Christoph Waltz wins supporting-actor prize for 'Django Unchained'

In a choked voice, the Austrian actor offered thanks to his character and "to his creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world, Quentin Tarantino.''

Waltz also offered gracious thanks to his supporting-actor competitors, who included two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro and Oscar recipient Tommy Lee Jones, who had been considered a slim favorite over Waltz for the prize.

A veteran performer in Germany and Austria, Waltz had been a virtual unknown in Hollywood when Tarantino cast him as a gleefully evil Nazi in 2009's "Inglourious Basterds,'' which won him his first Oscar.

Waltz has since done a handful of other Hollywood movies, but it's Tarantino who has given him his two choicest roles. Backstage, Waltz had a simple explanation for why the collaboration works.

“Quentin writes poetry, and I like poetry,'' Waltz said.

The foreign-language prize went to Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke's old-age love story "Amour,'' which had been a major surprise with five nominations, including picture, director and original screenplay for Haneke and best actress for Emmanuelle Riva, who turned 86 on Sunday and would be the oldest acting winner ever.

The top prize winner at last year's Cannes Film Festival, "Amour'' follows the agonizing story of an elderly man (Jean-Louis Trintignant) tending his wife (Riva) as she declines from age and illness.

Haneke thanked his own wife for supporting him in his

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