BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Jennifer Lawrence won a lead-actress Golden Globe for the oddball romance “Silver Linings Playbook,” while supporting-acting prizes went to Christoph Waltz for the slave-revenge tale “Django Unchained” and Anne Hathaway for the musical “Les Miserables.”

Sunday’s wins firm up their prospects for Hollywood’s top honors at the Feb. 24 Academy Awards.

Former President Bill Clinton upstaged Hollywood’s elite with a surprise appearance to introduce Steven Spielberg’s Civil War epic “Lincoln,” which was up for best drama. The film chronicles Abraham Lincoln’s final months as he tries to end the war and find common ground in a divided Congress to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery.

Lincoln’s effort was “forged in a cauldron of both principle and compromise,” Clinton said. “This brilliant film shows us how he did it and gives us hope that we can do it again.”

Amy Poehler, co-host of the Globes with Tina Fey, gushed afterward, “Wow, what an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton’s husband!”

Among TV winners, “Homeland,” filmed in Charlotte, was named best TV drama series, and its stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes also received Golden Globes. Julianne Moore won a best-actress Globe for her role as Sarah Palin in “Game Change,” which also was picked as best TV miniseries or movie and earned Ed Harris a supporting-actor prize. Best actor in a miniseries or movie went to Kevin Costner for “Hatfields & McCoys.” Maggie Smith as supporting actress for “Downton Abbey.”

Lawrence won as best actress in a musical or comedy for her role as a troubled widow in a shaky new relationship. The Globe winners in musical or comedy categories often aren’t factors at the Oscars, which tend to favor heavier dramatic roles.

But “Silver Linings Playbook” is a crowd-pleasing comic drama with deeper themes than the usual comedy. And Lawrence – a 2010 Oscar nominee for her breakout film “Winter’s Bone” who shot to superstardom with “The Hunger Games” – delivers a nice mix of humor and melancholy in the film.

Hathaway’s win came for her role as a doomed single mother in the big-screen adaptation of the stage musical based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel.

“Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will forever more use as a weapon against self-doubt,” Hathaway said, cradling her trophy.

Waltz won supporting actor for his role as a genteel bounty hunter who takes on an ex-slave as apprentice.

Pop star Adele and co-writer Paul Epworth won for best song for their theme tune to the James Bond adventure “Skyfall.”

The prize for musical score went to Mychael Danna for the lost-at-sea tale “Life of Pi.”