironic twist of fate, being paroled on the grounds that he was near death.

From the looks of Kevorkian at the Emmys, that seems not to have been the case.

Now, comes word that he’s hoping to return to Los Angeles next year to attend the Academy Awards if, as expected, the documentary, “Kevorkian” is nominated for an Oscar.

Lost amid the fanfare the other night were the moral and ethical questions surrounding the actions which have fueled Kevorkian’s celebrity.

Lost also were the victims he assisted out of this world, many of whom did not have fatal illnesses.

Some, according to a Detroit Free Press study of the 130 that appeared in 1997, sought out Kevorkian’s fatal treatment as a final remedy for bouts with depression, chronic fatigue, digestive problems, depression and even spousal abuse.

I have followed Kevorkian’s actions for more years than I’d like to recall. For me, it’s personal. Like many of his victims, my mother suffered from ALS.

During her five year battle, which ended in 1997, Kevorkian’s statements justifying the deaths of people with conditions such as hers attracted a lot of media coverage and added greatly to the agony in our house.

So, before another film about Kevorkian is honored, I recommend the judges disregard the script and read his actual words.

It would be great if they’d consider, for instance, a 1990 court statement in which Kevorkian wrote: “The voluntary self-elimination of individual and mortally diseased or crippled lives taken collectively can only enhance the preservation of public health and welfare.”

That’s the real Jack Kevorkian. Not Al Pacino made up to look like him.

Not the old guy looking good in a tuxedo, smiling and posing for pictures. He doesn’t deserve applause.