The King's Speech's Director Tom Hooper Wins Oscar

Last year's best director winner Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) had the pleasure of handing this year's Best Directing Oscar to The King's Speech helmer Tom Hooper. Hooper's first nomination is also his first win, and he looked surprised to have taken the top honor.

After thanking the Academy, he congratulated his fellow nominees, saying, "Your work this year has been extraordinary and I'm honored to be nominated alongside you. Thank you to my wonderful actors, the triangle of man love which is Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and me. I'm only here because of you guys. And Helena, I hope that reference doesn't make you too jealous."

Finishing it up, Hooper said, "But most of all, thank you to my parents, my mum and dad who are in the audience tonight. I know there's been a lot of thanking of mums, but this is slightly different because my mum in 2007 was invited by some Australian friends - she's Australian in London - to a fringe theater play reading of an unproduced, unrehearsed play called The King's Speech. Now, she's never been invited to a play reading her entire life before. She almost didn't go because it didn't sound exactly promising, but thank God she did because she came home, rang me up, and said, 'Tom, I think I've found your next film.' So with this tonight, I honor you. And the moral of the story is listen to your mother."

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_{(Photo of Tom Hooper by Jason Merritt/Getty Image)}