Kate Winslet Wins Best Actress At Bafta

Kate Winslet moved a step closer to Oscar glory tonight after winning the Best Actress award at the Baftas.She is now favourite to take an Academy Award later this month for her role in The Reader, in which she plays a former concentration camp guard. Miss Winslet, 33, turned up at the glittering ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London in a black gown by New York designer Zac Posen, Prada shoes and Chopard jewellery - accessorised with an umbrella.



The heavens had opened just as she and her fellow stars, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig and Goldie Hawn, arrived on the red carpet.But the rain failed to dampen spirits or hairdos on what is becoming one of the year's most prestigious showbusiness events.Once inside, all eyes and ears were on the host Jonathan Ross, who was awarded the job despite having only recently returned to the BBC after his three-month suspension.He started off the show by announcing: 'I'm your host Jonathan Ross. I am honoured and a little bit surprised to be here,' causing a ripple of laughter.

Ross continued by giving Miss Winslet a light ribbing for the emotional speech she made at last month's Golden Globes, where she won Best Actress for Revolutionary Road and Best Supporting Actress for The Reader. Tonight's award was the first Bafta Miss Winslet has won in 14 years - she took her first for Sense And Sensibility in 1995. And she is yet to win an Academy Award. But in recent years Baftas success has been seen a key indicator of Oscars glory. in 2008, French actress Marion Cotillard unexpectedly won the Best Actress prize for La Vie En Rose and two weeks later took home an Oscar.