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Forest Whitaker wins Oscar for Idi Amin role
2007-02-26
Movie "The Last King Of Scotland" still: Forest Whitaker |
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Forest Whitaker won the Academy Award as best actor on Sunday for his acclaimed portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." The triumph came on the first Oscar nomination ever for Whitaker, a prolific character actor who gained 50 pounds and learned some Swahili for the role that landed him Hollywood's highest honor for a big-screen performance. Whitaker, 45, is only the fourth black performer to win the Oscar as best actor, following in the footsteps of Sidney Poitier for the 1963 film "Lilies of the Field," Denzel Washington for 2001's "Training Day" and Jamie Foxx two years ago for "Ray." Whitaker's menacing and mercurial portrait of Amin was so universally lauded for its eerie realism that critics and Oscar pundits regarded him as a near shoo-in for the top acting prize this year. His biggest competition came from Peter O'Toole, the 74-year-old veteran of British stage and screen, who received the eighth best-actor nomination of his career (without winning) for playing an aging actor who falls for a young woman in "Venus." Others nominated for best actor were Leonardo DiCaprio for his role as jewel smuggler in "Blood Diamond," Ryan Gosling as an inner-city school teacher with a drug habit in "Half Nelson," and Will Smith as a struggling salesman who ends up homeless with his son in "The Pursuit of Happyness."
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