His win, coupled with Jennifer Hudson's Oscar, marks the third time since 2002 that two Black actors have won major acting Oscars on the same night. In 2002, both Denzel Washington (Training Day) and Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) won; in 2005, Jamie Foxx ("Ray") and Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) took home awards.Hudson's rags-to-riches story was fulfilled Sunday night after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Effie in the hit Dreamgirls.
A tearful Hudson praised her grandmother as the inspiration for her performance.
Hudson, 25, who was voted off "American Idol," thanked "everyone for keeping the faith when nobody else would." Hudson is the the third Black supporting actress winner in Oscar history, joining Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind) and Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost).
The story of the night was Dreamgirls, which led all other films with eight nominations but only won in two categories: best supporting actress and best sound achievement.
Murphy lost the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to veteran actor, Alan Arkin in Little Miss Sunshine. Not only was Murphy denied, but also Blood Diamond's Djimon Hounsou suffered his second setback in his attempt to win the coveted award. Housou was previously nominated for In America.Murphy, who won the Golden Globe for his performance as doomed singer Jimmy Early, was the frontrunner to win in this highly competitive category and appeared to have the momentum after winning the Globe last month. Unfortunately for Murphy, stinging reviews of his latest film Norbit, may have doomed his chances to take home the Oscar.
Earlier in the evening, sound mixer Willie Burton won his second Oscar for Dreamgirls. Burton became the fourth Black person to win multiple Oscars following Sidney Poitier, Washington and sound engineer, Russell Williams III.
Other Winners
Best Art Direction
Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Makeup
Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Animated Short Film
The Danish Poet
Best Live Action Short Film
West Bank Story
Best Sound Editing
Letters From Iwo Jima
Best Sound Achievement
Dreamgirls
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Best Animated Film
Happy Feet
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Departed
Best Costume Design
Marie Antoinette
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Best Foreign Language Film
The Lives of Others
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
The Blood of Yingzhou District
Best Documentary, Features
An Inconvenient Truth
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Babel
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Little Miss Sunshine
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
An Inconvenient Truth - Melissa Etheridge("I Need To Wake Up")
Best Achievement in Editing
Thelma Schoonmaker - The Departed
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Best Achievement in Directing
Martin Scorsese - The Departed
Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Departed
This article also appeared on BET.com
