Russell Crows And Halle's Happy

Hollywood's Oscar race entered its home stretch on Sunday with the five nominees for best picture clustered as close as ever after the Screen Actors Guild selected the cast of "Gosford Park" as the top performers in a film.

SAG, with some 98,000 member actors and actresses, picked Russell Crowe as the top male actor in "A Beautiful Mind," in which he plays genius mathematician John Forbes Nash, who battled schizophrenia throughout his life.

The night's big surprise winner was Halle Berry, who claimed the SAG award for best female actor.

Berry won for her portrayal of a down-and-out waitress in the rural south in "Monster's Ball," besting Sissy Spacek, who grabbed many earlier critical and industry honors for her portrayal of a grieving mother in "In the Bedroom."

The gritty role was a departure for Berry, and she took a big chance with her career in one sexually explicit scene with co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Berry acknowledged the riskiness of her business, but said "it has paid off, big time."

The SAG honors are the last major film awards before the Oscars on March 24 which are the industry's highest honors.

Each year, shows like the SAG's give an indicator of who might take home Oscars, but this year's early honors have split widely "Beautiful Mind," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge," "In the Bedroom" and now "Gosford Park" all winning various critics' and industry honors.

On Saturday, "Beautiful Mind" director Ron Howard was named best director by the Directors Guild of America, which often foreshadows a best picture Oscar. But "Moulin Rouge" producer/director Baz Luhrmann took the film producers' award, another Oscar indicator.

"Gosford Park" and "Beautiful Mind" split the Writers Guild of America's awards for best screenplays.

Backstage, Crowe talked up the fact that a movie with a complicated story about mental illness has resonated so well with audiences. "I'm pleased the movie has gotten the attention it has ... Everything after that, we're just enjoying it."

Britain's Ian McKellen of "Lord of the Rings" was named best supporting male actor in a film. He portrays Gandalf, the wizard who aids the hobbit Frodo as he seeks to destroy a powerful ring whose owner could rule middle-Earth.

Along with film awards, SAG names winners in television, and broadcast network NBC proved to be the big winner with five of six TV series awards with White House drama "The West Wing" and comedy "Will & Grace."

For the second straight year, "West Wing" swept the drama categories from its closest rival "The Sopranos."

"West Wing," a show that depicts the inner workings of the White House of fictional President Josiah Bartlett, claimed the honor of best ensemble cast in a television drama.

"We're a well-oiled machine," the show's John Spencer told reporters backstage. "I'm always better depending on who I'm dancing with, and these are the best partners I've ever had."

Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlett, won the award for best male actor in a drama, and Allison Janney was named best female actor in a drama for her portrayal of White House press secretary C.J. Cregg.

Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally were named best male and female actor in a comedy series for playing the best friends of Will and Grace in that sitcom.

The award for best ensemble cast in a comedy series went to HBO's "Sex and the City."

In made-for-TV and miniseries categories, Sir Ben Kingsley claimed the award playing Otto Frank in ABC's "Anne Frank."

Judy Davis was named best female actor in a TV movie or mini-series for "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows."

By Bob Tourtellotte