Slumdog and Kate Win-a-lot

KATE WINSLET and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE led a British triumph at the Oscars.

Six times nominated Kate kept it together as she finally accepted her first Best Actress gong and DANNY BOYLE'S low budget movie swept the board with a total of eight awards, including Best Director and Best Picture.

"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't made up some version of this speech," she said.

"I was eight years old and I'd have been standing in front of the bathroom mirror, and this would have been a shampoo bottle. It's not a shampoo bottle now!"

Thanking her mum and dad she looked for them in the audience and said: "Dad, whistle or something so I can tell where you are."

A loud whistle from the left of the theatre made the audience laugh and prompted an "I love you!" from The Reader actress.

Danny Boyle jumped up and down as he scooped the Best Director gong, the seventh of the evening for Slumdog Millionaire.

And after running up to the podium he explained: "My kids are too old to remember but when they were very young I promised that if this magic moment ever came, I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger. So that's what that was."

kate winslate


He went on to thank his children, his wife and, bizarrely, the St Mary's Social Club in Radcliffe.

Writer SIMON BEAUFOY scooped the first British Oscar when he won Best Adapted Screenplay.

And the movie also won awards for Best Cinematography, Film Editing and Sound Mixing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Double celebration ... Danny Boyle with
a young star of his movie


The Best Actor category provided the only surprise of the evening when the award went to Milk star SEAN PENN instead of hot favourite MICKEY ROURKE, who has already bagged a Golden Globe and Bafta for his role in The Wrestler.

The winning actor, who plays gay activist Harvey Milk in the movie, raised a laugh when he called the audience "Commie, homo-loving sons of guns".

Vicky Cristina Barcelona star PENELOPE CRUZ beat AMY ADAMS, MARISA TOMEI, VIOLA DAVIS and Benjamin Button star TARAJI P. HENSON to walk away with the Best Supporting Actress gong.

The stunning star made part of her speech in Spanish and told the audience: "I dreamed of this since I was a little girl."

WALL. E cleaned up in the Best Animation category after presenter JACK BLACK joked: "Each year I do a Dreamworks movie then I take all the money to the Oscars and bet it on Pixar."

Addressing the Dreamworks head, co-host JENNIFER ANISTON added: "I'm sorry MR KATZENBERG. I don't know why we let him out."

HEATH LEDGER'S mum, dad and sister collected the Best Supporting Actor gong for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

EDDIE MURPHY presented comedian JERRY LEWIS with the Humanitarian Award for his work with children suffering from muscular dystrophy.


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