Smash hit

"Well, that didn't actually happen. But it could have. It very well could have. If I was in the farmlands in Nebraska or somewhere, there could have been a little girl. Were that the case, then all of this would be worth it."

Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon’s performance as June Carter in Walk the Line – a biopic about the late country icon Johnny Cash and his redemptive love for Carter – snatched the best actress in a comedy or musical award from Keira Knightley, 21, who was nominated for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. "This film is very important because it's about where I grew up, and the music I grew up listening to," Witherspoon said.

Ireland’s Jonathan Rhys Meyers, 29, won best performance by an actor in a mini-series for his role as the King in the CBS series Elvis. Meyers, 29, also played the anti-hero in Match Point, Woody Allen’s homage to Alfred Hitchcock, regarded as an Oscar contender. Meyers also stars in Tom Cruise’s summer blockbuster Mission Impossible III.

There were fond memories of 2004’s unexpected win for The Office – and its creator Ricky Gervais – when Steve Carell, the star of the successful American adaptation of the British comedy, won best actor in a TV musical or comedy.

"I really didn't expect this, and I didn't write anything," he said. "Fortunately, my wife did and she stuck something in my pocket." Carell, who also recently starred in The 40 Year Old Virgin, went on to read a speech that included a thank you in every sentence to his wife, Nancy.

Sir Anthony Hopkins was presented with the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement by Gwyneth Paltrow, who plays his daugher in Proof. She said that the Welsh actor had had a career "most of us can only dream of".

Although the Golden Globes are seen as less important than the Academy Awards and even the Grammys – both of which usually get better television ratings – a thumbs-up from the HFPA can statistically improve a film's chances of bagging an Oscar.

Nomination forms for the Academy Awards are due in this week, and the shortlist in announced at the end of the month. The Oscar ceremony itself is held in March.

This year’s Golden Globes Awards was moved by the NBC network to a Monday after the 2005 ceremony suffered a 40 per cent decline in its ratings to 16.7 million. According to a recent New York Times report, the non-profit HFPA sells the broadcast rights to the ceremony for as much as $5.7 million.

The HFPA came under increased scrutiny last year after one of its members, Nick Douglas, committed suicide amid a disciplinary proceeding.

Douglas had been suspended from the organisation after selling a photograph of himself with the actor Tom Selleck for $50. With his access to Hollywood celebrities limited as a result of the suspension, he gave up his column for Big Buzz, a Belfast magazine. His body was found hanged in a Belfast charity resale shop on December 8.

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