Stephen Hawking was unable to make it to the Oscars to see Eddie Redmayne claim the best actor gong for playing him in The Theory Of Everything.

But the award-winning physicist has sent a message of congratulations via his Facebook page, revealing he was “proud” of the actor.

Stephen Hawking – Congratulations to Eddie Redmayne for… | Facebook

Eddie, 33, had said backstage at the ceremony he can’t wait to take his Academy Award statuette to Cambridge to show the professor.

He also revealed he had been excited about seeing actress Cate Blanchett on stage, with whom he worked on Elizabeth: The Golden Age, when his name was announced.

“I was recovering from that excitement of seeing her, and then just trying to bury all this frenzy of nerves and white noise and trying to speak articulately and, of course, you then forget everything but it just felt like a euphoria really, an extraordinary euphoria. It’s something I will not forget in a hurry,” he said.

Cate presented Eddie with his award (Jordan Strauss/AP)
Cate presented Eddie with his award (Jordan Strauss/AP)