Tom Hooper wins best director Oscar for The King's Speech

He may have lost out in the Bafta race, but Tom Hooper has come good at the Academy Awards, where he won the best director Oscar. Hooper was one of 12 Academy Award nominations for The King's Speech, and he was up against major Hollywood heavyweights – the Coen brothers, David Fincher, David O Russell and Darren Aronofsky – but The King's Speech's irresistible momentum swept him towards the top prize. Hooper, 38, worked his way through the ranks of British TV programme-making before establishing himself with the two-part Love in a Cold Climate in 2001. He went on to direct Prime Suspect 6, Elizabeth I and the award-winning Longford, starring Jim Broadbent. Before The King's Speech, his best known feature film was The Damned United, the story of Brian Clough's ill-fated reign as Leeds United manager.