Top Oscars go to Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Oscars became a foreign affair at their midpoint on Sunday as France's Marion Cotillard won best film actress, Britain's Tilda Swinton took supporting actress and Spain's Javier Bardem grabbed supporting actor.

Cotillard earned her best actress Academy Award portraying singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose" and became the first French actress to win the Oscar in that category since 1960.

The 32-year-old stunned audiences and critics at home and abroad in the film that traces the life of Piaf, who achieved fame after being raised by her grandmother in a brothel but saw her life cut short by drug and alcohol abuse.

"I'm speechless now," Cotillard said on stage, visibly surprised and overjoyed. "Thank you life, thank you love. It is true there (are) some angels in this city."

Swinton earned her supporting actress Oscar playing an ethically challenged corporate lawyer in thriller "Michael Clayton," and Bardem was given his award for playing a sadistic killer in the bleak drama "No Country For Old Men."

Bardem, who hails from a family of performers, took the occasion to thank his family in Spanish, apologizing in advance to the Hollywood audience.

"Mama, this is for you. This is for your grandparents and your parents," said Bardem. "This is for the comedians of Spain who like you have brought dignity and pride to our profession. This is for Spain and this is for all of you."

The Austrian Holocaust-era drama "The Counterfeiters" won the Oscar for best foreign language film. Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, it was the first win for Austria in the category.