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Presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the 65th annual Primetime Emmy Awards which recognises the best in American and international television was held on Sunday night in Los Angeles.

The Liberace biopic, Behind The Candelabra, which was shown on the cable network HBO in the US after reportedly being turned down by every major studio as a theatrical release, was the big winner of the night. It won three Emmys, including one for best TV movie, best actor for Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas, who starred as Liberace, and best director for Steven Soderbergh.

Born Wladzio Valentino Liberace in 1919 in the US state of Wisconsin, the outrageously flashy virtuoso pianist had never publicly acknowledged his homosexuality. He passed away in 1987 at the age of 67, after four decades in the spotlight.

Douglas, taking the stage to accept his best actor award, joked with co-star Matt Damon sitting in the front row at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. "This is a two hander. And Matt, you're only as good as your other hand," he told Damon, who plays Liberace's gay lover Scott Thorson in the movie made by US cable channel Home Box Office (HBO) and was also nominated in the same category.

Douglas drew laugher from the audience when he offered to share his Emmy statuette with Damon: “You want the bottom or the top?”

The pair also introduced a tribute performance by Elton John to Liberace. "This guy played a mean piano," the British pianist said, acknowledging the enormous influence Liberace had had on his own music "and my dress sense."

Before performing his song "Home Again," he said: "What I was not aware of until years later was his lifestyle." He then quipped, "Yeah, right" before continuing, "Which, due to the tenor of the times, had to be concealed."

"Liberace left us 25 years ago, and what a difference those years have made to people like me and people like me."

Jim Parsons, plays Dr Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory

Openly gay actor Jim Parsons, who plays awkward scientist Dr Sheldon Cooper in the hit CBS comedy show The Big Bang Theory, took home the best comedy actor award after back-to-back wins of the same award in 2010 and 2011.

The 40-year-old, who went public about his sexuality in May 2012, ended his acceptance speech by thanking his boyfriend of more than 10 years Todd Spiewak who he called his “favourite person on earth.”

Meanwhile, comedy show Modern Family, which features a gay couple raising a child as two of the central characters, pulled off its fourth consecutive win for best comedy series, and also added an Emmy for best directing.

Cameron Tucker and Eric Stonestreet play a gay couple raising a child in Modern Family.

The show's co-creator, Steve Levitan, who was flanked by the show's cast when he accepted his award said: "I cannot begin to express to you how surreal this ride has been, because none of us grew up feeling like winners."

"So thank you to the bullies, to the popular kids, to the gym teachers who taunted us, who rejected us and who made fun of the way we ran. Without you we never would have gone into comedy!"

Project Runway's Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn won their second straight Emmy for outstanding host of a reality program.

Gunn, 60, recently revealed in an interview with Larry King that he'd been celibate for 29 years and that he never addressed his sexuality with his parents, arguing that "it was a very different time and a very different era" when he was in his teens and early 20s.

"When I was growing up... I knew who I wasn't, but I didn't know who I was, I really didn't," Gunn said. "It was a very different time. It was a very different era. And I had a lot of fears about being gay and what that actually meant... I had already presented my family with a lot of disappointments and I didn't feel that I wanted to present them with yet this. My mother died two years ago. And I think she eventually figured out my sexuality, but we never talked about it. And my father was gone long before. We never once talked about it.”

Host Neil Patrick Host kicked off the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards with the help of past hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon and Jane Lynch.

Glee cast member Jane Lynch took a moment during the show to remember her co-star Cory Monteith and "his goofy, breezy sense of humour, his natural instinct for inclusiveness, and his unbridled sense of generosity."

Here is a full list of Emmy winners:

Outstanding Drama Series | Breaking Bad

Lead Actor In A Drama Series | Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Lead Actress In A Drama Series | Claire Danes, Homeland (2012 WINNER)

Supporting Actor In A Drama Series | Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire

Supporting Actress In A Drama Series | Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad

Writing in a Drama Series | Homeland

Directing in a Drama Series | House of Cards

Outstanding Comedy Series | Modern Family

Lead Actor In A Comedy Series | Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Lead Actress In A Comedy Series | Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (2012 WINNER)

Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series | Tony Hale, Veep

Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series | Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie

Writing in a Comedy Series | 30 Rock

Directing in a Comedy Series | Modern Family

Outstanding Miniseries or Movie | Behind the Candelabra

Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie | Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra

Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie | Laura Linney, The Big C: hereafter

Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie | James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum

Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie | Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals

Writing in a Miniseries or Movie | The Hour

Directing in a Miniseries or Movie | Behind the Candelabra

Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series | The Colbert Report

Writing in a Variety, Music Or Comedy Series | The Colbert Report

Directing in a Variety, Music Or Comedy Series | Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Reality – Competition Program | The Voice

Choreography | Dancing With the Stars, Derek Hough

Guest Actress In A Comedy Series | Melissa Leo, Louie

Guest Actor In A Comedy Series | Bob Newhart The Big Bang Theory

Guest Actor In A Drama Series | Dan Bucatinsky, Scandal

Guest Actress In A Drama Series | Carrie Preston, The Good Wife

Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program | Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Reality Program | Undercover Boss

Casting For a Drama Series | House of Cards

Casting For A Comedy Series | 30 Rock

Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special | Behind the Candelabra

For a complete list of winners and nominees, click here.