Christopher Plummer, Laura Dern and Kate Winslet are among the early winners at the Golden Globes.
Among early television winners were Kate Winslet as best actress in a miniseries or movie in Mildred Pierce, Laura Dern for comedy or musical actress in Enlightened, Kelsey Grammer for dramatic actor in Boss, Homeland for drama series and Downton Abbey for miniseries or movie.
Ricky Gervais, who has ruffled feathers at past shows with sharp wisecracks aimed at Hollywood's elite and the Globes show itself, returned as host for the third straight year. He started with some slams at the Globes as Hollywood's second-biggest film ceremony, after the Oscars.
Gervais joked that the Globes 'are just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem. The Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing's been proved.'
He also needled early winners, saying the show was running long and stars needed to keep their speeches short.
'You don't need to thank everyone you've ever met or members of your family, who have done nothing,' Gervais said. 'Just the main two. Your agent and God.'
Claiming the first prize of the night at Sunday's Globes may give 82-year-old Plummer the inside track for the same prize at next month's Academy Awards.
'I must praise my distinguished competitors, who whom I have the greatest admiration and to whom I apologise most profusely,' said Plummer, who added warm regards to Beginners star Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.
'I want to salute my partner, Ewan, that wily Scot, Ewan 'My Heart's in the Highlands' McGregor, that scene-stealing swine from the outer Hebrides.'
Oscar consideration has been elusive for Plummer, who has been nominated for Hollywood's top honour only once in his 60-year career - two years ago, for the Leo Tolstoy drama The Last Station.
Plummer is regarded as one of the finest Shakespearean stage actors of the last half century.
His film roles range from Austrian widower Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music and Tolstoy in The Last Station to newsman Mike Wallace in The Insider and a treacherous Klingon general in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country.
He also co-starred in the current thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
A drama with comic touches, Beginners was a fitting recipient to start the Globe ceremony, which has a strong line-up of lighter fare to match the more sober-minded films that generally dominate Hollywood awards.
Meryl Streep won as best actress in a drama for her role as the former British prime minister in The Iron Lady, boosting her chances for the lead-actress prize at next month's Academy Awards, where she holds the record with 16 nominations but has not won in nearly 30 years, since 1982's Sophie's Choice. It was Streep's eighth win at the Globes.
Also adding to its Oscar buzz, Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white silent film The Artist won in its category for best movie musical or comedy.
Family drama The Descendants starring George Clooney won the top best picture prize.
Hollywood veteran Clooney also won the best actor Globe for his performance in the Hawaii-based family drama, which had been nominated in five categories overall.
