Octavia Spencer

Spencer,whose mother was a maid and who had never been nominated before for an Academy Award,got a long standing ovation from the audience as she nervously walked to the stage to accept her award.

8220;Thank you Academy for putting me with the hottest guy in the room,8221; she said,referring to the golden Oscar statuette.

Fighting back tears and thanking her family and fellow cast members,she said,8221;I8217;m wrapping up,I8217;m sorry,I am freaking out. Thank you world.8221; Spencer8217;s night however was slightly dampened by the loss for fellow The Help actress Viola Davis,who was beaten in the lead actress race by Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady.

But a national domestic workers group said Spencer8217;s win was a 8220;profound victory8221; for maids everywhere.

8220;We thank her for lifting up the stories of domestic workers and the dignity of the work,8221; National Domestic Workers Alliance co-founder Ai-jen Poo said in a statement.

Known to television audiences for her role on the sitcom Ugly Betty,Spencer grew up in a family of seven children whose mother worked as a maid.

Spencer8217;s film career was dominated in the previous decade by small parts in films such as Legally Blonde 2,Spider-Man,Bad Santa and Beauty Shop.

But her career took a dramatic turn when she joined the cast of The Help,a tale of a white writer who persuades black maids in the U.S. deep South to tell their stories.

Spencer played Minny Jackson,a woman who refuses to be cowed and who wreaks revenge on a cruel white employer by serving up a disgusting pie.

The film was adapted from the best-selling Kathryn Stockett novel of the same name and became a cultural touchstone and box-office sensation,grossing more than 200 million at the global box-office. Spencer told reporters backstage that she was a benefactor of all of the advances made by real life African-Americans since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. 8220;I8217;m very humbled because I get to stand here and accept this award and I haven8217;t really done anything,8221; she said.

8220;I hope it8217;s a hallmark of more for young aspiring actresses of color. I hope that in some way I can be some kind of beacon of hope,especially because I am not the typical Hollywood beauty,8221; she added.