DiCaprio, 41, had been nominated four times previously for an Oscar over a career spanning 25 years. But he was favorite to finally take home the best actor Academy Award this year for his grueling portrayal of a fur trapper left for dead in an icy wilderness after being mauled by a bear.

"Spotlight," the movie that recreates the Boston Globe's probe of sex abuse in the Catholic

Church, won the Oscar for best picture on Sunday, the highest honor in the film industry.

The film, which took years to research, follows the journalists who in 2002 revealed that church officials had routinely covered up reports that priests had sexually assaulted dozens of children. The Boston Globe won a Pulitzer prize for its efforts.

Brie Larson won the best actress Oscar on Sunday for her role as a young woman held hostage for years with a young son in the emotional thriller "Room."

It is the first Oscar and nomination for the 26-year-old Larson, who has starred in more than 45 films and television.

shows in the past two decades. She beat out previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence for the accolade.

George Miller has missed out on the directing Oscar, despite his Mad Max: Fury Road crew cleaning up at the 88th Academy Awards in an historic night for the Australian film industry.

The award for best director went to Alejandro Inarritu for The Revenant, the Mexican filmmaker's second straight win in the category after also claiming the Oscar last year for Birdman.