Heath Ledger

Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008) was an Oscar-winning actor from Australia. Ledger started acting on television in the 1990s and then began acting in Hollywood movies. He was an important actor in many movies, including The Patriot, Monster's Ball, and Brokeback Mountain. He acted as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger died in New York City on January 22, 2008. His last movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, came out in 2009.
Early life and family
Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia. Heath and his sister Katherine were named after the two main characters in the book Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Ledger went to Guildford Grammar School, where he started acting. When he was 10 years old, he acted in a school play as Peter Pan.
Career
Early career
When he was sixteen years old, Ledger graduated school early to become an actor. With his best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, Ledger drove across Australia to Sydney. He came back to Perth in to act in the television series Sweat which was on television in 1996. In this series, he played a gay bicycle rider.
In 1996, Ledger acted in the fantasy-drama television series Roar. In 1999, Ledger had the main role in the teen comedy movie 10 Things I Hate About You. He also had the main role in the Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan.
2000-2008
From 2000 to 2005, Ledger had main acting roles in many movies, like The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale, The Four Feathers, Ned Kelly, The Order, and The Brothers Grimm. In 2001, he won a prize called the ShoWest Award for the "Male Star of Tomorrow" for his acting in The Patriot and A Knight's Tale. In 2003, he was named one of Australian GQ's "Men of the Year" for acting.
Ledger was given the "Best Actor of 2005" award from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his acting in Brokeback Mountain. In this movie, he plays a worker on a ranch in Wyoming named Ennis Del Mar, who is in love with a rodeo performer named Jack Twist, who is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He also was nominated to win a Golden Globe award "Best Actor in a Drama" and the Academy Award for Best Actor for this acting, but he did not win either prize.
Also in 2005, Ledger acted as the character Giacomo Casanova in the romantic comedy movie called Casanova. This movie also included actress Sienna Miller.
In 2006, Ledger was asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, he was one of six actors to act as different sides of singer Bob Dylan in the movie I'm Not There.
Ledger acted in the role of the comic book villain The Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. This movie follows the 2005 movie Batman Begins. The movie was released on July 18, 2008. He was given respect and many awards for how well he acted in this movie, even though he died six months before it was shown in movie theaters. Some of these awards were the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Also after he died, the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was first shown in movie theaters in 2009. Ledger was supposed to act as the main role of Doctor Parnassus, but he only filmed about half of the scenes before he died. The director for this movie, Terrry Gilliam, decided that the movie would be changed so that three other actors would also act as this character in some parts of the movie. The other actors were Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law, who were all friends with Heath Ledger before he died.
Music
Ledger started a record company with a singer named Ben Harper. In 2006, Ledger was the director of three music videos. The songs for these music videos were "Cause an Effect" and "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)" by Australian hip-hop musician N'fa, and "Morning Yearning" by Ben Harper.
Public image
Press reception
Ledger had problems with paparazzi. It is said that he spat at and assaulted a photographer in Sydney in 2004. His relative is also said to have spat on a photographer in 2005. Ledger said this was not true.
Ledger caused problems after he was quoted in January 2006 in Australia's Herald Sun saying that West Virginia had banned Brokeback Mountain when it had not. He also said the state had lynchings as recently as the 1980s. These statements have been said to not be true by historians, who said that the last illegal public hanging in West Virginia happened in 1931.
Personal life
From August 2002 to April 2004, Ledger had a relationship with actress Naomi Watts. They met when they both acted in the movie Ned Kelly. Before that, he dated the actresses Lisa Zane and Heather Graham.
Ledger was engaged to actress Michelle Williams, whom he met while making the movie Brokeback Mountain. They had one daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on October 28, 2005 in New York City.
In August 2007, the magazine Us Weekly said that Ledger and Williams ended their relationship. Ledger and Williams both said that the rumor was not true at that time. In September 2007, Williams' father, Larry, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had separated.
Death
Ledger was found dead in his apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City on January 22, 2008. Ledger's body was found by a housekeeper and a massage therapist, who entered the bedroom to find him face down on the floor with sleeping pills on a nearby table. The police said that it did not look like the death was suicide. They also did not think his death was caused by someone else.
On January 23, 2008, Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside Ledger's mother's house in Applecross, Western Australia and read a short statement to news reporters:
The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd released a statement saying, "It was with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Heath Ledger... It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life."
Filmography
Awards and nominations
If an award in this list is marked as "Nominated," it means that people were thinking about giving that award to Heath Ledger but chose to give it to someone else.
Academy Awards
2009 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, The Dark Knight (Won)
2006 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
Australian Film Institute Awards
1999 - Best Actor in a Leading Role, Two Hands (Nominated)
2003 - Best Actor in a Leading Role, Ned Kelly (Nominated)
2006 - Best Actor in a Leading Role, Candy (Nominated)
2008 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The Dark Knight (Won)
BAFTA
2009 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role, The Dark Knight (Won)
2006 - Best Actor in a Leading Role, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
Golden Globe Awards
2009 - Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, The Dark Knight (Won)
2006 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
Independent Spirit Awards
2008 - Robert Altman Award, I'm Not There. (Won) *shared w/ cast and crew.
2006 - Best Actor, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
MTV Movie Awards
2008 - Best Villain, The Dark Knight (Won)
2008 - Best Fantasy Actor, The Dark Knight (Won)
2006 - Best Kiss, Brokeback Mountain (Won) *shared w/ Jake Gyllenhaal
2002 - Best Kiss, A Knight's Tale (Nominated) *shared w/ Shannyn Sossamon
2002 - Best Musical Sequence A Knight's Tale (Nominated) *shared w/ Shannyn Sossamon
2000 - Best Musical Sequence 10 Things I Hate About You (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2009 - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, The Dark Knight (Won)
2006 - Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
2006 - Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Brokeback Mountain (Nominated)
References
Other websites
Heath Ledger comprehensive profile
Heath Ledger at Notable Names Database
Heath Ledger comprehensive news & profile at Daily Telegraph (Australia)
www.gmanews.tv, Timeline of Heath Ledger's career
1979 births
2008 deaths
Actors who played the Joker
Academy Award winning actors
Satellite Award winners
Accidental deaths in New York City
Actors from Perth, Western Australia
Australian movie actors
Australian television actors
BAFTA Award winning actors
Drug-related accidental deaths in the United States
Golden Globe Award winning actors
Screen Actors Guild Award winners