'Argo' took home the best picture prize in an Oscar ceremony that featured a wide array of winners along with a mix of traditionalmusical numbers and edgy humor.

Director/actor Ben Affleck's film based on the true story of a CIA agent who rescued hostages from Iran by creating a fake motion-picture production, was a Hollywood comeback story. After Mr. Affleck was denied an Academy Award nomination for best director on Jan. 10, an omission that many thought spelled the end of his movie's best-picture chances, the picture went on to sweep every major award, making it a presumptive favorite by Sunday.

In a surprise, the best picture winner was announced by Michelle Obama, who appeared live from the White House.

'Argo' also won Oscars for best adapted screenplay and editing. Its total of three is the fewest any best picture has won since 'Crash' in 2006.

Ang Lee won the best director Oscar for 'Life of Pi,' beating out Steven Spielberg for 'Lincoln,' who had been considered his most formidablecompetitor in the category.

Daniel Day-Lewis, a heavy favorite going into the night, won the best actor prize for his title role in 'Lincoln.' It's the actor's third Oscar for best actor. He previously won for 2007s 'There Will Be Blood and 1989s 'My Left Foot.'

Jennifer Lawrence, 22, won the best actress prize for her performance as woman coping with grief in 'Silver Linings Playbook,' released by Weinstein Co. The category was a closely contested one in which Jessica Chastain was also considered a likely winner for her lead role in 'Zero Dark Thirty.'

The original screenplay prize went to Quentin Tarantino for his slaveryrevenge movie 'Django Unchained.' He previously won in 1995 for 'Pulp Fiction.'

Host Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the animatedseries 'Family Guy' and last summer's hit movie 'Ted,' sought to tread a careful line between respect and comedy throughout the ceremony.

At the opening of the show, he enlisted William Shatner, playing Captain Kirk from 'Star Trek,' to show a series of offensive skits Mr. MacFarlane performed in an alternate future. In them, he made fun of famous actresses for their frequent nudity, re-enacted the alcohol- and drug-filled movie 'Flight' with sock puppets, and propositioned Sally Field, nominated for her role in 'Lincoln.'

The star-filled audience, which initially reacted hesitantly to jokes about Mel Gibson and Chris Brown, seemed to warm to Mr. MacFarlane as he mixed his 'fake' skits with musical numbers more in the tradition of past hosts like Billy Crystal. But his humor was hit-and-miss throughout. A joke about John Wilkes Booth and 'Lincoln' fell particularly flat.

In the evening's first award, Christoph Waltz took home the supporting actor prize for his role as a bountyhunter in Weinstein Co.'s 'Django Unchained.' While Mr. Waltz had won a Golden Globe in the same category, he was generally considered an underdog behind Tommy Lee Jones, who won the Screen Actors Guild prize for his role in 'Lincoln,' made by DreamWorks Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Co.

In the supporting actress category, the heavily favored Anne Hathaway took home the prize for her role as a troubled prostitute in the musical 'Les Miserables,' from Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures.

As was widely expected, 'Life of Pi,' from News Corp .'s Twentieth Century Fox, collected the awards for cinematography and visual effects, even as the studio that created many of the visuals, Rhythm & Hues Studios Inc., remained under bankruptcy-court protection. News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal.

Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar Animation won the best animated-feature prize for 'Brave.' Heading into this year's Oscars, six of the computer-graphics studio's films had won Oscars, but last year its 'Cars 2' didn't even rate a nomination.

'Amour,' about an aging couple dealing with dementia and death, won the prize for best foreign film, as was expected. Though the movie takes place in Paris, it qualified as Austrian, home country of its director, Michael Haneke. The movie, distributed in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics, was also nominated for best picture; it was viewed as a long shot in that category.

'Searching for Sugar Man,' a widely praised movie