In what could be a major turning point in Jackman's quest for an Oscar, the Sydney-born 44-year-old claimed a Golden Globe on Sunday (US time) for his barnstorming singing-acting performance in Les Miserables.
Last year French actor Jean Dujardin, for The Artist, won the Globe in the best actor in a musical or comedy category and then went on to win the Oscar. Jackman's Globe was in the same category.
"I was kicking myself for not getting the 'flu shot, but it appears you don't need one," Jackman, his voice crackling from the flu but smiling as he held his Globe trophy, told the audience inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
"I feel great."
When Jackman's name was announced he kissed his wife Deborra-Lee Furness (pictured with Jackman), who had tears flowing down her cheeks.
It would seem the film version of the blockbuster stage musical Les Miserables was the perfect project for Jackman, a Tony Award winner who seamlessly crosses from stage musicals to film sets where he earns a reported $US20 million per Wolverine film.
But, Jackman admitted if it was not for Furness, he would have quit Les Miserables just three weeks before cameras were scheduled to roll.
"We had a terrible day of rehearsal. A humiliating day," Jackman recalled in his acceptance speech.
"I came home to Deb and said 'It's time. I have to ring him (director Tom Hooper) and tell him there's someone else to play this role. I really thought I had bitten off more I could chew.
"My wife talked me off that cliff like she talks me off most days.
"Baby, I'm going to say it now in front of the entire world.
"Thank you for always being right."
The Globes divides the acting categories in two, with Day-Lewis winning the dramatic actor Globe, setting up an interesting battle between the acclaimed British star of Lincoln, and the likable, talented Jackman.
Lincoln, a biopic about the 16th president of the US, Abraham Lincoln, was the favourite for the best picture Oscar, but multiple defeats at the Globes damages its prospects.
Apart from Jackman and Les Miserables, which won best musical/comedy film, the biggest benefactor at the Globes was the film Argo and its director Ben Affleck.
Argo, a thriller set around the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, beat Lincoln for best dramatic film and Affleck was a shock winner for the director Globe over Lincoln's Steven Spielberg.
The Globes probably ended Naomi Watts' hope of an Oscar for her performance in The Impossible.
Watts lost the dramatic actress Globe to Zero Dark Thirty's Jessica Chastain, while Silver Linings Playbook's Jennifer Lawrence won the actress in a musical/comedy category.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban also left the Beverly Hilton empty-handed, despite being up for a combined three Globes.
Kidman was nominated for her supporting role in the movie The Paperboy, but as expected Les Miserables' Anne Hathaway was the victor.
Kidman was also nominated for the TV movie Hemingway & Gellhorn, however Julianne Moore, for her portrayal of former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in Game Change, claimed the prize.
Urban was nominated in the original song category for For You, from the war-action film Act of Valor but was beaten by Adele's song Skyfall for the latest James Bond flick.
The TV drama categories were dominated by Homeland, with Damien Lewis and Claire Danes winning the acting Globes and the show took best drama series.
Girls clinched most of the Globes' TV comedy awards, including best comedy series and actress Lena Dunham.
The Academy Awards will be held in Hollywood on 24th February.
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