It was a successful night for British talent at the 69th Golden Globes as Kate Winslet and Downton Abbey were among the Brits who scooped awards.

Winslet was named best actress in a Miniseries or movie in Mildred Pierce.  Taking to the stage, a composed Kate told the crowd: ‘I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for giving this award to me and for putting me in a category with such incredible heavyweights whom I feel honoured to stand alongside.’

Kate Winslet last night

Christopher Plummer won the supporting-actor Golden Globe for his role as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in the father-son drama Beginners. Claiming the first prize of the night at the Globes may give 82-year-old Plummer the inside track for the same prize at next month’s Academy Awards.

Oscar consideration has been elusive for Plummer, who has been nominated for Hollywood’s top honour only once in his 60-year career – two years ago, for the Leo Tolstoy drama The Last Station.

“I must praise my distinguished competitors, for whom I have the greatest admiration and to whom I apologise most profusely,” said Plummer, who added warm regards to Beginners star Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

“I want to salute my partner, Ewan, that wily Scot, Ewan ‘My Heart’s in the Highlands’ McGregor, that scene-stealing swine from the outer Hebrides.”

Plummer is regarded as one of the finest Shakespearean stage actors of the last half century. His film roles range from Austrian widower Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music and Tolstoy in The Last Station to newsman Mike Wallace in The Insider and a treacherous Klingon general in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. He also co-starred in the current thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

  Christopher Plummer winning Best Supporting Actor

Downton Abbey, ITV1′s hit saga about the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, has proved a huge success in the UK and its latest achievement showed it had also captivated audiences across the Atlantic. Accepting the award at the Beverly Hills ceremony, the show’s creator, Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, said: ‘How fabulous this is. ‘The whole Downton adventure has been an extraordinary one. Like spotting a promising child and waking up to find they’ve have won the Olympics – and that’s what we’ve lived through.’

Winners: Downton Abbey

British star Idris Elba won his first Golden Globe for his role in the BBC crime drama Luther. Elba, who shot to fame in the U.S due to his stunning turn in cult TV drama The Wire, was raised in Hackney, London but divides his time between Hollywood and London.

Golden Globes 2012 Winners

FILM AWARDS

Best Motion Picture, Drama: The Descendants

Best Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama: George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress In A Motion Picture, Drama: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: The Artist

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