Bullock, who first captured hearts behind the wheel of a runaway bus in "Speed, " has now added Oscar to her hordes of fans.
The 45-year-old actress, who looked like an old-school Hollywood screen goddess in a glimmering dress by Marchesa and red lips, took home the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "The Blind Side."
The movie is about a woman who, with uncommon love and acceptance, took in a homeless young man and nurtured him to football stardom.
Bullock dedicated her award to "the moms who take care of the babies and the children, wherever they come from."
Her underdog win against the likes of 16-time nominee and acting heavyweight Meryl Streep, among others, was underscored by her somewhat less prestigious acting distinction the same weekend: the Razzie award for the year's worst performance by an actress for "All About Steve." Bullock is the first actress to win a Razzie and an Oscar in the same year.
Given the weepy history of Best Actress winners and what some would call a surprising win, Bullock showed remarkable poise and composure in one of the best speeches of the night.
She began with disarming and self-deprecating humor when she said, "Did I really earn this, or did I wear you all down?"
She went on to graciously thank all the other Best Actress nominees, whom she has clearly grown close to – “fallen deeply in love with, ” in her own words – after getting to know them during the events leading up to the awards.
Among the other laughs she got, she told Streep, "Meryl, you know what I think of you, and you are such a good kisser, " referring to the lip-to-lip smooch the actresses shared when they tied for the Critics Choice Awards Best Actress honor. At the end of her remarks, she referred to "my lover, Meryl Streep."
Looking back on her career, she also thanked "everyone who was mean to me.”
And she also movingly thanked her mother, who died of cancer in 2000, remembering how she made Bullock practice piano and dance as a girl.
"She said to be an artist, you had to practice every day, " Bullock said, giving her mom credit for her success.
She also thanked her mother for "reminding her daughters that there's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else. We are all deserving of love."
