Tim Robbins wins supporting actor Oscar

4.00pm



LOS ANGELES - Veteran actor Tim Robbins won the Oscar for best supporting actor on Sunday for his searing performance as the suspected killer of his friend's daughter in Clint Eastwood's drama Mystic River.

Robbins, star of such films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Player and Bull Durham, won the Oscar for his work as Mystic River's Dave Boyle, a tormented, beaten man in working class Boston suspected of killing the daughter of his friend, played by Sean Penn, a nominee for best actor.

"Oh boy, wow!" Robbins said upon receiving the statuette from last year's Best Supporting Actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones. "This is really a lovely honour."

Robbins, who has in the past used the Oscars as a forum for his liberal political leanings, drew cheers on Sunday for delivering a message that sprung from his Mystic River role.

"In this movie, I play a victim of abuse and violence, and if you are out there and have had that tragedy befall you there is no shame or weakness in seeking help and counselling," Robbins said. "It sometimes is the strongest thing you can do to stop the cycle of violence."

Robbins, a lanky California native, has also won acclaim for his work as a director and writer in Hollywood, most notably for directing Dead Man Walking, for which his companion, Susan Sarandon, won a best actress Oscar. Robbins was nominated for an Oscar, as well.

Robbins and Sarandon met on the set of Bull Durham and have been together ever since. They have two children.

And they have been among Hollywood's most outspoken advocates of liberal causes, once drawing criticism for using their on-air time at the Oscars to plead for the rights of Haitians being held at Guantanamo Bay.

Just last year Robbins again found himself at the centre of another controversy when the Baseball Hall of Fame disinvited him to a special screening of Bull Durham because of his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq.

And he has often been guided by his political outlook in choosing film projects, as was the case with the political comedy Bob Roberts, Cradle Will Rock about government suppression of a theatre group and the conspiracy thriller Arlington Road.

But Oscar voters showed themselves undaunted by the frequent criticism of Robbins and Sarandon, often by conservative radio hosts and commentators who say the couples' views are out of touch with those of average Americans, and awarded Robbins Hollywood's highest honour.

- REUTERS