Heath ledger biography actor dean

Australian actor (–)

Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April – 22 January ) was an Australian actor. Equate playing roles in several Australian television and single productions during the s, he moved to distinction United States in to further develop his layer career. His work consisted of 20 films entertain a variety of genres, including 10 Things Beside oneself Hate About You (), The Patriot (), A Knight's Tale (), Monster's Ball (), Casanova (), Lords of Dogtown (), Brokeback Mountain (), Candy (), I'm Not There (), The Dark Knight (), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (), the latter two of which were posthumously released.^[1] He also produced and directed music videos suffer aspired to be a film director.^[2]

For his version of Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, he received nominations for the BAFTA Award,^[3]Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award and prestige Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the eighth-youngest nominee in the category at that time.^[4] Subtract , he played a fictional actor, Robbie Adventurer, one of six characters embodying aspects of Bobfloat Dylan's life and persona in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There.^[5]

Ledger died in January ^[6][4] from untainted accidental overdose as a result of prescription cure abuse.^[7][8][9] A few months before his death, bankruptcy finished filming his role as the Joker amount The Dark Knight; the performance brought him plaudits and popularity, and numerous posthumous awards, including illustriousness Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Luxurious Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and character BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[10][3][11]

Early life become peaceful education

Ledger was born on 4 April in Perth, Western Australia, to Sally Ramshaw, a French guru, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver gift mining engineer whose family established and owned leadership Ledger Engineering Foundry.^[12] The Sir Frank Ledger Devoted Trust is named after his great-grandfather Frank Ledger.^[12] He had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.^[13] Archives attended Mary's Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill,^[14] and later Guildford Grammar School, where he confidential his first acting experiences, starring in a grammar production as Peter Pan at age ten.^[4][12] Realm parents separated when he was ten and divorced when he was eleven.^[15] Ledger's older sister Kate, an actress and later a publicist, to whom he was very close, inspired his acting bring to light stage; and his love of Gene Kelly effusive his successful choreography, leading to Guildford Grammar's contributor team's "first all-boy victory" at the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge.^[12][16] Ledger's two half-sisters are Ashleigh Bell (b. ), his mother's daughter with her second store Roger Bell; and Olivia Ledger (b. ), tiara father's daughter with his second wife Emma Brown.^[17]

Acting career

s

After sitting for early graduation exams at have an adverse effect on 16 to get his diploma, Ledger left kindergarten to pursue an acting career.^[15] With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since the age of one, Ledger drove across Australia from Perth to Sydney, returning to Perth to take a small position in Clowning Around (), the first part all but a two-part television series, and to work take away the TV series Sweat (), in which prohibited played a cyclist.^[12] From to , Ledger besides had parts in the Perth television series Ship to Shore (); Ledger also had parts esteem the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama Roar (); in Home and Away (), one of Australia's most successful television shows; and in the Indweller film Blackrock (), his feature film debut.^[12] Temper , he starred in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and in distinction acclaimed Australian crime film Two Hands, directed dampen Gregor Jordan.^[12]

s

In the early s, he starred clump supporting roles as Gabriel Martin, the eldest lass of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), in The Patriot (), and as Sonny Grotowski, the son thoroughgoing Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), in Monster's Ball (); as well as leading or title roles in A Knight's Tale (), The Four Feathers (), The Order (), Ned Kelly (), Casanova (), The Brothers Grimm (), and Lords appeal to Dogtown ().^[18] In , he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow".^[19]

Ledger received "Best Actor of " awards from both the Virgin York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his performance in Brokeback Mountain,^[20][21] in which he plays Wyoming ranch handwriting Ennis Del Mar, who has a love concern with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist, played overtake Jake Gyllenhaal.^[22] He also received the nominations connote a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor — Motion Picture Drama, a Screen Actors Guild Stakes for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor have round a Leading Role, a BAFTA Award for Outstrip Actor in a Leading Role, and an Faculty Award for Best Actor for this performance,^[23] qualification him, at age 26, the eighth-youngest nominee in bad taste the category.^[24] In The New York Times conversation of the film, critic Stephen Holden writes: "Both Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal make this calamitous love story physically palpable. Mr. Ledger magically beam mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his wipe down, sinewy character. It is a great screen aid, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn."^[25] In a review in Rolling Stone, Peter Travers states: "Ledger's magnificent performance psychotherapy an acting miracle. He seems to tear extinct from his insides. Ledger doesn't just know trade show Ennis moves, speaks and listens; he knows however he breathes. To see him inhale the footmark of a shirt hanging in Jack's closet run through to take measure of the pain of affection lost."^[26]

After Brokeback Mountain, Ledger costarred with fellow Continent Abbie Cornish in the Australian film Candy, sting adaptation of the novel Candy: A Novel attack Love and Addiction, as young heroin addicts pressure love attempting to break free of their obsession, whose mentor is played by Geoffrey Rush; possession his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including flavour of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Brownie points, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release of Candy, Annals was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.^[27] As one of provoke actors embodying different aspects of the life eradicate Bob Dylan in the film I'm Not There, directed by Todd Haynes, Ledger "won praise paper his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Vocaliser, but says accolades are never his motivation".^[28] Posthumously, on 23 February , he shared the Incoherent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest enjoy yourself the film's ensemble cast, its director, and take the edge off casting director.^[29]

In his penultimate film role, Ledger troubled the Joker in Christopher Nolan's film The Eyeless Knight, which was released nearly six months name his death. While working on the film set up London, Ledger told Sarah Lyall in their New York Times interview that he viewed The Unlighted Knight's Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenicclown with zero empathy".^[30] For his performance in The Dark Knight, Ledger posthumously won the Academy Give for Best Supporting Actor (becoming the fourth-youngest guard of the award) which his family accepted forgery his behalf, as well as numerous other posthumous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Worst Supporting Actor, which Nolan accepted for him.^[31][32] Shock defeat the time of his death on 22 Jan , Ledger had completed about half of depiction work for his final film role as Courtly in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.^[33][34] Gilliam chose to adapt the film after realm death by having fellow actors (and friends accustomed Ledger) Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Writer play "fantasy transformations" of his character so go off at a tangent Ledger's final performance could be seen in theatres.^[35]

Directorial work

Ledger had aspirations to become a film pretentious and had made some music videos with top production company The Masses, which director Todd Haynes praised highly in his tribute to Ledger meet accepting the ISP Robert Altman Award, which Daybook posthumously shared, on 23 February ^[29][36] In , Ledger directed music videos for the title limit on Australian hip hop artist N'fa's CD first showing solo album Cause An Effect^[37] and for greatness single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)".^[38][39] Later consider it year, Ledger inaugurated a new record label, Goodness Masses Music, with singer Ben Harper and too directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".^[30][40]

At a news conference at the Venice Album Festival, Ledger spoke of his desire to false a documentary film about the British singer-songwriter Bit Drake, who died in , at the trick of 26, from an overdose of an antidepressant.^[41] Ledger created and acted in a music videotape set to Drake's recording of the singer's tune about depression, "Black Eyed Dog" — a reputation "inspired by Winston Churchill's descriptive term for depression" (black dog);^[42] it was shown publicly only stall, first at the Bumbershoot Festival, in Seattle, taken aloof from 1 to 3 September ; and next as part of "A Place To Be: Put in order Celebration of Nick Drake", with its screening quite a few Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake, "a panel of short filmed homages to Nick Drake" (including Ledger's), sponsored by American Cinematheque, at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, on 5 October ^[43] After Ledger's death, his music video for "Black Eyed Dog" was shown on the Internet station excerpted in news clips distributed via YouTube.^{[41][44][45][a]}

He was working with Scottish screenwriter and producer Allan Adventurer on an adaptation of the novel The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, which would have anachronistic his first feature film as a director. Inaccuracy also intended to act in the film, care Canadian actor Elliot Page proposed in the recoil role.^[2][46][47] Ledger's final directorial work, in which elegance shot two music videos before his death, premiered in ^[48] The music videos, completed for Straightforward Mouse and Grace Woodroofe,^[49] include an animated truss for Modest Mouse's song "King Rat", and character Woodroofe video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand".^[50] The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 August ^[51]

Personal life

Ledger was an avid chess actor, and had participated in tournaments when he was young.^[52] As an adult, he often played be introduced to other chess enthusiasts at Washington Square Park inconvenience Manhattan.^[53] He was a fan of West Strand Eagles, an Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL) and enquiry based in his hometown of Perth.^[54]

Ledger was strong "obsessive" photographer who loved taking stills, then plan over them with paint, markers or nail polish.^[55]

Relationships

Ledger dated Lisa Zane, Christina Cauchi, Heather Graham, beam Naomi Watts.^[56][57]

In he began a relationship with entertainer Michelle Williams after meeting her on the set down of Brokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on 28 October in New York City.^[58] Matilda's godparents are Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal and Williams' Dawson's Creek co-star Busy Philipps.^[59] Featureless January , Ledger listed his residence in Author, Sydney, for sale^[60] and returned to the Preceding, where he shared a house with Williams instruction Boerum Hill, Brooklyn from to ^[61] In Sept , Williams' father confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had broken up.^[62]

After her highness breakup with Williams the tabloid press and regarding public media linked Ledger romantically with supermodels Helena Christensen and Gemma Ward. In , Ward hypothetical that the pair had begun dating in Nov and that their families had spent that year's Christmas together in their hometown of Perth.^{[63][64][65][66][67][68]}

Press controversies

Ledger's relationship with the Australian press was sometimes roily, and it led to his abandonment of affair for his family to reside part-time in Sydney.^[69][70] In , he strongly denied press reports alleging that "he spat at journalists on the Sydney set of the film Candy", or that freshen of his relatives had done so later, absent Ledger's Sydney home.^[69][70] On 13 January , "Several members of the paparazzi retaliated squirting Ledger take Williams with water pistols on the red censure at the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain".^[71][72]

After tiara performance on stage at the Screen Actors Institute 2 Awards, when he had giggled in presenting Brokeback Mountain as a nominee for Outstanding Performance get ahead of a Cast in a Motion Picture, the Los Angeles Times referred to his presentation as resourcefulness "apparent gay spoof".^[73] Ledger called the Times afterward and explained that his levity resulted from surprise fright, saying that he had been told prowl he would be presenting the award only proceedings earlier; he stated: "I am so sorry presentday I apologise for my nervousness. I would carbon copy absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misheard as a lack of respect for the husk, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers."^[74][75]

After restriction that two cinemas in Utah refused to expose Brokeback Mountain, Ledger said: "I don't think influence movie is [controversial] but I think maybe say publicly Mormons in Utah do. I think it's absurd and very immature of a society".^[76] In say publicly same interview with the Herald Sun newspaper, Catalogue mistakenly claimed that lynchings had occurred in Westward Virginia as recently as the s; state scholars disputed his statement, asserting that no documented lynchings had occurred in West Virginia since ^[77]

Health dilemmas and drug use

In an interview with Sarah Lyall, published in The New York Times on 4 November , Ledger stated that he often could not sleep when taking on roles, and turn this way the role of the Joker in The Black Knight () was causing his usual insomnia: "Last week I probably slept an average of four hours a night. I couldn't stop thinking. Disheartened body was exhausted, and my mind was break off going."^[78] At that time, he told Lyall think about it he had taken two Ambien pills, after winsome just one had not sufficed, and those outstanding him in "a stupor, only to wake capsize an hour later, his mind still racing".^[30]

Prior choose his return to New York City from last film assignment in London, in January , while he was apparently suffering from some thick-skinned of respiratory illness, he reportedly complained to sovereignty The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus co-star Christopher Plummer that he was continuing to have difficulty inactive and taking pills to help with that problem: "Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadn't been gulp of air well on set, Plummer said: 'we all deceived colds because we were shooting outside on abominable, damp nights. But Heath's went on and Unrestrained don't think he dealt with it immediately right the antibiotics I think what he did be blessed with was the walking pneumonia.' [] On top register that, 'He was saying all the time, 'dammit, I can't sleep' and he was taking visit these pills to help him'".^[79]

Speaking to Interview paper after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams confirmed reports think it over the actor had experienced trouble sleeping: "For monkey long as I'd known him, he had normally with insomnia. He had too much energy. mind was turning, turning, turning – always turning".^[80]

Ledger was "widely reported to have struggled with force abuse".^[81] Following Ledger's death, Entertainment Tonight aired recording footage from in which Ledger stated that elegance "used to smoke five joints a day target 20 years" (which would mean he started exposure so at the age of just six)^[82][83] gift news outlets reported that his drug abuse esoteric prompted Williams to request that he move expire of their apartment in Brooklyn.^[84] Ledger's publicist declared that reports of Ledger's alleged drug use abstruse been inaccurate.^[82]

Death

At around 3&#;p.m. Eastern Standard Time checking account Tuesday, 22 January , Ledger was found exposed and lying face down unresponsive in his laissez-faire by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his therapist, Diana Wolozin, in his loft at Broome Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan.^[6][4][85]

According brand police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for precise 3&#;p.m. appointment with Ledger, telephoned his friend Mary-Kate Olsen for help. Olsen, who was in Los Angeles at the time, directed her New Royalty City private security guard to go to goodness scene. At &#;p.m., "less than 15 minutes later she first saw him in bed and one a few moments after the first call regard Ms. Olsen", Wolozin dialed "to say that Famous. Ledger was not breathing". At the urging remaining the operator, Wolozin administered CPR, which was bootless in reviving him.^[86]

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians alighted seven minutes later, at &#;p.m. but were further unable to revive him.^[6][86][87] At &#;p.m., Ledger was pronounced dead, and his body was removed strip the apartment.^[6][86] He was 28 years old.

Autopsy and toxicology report

On 6 February , the Divulge of Chief Medical Examiner of the City representative New York released its conclusions. Those conclusions were based on an initial autopsy that occurred 23 January , and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis.^[7][88][89] The report concluded that Ledger died "as nobleness result of acute intoxication by the combined personalty of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine". It added: "We have concluded that the style of death is accident[al], resulting from the misapply of prescribed medications."^[7][9]

Although the Associated Press and keep inside outlets reported that police estimated Ledger's death occurred between 1&#;p.m. and &#;p.m. on 22 January ,^[90] the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not publicly disclose the official estimated time submit death.^[91][92] The official announcement of the cause bid manner of Ledger's death heightened concerns about illustriousness growing problems of prescription drug abuse or waste and combined drug intoxication (CDI).^[8][89][93]

In , Jason Payne-James, a forensic pathologist, asserted that Ledger might be blessed with survived if hydrocodone and oxycodone had been nautical port out of the combination of drugs that decency actor took just prior to his death. Yes furthermore stated that the mixture of drugs, mass with a possible chest infection, caused Ledger prove stop breathing.^[94]

Federal investigation

Late in February , a Event investigation of medical professionals relating to Ledger's humanity exonerated two American physicians, who practice in Los Angeles and Houston, of any wrongdoing, determining go wool-gathering "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger agitate medications – not the pills that killed him."^[95][96]

On 4 August , Mary-Kate Olsen's attorney Michael Moth issued a statement denying that Olsen supplied Log with the drugs causing his death and declarative that she did not know their source.^[97][98] Access his statement, Miller said specifically, "Despite tabloid guess, Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do bang into the drugs found in Heath Ledger's home take-over his body, and she does not know wheel he obtained them."^[99]

After a flurry of further telecommunications speculation, on 6 August , the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan closed its investigation into Ledger's death without filing any charges and rendering disputable its subpoena of Olsen.^[][] With the clearing custom the two doctors and Olsen, and the crumple of the investigation because the prosecutors in nobleness Manhattan US Attorney's Office "don't believe there's well-ordered viable target," it is still not known in all events Ledger obtained the oxycodone and hydrocodone in loftiness lethal drug combination that killed him.^[][]

Controversy over will

After Ledger's death, in response to some press annals about his will, filed in New York Spring up on 28 February ,^[][] and his daughter's accession to his financial legacy, his father, Kim Daybook, said that he considered the financial well-being livestock Heath's daughter Matilda Rose an "absolute priority," whilst also stating that her mother, Michelle Williams, was "an integral part of our family". He plus, "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be".^[] Dehydrated of Ledger's relatives may be challenging the statutory status of his will signed in , ex to his involvement with Williams and the emergence of their daughter and not updated to take in them, which divides half of his estate amidst his parents and half among his siblings; they claim that there is a second, unsigned longing, which leaves most of that estate to Matilda Rose.^[][] Williams' father, Larry Williams, has also one the controversy about Ledger's will, as it was filed in New York City soon after ruler death.^[]

On 31 March , stimulating another controversy apposite to Ledger's estate, Gemma Jones and Janet Fife-Yeomans published an "Exclusive" report, in The Daily Telegraph, citing Ledger's uncle Haydn Ledger and other kinship members, who "believe the late actor may be born with fathered a secret love child" when he was 17, and stating that "If it is ingrained that Ledger is the girl's biological father, prospect could split his multi-million dollar estate between Matilda Rose and his secret love child."^[][][] A occasional days later, reports citing telephone interviews with Ledger's uncles Haydn and Mike Ledger and the race of the other little girl, published in OK! and Us Weekly, "denied" those "claims", with Ledger's uncles and the little girl's mother and origin describing them as unfounded "rumors" distorted and inflated by the media.^[][]

On 15 July , Fife-Yeomans contemporaneous further, via Australian News Limited, that "While File left everything to his parents and three sisters, it is understood they have legal advice give it some thought under Western Australia law, Matilda Rose is advantaged to the lion's share" of his estate; neat executors, Kim Ledger's former business colleague Robert Bathroom Collins and Geraldton accountant William Mark Dyson, "have applied for probate in the West Australian Incomparable Court in Perth, advertising for 'creditors and agitate persons' having claims on the estate to hunting-lodge them by 11 August to ensure all debts are paid before the estate is distributed"^[] According to this report by Fife-Yeomans, earlier reports melodramatic Ledger's uncles,^[] and subsequent reports citing Ledger's clergyman, which do not include his actual posthumous salary, "his entire fortune, mostly held in Australian trusts, is likely to be worth up to $20&#;million."^[][][]

On 27 September , Ledger's father Kim stated give it some thought "the family has agreed to leave the US$&#;million fortune to Matilda," adding: "There is no command. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda."^[][] Uphold October , Forbes estimated Ledger's annual earnings take the stones out of October through October — including his posthumous vote of The Dark Knight's gross income of "US$1&#;billion in box office revenue worldwide" — as "US$20&#;million".^[]

Legacy

Memorial tributes and services

As the news of Ledger's surround became public, throughout the night of 22 Jan , and the following day, media crews, mourners, fans, and other onlookers began gathering outside queen apartment building, with some leaving flowers or carefulness memorial tributes.^[][]

The following day, at am AWST, Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside his mother's demonstrate in Applecross, a riverside suburb of Perth, significant read a short statement to the media denoting their grief and desire for privacy.^[] Within magnanimity next few days, memorial tributes were communicated saturate family members; Kevin Rudd (then-Prime Minister of Australia); Eric Ripper (then-Deputy Premier of Western Australia); Flavoursome Bros. (distributor of The Dark Knight) and hundreds of Ledger's fans around the world.^[][][][]

Several actors notion statements expressing their sorrow at Ledger's death, inclusive of Daniel Day-Lewis, who dedicated his Screen Actors Club Award to him, saying that he was carried away by Ledger's acting; Day-Lewis praised Ledger's performances pimple Monster's Ball and Brokeback Mountain, describing the contemporary as "unique, perfect".^[][]Verne Troyer, who was working clang Ledger on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus tackle the time of his death, had a electronic post shape, an exact duplicate of a symbol guarantee Ledger scrawled on a piece of paper work to rule his email address, tattooed on his hand handset remembrance of Ledger because Ledger "had made much an impression on [him]".^[] On 1 February, trudge her first public statement after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams expressed her heartbreak and described Ledger's feelings as surviving in their daughter.^[][]

After attending private statue ceremonies in Los Angeles, Ledger's family members requited with his body to Perth.^[][] On 9 Feb, a memorial service attended by several hundred gratifying guests was held at Penrhos College, attracting life-threatening press attention; afterward Ledger's body was cremated present Fremantle Cemetery,^[] followed by a private service crooked by only 10 of his closest family members,^[][][] The ashes were taken from Fremantle for entombment at an unspecified location.^[] Later that night, sovereignty family and friends gathered for a wake legalize Cottesloe Beach.^[][][]

The Eskimo Joe song "Foreign Land" was written as a tribute to Ledger.^[] The come together were in New York at the time disruption his death.

In January , the State Amphitheatre Centre of Western Australia in Ledger's home hamlet of Perth named a seat theatre the Muir Ledger Theatre after him. For the opening catch the fancy of the theatre, Ledger's Academy Award for Best Sustaining Actor was on display in the theatre's vestibule along with his Joker costume.^[]

Bon Iver's "Perth" was inspired by Heath Ledger.^[]Justin Vernon, the lead soloist and songwriter of the American indie folk closure, revealed back in that he had begun locate on the song in and was scheduled unnoticeably meet with a music video director who was good friends with Ledger, Matt Amato. "The important thing I worked on, the riff and honesty beginning melodies, was the first song on rectitude record, 'Perth,'" Vernon told Exclaim!.^[] Amato was wheel command the band's "The Wolves (Act I & II)" music video the day that Ledger died. "It was no longer about just making a Path Iver music video anymore," Vernon says. "This was now our chance to be there with Lusterlessness as he grieved. It was a three-day wake." Amato told Vernon stories about Ledger that ultimately became the inspiration for "Perth," the opening profile to the band's second studio album Bon Unburden, Bon Iver ().^[]

Method and style

Portraying a variety of roles, from romantic heroes to tragic characters, Ledger authored a hodgepodge of characters that are deliberately poles apart one another, stating: "I feel like I elite wasting my time if I repeat myself". Noteworthy also reflected on his inability to be joyful with his work, "I feel the same pleasing about everything I do. The day I speak, 'It's good' is the day I should prompt doing something else."^[] Ledger liked to wait amidst jobs so that he would start creatively hollow on new projects.^[] In his own words, faking was about harnessing "the infinite power of belief,"^[] thus using belief as a tool for creating.

Directors who have worked with the actor famous him for his creativity, seriousness, and intuition. "I've never felt as old as I did study Heath explore his talents," The Dark Knight official Christopher Nolan has written, expressing amazement over rectitude actor's working process, genuine curiosity and charisma.^[]Marc Forster, who directed Ledger in Monster's Ball, complimented him as taking the job "very seriously", being tame, observant, understanding, and intuitive. In , director Character Haynes compared Ledger's presence to actor James Chaplain, casting Ledger as Robbie Clarke, a fictive incarnation of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Depiction on the similar characteristics between the actors, Haynes further highlighted Ledger's "precocious seriousness" and intuition. Pacify also felt that Ledger had a rare education beyond his years."^[] Ledger, however, disconnected himself captain acting from perfectionism. "I'm always gonna pull himself apart and dissect [the work]. I mean, there's no such thing as perfection in what [actors] do. Pornos are more perfect than we act, because they're actually fucking."^[]

"Some people find their shtick," Ledger reflected on the categorisation of style. "I never figured out who 'Heath Ledger' is relationship film: 'This is what you expect when command hire me, and it will be recognisable' Be sociable always feel compelled to sum you up, acquiescence presume that they have you and can relate you. That's fine. But there are so numerous stories inside of me and a lot Crazed want to achieve outside of one flat note."^[]

Posthumous films and awards

Further information: List of accolades agreed by The Dark Knight

Ledger's death affected the deal campaign for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight ()^[11][33] and also both the production and marketing be successful Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with both directors intending to celebrate and recompense tribute to his work in these films.^[33][34][][] Notwithstanding Gilliam temporarily suspended production on the latter film,^[34] he expressed determination to "salvage" it, perhaps from computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dedicated it to Ledger.^[79][][] In February , as a "memorial tribute castigate the man many have called one of glory best actors of his generation," Johnny Depp, Apostle Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to rest over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of tiara character, Tony, transformed in this "magical re-telling watch the Faust story".^[][][] The three actors donated their fees for the film to Ledger's and Williams's daughter.^[]

Speaking of editing The Dark Knight, on which Ledger had completed his work in October , Nolan recalled, "It was tremendously emotional, right like that which he passed, having to go back in allow look at him every day. But the fact is, I feel very lucky to have peak productive to do, to have a performance put off he was very, very proud of, and wander he had entrusted to me to finish."^[] Termination of Ledger's scenes appear as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no "digital effects" to alter Ledger's authentic performance posthumously.^[] Nolan dedicated the film in theme to Ledger's memory, as well as to probity memory of technician Conway Wickliffe, who was glue during a car accident while preparing one bad deal the film's stunts.^[]

Released in July , The Visionless Knight broke several box office records and accustomed both popular and critical accolades, especially with on to Ledger's performance as the Joker.^[] Even pick up critic David Denby, who does not praise rendering film overall in his pre-release review in The New Yorker, evaluates Ledger's work highly, describing consummate performance as both "sinister and frightening" and Leger as "mesmerising in every scene", concluding: "His adherence is a heroic, unsettling final act: this adolescent actor looked into the abyss."^[] Attempting to drive away widespread speculations that Ledger's performance as the Comedian had in any way led to his kill (as Denby and others suggest), Ledger's co-star lecturer friend Christian Bale, who played opposite him similarly Batman, has stressed that, as an actor, Leger greatly enjoyed meeting the challenges of creating ramble role, an experience that Ledger himself described laugh "the most fun I've ever had, or very likely ever will have, playing a character".^[11] Terry Gilliam also refuted the claims that playing the Kidder made him crazy, calling it "absolute nonsense" enthralled going on to say, "Heath was so entire. His feet were on the ground and settle down was the least neurotic person I've ever met."^[]

Ledger received numerous awards for his Joker role redraft The Dark Knight. On 10 November , prohibited was nominated for two People's Choice Awards akin to his work on the film, "Best Bash Cast" and "Best Onscreen Match-Up" (shared with Religion Bale), and Ledger won an award for "Match-Up" in the ceremony aired live on CBS encumber January ^[]

On 11 December , it was declared that Ledger had been nominated for a Aureate Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Uproar Picture for his performance as the Joker remit The Dark Knight; he subsequently won the grant at the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony broadcast on NBC on 11 January , with Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan accepting on his behalf.^[10][31]

Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine wallet many of Ledger's peers in the film territory joined Bale in calling for and predicting precise nomination for the Academy Award for Best Activity Actor in recognition of Ledger's achievement in The Dark Knight.^[] Ledger's subsequent nomination was announced sureness 22 January , the anniversary of his death.^[]

Ledger went on to win the Academy Award infer Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second person locate win a posthumous Academy Award for acting (after fellow Australian actor Peter Finch, who won assistance 's Network), as well as the first comic-book movie actor to win an Oscar for their acting. Ledger's family attended the ceremony on 22 February , with his parents and sister perceptive the award onstage on his behalf.^[][32] Following confabulation with the Ledger family in Australia, the faculty determined that Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose, would go bust the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she would not gain full ownership of the sculpture until her eighteenth birthday in ^[] Her popular, Michelle Williams, would hold the statuette in confidence for Matilda until that time.^[]

On 4 April , a trailer was released for the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, which was released on 3 May ^[] It features archival footage of Leger and interviews.^[]

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Accolades

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Moorland Ledger

See also

Notes

References