George Clooney collects at feisty Golden Globes as Gervais drops F-bomb

GEORGE Clooney dominated the Golden Globes today, winning Best Actor in a Drama for his role in The Descendants, which also won Best Drama.

Golden Globe winners

GEORGE Clooney was the star of the 69th Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles today as he collected the award for best actor in a drama for his role in The Descendants, while his film also won best drama.

Clooney, 50, thanked his fellow nominees, including good friend Brad Pitt and "Shame" star Michael Fassbender, who he joked had now taken over his "frontal nudity responsibilities".

The Descendants producer Jim Burke later paid tribute to Clooney, who stars in the film as a father coming to grips with his wife's impending death, describing him as the "quarterback of the cast" and saying he was a very generous actor who had given to everybody involved in the project.

French black-and-white film, The Artist, picked up three awards -- best comedy or musical film, best original score and best actor in a comedy or musical film for its 39-year-old star, Jean Dujardin.

Uggie, a Jack Russell terrier who appears in the mostly silent film, almost upstaged the acceptance speech by performing several tricks on stage at the Beverley Hilton Hotel, including playing dead.

Meryl Streep, 62, won best actress in a drama for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady and thanked "everybody in England that let me come and trample all over their history."

"This is such a thrill but really, really embarrassing in a year that saw so many extraordinary performances by women," she said, before thanking "God" -- who she said was co-founder of Miramax Films, Harvey Weinstein. It was Streep's seventh Golden Globe win.

Michelle Williams, 31, won Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe - the same award Monroe herself once won in 1960 for her role in "Some Like It Hot."

"Gosh, you know I consider myself a mother first and an actress second and the first person I want to thank is my daughter. My little girl," Williams said of six-year-old daughter Matilda after picking up the award for her role in My Week With Marilyn.

"Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for putting in my hand the same award that Marilyn Monroe herself won over 50 years ago."

Veteran Martin Scorcese received a standing ovation from his peers after he won best director for Hugo.

"Sit down everyone," he insisted, before explaining that he was given the idea to produce the film by his 12-year-old daughter Francesca who read the book on which it is based.

The first award of the night went to Christopher Plummer, 82, who was named best supporting actor for his performance in Beginners, while Octavia Spencer, 42, won best supporting actress for her work in The Help.

Madonna won best original song for Masterpiece from W.E., which she also directed, and The Adventures of Tintin was named best animated feature film. Best film screenplay was awarded to Woody Allen for Midnight In Paris and best foreign language film was awarded to Iran's A Separation.

Meanwhile, on a night that also saw Morgan Freeman honored with the Cecil B. Demille Award for his outstanding contribution to film, it was again the host of the show British comedian Ricky Gervais who was causing controversy.

Introducing presenters Antonio Banderas, a Spaniard, and Mexican-born Salma Hayek, Gervais complimented both before saying he couldn't "understand a f*cking word they are saying."

After being lambasted for a litany of scathing and personal jokes bordering on the insulting during last year’s ceremony, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association cautiously invited Gervais to return today, if only because his appearance ensured the awards a higher profile than they deserve.

And Gervais began his opening monologue with a sip of beer and the ominous “So, where was I?”

The controversial comic started the night by telling the audience, "Tonight, you get Britain's biggest comedian hosting the world's second biggest award show on America's third biggest network. Oh, sorry, fourth. It's fourth."

It turns out Gervais was mildly chastened. After last year’s effort, he realized his best targets were the hosts themselves – the eccentric closed shop of foreign journalists within the HFPA and the ceremony’s US broadcast network NBC – and absent celebrities rather than the attendees themselves.

The HFPA and its Globes, which have been the subject of a number of corruption allegations in the previous year, were Gervais’s easiest target.

He described the Golden Globe awards as “Just like the Oscars but without all that esteem.”

“The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton,” he grinned. “A bit louder, bit trashier, bit drunker and more easily bought….Allegedly, nothing’s been proved.”

The only celebrities targeted by the co-creator of The Office were those who weren’t there, including Justin Beiber, Adam Sandler and the comedian who pulled out of hosting the Academy Awards this year, Eddie Murphy.

"When the man who said yes to Norbit says no to you, you know you're in trouble," Gervais said.

The only attendee subjected to a barb was his co-star in his upcoming TV series, Johnny Depp. Gervais asked him if he’d yet seen the film he co-starred with Angelina Jolie, The Tourist, which was the source of many of Gervais’s taunts last year. Depp awkwardly said no.

In the television awards, Modern Family won best musical or comedy, Homeland won best drama, and Downton Abbey won best mini-series.

Claire Danes won best actress in a drama for her role as Carrie in Homeland -- her third Golden Globe win.

"I first won this award when I was 15 for My So-Called Life and I was utterly stunned and the first thing I did when I left the stage was burst into tears because I forgot to thank my parents," Danes said. "I brought my mum with me tonight and I'm so grateful to have another opportunity to thank them."

Matt LeBlanc won best actor in a comedy or musical for Episodes -- where he plays a fictional version of himself. LeBlanc paid tribute to the show's writers, saying they "write a Matt LeBlanc who is way more interesting and fun. I wish I was him."

Jessica Lange won best supporting actress for her role as Constance in horror-drama American Horror Story,
Laura Dern won best actress in a comedy or musical for her role as whistleblower Amy in Enlightened and Kate Winslet won best actress in a mini-series for Mildred Pierce.

Kelsey Grammer, who earlier Sunday announced his wife Kayte Walsh Grammer was pregnant with their first child, won best actor in a drama for his portrayal of Tom Kane in Boss, Peter Dinklage won best supporting actor for character Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones and Idris Elba won best actor in a mini-series for playing the title role in Luther.

In a lean season for Australians in Hollywood, Guy Pearce missed out in the TV acting category for his performance in Mildred Pierce, for which he has already won an Emmy.