LEDGER, Heath 1979–

PERSONAL

Full name, Heathcliff Andrew Ledger; born April 4, 1979, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia; son of Kim Ledger (a mining engineer and race car driver) and Sally Ledger Bell (a French teacher).

Addresses:

Agent—Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212. Publicist—Susan Patricola, Patricola/Lust Public Relations, 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 530, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

Career:

Actor. Performed with Globe Shakespeare Company and Midnight Youth Acting Company, both Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Melbourne Cup Carnival, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, men's fashion judge, 2001.

Awards, Honors:

Australian Film Institute Award nomination, best actor, 1999, and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award nomination, best actor, 2000, both for Two Hands; Teen Choice Award nomination (with Julia Stiles), sexiest love scene in a film, 1999, and MTV Movie Award nomination, best musical performance, 2000, both for 10 Things I Hate about You; Blockbuster Entertainment Award, favorite male newcomer, 2001, for The Patriot; ShoWest Award, National Association of Theatre Owners, male star of tomorrow, 2001; Teen Choice Award nominations, choice actor in a film and (with Shannyn Sossamon) choice chemistry in a film, both 2001, and MTV Movie Award nominations (with Sossamon), best musical sequence and best kiss, 2002, all for A Knight's Tale; Australian Film Institute Award nomination and Film Critics Circle of Australia Award nomination, both best actor, 2003, for Ned Kelly.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Clowning Around, 1992.

Toby Ackland, Blackrock, 1997.

Jimmy, Two Hands, Motion International, 1999.

Patrick "Pat" Verona, 10 Things I Hate about You, Buena Vista, 1999.

Gabriel Martin, The Patriot (also known as Der Patriot), Columbia, 2000.

Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein of Gelderland, A Knight's Tale, Columbia/Twentieth Century–Fox, 2001.

Sonny Grotowski, Monster's Ball (also known as Le bal du monstre), Lions Gate Films, 2001.

Harry Faversham, The Four Feathers, Miramax/Paramount, 2002.

Father Alex Bernier, The Order (also known as The Sin Eater and Sin Eater—Die Seele des Boesen), Twentieth Century–Fox, 2003.

Title role, Ned Kelly, 2003, Focus Features, 2004.

Jacob "Jake" Grimm, The Brothers Grimm, Dimension Films, 2004.

Title role, Casanova (also known as Untitled Casanova Project), Buena Vista, 2005.

Dan, Candy, Dendy Films, 2005.

Ennis Del Mar, Brokeback Mountain, Focus Features, 2005.

Skip Engblom, Lords of Dogtown, Columbia/TriStar, 2005.

Nautica, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2005.

Television Appearances; Series:

Snowy Bowles, Sweat, [Australia], beginning c. 1996.

Conor, Roar, Fox, 1997.

Scott Irwin, Home and Away, Seven Network (Australia), 1997.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Oberon, Paws, HBO, 1999.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Roar: The Making Of, 1997.

Himself, History or Hollywood? The Patriot, History Channel, 2000.

The Making of "A Knight's Tale," HBO, 2001.

Television Appearances; Awards Presentations:

2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, 2000.

2000 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 2000.

MTV Video Music Awards 2002 (also known as VMAs 2002), MTV, 2002.

Presenter, The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards, NBC, 2003.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Guest, The Panel, 10 Network (Australia), 1999, 2001.

Guest, The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, 2000, 2001.

Guest, Rove Live, 10 Network, 2001.

Guest, The Ray Martin Show, 2001.

Guest, V Graham Norton, 2002.

Guest, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC, 2002, 2004.

Guest, Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2003.

(In archive footage) Celebrities Uncensored, E! Entertainment Television, 2003, 2004.

"Foreign Invasion," Real Access, 2004.

Guest, Ellen: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (also known as Ellen and The Ellen DeGeneres Show), syndicated, 2004.

Appeared as a schoolboy in the Australian series Bush Patrol (also known as The Adventures of the Bush Patrol); appeared in Ship to Shore, Nine Network (Australia); also appeared in Corrigan.

Television Appearances; Other:

Himself, Terryho dotocna (also known as Terry's Wrap Up Party), Ceska Televize (Czech Republic), 2004.

Stage Appearances:

Proof, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2002.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

The Art of War, Columbia/TriStar, 2000.

Heath Ledger Profile, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

The Marquee Event, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

The Rock Music Scene in 1370, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

The Rules of Love, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

Sexy Armor and a Rock Band on Tour, Columbia/TriStar, 2001.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Krulik, Nancy E., Heath Ledger: The Heath Is On, Pocket Books, 2001.

Periodicals:

Biography, July, 2001.

Entertainment Weekly, December 22, 2000, p. 45; May 18, 2001, pp. 48–52.

InStyle, July, 2000, p. 106.

Interview, July 14, 1997; March 14, 2004, pp. 154–61.

Los Angeles Times, December 26, 2001.

Maclean's, September 30, 2002, p. 56.

Movieline, May, 2000, pp. 66–67; April, 2001, pp. 42–48.

Newsweek, July 10, 2000, p. 62.

People Weekly, July 24, 2000, p. 63; November 13, 2000, p. 160; May 14, 2001, p. 190.

Premiere, June, 2000, pp. 96–97; September, 2002, pp. 68–70.

Teen People, May, 2000, p. 130.

Urban Cinefile, July 20, 2000.

Variety, July 14, 1997.

Washington Post, September 8, 2002, pp. G1, G24.

Ledger, Heath 1979-2008

PERSONAL

Full name, Heathcliff Andrew Ledger; born April 4, 1979, in Perth, Western Australia, Australia; died of an accidental overdose of prescription medications, January 22, 2008, in New York, NY. Actor. A native of Australia, Ledger was known as much for his leading-man good looks as he was for the dramatic and brooding roles that he chose to play. As a teenager, Ledger had several minor parts in Australian films and television shows. At age nineteen he left for the United States with hopes of finding better auditions. In 1999 Ledger landed his breakout role, starring opposite Julia Stiles in the teen hit Ten Things I Hate about You. Determined to keep from being typecast as a teenage heartthrob, Ledger began searching for character roles and turning down offers that did not interest him. In 2000 he played Mel Gibson's son in the Revolutionary War epic The Patriot. Although Ledger continued to accept roles in light romance movies such as A Knight's Tale, he also sought out more substantive work. He accepted the grim roles of a prison guard in Monster's Ball and a heroin addict in Candy, a part that earned him several best actor nominations. Ledger also starred in the independent film Lords of Dogtown, acted with Matt Damon in The Brothers Grimm, played the title role in Casanova, and played one of the incarnations of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. But it was Ledger's work in Brokeback Mountain in 2005 that sent his career soaring and earned him the most recognition. As reluctantly gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar, Ledger's performance prompted comparisons to Marlon Brando and garnered him multiple best actor nominations, including an Academy Award. At the time of his death, Ledger had recently finished filming Batman: The Dark Knight, in which he played the sadistic criminal mastermind the Joker.

PERIODICALS

International Herald Tribune, February 9, 2008.

New York Times, January 22, 2008.

People, February 4, 2008.