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Biography for Heath Ledger

Heath Andrew Ledger (4 Apr. 1979 (31 years ago) – 22 Jan. 2008 (2 years ago)) was an Australian television and movie actor. After performing roles in Australian television and movie during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 (12 years ago) to develop his movie career. His work includes nineteen films, most notably 10 Things I Hate About You (1999, 11 years ago), The Patriot (2000, 10 years ago), Monster's Ball (2001, 9 years ago), A Knight's Tale (2001, 9 years ago), Brokeback Mountain (2005, 5 years ago), and The Dark Knight (12 walls) (2008, 2 years ago). In addition to his acting, he produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a movie director.

For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the 2005 (5 years ago) New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the 2006 (4 years ago) "Best Actor" award from the Australian Film Institute and was nominated for the 2005 (5 years ago) Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the 2006 (4 years ago) Best Actor award from the BAFTA. Posthumously he shared the 2007 (3 years ago) Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director for the film, I'm Not There which was inspired by the life and songs of American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan. In the film, Ledger portrayed a fictional actor named Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of the iconic Dylan. He was nominated and won awards for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight (12 walls), including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 (2 years ago) Australian Film Institute Awards, for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously, the 2008 (2 years ago) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 (last year) Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a motion picture (wallpaper) and the 2009 (last year) BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He died at the age of 28, from an accidental "toxic combination of prescription drugs." Ledger's death came during editing of The Dark Knight (12 walls), casting a shadow over the subsequent promotion of the $180 million film. At the time of his death, on 22 Jan. 2008 (2 years ago), he had completed about half of his work performing the role of Tony in Terry Gilliam's forthcoming movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Personal life

Heath Ledger was born on 4 Apr. 1979 (31 years ago), in Perth, Western Australia, the son of Sally Ledger (née Ramshaw), a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing-car driver and mining engineer, whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry. The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfather. Ledger attended Mary's Mount Primary School, in Gooseberry Hill, and later Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production as Peter Pan at age 10. His parents separated when he was 10 and divorced when he was 11. Ledger's older sister, Kate, an actress and later a publicist, to whom he was very close, inspired his acting on stage, and his love of Gene Kelly inspired his successful choreography leading to Guildford Grammar's 60-member team's "first all-boy victory" at the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge. Heath's and Kate's other siblings include two half-sisters, Ashleigh Bell (b. 1989 (21 years ago)), his mother's daughter with her second husband and his stepfather Roger Bell, and Olivia Ledger (b. 1997 (13 years ago)), his father's daughter with second wife and his stepmother Emma Brown.

Ledger was an avid chess player, winning Western Australia's junior chess championship at the age of 10. As an adult, he often played with other chess enthusiasts at Washington Square Park. Allan Scott's movie adaptation of the chess-related 1983 (27 years ago) novel The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, which at the time of his death he was planning to both perform in and direct, would have been Ledger's first feature movie as a director.

Among his most-notable romantic relationships, Ledger dated actress Heather Graham (12 walls) for several months in 2000 (10 years ago) to 2001 (9 years ago), and he had a serious on-and-off-again long-term relationship with actress Naomi Watts (6 walls), whom he met during the filming of Ned Kelly and with whom he lived at times from 2002 (8 years ago) to 2004 (6 years ago). In the summer of 2004 (6 years ago), he met and began dating actress Michelle Williams (4 walls) on the set of Brokeback Mountain, and their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on 28 Oct. 2005 (5 years ago) in New York City. Matilda Rose's godparents are Ledger's Brokeback co-star Jake Gyllenhaal (6 walls) and Williams' Dawson's Creek castmate Busy Philipps. Problems with paparazzi in Australia prompted Ledger to sell his residence in Bronte, New South Wales and move to the United States, where he shared an apartment with Williams, in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, from 2005 (5 years ago) to 2007 (3 years ago). In Sep. 2007 (3 years ago), Williams' father, Larry Williams, confirmed to Sydney's Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had ended their relationship. After his break up with Williams, in late 2007 (3 years ago) and early 2008 (2 years ago), the tabloid press and other public media linked Ledger romantically with supermodels Helena Christensen (5 walls) and Gemma Ward and with former child star, actress Mary-Kate Olsen.

Career

1990s

After sitting for early graduation exams at 16, Ledger left school to pursue an acting career. With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since he was 3, Ledger drove across Australia from Perth to Sydney, returning to Perth to take a small role in Clowning Around (1992, 18 years ago), the first part of a two-part television series, and to work on the TV series Sweat (1996, 14 years ago), in which he played a gay cyclist. From 1993 (17 years ago) to 1997 (13 years ago), Ledger also had parts in the Perth television series Ship to Shore (1993, 17 years ago); in the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama Roar (1997, 13 years ago); in Home and Away (1997, 13 years ago), one of Australia's most successful television shows; and in the Australian movie Blackrock (1997, 13 years ago), his feature movie debut. In 1999 (11 years ago), he starred in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and in the acclaimed Australian crime movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan.

2000s

From 2000 (10 years ago) to 2005 (5 years ago), he starred in supporting roles as Gabriel Martin, the eldest son of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), in The Patriot (2000, 10 years ago), and as Sonny Grotowski, the son of Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), in Monster's Ball (2000, 10 years ago); and in leading or title roles in A Knight's Tale (2001, 9 years ago), The Four Feathers (2002, 8 years ago), The Order (2003, 7 years ago), Ned Kelly (2003, 7 years ago), Casanova (2005, 5 years ago), The Brothers Grimm (2005, 5 years ago), and Lords of Dogtown (2005, 5 years ago). In 2001 (9 years ago), he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow".

Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his 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, making him, at age 26, the ninth youngest nominee for a Best Actor Oscar. In The New York Times review of the film, critic Stephen Holden writes: "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 great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn." In a review in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers states: "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."

After Brokeback Mountain, Ledger costarred with fellow Australian Abbie Cornish in the 2006 (4 years ago) Australian movie Candy, an adaptation of the 1998 (12 years ago) novel Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction, as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played by renowned Australian actor Geoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards 2006 (4 years ago), which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. A couple of weeks after the release of Candy, Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

As one of six actors embodying different aspects of the life of Bob Dylan in the 2007 (3 years ago) movie I'm Not There, directed by Todd Haynes, Ledger "won praise for his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Dylan, but says accolades are never his motivation." Posthumously, on 23 Feb. 2008 (2 years ago), he shared the 2007 (3 years ago) Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the film's ensemble cast, its director, and its casting director.

In his next to last movie performance, Ledger plays the Joker in The Dark Knight (12 walls), directed by Christopher Nolan, the sequel to the 2005 (5 years ago) movie Batman Begins, first released, in Australia, on 16 Jul. 2008 (2 years ago), nearly six months after his death. While still working on the film, in London, Ledger told Sarah Lyall, in their interview published in the New York Times on 4 Nov. 2007 (3 years ago), that he viewed The Dark Knight's Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." To prepare for the role, Ledger told Empire, "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices — it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath — someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts"; after reiterating his view of the character as "just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown," he added that Nolan had given him "free rein" to create the role, which he found "fun, because there are no real boundaries to what the Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke." For his work in The Dark Knight (12 walls), Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, his family accepting it on his behalf, as well as numerous other posthumous awards including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, which Christopher Nolan accepted for him.

At the time of his death, on 22 Jan. 2008 (2 years ago), Ledger had completed about half of the work for his final movie performance as Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Directorial work

Ledger had aspirations to become a movie director and had made some music videos, which director Todd Haynes praised highly in his tribute to Ledger upon accepting the ISP Robert Altman Award, which Ledger posthumously shared, on 23 Feb. 2008 (2 years ago). In 2006 (4 years ago) Ledger directed music videos for the title track on Australian hip-hop artist N'fa's CD debut solo album Cause an Effect and for the single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)". Later that year, Ledger inaugurated a new record label, Masses Music, with singer Ben Harper and also directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".

At a news conference at the 2007 (3 years ago) Venice Film Festival, Ledger spoke of his desire to make a documentary movie about the British singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974 (36 years ago), at the age of 26, from an overdose of an antidepressant. Ledger created and acted in a music video set to Drake's recording of the singer's 1974 (36 years ago) song about depression "Black Eyed Dog"–a title "inspired by Winston Churchill’s descriptive term for depression" (black dog); it was shown publicly only twice, first at the Bumbershoot Festival, in Seattle, Washington, held from 1 Sep. to 3 Sep. 2007; and secondly as part of "A Place To Be: A Celebration of Nick Drake", with its screening of Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake, "a series of short filmed homages to Nick Drake" (including Ledger's), sponsored by American Cinematheque, at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, on 5 Oct. 2007 (3 years ago). After Ledger's death, his music video for "Black Eyed Dog" was shown on the Internet and excerpted in news clips distributed via YouTube.

He was working with Scottish screenwriter and producer Allan Scott on an adaptation of the 1983 (27 years ago) novel The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, for which he was planning both to act and to direct, which would have been his first feature movie as a director. Ledger's final directorial work, in which he shot two music videos before his death, premiere in 2009 (last year). The music videos, completed for Modest Mouse and Grace Woodroofe, include an animated feature for Modest Mouse's song, "King Rat", and the Woodroofe video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand". The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 Aug. 2009 (last year).

Filmography

• Clowning Around
• Blackrock
• Paws
• Two Hands
• 10 Things I Hate About You
• The Patriot
• Monster's Ball
• A Knight's Tale
• The Four Feathers
• The Order
• Ned Kelly
• Casanova
• The Brothers Grimm
• Lords of Dogtown
• Brokeback Mountain
• Candy
• I'm Not There
• The Dark Knight (12 walls)
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

TV-shows (series)

• Ship to Shore
• Sweat
• Home and Away
• Roar

Source: en.wikipedia.org

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Linked to Heath Ledger

• Female Celebrities / Anne Hathaway
• Female Celebrities / Emilie de Ravin
• Female Celebrities / Heather Graham
• Female Celebrities / Helena Christensen
• Female Celebrities / Keri Russel
• Female Celebrities / Melissa George
• Female Celebrities / Michelle Williams
• Female Celebrities / Naomi Watts
• Female Celebrities / Natalie Dormer
• Female Celebrities / Olsen Twins
• Female Celebrities / Shannyn Sossamon
• Female Celebrities / Sienna Miller
• Male Celebrities / Jake Gyllenhaal
• Male Celebrities / Johnny Depp
• Male Celebrities / Jude Law
• Movies / Jumper
• Movies / The Dark Knight

Latest news about Heath Ledger

A Look Back at the Independent Spirit Awards! PopSugar - 6 days ago
This evening is the 25th annual Independent Spirit Awards, and to celebrate, we're taking a look back at some of the highlights over the years. The show has evolved over its quarter decade run, from a casual beach affair to a full-blown award season event. Some of our favorite actors - like Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Ryan Gosling, Heath Ledger, and Michelle Williams - have attended and even been honored for their work in independent film. The fun show is far less formal than the Oscars; click through to see some of the show's biggest moments. We'll be there tonight, so stay tuned here and on Twitter for all the updates! View Slideshow ›

In Memoriam is touching to watch, painful to make (AP) Yahoo! News: Entertainment News - 9 days ago
AP - The Kodak Theatre goes quiet as the big screen at center stage begins flashing images of actors and filmmakers who have died. A photo of Heath Ledger or Paul Newman might move the audience to spontaneous applause. Other images inspire deep sighs, as viewers reflect on the entertainers who have touched our lives.

In Memoriam is touching to watch, painful to make Latest News on omg! - 9 days ago
AP - The Kodak Theatre goes quiet as the big screen at center stage begins flashing images of actors and filmmakers who have died. A photo of Heath Ledger or Paul Newman might move the audience to spontaneous applause. Other images inspire deep sighs, as viewers reflect on the entertainers who have touched our lives.

Farrell felt sick replacing Ledger in Gilliam movie Hollywood.com - 14 days ago
Colin Farrell was wary of replacing Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus - admitting his "stomach turned at the thought of it".

Reflecting on 'Imaginarium' Without Heath Ledger Latest News on omg! - 63 days ago
Terry Gilliam tells of making his movie after the death of his star.

Colin Farrell On 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus': 'Never About Filling Heath's Shoes' Latest News on omg! - 65 days ago
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Colin Farrell says stepping in for the late Heath Ledger in the Terry Gilliam-directed "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," following the actor's sudden death is an experience that nothing in his career will probably ever match.

RIP: Notable Celebrity Deaths In 2009 Starpulse Entertainment News - 71 days ago
Last year Heath Ledger was the shocking celebrity death, and this year it was Michael Jackson. But there were plenty of other notable deaths in 2009. Peruse our photo slideshow commemorating the famous lives who have touched our hearts over the years.[...] Read more!

Ledger's Last Turn Latest News on omg! - 77 days ago
Director Terry Gilliam talks about making the 'Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' after the death of its star, Heath Ledger. (Dec.24)

Doctor: Brittany Murphy's Death Similar To Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger & Michael Jackson Latest News on omg! - 79 days ago
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Toxicology reports are still pending in the death of Brittany Murphy, but some believe a lethal mixture of prescription drugs led to the sudden death of the 32-year-old actress on Sunday. "I believe that Brittany Murphy's death will prove to be essentially the same as the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith, her son Daniel Smith, Michael Jackson and Heath Ledger," Dr. Cyril Wecht told Access Hollywood in an interview on Tuesday.

Review: `Doctor Parnassus' a farcical juggling act (AP) Yahoo! News: Entertainment News - 79 days ago
AP - Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is more than a peculiar coda for Heath Ledger. It's not just a trivia answer — though that may well be its fate.

Heath Ledger Lives On This Christmas Starpulse Entertainment News - 79 days ago
Heath Ledger passed away midway through filming the movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. After regrouping, director Terry Gilliam figured out a way to finish the film, so you'll get to see Ledger one more time[...] Read more!

Lily Cole on 'Imaginarium' and the 'Grotesque' Heath Ledger Effect Popeater - 80 days ago
Filed under: Movie News, Interviews, Exclusives 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' was just supposed to be the latest entry into director Terry Gilliam's long line of beautiful yet bizarre filmmaking canon -- the story of a traveling band of street performers that carry with them a very real ... Read more Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

JOHNNY DEPP HONORED BY HEATH LEDGER Times Square Gossip - 84 days ago
Johnny DeppHollywood star Johnny Depp felt "privileged" to replace Heath Ledger in the movie "The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus," describing the late actor as a "thundering and ungovernable talent." Ledger was half way through the movie when he died from a drug overdose in January 2008. Director Terry Gilliam decided to fill his character in the remaining scenes with an ensemble cast of Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Depp. Depp is admitting that it was very tough filling Ledger's place, but he felt honored to share the screen with an actor he admired. He tells Moviefone.com, "Though the circumstances of my involvement are extremely heartrending and unbelievably sad, I feel privileged to have been asked aboard to stand in on behalf of dear Heath. "He was the only player out there breathing heavy down the back of every established actor's neck with a thundering and ungovernable talent that came up on you quick, hissing rather mischievously with that cheeky grin, 'Hey ... get on out of my way boys, I'm coming through!' And does he ever!"Photos By: Sara De Boer/Retna

Johnny Depp Felt 'Privileged' To Fill Heath Ledger's Shoes Starpulse Entertainment News - 84 days ago
Johnny Depp felt "privileged" to replace Heath Ledger in new movie The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, describing the late star as a "thundering and ungovernable talent."[...] Read more!

Depp 'honoured' to fill Ledger's shoes Hollywood.com - 84 days ago
Johnny Depp felt "privileged" to replace Heath Ledger in new movie The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, describing the late star as a "thundering and ungovernable talent".

Jude Law To Judge Heath Ledger Scholarship CelebSpin - 92 days ago
Heath Ledger left a massive void in the entertainment industry when he died due to an overdose last year, and now Jude Law will be choosing the recipient of his annual scholarship award for 2009. The “Alfie” actor has been selected as the judge of this year’s competition of Australian actors who want to pursue a [...]

Law joins Ledger scholarship panel Hollywood.com - 93 days ago
Jude Law has joined a panel of Hollywood stars to judge the winner of an Australian film scholarship which was created as a tribute to late actor Heath Ledger .

Douche Bag Awareness Week and Other News Anything Hollywood - 121 days ago
Douche bag Awareness Week! Once you turn DOUCHE you never go back We’ve all been there: The group project Eva Mendes hot in Calvin Klein ad OMG! Michael Jackson back from the Dead! Miley Cyrus wants Twitter banned! Steven Tyler AWOL, Aerosmith looking for replacement Lindsay Lohan dated Heath Ledger before his death Ana Beatriz Barros & Alessandra Ambrosio hot in GQ     photo: [...]

Dina Lohan Goes Off on Michael Lohan The Hollywood Gossip - 121 days ago
We may not know much about raising kids, but when Dina Lohan is calling you out as a terrible parent, and actually makes decent points, you've got issues. Michael Lohan us continuing his almost daily release of embarrassing, private phone call recordings he somehow has from his troubled daughter Lindsay. His latest? A call in which Dina and he argue over who sucks more, and she claims Lindsay cuts herself (possibly over her alleged BF Heath Ledger dying). Dina is far from thrilled about these tapes being released, and is lambasting Michael's misguided, press-hungry bid to shame Lindsay Lohan into recovery. Again, when you're called out as a media whore by one of the bigger media whores around, and even she can't stand your tactics, you really suck, M-Lo. LOHAN FAMILY FEUD: Dina can't believe Michael's trashing of Lindsay. "The tapes were from a long time ago, and for a father to stoop this low is unforgivable," she tells E! News, imploring Lindsay fans to consider the source. "My ex-husband has been in and out of jail for 10 years. My children and I gave him a chance to get to know them again. He clearly blew that chance!" Dina, who with Lindsay and her former assistant are threatening legal action against Michael, says he should not be able to record these calls anyway. "I have had a criminal order of protection from the domestic violence sector since 2005," she says, adding that the order extends through 2011. "He was not supposed to even be harassing me by phone. My heart is breaking for my children that he could do this. He has no visitation anymore and is six months behind in child support. The authorities have been alerted!" Consider the source, indeed.

Lindsay Lohan was dating Heath Ledger when he died, says mum Wordpress - 121 days ago
Lindsay Lohan’’s mum has revealed that her famous daughter was dating Heath Ledger when he died. Dina claimed that the ‘Mean Girls’ star and the ‘Dark Knight’ star were in a relationship at the time of his accidental drug overdose in January 2008. In a leaked phone call between Dina and her ex-husband, she has said that [...]