Daniel Day-Lewis wins best actor Oscar for 'Lincoln'

Hot favourite Daniel Day-Lewis completed a historic hat-trick as he took home the Best Actor Oscar for his poignant portrayal of a battle weary Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's civil-war set biopic "Lincoln".
The win for the British actor, who played a brief role in Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi", did not come as a surprise as he was strongly tipped to win. He had already collected the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and British BAFTA awards, in the long award season of Hollywood ahead of Oscars.
Interestingly, the 'notoriously'-selective actor had initially refused the role as he thought it would be proper for an American to play Lincoln but once he agreed, Day-Lewis devoted himself on painfully researching every little detail about the 16th president for an year to bring out an intense and touching portrayal.

"I do know that I've received so much more than my fortune. Three years go, I'd actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher and my role was Steven's first choice for Lincoln... My fellow nominees, my equals, I'm so proud... I'd like to thank Kathleen Kenndey, our producer. I owe this to three men - Tony Kushner, Steven Spielberg and the spirit of Abraham lincoln," he said while accepting the best actor trophy.
Day-Lewis plays Lincoln prior to his assassination in 1865. As the four-year-old Civil War continues to rage, the president struggles to bring a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery and end the carnage on the battlefield.

He is a five time Academy-award nominee. With his latest trophy, he has become the first man to win three Oscars in the leading actor category.
He has previously won the Oscars for playing cerebral palsy suffering author and painter Christy Brown in "My Left Foot" (1989) and in 2007 for portraying an ambitious and misanthropic oil baron in "There Will Be Blood". He was also nominated for "In The Name of the Father" (1993) and "Gangs of New York" in 2002.