Oscars: Morgan Freeman Wins Supporting Actor Oscar ( thoughts on the show and anger at Chris Rock)

AP ^ | Feb 27, 2005 | DAVID GERMAIN

[Former Military Chick]

LOS ANGELES Feb 27, 2005 — Morgan Freeman won the supporting-actor Academy Award on Sunday for his portrayal of a worldly wise ex-prizefighter in Clint Eastwood's boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby."

Freeman became just the ninth black actor to win out of nearly 300 recipients in the 77-year history of the Oscars, joining such supporting-performer winners as Cuba Gooding Jr. for "Jerry Maguire," Whoopi Goldberg for "Ghost" and Louis Gossett Jr. for "An Officer and a Gentleman."

"I want to thank everybody and anybody who ever had anything at all to do with the making of this picture. But I especially want to thank Clint Eastwood for giving me the opportunity to work with him again," said Freeman, who previously co-starred in Eastwood's "Unforgiven."

Freeman's win set up a record-tying night for black performers, with Jamie Foxx expected to take the best-actor prize for the Ray Charles tale "Ray." It would be only the second time blacks have won two of the four acting Oscars, following Denzel Washington and Halle Berry's triumph three years ago for "Training Day" and "Monster's Ball."

"The Aviator" won for best art direction, and "The Incredibles," won best animated feature.

Unlike last year, when "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" dominated the awards as expected and flat-out front-runners took all four acting prizes, the 77th Oscars shaped up as a mixed bag, with only Foxx a virtual lock to win.

With no huge hits among top nominees, Oscar organizers worried that TV ratings could dwindle for the live ABC broadcast. The Oscars tend to draw their biggest audiences when blockbusters such as "Titanic" or "Return of the King" are in the mix, stoking viewer interest.

Producers of the show hoped the presence of mouthy first-time host Chris Rock might boost ratings, particularly among younger viewers who may view the Oscars as too staid an affair. Rock had mocked the Oscars a bit beforehand, calling awards shows "idiotic," but he was on his best behavior in his opening monologue.

[Dahoser]

They're just keeping it real. Lovely.

[2rightsleftcoast]

My 2 cents,
I like Chris Rock but didn't like his performance. Why was it necessary to Bush Bash? It's so old. Bush won, move on Hollywood. The Black History month continues also, what a bore. Can't the media just celebrate the winners without doing a race count? Brings to mind the Halle Berry over emoting speech last year, Oh please tell us how tough it has been for a black woman, gag me. Let's see, Hillary wins for playing a boxer and a boy. Lesbians are thrilled.
Ps. Salma Hayek was best dressed.

[pabianice]

Freeman became just the ninth black actor to win out of nearly 300 recipients in the 77-year history of the Oscars, joining such supporting-performer winners as Cuba Gooding Jr. for "Jerry Maguire," Whoopi Goldberg for "Ghost" and Louis Gossett Jr. for "An Officer and a Gentleman."

Don't overlook Jack Lemmon's performance in "Mr. Roberts"...

[Mike Darancette]

Freeman has diginity, which 99% of Hollywood lacks.

I think Fox and Swank showed dignity too.

[utahagen]

I never thought I'd say anything good about Whoopi Goldberg, but I'll give her this: at least she tried to be a HOST, as in she welcomed the people in the audience and didn't seem hostile towards the Academy itself. Also, Goldberg didn't insult and mock actors the way Rock gratuitously slammed Jude Law, Tobey Maguire, Nicole Kidman, and Colin Farrell.