Screen Actors Guild hands top awards to "Chicago"

The musical hit "Chicago" was the biggest winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) held Sunday night in Los Angeles, winning the awards for best cast and best film.

Rene Zellweger also won for her starring role in "Chicago", where she plays the naive Roxie Hart, and Catherine Zeta-Jones won for best supporting actress for her portrayal of sexy jazz singer Velma Kelly.

Both actresses are also nominated for Academy Awards for their roles. In all, "Chicago" is nominated for 13 Oscars, which will be handed out March 23 in Hollywood.

The musical, which is based on the 1975 Broadway show, is set in Chicago in 1929. The film also recently swept the top awards from the Directors and Producers Guilds.

The hopes of fellow actresses Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore were dashed when they did not win awards for their portrayals in the hit movie "The Hours". Also coming up empty at the SAG awards were the films "Lord of the Rings" and "Adaption".

British actor Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor award for his role as a criminal mastermind in "Gangs of New York", directed by famed director Martin Scorcese. This film, about street battles in the 19th century, is up for a total of ten Academy Awards.

Christopher Walken won the best supporting actor award for his performance as the father of the elusive master of fraud and forgery Frank Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can".

Other winners were from the beloved TV mafia series "The Sopranos", including Edie Falco, who plays the frustrated wife of mafia boss Tony Soprano, as she won for best actress in the drama series category. Her on-screen husband, played by James Gandolfini, won for best actor.

Two awards also went to the sitcom "Will & Grace", a show about the quirky household of a female interior designer and her roommate, a gay lawyer. Actress Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes, who play friends of the unusual couple, won for their supporting roles.

Legendary Hollywood actor and director Clint Eastwood received a special award from SAG for his lifetime of work, an honor he now shares with previous winners such as Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Audrey Hepburn.

About 4,500 members of the Screen Actors Guild vote annually for the nominations and winners.