LOS ANGELES  – Rags-to-riches romance "Slumdog Millionaire" won two early Oscars on Sunday while Spanish actress Penelope Cruz was named best supporting actress and Heath Ledger earned the award for best supporting actor.

"Slumdog," an often dark but ultimately hopeful tale about a poor Indian boy who competes for love and money on a TV game show, was the frontrunner for best film coming into the Oscars and received 10 nominations in various categories.

Midway through the ceremony, "Slumdog" had walked away with best adapted screenplay for its writer Simon Beaufoy and best cinematography for director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle.

Cruz became the first Spanish actress ever to win an Oscar for role as a fiery Spanish painter in director Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

Holding back tears, she thanked Allen and Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who was instrumental in putting her on a track to stardom. She dedicated the Oscar to her family and "everyone who has helped me from the beginning."

The award for supporting actor went to Ledger as villain The Joker in Batman movie "The Dark Knight." Ledger died last year of an accidental prescription drug overdose, and became only the second actor after Peter Finch to win posthumously.

His win brought the crowd to its feet, and the Oscar was accepted by his father, Kim Ledger, sister Kate and mother Sally Bell. "This award tonight would have humbly validated his quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his peers, in an industry he truly loved," Kim Ledger said.

In other awards, Dustin Lance Black won the best original screenplay Oscar for writing "Milk," about slain gay activist Harvey Milk, and "Wall-E," telling of a futuristic robot who finds love while on a polluted Earth, was best animated film.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" walked off with two statuettes for best art direction and makeup, and "The Ducchess" won for best costume design.

"Man on Wire" about a tightrope walker who dared two walk between New York's Twin Towers was named best documentary.

JACKMAN PUTS ON A SHOW

As the ceremony began, host Hugh Jackman put the show in full musical mode with an opening routine that drew a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd that included nominees Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Mickey Rourke and Anne Hathaway.

The number covered all five of the best film nominees and had Jackman dancing hip hop, hitting high notes in a duet with Hathaway for "Frost/Nixon" and climbing to the top rope of a fake wrestling ring to crescendo his song with "The Wrestler."

Later, he performed an old-style number in top hat and tails with Beyonce, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. Among the funnier acts was Ben Stiller doing an impersonation of a wacky Joaquin Phoenix, who has quit acting to take up hip hop music.

But the major awards were still to come.

In the best picture category, "Slumdog" is widely expected to walk off with the best film Oscar. Its key competition comes from "Milk," starring Penn as gay activist Harvey Milk, and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with Pitt as a man who ages backward.

The other nominees are "Frost/Nixon," which recounts the historic interviews of disgraced former U.S. President Richard Nixon by British TV host David Frost, and "The Reader."

The competition for best-actor appears to be a two-way battle between Penn and Mickey Rourke as a faded athlete in "The Wrestler." On Saturday, Rourke won the independent film world's Spirit Award for best actor, but that honor comes from different voters than the roughly 6,000 academy members who cast Oscar ballots.

Kate Winslet is tipped for best actress playing a German Nazi-era prison guard in "The Reader" over Meryl Streep as a nun who suspects sex abuse in a Catholic school in "Doubt.