Heath Ledger's father fought back tears as he paid tribute to his late son at an award ceremony in Australia.

Actor's father Kim Ledger accepted a Best Actor prize on behalf of his son at the GQ Men of the Year Awards and struggled with his composure as he remembered his "beautiful boy", the Contactmusic reported.

The actor died of alleged drug overdose in January this year.

Ledger was honoured for his performance as 'The Joker' in Batman Begins sequel 'The Dark Knight', which happened to be his last film.

"He thrived everyday on set, humoured and sometimes intimidated the cast, but revelled in this opportunity to create and deliver a unique character," the senior Ledger said.

The other actors, who were honoured at the award ceremony were Hugh Jackman, who claimed the night's People's Choice Man Of The Year and his Australia director Baz Luhrmann, who took home the Creative Force Of The Year award.