Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony for his role as a charming bounty hunter in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."

It is Waltz's second Oscar in as many nominations. He previously won the Best Supporting Actor statue for his role as Nazi colonel, whose role in tracking down Jews is masked in a veneer of civility, in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds"(2009).

The Best Supporting Actor race, with a category comprised entirely of past Oscar winners, was considered one of the tightest contests going into Sunday's show. To snag his statue, Waltz beat out Tommy Lee Jones' ornery abolitionist in "Lincoln," Philip Seymour Hoffman's cult leader in "The Master," Robert De Niro's Philadelphia Eagles loving father in "Silver Linings Playbook," and Alan Arkin's sardonic movie producer in "Argo."

Waltz, 56, was unknown to American audiences until Tarantino plucked him from obscurity and gave him a central role in "Basterds." Since winning his first Oscar, he has appeared in several high-profile projects, including "Water for Elephants" (2011) and "Carnage"(2011).