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Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) was an Australian actor. After appearing in television roles during the 1990s, Ledger developed a Hollywood career. He starred in both critical and financial successes, including The Patriot, Monster's Ball and Brokeback Mountain (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), and completed the role of The Joker in the forthcoming The Dark Knight. Ledger was found dead in a New York City apartment on January 22, 2008.

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 well-known in Perth. The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust was named after his great-grandfather. Ledger attended Marys Mount Primary School, in Gooseberry Hill, and later Guildford Grammar School and its preparatory school of the same name.

At sixteen, Ledger sat for early graduation exams, and left school to pursue an acting career with girlfriend Jenna Sorrell. 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, Heath Ledger was involved in the short lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama Roar. 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.

He starred in The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale, 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.

In 2005, Ledger received a "Best Actor in a Drama" Golden Globe nomination 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. 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."

Ledger as The Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight.In another 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."

Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards for Brokeback Mountain from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In the same year, Ledger played a fictionalized 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, though it fared better on DVD.

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.

On July 21, 2006, Ledger was officially confirmed to play 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.

He was filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the time of his death.

Ledger died in an apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, New York on January 22, 2008. Ledger's body was found at around 3:30pm by a housekeeper and a masseuse, who entered the bedroom to find him unconscious in bed with pills. Police do not suspect foul play but have not ruled out suicide or accidental overdose.

More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_ledger

Edited by Qball
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The first movie I saw him in was 'Monster's Ball.' He was so good! Also on Jay Leno he was making fun of himself because he clapped for himself when his name got called and he was so embarrased cause the camera was on him and he thought he made a fool of himself. He says that the whole night you're just clapping cause that's what you do at these things (award shows) and it becomes atomatic, you just start clapping whenever they say a name. Ah so funny. And he also said that he can't really explain how he and michelle got together because it's a long story. Umm what else did he say, he said he has two beautiful girls in his life, his daughter Matilda Rose and Michelle.

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1st movie i saw was 10 things i hate about you

i was like omg what a bitch lol he must hate life

but then it was a corny old movie...hes so soo cute...and then i hear about casanova, brokeback mountain, i was happy for him

im like dying to see casanova tho, cuz i loved the original one and the previews were awesome!

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I didn't know Casanova was a remake. I don't know if I'll go and see it. Monster's Ball is a great movie. You have to see it! I saw ten things I hate about you. I didn't like it much, but I noticed him.

Edited by sahteene
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