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Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Data of Birth
4 April 1979, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Date of Death
22 January 2008, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
(accidental overdose of prescription drugs)
Birth Name
Heath Andrew Ledger
Height
6' 1" (1.85 m)
Data of Birth
4 April 1979, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Date of Death
22 January 2008, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
(accidental overdose of prescription drugs)
Birth Name
Heath Andrew Ledger
Height
6' 1" (1.85 m)
1992 Clowning Around - Orphan clown
1993 Ship to Shore - Cyclist (TV)
1996 Sweat Snowy - Bowles (TV Series)
1997 Blackrock - Toby
1997 Paws - Oberon
1997 Home and Away - Scott Irwin (TV)
1997 Roar - Conor (TV)
1999 Two Hands - Jimmy
1999 10 Things I Hate About You - Patrick Verona
2000 The Patriot - Gabriel Martin
2001 Monster's Ball - Sonny Grotowski
2001 A Knight's Tale - William Thatcher / Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein
2002 The Four Feathers - Harry Faversham
2003 The Order - Alex Bernier
2003 Ned Kelly - Ned Kelly
2005 Casanova - Giacomo Casanova
2005 The Brothers Grimm - Jacob Grimm
2005 Lords of Dogtown - Skip Engblom
2005 Brokeback Mountain - Ennis del Mar
2006 Candy - Dan
2007 I'm Not There - Robbie Clark
2008 The Dark Knight - Joker
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Tony
1993 Ship to Shore - Cyclist (TV)
1996 Sweat Snowy - Bowles (TV Series)
1997 Blackrock - Toby
1997 Paws - Oberon
1997 Home and Away - Scott Irwin (TV)
1997 Roar - Conor (TV)
1999 Two Hands - Jimmy
1999 10 Things I Hate About You - Patrick Verona
2000 The Patriot - Gabriel Martin
2001 Monster's Ball - Sonny Grotowski
2001 A Knight's Tale - William Thatcher / Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein
2002 The Four Feathers - Harry Faversham
2003 The Order - Alex Bernier
2003 Ned Kelly - Ned Kelly
2005 Casanova - Giacomo Casanova
2005 The Brothers Grimm - Jacob Grimm
2005 Lords of Dogtown - Skip Engblom
2005 Brokeback Mountain - Ennis del Mar
2006 Candy - Dan
2007 I'm Not There - Robbie Clark
2008 The Dark Knight - Joker
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Tony
| Heath Ledger was born on the fourth of April 1979, in Perth, Western Australia. As the story goes, in junior high it was compulsory to do one of two electives, either cooking or drama, and as Heath could honestly not see himself in a cooking class, he tried his hand at drama. Heath was talented, there was no denying that. However, the rest of the class did not acknowledge his talent, possibly out of jealousy. When he was 17, he and a friend, decided to pack up, leave school, take a car and rough it to Sydney. Heath believed Sydney to be the place where dreams are made, or at least, where actors can possibly get their big break. However, upon arriving in Sydney with a purported 69 cents to his name, Heath tried everything to get a break. His first real acting job came in a low budget movie called Blackrock, a largely unimpressive cliché; a teen angst film about one boy's struggle when he learns his best mate raped a girl. He did not have a large part in this movie. In fact, it was a very small one. The only thing of notice in his role is you get to see him get his lights punched out. Heath Ledger, one of the most exciting actors of this or any generation, was found dead in a New York residence. When Ledger was at his best, which he often was, the intensity of his performances were what left you worried, not his off-screen life. The public had been keeping its eye on other, more trifling troubled stars and this truly talented one rarely made a blip on that radar. His death is something of a shock. He was 28. In his brief career, Mr. Ledger favored unstable characters – outcasts, junkies, philanders, men who were happiest unhappy, lost in their own dysfunction. The Australian didn’t have a conventional movie star’s carriage – he had a long, ropy body that was more lead singer than leading man. It was a body for trouble. Those shadows were there even in his first Hollywood movie, "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen-comedy remake of "Taming of the Shrew" from 1998 with him as the high-school bad-boy who falls for smug Julia Stiles. Imagine James Dean in one of those 1950s beach movies. But when it was time to go the prom, Mr. Ledger put on his jacket and danced. Before that he was carrying Fox’s historical-action show, "Roar." He played a cute, speech-giving prince trying to lead his kingdom to freedom. The show was part of that cheesy fantasy trend that "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules" helped spawn. It barely lasted the summer of 1997. Eventually, Mr. Ledger gave his first smoldering performance as Mel Gibson’s soldier son in 2000’s "The Patriot." After that, he found himself in the position of being a rising star in a search of an appropriate universe to shine. He was being called "hunk" and "heartthrob" and was cast in movies that tried to maximize his appeal to young girls. In "A Knight’s Tale," his dirty blond hair was full and yellow. He did more dancing. In "Four Feathers," he was still adorable but slightly more serious playing a British officer who goes to fight in the Sudan in the 1890s. Other starring roles came – a priest in "The Order," a throwaway thriller; a would-be attention-getting role as the Australian folk hero Ned Kelly in an eponymous epic – but the audiences never did. In 2005, Mr. Ledger turned a major corner. He became a father with the actress Michelle Williams. And he had a supporting part as a burnt-out surfer in "Lords of Dogtown," a movie that he walked off with. It was the first truly funny thing he’d ever done. But it was just funny. It was Jeff Spicoli with a soul. That same year Mr. Ledger played the closeted gay ranch hand Ennis del Mar in Ang Lee’s "Brokeback Mountain," for which eventually a handful of critics’ awards and an Oscar nomination. His tightly coiled, devastatingly emotional performance was heroic. More than one critic called it the stuff of legend. His achievement in that film was to find a way to dramatize the personal terror of feeling something you don’t understand. Loneliness radiated from him like heat. He gave us the torture of self-loathing, but he never took the part over the top. It was the wordless humanity he gave the Ennis that makes the performance great, the struggle to feel normal, whatever that meant. |
Filmography
Awards
| Academy Awards, USA 2009 - Oscar Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Dark Knight Australian Film Institute 2008 - International Award Best Actor for: The Dark Knight 2006 - International Award Best Actor for: Brokeback Mountain BAFTA Awards 2009 - BAFTA Film Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 2001 - Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Male - Newcomer for: The Patriot Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2008 - BSFC Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Brisbane International Film Festival 2008 - Chauvel Award Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2009 - Critics Choice Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2009 - COFCA Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight 2006 - COFCA Award Actor of the Year for: Brokeback Mountain Also for The Brothers Grimm, Casanova, and Lords of Dogtown 2006 - COFCA Award Best Lead Performance for: Brokeback Mountain Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008 - CFCA Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Delta's Choice Awards 2008 - Delta - Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight 2006 - Delta - Best Actor for: Brokeback Mountain Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 - FFCC Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Golden Globes, USA 2009 - Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for: The Dark Knight Independent Spirit Awards 2008 - Robert Altman Award for: I'm Not There. Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2009 - KCFCC Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2008 - Sierra Award Best Actor for: The Dark Knight 2005 - Sierra Award Best Actor for: Brokeback Mountain Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2008 - LAFCA Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight MTV Movie Awards 2006 - MTV Movie Award Best Kiss for: Brokeback Mountain Shared with:Jake Gyllenhaal New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2005 - NYFCC Award Best Actor for: Brokeback Mountain Online Film Critics Society Awards 2009 - OFCS Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight People's Choice Awards, USA 2009 - People's Choice Award Favorite Cast for: The Dark Knight 2009 - People's Choice Award Favorite On-Screen Match-Up for: The Dark Knight Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2008 - PFCS Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Dark Knight 2005 - PFCS Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for: Brokeback Mountain San Francisco Film Critics Circle 2008 - SFFCC Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight 2005 - SFFCC Award Best Actor for: Brokeback Mountain Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2006 - Breakthrough Performance of the Year for: Brokeback Mountain Screen Actors Guild Awards 2009 - Actor Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for: The Dark Knight (2008) ShoWest Convention, USA 2001 - ShoWest Award Male Star of Tomorrow Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards 2008 - SEFCA Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2008 - TFCA Award Best Supporting Performance, Male for: The Dark Knight Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards 2008 - WAFCA Award Best Supporting Actor for: The Dark Knight |
