"Baby" Knocks Out SAGs

Million Dollar Baby was a knockout at the SAGs.

Hilary Swank racked up a Best Actress nod for her hard-muscled performance as a female boxer in the Clint Eastwood-directed pic and Morgan Freeman picked up the Best Supporting Actor prize for his turn as a wise ex-prizefighter, moving them into favorite status for the upcoming Academy Awards.

Jamie Foxx continued his dominating award-show run, scoring SAG's Best Actor trophy for his turn as the late Ray Charles in the biopic Ray.

Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator. And, in an upset of sorts, the wine-swilling cast of Sideways took home the prize for Best Ensemble, beating out the casts of Million Dollar Baby and The Aviator.

Overall, the 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presented few surprises as the countdown to the 77th Annual Academy Awards marches on.

The SAGs marked the first head-to-head competition of the awards season between Swank and Annette Bening. Last month, both thesps nabbed Golden Globe honors--Swank for Best Actress in a Drama and Bening for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her performance in Being Julia.

Swank and Bening are considered the frontrunners for the Best Actress Oscar--a rematch of their race five years ago when Swank's performance in Boys Don't Cry bested Bening's American Beauty turn. With the SAG victory--actors comprise the largest voting bloc for the Oscars--Swank seems to have the edge.

Swank paid tribute to Eastwood with gushing praise in her acceptance speech.

"I bow down to you," Swank said to the 74-year-old Eastwood. "You are a talent beyond compare. If I'm half the person you are and half the talent you are when I'm 74, I will know that I've accomplished something great."

Freeman played it safe, accepting his prize and thanking "everybody I ever met."

Foxx, considered a virtual lock for the Best Actor Oscar, lost out for two other SAG Awards for which he was nominated--Best Supporting Actor for Collateral and Best Ensemble for Ray--but came through to take the big prize.

"Thank you for Ray Charles for just living so complex and so interesting and making us all just come together," Foxx said.

In a sentimental twist, Jerry Orbach won the Best Actor in a Drama Series for Law &Order. Orbach died in December of prostate cancer.

"How bittersweet. But it's still sweet," said Orbach's widow, Elaine. "Jerry had a motto: Never leave a hit show. ?May you all never leave your hit show."

Jennifer Garner took home the SAG Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Alias and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation won Best Dramatic Ensemble.

Last year's "has-been," Teri Hatcher won the award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Desperate Housewives. The show also captured the prize for Best Comedy Ensemble. For the second year in a row, Tony Shalhoub took home the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Monk.

James Garner, who lost out on a Best Supporting Actor nod for his turn in The Notebook, was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The SAG nominees were chosen by 4,200 randomly selected guild members. All 98,000 members were eligible to vote on the winners.

Here's a complete roundup of the winners of the 11th Annual SAG Awards:

FILM:

Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray
Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Supporting actor: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
Supporting actress: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
Ensemble: Sideways

TELEVISION:

Actor in a Movie or Miniseries: Geoffrey Rush, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Actress in a Movie or Miniseries: Glenn Close, The Lion in Winter
Actor in a Drama Series: Jerry Orbach, Law & Order
Actress in a Drama Series: Jennifer Garner, Alias
Actor in a Comedy Series: Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Actress in a Comedy Series: Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives
Ensemble, Drama Series: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Ensemble, Comedy Series: Desperate Housewives


Lifetime Achievement Award: James Garner