Clooney, Zellweger Early Globe Winners

George Clooney won best film actor for a musical or comedy for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and Renee Zellweger won, but almost missed accepting her award for best actress for "Nurse Betty" at the 58th Annual Golden Globes Sunday night in Hollywood.

Zellweger, presumably in the bathroom at the time of the announcement, was in shock as she accepted her award from presenter Hugh Grant. "I had lipstick on my teeth," she blushed.

Clooney, on the other hand, was calm and collected as he accepted his award, and almost seemed to be practicing a stand-up act on the Globe audience. He joked at his competition's expense, saying essentially he was a shoo-in for the award.

"Robert DeNiro, (John) Cusack, (Jim) Carrey, Mel Gibson, what have they done?," mused Clooney.

In other film acting awards, Benicio Del Toro won best supporting film actor for his role in the drug war drama "Traffic" and Kate Hudson won supporting film actress for "Almost Famous.''

"Well, I got lucky,'' Del Toro, who played a Mexican police officer, told the star-studded audience. "I'd like to congratulate all the nominees. I love their work. If they want a recount they can talk to my lawyer."

Ang Lee, who helmed the martial arts romance epic, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" pulled an upset when he grabbed the Globe for best director. Steven Soderbergh, who has won several critics' awards for both "Traffic" and "Erin Brockovich," was nominated for Globes for both films.

The films "Gladiator," "Traffic," "Erin Brockovich," "Sunshine," "Wonder Boys" and "Billy Elliot" were competing for best dramatic motion picture.

Another diverse collection filled the category for best film musical or comedy: "Almost Famous,"" Best in Show," "Chocolat," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the claymation movie "Chicken Run."

"This is so intense," said Hudson, who won for her role as a groupie in the 1970s era rock 'n' film.

"Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer won best actor in a comedy series.

"Usually I come here and eat a very casual two-minute meal and then sit and watch everybody else walk off with these," Grammer said.

Sarah Jessica Parker, star of "Sex and the City," won for a second consecutive year as best actress in a comedy series.

"I'm ill-prepared again,'' Parker said. "It's just like high school. I am the most content employee ever. I love working for HBO."

Al Pacino was named in advance as winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which honors outstanding contributions to entertainment.

The Golden Globes are notorious for attendants' freewheeling behavior. And a touch of the old looseness was displayed by Brian Dennehy, who won for best actor in a miniseries or made-for-TV movie. While ticking off his many thanks, he looked at James Woods, one of his competitors in the category, and said: "Thanks for taking your medication tonight."

But as the season's first big movie awards show it is also considered a good indicator for the more prestigious Academy Awards, presented in March.

In the television categories, NBC led with 15 nominations, followed by HBO with 12, and CBS, Fox and Showtime with seven each.

The best dramatic TV series nominees were "CSI," "ER," "The Practice," "The Sopranos" and "The West Wing." The best musical or comedy series nominees were "Ally McBeal," "Frasier," "Malcolm in the Middle," "Sex and the City" and "Will & Grace."

Nominees are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's roughly 90 members, who cover Hollywood for overseas publications. The association hands out 13 movie and 11 television awards.

Current List Winners (In Order Of Presentation):

• Supporting Actor ? Film: Benicio Del Toro, "Traffic"
• Actor ? TV Musical or Comedy: Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier"
• Actress ? TV Musical or Comedy: Sara Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City"
• Supporting Actress ? Film: Kate Hudson, "Almost Famous
• Actress ? Miniseries or TV Movie: Judi Dench, "Last of the Blond Bombshells"
• Actor ? Miniseries or TV Movie: Brian Dennehy, "Death of a Salesman"
• TV Series, Musical or Comedy: "Sex and the City"
• Miniseries or TV Movie: "Dirty Pictures"
• Actor ? TV Miniseries or Drama: Martin Sheen, "The West Wing"
• Actress ? Film Musical or Comedy: Renee Zellweger, "Nurse Betty'
• Actress ? Film Musical or Comedy: George Clooney, "O Brother Where Art Thou?"
• Original Screenplay ? Film: Steven Gaghan, "Traffic"
• Actress ? TV Series, Drama: Sela Ward, "Once and Again"
• Original Score, Motion Picture: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, "Gladiator"
• Supporting Actress ? Miniseries or TV Movie: Vanessa Redgrave, "If These Walls Could Talk II"
• Best Original Song ? Motion Picture: Bob Dylan, "Things Have Changed," "Wonder Boys"
• Best Director ? Film: Ang Lee, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
• Best Supporting Actor -- TV Series Musical or Comedy: Robert Downey Jr., "Ally McBeal"