Heath Ledger, 1979 - 2008

 

By Franck Tabouring

Heath Ledger, an Academy Award-nominated actor known for his striking performance as Ennis Del Mar in 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain,” died last Tuesday in his New York City residence. He was 28.

Sleeping pills were found close to his body, but an autopsy conducted on Wednesday was inconclusive, authorities said. It could take up to two weeks to determine the cause of death.

Ledger was born on April 4, 1979 in Perth, Australia, and came to Hollywood in 1999 to star in his first big screen hit “10 Things I Hate About You.” In 2000, he starred opposite Mel Gibson in “The Patriot,” before taking over the lead role in Brian Helgeland’s “A Knight’s Tale.”

From there, Ledger’s acting career took off, earning him central roles in Marc Forster’s drama “Monster’s Ball,” Shekhar Kapur’s historical drama “The Four Feathers” and Gregor Jordan’s biopic “Ned Kelly.”    

In 2005, shortly after starring alongside Matt Damon in Terry Gilliam’s “The Brothers Grimm,” Ledger joined Jake Gyllenhaal in Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

Shortly after filming for “Brokeback Mountain” wrapped in late 2004, Ledger started dating co-star Michelle Williams, with whom he had a daughter a year later. Ledger and Williams broke up in September 2007.  

Ledger recently wrapped filming “The Dark Knight” for Christopher Nolan. Shortly before his death, he started working on Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” As of right now, the future of that film is uncertain.



Although Ledger was certainly not one of my favorite actors, I was seriously shocked when I found out about his death. I started warming up him only after I saw “Monster’s Ball,” in which he convincingly played Billy Bob Thornton’s son. His performances in “Brokeback Mountain” and “Lord of Dogtown” further proved his skills as a high-profile actor.

His death is tragic news, really. Ledger was one of those actors who are rarely featured in tabloids, and as far as I can remember he was never involved in one of those superficial Hollywood scandals.

I heard a while ago that Ledger had trouble sleeping after wrapping “The Dark Knight,” but whether that led to his death is certainly unclear.

I also stumbled across disturbing footage from a recent interview he gave prior to the release of “I’m Not There,” in which he played one of numerous characters embodying an aspect of the life of Bob Dylan. During the interview, Ledger openly speaks about dying.

Heath Ledger’s last movie, “The Dark Knight” is scheduled to hit theatres July 18, 2008.