Colin Firth's Road to Oscar Paved by Two Women

Before Firth found success, he quit acting to raise his son with Meg Tilly.

ByABC News
February 3, 2011, 1:53 AM

Feb. 3, 2011— -- Accepting the Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor, "King's Speech" star Colin Firth joked, "I'd like to thank security for letting me in the building."

The self-deprecating Englishman need not worry about future doors being opened for him. Following his second award for his role as the stammering King George VI, Firth is the odds-on favorite to win the Oscar.

Firth's road to the Oscars is paved with the love of two women as much as it is his iconic film roles. After accepting his SAG trophy, the 50-year-old actor took a moment backstage to send a text message to his wife, Livia Giuggioli, who was back home in England.

Giuggioli, an Italian producer and mother of their two boys, Luca and Matteo, will most likely be cheering Firth from the audience at the Academy Awards on Feb. 27.

Meanwhile, actress Meg Tilly, Firth's former love and mother of his 21-year-old son Will, is likely to be cheering him from her remote cabin deep in the woods outside Vancouver, Canada.

Following Firth's Golden Globe win for "The King's Speech," Tilly, now 50, wrote on her blog: "Our happy hats off to a member of the family. We are so pleased for you! Hearty jigs are being danced. Tonight...we shall all lift a glass of wine to toast your continued success! Jubilant hugs and kisses from all of us. Onward and upward!"