Heathcliff Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. After appearing in television roles during the 1990s, Ledger developed a Hollywood career. He starred in both critical and financial successes, including 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale, and Brokeback Mountain, and completed the role of the Joker in the forthcoming movie The Dark Knight shortly before his death.
Early life
Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia, the son of Sally Ledger Bell (née Ramshaw), a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a race car driver and mining engineer. Ledger's mother is descended from the Clan Campbell of Scotland and his father comes from a family known in Perth for their ownership of the Ledger Engineering Foundry.
Heath Ledger and his sister Kate were named after the two main characters in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Catherine. The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust was named after his great-grandfather. Ledger attended Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production as Peter Pan at age 10.
Early career
At sixteen, Ledger sat for early graduation exams, and left school to pursue an acting career. With his best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, Ledger made the cross-country drive to Sydney. He returned to Perth for the TV series Sweat (1996), in which he played a gay cyclist.
In 1996, prior to his film debut in the 1997 Australian movie Blackrock, Ledger was involved in the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama Roar. This was immediately followed by a part on Home and Away, one of Australia's most successful television shows. In 1999, Ledger starred in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and also had the lead role in the acclaimed Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan.
2000s
From 2000 to 2005, he starred in 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 ShoWest Award for the Male Star of Tomorrow based on his performance in The Patriot, and worldwide release of A Knight's Tale. In 2003, he was named one of Australian GQ's Men of the Year for acting.
Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his acclaimed performance in Brokeback Mountain, in which he plays Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, who has a love affair with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He also received a nomination for Golden Globe Best Actor in a Drama and a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for this performance. At age 26, Ledger became one of the youngest performers ever nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In the New York Times review of the film, critic Stephen Holden wrote:
Both Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal make this anguished love story physically palpable. Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.
In a review in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote:
Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides. Ledger doesn't just know how Ennis moves, speaks and listens; he knows how he breathes. To see him inhale the scent of a shirt hanging in Jack's closet is to take measure of the pain of love lost.
Also in 2005, Ledger played a fictionalised version of Giacomo Casanova in Casanova. The film, a romantic comedy which co-starred Sienna Miller, drew mixed reviews from critics and failed to find a significant audience among general moviegoers.
In 2006, Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.In 2007, he was one of six actors to portray different sides of singer Bob Dylan in the film I'm Not There.
Ledger played iconic comic book villain The Joker in The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins, opposite fellow I'm Not There star Christian Bale. The film is set to debut on July 18, 2008. Since The Dark Knight was in post-production at the time of Ledger's death, the film itself will be unchanged, although the viral marketing campaign that centred on Ledger's character may be affected.
The film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, in which he had been cast in a major supporting role, was in production at the time of his death.
He was working with Scottish writer/producer Allan Scott on an adaptation of The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, which would have been his first feature as a director.
Director
Ledger had aspirations to become a film director and had started exploring this avenue by making some music videos, as well as a short film.
In 2006, Ledger directed three music videos: "Morning Yearning" for Ben Harper and two video clips for Australian hip-hop artist N'fa - "Cause an Effect" and "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)".
In 2007, at a news conference at the Venice Film Festival, he spoke of his desire to make a film about the British troubadour Nick Drake who died tragically young at the age of 26 in 1974. As a first step towards this project he created and appeared in a short film set to Drake's recording of his 1974 song about depression titled "Black Eyed Dog". Ledger's film was included in an anthology of short films about Drake titled Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake which received its world premiere at the Mods & Rockers Film Festival held at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday October 5, 2007.
Music
Ledger started a record company with singer Ben Harper. As part of his involvement he directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".
Press reception
Ledger had a turbulent relationship with paparazzi photographers but strongly denied allegations that he spat at and assaulted a photographer in Sydney in 2004. On January 13, 2006, several photographers retaliated for the alleged incident, squirting Ledger and Michelle Williams with water pistols as they walked the red carpet for the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain.
Ledger was also subject to criticism in the press following his performance on stage at the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Ledger was seen giggling when presenting Brokeback Mountain as a nominee for Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The Los Angeles Times described his behavior as "some kind of gay spoof." Ledger later called the Times to explain that his actions were the result of stage fright, saying that he was only told he would be presenting the award minutes beforehand. "I am so sorry and I apologize for my nervousness", Ledger told the newspaper.
Ledger came under fire after he was quoted in January 2006 in Melbourne's Herald Sun as saying that he heard that West Virginia had banned Brokeback Mountain, which it had not. (A cinema in Utah had banned the film.) He also referred to West Virginia as having had lynchings as recently as the 1980s which was disputed by archivists and historians, who say that the last extralegal public hanging in the state occurred in 1931.
Personal life
Prior to 2002, Ledger had dated actresses Lisa Zane and Heather Graham for short periods of time. From August 2002 to April 2004, Ledger had a relationship with actress Naomi Watts, whom he met during the filming of Ned Kelly.
Ledger dated actress Michelle Williams, whom he met on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on October 28, 2005 in New York City. The child's godparents are Ledger's Brokeback costar Jake Gyllenhaal and Williams' Dawson's Creek castmate Busy Philipps. The problems he had with paparazzi in Australia prompted Ledger to sell his residence in Bronte, New South Wales, for A$7 million, and move to the United States.
In August 2007, Us Weekly reported that Ledger and Williams ended their relationship because of their busy schedules. Neither Ledger nor Williams confirmed the rumour at that time. In September, 2007, Williams' father, Larry, confirmed to Sydney's Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had indeed split. Even though the couple wore rings for a time, Ledger and Williams never confirmed they were engaged or married. Afterwards Ledger was reported to have been seeing supermodel Helena Christensen and Gemma Ward.
Death
On January 22, 2008, Ledger was found dead in his fourth-floor Broome Street apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. According to police, when housekeeper Teresa Solomon, who had arrived at approximately 12:30 p.m. EST to do household chores, entered the bedroom "At about 1 p.m. ... to change a light bulb in an adjacent bathroom, she found him on the bed face down, with the sheet pulled up to his shoulders, and heard him snoring." Masseuse Diana Wolozin arrived at approximately 2:45 p.m. to give Ledger a massage, and when he did not emerge from his bedroom by 3 p.m., called his cell phone and received no answer. Wolozin entered the bedroom, began to set up the massage table, and tried to wake the unresponsive Ledger. Wolozin called actress Mary-Kate Olsen, whose number was programmed in Ledger's cell phone. She replied she would have a member of her security firm go to the apartment. After again attempting to rouse Ledger, Wolozin called Olsen again, and at 3:26 p.m. called 9-1-1. Emergency medical workers moved Ledger to the floor, used a defibrillator and CPR, and pronounced Ledger dead at 3:36 p.m.
Police said they found prescription medication in the bathroom and that there were "no obvious signs" of suicide, nor did they suspect foul play. An initial autopsy on January 23 proved inconclusive at determining Ledger's cause of death. The medical examiner's office stated it will take about 10 days to complete the investigation.
On January 23, 2008 (Australian time), Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside his mother's house in Applecross, a riverside Perth suburb, and read a short statement to the media:
We, Heath's family, confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda, who was found in a peaceful sleep in his New York apartment by his housekeeper at 3:30pm (New York Time). We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their kind wishes at this time. Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure to truly know him. He was a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and unselfish individual who was an extreme inspiration to many. Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately.
In reaction to his death, former partner Michelle Williams was reported as saying that she was "devastated" at the loss and had boarded a plane from Sweden to New York City. 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."
Ledger's death affects the marketing campaign of The Dark Knight. His passing has also resulted in the indefinite suspension of production for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
On January 30, 2008, news of a 2006 video of Ledger, allegedly surrounded by people snorting cocaine and using other drugs at the Chateau Marmont, began to circulate. In the audio part of the video, portions of which are posted online and widely quoted in various news reports and television news shows, as part of a conversation with an unidentified man, Heath Ledger mentions that his girlfriend, Michelle Williams, who was staying in their hotel room upstairs at the Chateuu Marmont, would "give" him "shit" if she knew he were at such a party since they had a 3-month old daughter, whom, in response to a question about her name, he identifies as "Matilda," "Matilda Rose," and he mentions also having in the past smoked five marijuana joints a day for "20 years." The American television show The Insider had purchased the video, reportedly for $200,000, and began airing promos featuring the footage to be revealed the following day. The promotion of the video by The Insider and Entertainment Tonight, followed media speculation about Ledger's past addictions and a possible past rehab-intervention, which has not been corroborated or confirmed by reliable named sources and which Michelle Williams has subsequently specifically denied through her representative. In the face of pressure on the programs to pull the video and reported threats of possible boycotts from other high-profile stars, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider decided not to air the video, stating publicly, "Out of respect for Heath Ledgers' family, 'Entertainment Tonight' and 'The Insider' have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media." Entertainment pundits on Showbiz Tonight and elsewhere have pointed out that some damage to Ledger's reputation may already be done, due to the gossip and speculation stimulated further by the shows' own grainy promos, which, some point out, appear to reveal Ledger himself merely rolling a cigarette and talking about his misgivings about being there at all and his past marijuana use but not indulging in cocaine as another man in the video appears to be doing.
On February 1, 2008, Ledger's publicist released the first public statement from Michelle Williams on her own response to his death:
Please respect our need to grieve privately. My heart is broken. I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up with the best memories of him.
*Wikipedia
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