Meryl Streep wins third Oscar for Iron Lady

Meryl Streep was brought to tears as she collected her award for her role as Margaret Thatcher in the Iron Lady. It is her third triumph from 17 nominations in her career so far.

Black and white film The Artist, which tells the tale of a fading star who finds redemption through romance, scooped five awards including best actor for Jean Dujardin. He exclaimed “I love this country” as he picked up his trophy, while Michel Hazanavicius won best director.

The other big winner of the night was Martin Scorsese’s Hugo which also scored five gongs.

The night also saw veteran actor, Christopher Plummer, pick up his first ever Academy Award for best supporting actor, at the age of 82, for his portrayal of an elderly gay man in Beginners.

Newcomer Octavia Spencer was awarded best supporting actress for role as a black, southern maid in civil rights drama, The Help.

Iranian divorce drama, A Separation, won Best Foreign Film, while Rango picked up best animated film.

Hugo, which tells the story of a boy lost in a train station and serves as an ode to early filmmaking, led 11 nominations and won five, for cinematography, art direction, sound editing and mixing and visual effects.

Now in their 84th year, the Academy Awards were held at the Hollywood and Highland Center, and were hosted by Billy Crystal. The evening kicked off with Hugo actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, having to be escorted from the red carpet as he carried out his threat to turn up as the lead character in his next film, The Dictator.