Heath Ledger has been honoured with his first major award since his tragic death last year - a Golden Globe for his role in Batman movie The Dark Knight.

Tom Cruise, nominated for the same award for his role in comedy Tropic Thunder, led a standing ovation, and Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan fought back tears when he collected the award on Ledger's behalf.

The filmmaker told the audience, "All of us who worked with Heath on The Dark Knight accept this with sadness but incredible pride.

"After Heath passed on, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema.

"But with the extraordinary response to his work, from all over the world. I for one start to look a bit less at that gap in the future and a bit more at the incredible place in the history of cinema that he built for himself with his talent and his dedication to his artistry.

"He will be eternally missed. But he will never be forgotten."

Speaking earlier on the red carpet, Ledger's Dark Knight co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal revealed they were rooting for their late pal.

Eckhart said, "It's nice that he is nominated.

"We need to celebrate Heath and celebrate his work. Hopefully he'll win tonight. Not that it matters."

Gyllenhaal added, "Everyone is very, very proud. He elevated that movie to a completely different place. It's hard to be that good in a movie that big. I hope that he wins."

Eckhart Hints At Possible Two-Face Return?
In the past, Aaron Eckhart has had no problems stating matter-of-factly that Two-Face was done for, telling SuperHeroHype back in September that his character was as “dead as a doornail.” Well…maybe not that dead.

When MTV News caught up with “The Dark Knight” star on the Golden Globes red carpet, he was considerably less convinced of his character’s demise, and of the possibility that he could reprise his role as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in a sequel to the record-breaking film.