It was wonderful to see actor Sean Penn (perhaps the best actor of his generation) pick up the best actor Oscar for his role in Mystic River.

It is a truly wonderful movie directed by Clint Eastwood and deals very sympathetically with a child abuse case and the effects it has when people become adults.

The scene in which the character played by Penn hears of the fate of his daughter is heart-breaking and my friend and I actually found tears on our cheeks and reached for the Kleenex, such is the quality of Penn's acting.

Jo Dillon (The Argus, March 4) writes that Penn had drinking problems - but so did many of the big movie stars of the past.

The award is judged by a performance in a movie role, not on an actor's private life. Sean Penn is now happily married with a couple of children.

Joy Linford

-Dallington Road, Hove