Biography of Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger (full real name Heathcliff Andrew Ledger) managed to flare up very brightly in his short life, and his roles will forever remain in the history of cinema and our hearts. He played in Hollywood in only 19 films, but managed to reveal himself in them as a bold and versatile actor. Heath Ledger became the second actor in history to win an Oscar posthumously. His “swan song” was the image of the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s film “The Dark Knight”.
Childhood of Heath Ledger
Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born in the spring of 1979 in the largest city in Western Australia, Perth. He got his name in honor of the protagonist of the novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, and perhaps it is appropriate to say here that the name influenced his fate. The mother of the future actor was a French teacher, and his father was a mining engineer and a talented race car driver. Perhaps that is why the Heath himself has always tried to move forward at full speed.
Heath Ledger died at the height of his fame. Cause of death – drug overdose
While studying at the Guildford Grammar School, Heath was actively involved in various sports (among which there was even hockey, which was very exotic for his homeland), and was also fond of dancing and singing. Later, together with his sister Catherine, he began to study at the school theater studio. His first stage role was Peter Pan, a boy who didn’t want to grow up.
The beginning of the way
A simple hobby grew into a strong hobby, and then into the main passion of his life. At the age of fifteen, Heath combined hockey lessons with rehearsals in the school acting group, which he led at that time. However, very soon, Ledger finally made a choice in favor of acting and left aside all other hobbies.
Driven by the dream of an acting career, at the age of seventeen, Heath Ledger moved to Sydney, where, according to him, “all dreams came true.” In his case, this could not be true. After roles in the television series “Sweat” and “Roar” and the film “Black Rock” in the second half of the 90s, Ledger became famous in his homeland.
Acting career of Heath Ledger
After success in Australia, Heath got a personal agent and decided to conquer Hollywood.
At the turn of the 2000s, Heath played in the American romantic comedies Fan Fingers and 10 Things I Hate About You with Julia Stiles. Hollywood producers quickly appreciated his charm, and at first they invited daring handsome men to play the roles. Ledger quickly became popular, but he soon got bored with such one-dimensional images – he was not going to become a hostage to one image. In 2000, in Roland Emmerich’s drama The Patriot, Heath played a brave soldier who defends his principles during the Revolutionary War, and Mel Gibson became his partner on the set. Until now, their duet “father-son” can be considered one of the best in film history. No less successful was the pseudo-historical melodrama A Knight’s Tale, where Heath got the lead role and managed to make the most of his charm. After the gloomy drama about the family of the executioner “Monster’s Ball” and the heroic film “Four Feathers” with Kate Hudson, Ledger was talked about as a deep character actor, but these tapes were only the beginning on the way to the full disclosure of his talent.
His roles in the criminal “Kelly Gangs” and the mystical thriller “Sin Eater” turned out to be bright and colorful. In 2005, he starred in the biopic Kings of Dogtown by Catherine Hardwicke, about a group of Californian kids who were the first to skateboard. In Terry Gilliam’s dark fantasy The Brothers Grimm, Ledger appeared in an unusual image for himself – a shy writer who was in the shadow of his more self-confident brother (Matt Damon).
However, with the role in Ang Lee’s melodrama Brokeback Mountain, Ledger literally blocked all his previous acting achievements. A touching drama about the love of two cowboys turned the previously existing stereotypes about masculinity and “true” love. The last scene of this film can still be called one of the most heartbreaking in cinema. The subtle acting and deep drama of the role predetermined the success of the actor and brought him an Australian Film Institute award and his first Oscar nomination, and on the set he also acquired his best friend, Jake Gyllenhaal.
Subsequently, successful roles for Heath Ledger were the work in the romantic comedy “Casanova” with Sienna Miller, the drama about drug addiction “Candy” and the biopic about Bob Dylan “I’m Not There”. In 2008, the actor played the Joker in The Dark Knight and stunned everyone on the spot – few people expected to see a little caricature of the mad Joker from such a new and serious side. In preparation for filming, Ledger locked himself in his house for a month, tried to think and act like a psychopath, studied some materials, for example, revised “A Clockwork Orange”. In the same year, he starred in the fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, where he again collaborated with Terry Gilliam, but, unfortunately, did not have time to finish his work. The release of both films took place after the death of the actor.
Death of Heath Ledger
On January 22, 2008, the famous actor was found dead in his New York apartment. For a long time, the version of a drug overdose was discussed in the press, but later it was refuted. The official version of what happened was called intoxication with various medications – painkillers, sleeping pills and tranquilizers. The actor took all of these substances almost simultaneously, which caused cardiac arrest. Before the tragic denouement, he complained to his relatives about insomnia and a severe nervous condition.
Actor Heath Ledger with daughter Matilda
{cite#”When I think about what else we would see if he stayed with us, I immediately feel sad. It is impossible to imagine what we have lost. He was a man from another reality” (Todd Haynes). #} After the death of the actor, Heath’s body was sent to Perth, where the cremation took place. The picture “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was completed without the participation of the Australian. The image of the hero of Heath Ledger in turn tried on Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law. Heath Ledger received an Oscar posthumously for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight.
Heath Ledger’s personal life
In the life of the actor there were many women and vivid novels. Over the years, the loving handsome man had relationships with singer Lisa Zane and actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. For over three years, Heath lived with Michelle Williams, who played his wife in Brokeback Mountain. She gave Heath his only daughter, Matilda, whose godfather was, by the way, Jake Gyllenhaal.
In recent years, the talented Australian dated a young model, Gemma Ward, who fell into a prolonged depression after his death and even almost left the catwalk.
