First-time winners Sandra Bullock and Jeff Bridges won lead actor awards at Sunday night's 82nd annual Academy Awards, each earning a standing ovation and plenty of love from their Hollywood peers.
Bullock won her Oscar for her portrayal of a suburban mom who takes in a homeless black teen in The Blind Side, just a day after taking home the Razzie for worst actress for her role in All About Steve -- an industry first.
"Did I really earn this or did I just wear y'all down?" joked Bullock, who rose to fame, but never this kind of critical acclaim, with mid-90s box-office hits like Speed and While You Were Sleeping.
Bullock lavished effusive praise on her fellow nominees: Meryl Streep, the 16-time nominee and two-time winner; teen phenom Gabourey Sidibe; Carey Mulligan; and Helen Mirren. Then she touchingly thanked "the moms who take care of the babies and the children no matter where they come from," she said. "Because they never get thanked."
Bridges won for Crazy Heart, a film by first-time director Scott Cooper, in which he played a drunken country singer. It was Bridges' first win in four tries -- the first nomination coming 38 years ago.
"Mom and dad, yeah look!" Bridges exhulted, waving his Oscar at the sky.
"They loved showbiz so much," Bridges said of his late parents, the actor Lloyd Bridges and the actress and writer Dorothy Bridges. "This is an extension of that. This is honoring them as much as it is me."
