Arkin wins the best supporting actor Oscar
By Bob Tourtellotte
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a surprise victory, veteran actor Alan Arkin, who plays an irascible grandfather in "Little Miss Sunshine," won the best supporting actor Oscar on Sunday at the world's top film awards.
"More than anything, I am deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our little movie has received," Arkin said, after joking that he almost didn't get the job because the directors thought him too virile.
It was a surprise victory over Eddie Murphy, who won several other major Hollywood awards this year for his role as a soul singer with a drug habit in musical "Dreamgirls."
But road comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" has been a hit with fans, and Arkin's role was a favorite because while the grandfather snorts heroin and says some mean things to his family, he also dispenses many pearls of wisdom,
The low-budget "Sunshine" has won wide acclaim for its story about a family of losers who learn what it means to be winners through the attitude of a 10-year-old girl who wants to be a beauty queen.
First time host Ellen DeGeneres cranked out the comedy and took swipes at the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Peter O'Toole and Leonardo DiCaprio. In one bit, she appeared backstage chatting with a crew member and talking about how Dench, who is nominated for best actress in "Notes On a Scandal," failed to come to the Oscars due to knee surgery.
"She's having knee surgery," she said, then paused for impact, "on her eyes." Only minutes later, she reappeared onstage and said she had made a mistake. "It was her boobs," DeGeneres joked.
8 NOMINATIONS; NO WIN?
The host, who appeared in a burgundy tuxedo, teased 74-year-old Peter O'Toole about his eighth nomination for his role in romantic drama "Venus" by wondering why he has never won.
"Eighth nomination, is that right?" DeGeneres asked. "You know what they say, 'Third time's a charm.'"
The show began with several minor awards. Mexican film fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth" won two Oscars for best art direction and make-up. Movie musical "Dreamgirls" took home the Academy Award for sound mixing, and "Letters From Iwo Jima" won the award for sound editing.
The Oscars are given out annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and are the world's top film honors. Experts believe there are many wide open races in the major categories, especially best film, and Arkin's victory only highlighted the notion that many surprises were expected.
"Little Miss Sunshine" and cultural drama "Babel" were two leading picks for best film, but crime thriller "The Departed," British royals saga "The Queen" and World War II tale "Letters From Iwo Jima" were not far behind.
Helen Mirren was clear frontrunner for best actress, and Martin Scorsese was expected to win the best director for "The Departed." But they were considered the only two shoo-ins.
"If it isn't his (Scorsese's) year, I will have to eat someone's hat," actress Jodie Foster told reporters on the famed red carpet leading up to the Oscars.
The best actor category was expected to boil down to a race between Forest Whitaker as the brutal dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" and veteran Peter O'Toole as an elderly man in love with a young woman in "Venus."
