MERYL Streep picked up the third Oscar of her career on a night when Hollywood made a big noise about a silent film.

The Artist – a tribute to the world of black-and-white silent cinema that disappeared with the arrival of sound – won five awards including best picture, best actor and director.

Its director, Michel Hazanavicius, paid tribute to his wife – one of the film's stars – Berenice Bejo, who lost out on the supporting actress award to Octavia Spencer.

He told Bejo: "You inspired the movie and you're the soul of the movie and the positive feeling of the movie.

"Thank you for being in the movie and in my life".

The French director also had a message to his children, telling them: "It's six in the morning in Paris. Go to bed."

Earlier he had picked up the best director award from Fatal Attraction star Michael Douglas and thanked the film's cast including Uggie the Dog, adding: "I think he doesn't care, I'm not sure he understands me."

The best actress Oscar was presented by Colin Firth to Streep whom he described as "unreasonably good" in her role as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

The actress joked she could hear "half of America going 'Oh no"' when her name was read out before thanking her husband, Don Gummer, and also her long-time colleague, J Roy Helland, who picked up the make-up award earlier in the night for his work on the film.

She said: "I really want to thank all my colleagues, all my friends, I look out here and see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends and really this is such a great honour but the thing that counts the most with me is the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have shared."

Two other popular winners were Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer who picked up the supporting actor and actress gongs respectively.

Plummer, who at 82 is the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar, held up his statuette and said: "You're only two years older than me darling, where have you been all my life?"

He paid tribute to his co-star in Beginners, Ewan McGregor, whom he said he would "happily share this award with, if I had any decency, but I don't".

Speaking backstage, he said: "Well, it is sort of a renewal, it's not a beginning exactly, but it has recharged me and I hope I can do it for another 10 years."

A clearly emotional Spencer accepted her award from Welsh-born actor Christian Bale for her role in The Help.

Natalie Portman presented the best actor award to Jean Dujardin for The Artist, the first Frenchman to win that award. The French actor told the audience "I love your country".

President Nicolas Sarkozy called Dujardin's performance "dazzling," while his Socialist rival Francois Hollande, said The Artist was a "legend of French cinema."