British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who picked up a Golden Globe nomination as best actor for a comedy or musical for Borat, was snubbed.

Golden Globe nominations for Brits - Dec 14 2006
British stars picked up a slew of nominations for the Golden Globe awards today, with The Queen and Borat both riding high.

Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Judi Dench and Kate Winslet will fight a three-way battle for the best actress gong.

They were nominated for The Queen, Notes On A Scandal and Little Children respectively.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional Kazakh journalist Borat earned him a best actor in a comedy nod and a best comedy nomination for the film.

He will be up against Chiwetel Ejiofor for his role in Kinky Boots.

The Queen was nominated for best picture while Stephen Frears got a best director nod for the film.

Irish-born actor Peter O’Toole was nominated for best actor in a drama for Venus.

Dame Helen also picked up nominations for the title role in the TV miniseries Elizabeth I and best actress in a TV miniseries or movie for Prime Suspect: The Final Act.

She, Dame Judi and Winslet will go up against Penelope Cruz, for her role in Volver, and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby.

Hugh Laurie was nominated in the TV drama series category for his role in House.

British 23-year-old Emily Blunt was nominated as best supporting actress for her role as fashion magazine assistant in The Devil Wears Prada.

Peter Morgan was shortlisted for best screenplay for The Queen and Patrick Marber for Notes On A Scandal.

Helen is Queen of British Indy films - Nov 30 2006
Dame Helen Mirren was The Queen of the British Independent Film Awards last night - despite the movie which features her acclaimed performance of the monarch failing to grab the main awards.

The 61-year-old was given a special award for Film Achievement at the ninth annual awards recognising independent British filmmaking, which kick start the international awards season.

Other winners included This Is England, a film about fascist skinheads, which beat The Queen to the big prize of Best British Independent Film, and Red Road, the big screen debut by Andrea Arnold which vowed Cannes this year, which picked up two awards.

Controversial director Ken Loach won the Special Jury Prize while veteran actor Jim Broadbent, most recently on screen as Myra Hindley supporter Lord Longford, was given an award for Outstanding Contribution To British Film.

The Last King of Scotland, a story about brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin starring Forest Whitaker in the main role, won two awards, while screen veteran Leslie Phillips, 82, won Best Supporting Actor for Oscar-tipped Venus.

Award-winning film, The Queen, which tells the story of the monarchy in the aftermath of the death of the Princess of Wales, won Best Screenplay for Peter Morgan.

But it lost out in five categories including Best Actress for Helen Mirren and Best Director.

The Road To Guantanamo, Michael Winterbottom’s film about the so-called Tipton Three, a trio of British Muslims held in Guantanamo Bay for two years before being released without charge, won Best British Documentary.

Another showbiz award to Dame Helen - Nov 20 2006
Dame Helen Mirren has received another showbiz award - the Variety Club’s Outstanding Film Performance of the Year.

The 61-year-old actor saw huge success this autumn playing the lead in The Queen and won best actress at the Venice Film Festival.