Golden globe accolade makes Clint's day

Clint Eastwood was named best film director today at the Golden Globe awards, in a ceremony that also saw Britons Clive Owen, Ian McShane and Mick Jagger pick up honours.

Clint Eastwood was named best film director today at the Golden Globe awards, in a ceremony that also saw Britons Clive Owen, Ian McShane and Mick Jagger pick up honours.

Owen, 40, and Natalie Portman won supporting-actor awards for the drama Closer, while McShane, 62, took the TV drama actor award for the Western series Deadwood.

Composer Howard Shore took the best film score award for The Aviator while Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart won the song honour for Old Habits Die Hard from Jude Law's latest movie, Alfie.

The BBC co-production The Life and Death of Peter Sellers was named best TV movie.

The Golden Globes, seen as a good indication of how the Oscars will be awarded next month took place amongst the usual glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

Other British hopefuls Kate Winslet and Imelda Staunton, who had lead actress nominations for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Vera Drake, left empty handed.

The Aviator won best dramatic film, giving it an edge at the Oscars.

Jamie Foxx of the Ray Charles film biography Ray, Hilary Swank of the boxing saga Million Dollar Baby, Annette Bening of the showbiz comedy Being Julia and Leonardo DiCaprio of The Aviator also boosted their Oscar odds by winning the top acting Globes.

In the TV categories, Desperate Housewives won for best musical or comedy series, while Teri Hatcher beat her show's co-stars Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman for best actress in a TV comedy.

Hatcher thanked US television network ABC for giving her "a second chance at a career when I couldn't have been a bigger has-been".

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers took the Globe for best TV movie or miniseries.

Jagger took to the stage alongside his Alfie co-writer, Dave Stewart, formerly of the Eurythmics, to collect the song award.

"I'd like to thank Dave Stewart for getting me into this mess," he said.

Meanwhile, Foxx told the assembled stars of stage and screen: "Can I just tell you that I am having the ride of my life right now.

"I wish I could take what I'm feeling right now and put it in the water system, and we would all love each other a whole lot more," he said.

Foxx is now considered a clear favourite to collect an Oscar for his depiction of Ray Charles, who died last year.

In Million Dollar Baby, Swank plays a determined boxer whose life takes a tragic turn. Swank paid tribute to director and co-star, Eastwood.

"I don't want to ruin your 'go ahead, make my day image', but you have such a huge heart and you envelop all the people around you," she said.

"You guided us so brilliantly, while you also, in my humble opinion, gave the performance of your career." DiCaprio, in The Aviator, reunited with his Gangs of New York director Martin Scorsese.

DiCaprio said that for all his good fortune in Hollywood, the "pinnacle of all that is to work alongside one of the greatest contributors to the world of cinema of all time, and that is the great Martin Scorsese".

Eastwood, 74, won the directing honour for Million Dollar Baby, solidifying his chances to win the same honour at the Oscars.

Eastwood, who previously won the directing Oscar for Unforgiven, thanked the "great Hilary Swank and the world's greatest actor, Morgan Freeman," who co-starred with him in the film.

Robin Williams, a five-time Globe winner received the Cecil B DeMille award for career achievement.

Williams dedicated his award to the late Christopher Reeve, who died last year.

The Globes serve as the most prominent ceremony in Hollywood's lead-up to the Academy Awards on 27 February.

The awards are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, whose small membership of about 90 people pales compared with the nearly 6,000 film professionals eligible to vote for the Oscars.