Daniel Day-Lewis was among the winners as No Country For Old Mendominated the awards at the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) in Los Angeles last night.
The British-born Irish citizen dedicated his best lead actor award, for his role as a greedy oil baron in There Will Be Blood, to Heath Ledger (28), the Australian actor who died last week in his New York home.
Day-Lewis (50) said he had never met Ledger - best known for his role as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain- but said: "I am absolutely certain he would have done many wonderful things in his life."
Joel and Ethan Coen's 20th-century take on the western, No Country For Old Men, won the top prize - best cast ensemble - positioning the movie for glory at the Oscars next month.
James Gandolfini won the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series Award
Spanish actor Javier Bardem also won best supporting actor award for his role in the film.
The Sean Penn-directed wilderness drama Into The Wild, which had most nominations, came away with nothing, however.
British actress Julie Christie (66) won the best actress award for playing a woman with Alzheimer's disease in Away From Her. She is also heavily tipped for an Oscar.
Best supporting actress award went to veteran Ruby Dee for her role in American Gangster.
In SAG's television awards, the mob drama The Sopranosswept the board, taking the trophy for best cast in a TV drama and the best actor and actress awards for James Gandolfini and Edie Falco in an emotional finish to the series that ended in June.
Tina Fey and 30 Rockco-star Alec Baldwin won for best actress and actor in a TV comedy. The US version of The Office, starring Steve Carrell, won for best television comedy cast ensemble.
The traditional Oscar ceremony has been under threat from a three-month strike by Hollywood screenwriters seeking improved payments for work distributed on the Internet. But hopes of a settlement have risen since the two sides resumed talks last week.
The SAG awards went ahead with the writers' approval after deal had been struck in advance.