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'Slumdog Millionaire' wins big at Golden Globes

Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, and Mickey Rourke also clinch Golden Globe wins

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

10:20 PM EST, January 11, 2009

Kate Winslet, Mickey Rourke, the late Heath Ledger and the sleeper hit "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the top categories at last night's 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles.

Ledger, who died last January, won best supporting actor for his role as The Joker in "The Dark Knight," while Winslet triumphed with two dramatic acting awards, for best supporting role ("The Reader") and best performance ("Revolutionary Road"). Mickey Rourke won best actor in a dramatic film for "The Wrestler," beating heavyweights like Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, both being touted as Oscar contenders.

Oscar bettors might also want to put money on "Slumdog Millionaire," an unlikely crowd-pleaser set in the poverty-stricken city of Mumbai, which nabbed four awards, including best dramatic picture and best director for Danny Boyle.

-Click here to see photos of Golden Globe winners and red carpet fashion

In television, NBC's awards-prone comedy "30 Rock" took home three statues, including best comedy or musical series, while "Mad Men" won for best dramatic series, echoing last year's Emmys.

The celebrity-spangled show did its best to quash the memory of last year's broadcast, which amounted to little more than a press conference when stars stayed away during a writers' strike. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Piven, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey, Jr. and others strolled the red carpet, although John Travolta, whose 16-year-old son, Jett died earlier this month, stayed out of the limelight.

CROWD CONTROL. In the space of three minutes, Jennifer Lopez kicked off the evening by giving Kate Winslet the award for best supporting actress in a dramatic film ("The Reader") and even found time to shush the still-settling crowd: "Hello? Mama talkin', mama talkin'. Okay."

THE HEATH FACTOR In what could be a foreshadowing of the Oscars, the late Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his critically-acclaimed role as The Joker in "The Dark Knight." Director Christopher Nolan accepted the award and noted: "After Heath passed on, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema."

KATE THE GREAT. "You have to forgive me because I have a habit of not winning things," Winslet said as she opened what she acknowledged was a long acceptance speech for best supporting actress. Forgive her again, folks, she also won for Best Actress for "Revolutionary Road."

NOT THE GRAMMYS. Bruce Springsteen, whose song "The Wrestler" won best original song, wryly observed: "This is the only time I'm gonna be in competition with Clint Eastwood. It feels pretty good." Eastwood was also up for "Gran Torino," which he co-wrote and sang.

30 BARACK When NBC's "30 Rock" won for best musical or comedy series, Tracey Morgan proudly accepted the award. "Tina Fey and I had an agreement," he said, "that if Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on." Morgan also trumpeted the dawn of "post-racial America," adding: "Deal with it, Cate Blanchett!"

IT'S ALL GOOD. Accepting the award for best actor in a musical or comedy show, "30 Rock's" Alec Baldwin sent love to "my daughter Ireland, who makes me laugh when I'm home." That's the same daughter in 2007 he famously called a "thoughtless little pig" on an answering-machine message.

ONE FOR THE AGES. Awarding Steven Spielberg the special Cecil B. DeMille Award, presenter Martin Scorsese called him "the most successful filmmaker ever to step behind a camera."

IN WHERE? "In Bruges" got a surprise award when Colin Farrell won for best actor in a musical or comedy, trumping Javier Bardem in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," among others. Even Farrell seemed stunned, joking, "They must have done the counting in Florida."

MAKE LEMONADE. Ricky Gervais, clutching a half-drained pint, managed to find the humor in this year's seemingly endless spate of Nazi-themed dramas. "The Trouble with Holocaust films," he said, "is there's never any gag reel on the DVDs."

COKE JOKES. Farrell scored the first one, blaming a stray sniffle on a cold -- "not the thing it used to be" -- and Seth Rogen got in another by wishing he'd been invited the Globes 20 years ago: "That way, instead of being drunk with Mickey Rourke tonight I'd be doing cocaine with Mickey Rourke tonight."

TOUCHY, TOUCHY Stars shook their heads and murmured disapprovingly after Sacha Baron Cohen told this recession-themed joke about one of their own: "Even Madonna has been forced to get rid of one of her personal assistants. Our thoughts go out to you, Guy Ritchie."

NEW AROUND HERE. Beating out Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Emma Thompson and Rebecca Hall, the little-known Sally Hawkins ("Happy-Go-Lucky") won best actress in a musical or comedy film. The 32-year-old Brit nearly fell to pieces on stage, ("I'll try and get through as much as my voice and nerves and knees will let me") smudging her mascara and quivering before her competition: "This seems insane when most of you are in the room.

TREK 2.0 The announcers for best actress in a dramatic television series almost overshadowed the award itself. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto gave most of us our first glimpse at the new faces of Captain Kirk and Dr. Spock, respectively, in the upcoming J. J. Abrams film "Star Trek." Oh, and Anna Paquin got the statue for HBO's "True Blood."

STEALTH WIN. For best actor in a dramatic television series, Gabriel Byrne won for HBO's "In Treatment," beating out better-known shows like "Dexter" (Michael C. Hall), "Mad Men" (Jon Hamm) and "House" (Hugh Laurie). He also didn't show up.

-Click here to see photos of Golden Globe winners and red carpet fashion