WALKING THE LINE FIRST-TIMERS FACE THE LONG RED CARPET.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Jack Nicholson may have three Academy Award trophies, but his two youngest children had never attended an Oscar ceremony with their famous dad until Sunday, when they accompanied him for a whirl on the red carpet.

``They wanted to come,'' said an exuberant Nicholson, who proudly showed off daughter Lorraine, 15, and son Raymond, 14. Raymond Nicholson, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by all of the hoopla, said: ``I've only seen this on TV.''

The Nicholson children were part of a night of firsts on Oscar's red carpet, which was crowded with first-time acting nominees, including Heath Ledger, Terrence Howard, Felicity Huffman, Reese Witherspoon, George Clooney, Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams.

``I'm really excited to be here under these circumstances,'' said first-timer Matt Dillon, who went on a long run Sunday morning in order to relax. ``It's personally validating, but I never really think about awards. Maybe from now on I will!''

Fellow first-time nominee Keira Knightley said she had no nerves about her first Oscar ceremony.

``It's very surreal; I never thought I'd be here,'' Knightley said. ``I read the paper this morning, had some French toast, then stepped into my dress. Maybe I'm not composed at all, maybe I'm just in shock.''

``Capote'' director Bennett Miller, who received his first Oscar nod for his first feature-length film, wondered why he was feeling nonchalant about being nominated with Clooney, Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg and Paul Haggis.

``I think I'm missing that gene that many people have that causes them to be nervous at these events,'' he said. ``But I feel a lot of gratitude to just be welcomed in.''

Dan Futterman, friends with Miller and best actor nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman since they were teens, was invited to his first Oscar ceremony after being nominated for best screenplay adaptation for ``Capote.''

``I never got invited to the Oscars until now, and now I'm invited to Vanity Fair and all the other parties,'' Futterman said. ``Everyone's been so nice. It's a little overwhelming.''

Director Tim Burton, nominated for ``Corpse Bride,'' attended an Oscar show for the first time with his longtime love Helena Bonham Carter, a former nominee herself.

``I have no thoughts, it's just a surreal wash of images,'' Burton said. ``I'll have to figure it all out a few days from now.'' Said Bonham Carter: ``I gave him advice. I said, 'Breathe. Don't forget.' ''

Larry McMurtry, co-writer of ``Brokeback Mountain'' with Diana Ossana, was first nominated for an Academy Award more than 30 years ago for ``The Last Picture Show.'' But he didn't attend the ceremony that year or any year since. Sunday was his first journey down the red carpet and he didn't seem to be enjoying it much.

``My happiest moment will be later tonight when my head hits the pillow,'' McMurtry confessed. ``I feel very detached. But this is such a worthy film, and I feel more involved in this than I did 'Picture Show.' ''

Presley Chweneyagae and Terry Pheto, stars of foreign film nominee ``Tsotsi,'' were dazzled and a bit overwhelmed to be at their first Oscar ceremony, facing the international press.

``Ten years ago, when I first started acting, I never thought I would be here,'' Chweneyagae said. ``All of the people are screaming, and it's very exciting.''

Screenplay nominee Josh Olson (``A History of Violence'') thought he'd be cool in the days leading up to the ceremony. But on Saturday night, he had trouble sleeping, so he took a few pills and learned something: ``Oscar trumps Ambien. I got three hours of sleep.''

The team behind the winning documentary, ``March of the Penguins,'' wanted to make sure fans recognized them on the red carpet at their first Academy Awards ceremony, so they carried large stuffed penguins with them.

``Would you know who I am otherwise?'' asked producer Emmanuel Priou. (The crew did not waddle down the red carpet, however.)

Army Archerd, who for several decades announced the celebrity arrivals at the Academy Awards, attended this year for the first time as a spectator.

``Not having to work in the broiling sun or the pouring rain and just being able to walk in is great,'' Archerd said. ``I'm planning to have a good time.''

Oscar veteran Bruce Vilanch, who has helped write more than a dozen telecasts, including this year's, had this advice for all of the first-timers: ``Make sure your fly is zipped, bring breath mints, PowerBars, because it's a long night. You need props to get you through.''

Speaking on the red carpet, Vilanch also had advice for first-time host Jon Stewart. ``I told Jon that as the evening goes on, there are more losers in the audience. For every winner, there are going to be four bitter losers out there.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) It's Oscar's BIG NIGHT By George!

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) ``Tsotsi'' stars Terry Pheto, left, and Presley Chweneyagae.

(3 -- color) Jack Nicholson arrives with son Raymond and daughter Lorraine, his children with Rebecca Broussard, at Sunday's Oscar ceremonies.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) A group of faux emperor penguins march on the Hollywood & Highland complex before the ceremony at the Kodak Theatre.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer