Jump to content

Heath Ledger

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Heath Ledger
Ledger at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival
Born
Heath Andrew Ledger

(1979-04-04)4 April 1979
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Died22 January 2008(2008-01-22) (aged 28)
New York City, U.S.
Cause of deathAcute combined drug intoxication
Occupations
  • Actor
  • music video director
Years active1992–2008
PartnerMichelle Williams (2004–2007)
Children1
AwardsFull list
Signature

Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film career. His work consisted of 20 films in a variety of genres, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Casanova (2005), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Candy (2006), I'm Not There (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two of which were posthumously released.[1] He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.[2]

For his portrayal 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 the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the eighth-youngest nominee in the category at that time.[4] In 2007, he played a fictional actor, Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of Bob Dylan's life and persona in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There.[5]

Ledger died in January 2008[6][4] from an accidental overdose as a result of prescription drug abuse.[7][8][9] A few months before his death, he finished filming his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight; the performance brought him praise and popularity, and numerous posthumous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.[10][3][11]

Early life and education

Ledger was born on 4 April 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, to Sally Ramshaw, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver and mining engineer whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry.[12] The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfather Frank Ledger.[12] He had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[13] Ledger attended Mary's Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill,[14] and later Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production as Peter Pan at age ten.[4][12] His 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 on stage; and his love of Gene Kelly inspired his successful choreography, leading to Guildford Grammar's 60-member team's "first all-boy victory" at the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge.[12][16] Ledger's two half-sisters are Ashleigh Bell (b. 1990), his mother's daughter with her second husband Roger Bell; and Olivia Ledger (b. 1996), his father's daughter with his second wife Emma Brown.[17]

Acting career

1990s

After sitting for early graduation exams at age 16 to get his diploma, Ledger left school to pursue an acting career.[15] With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since the age of three, Ledger drove across Australia from Perth to Sydney, returning to Perth to take a small role in Clowning Around (1992), the first part of a two-part television series, and to work on the TV series Sweat (1996), in which he played a cyclist.[12] From 1993 to 1997, Ledger also had parts in the Perth television series Ship to Shore (1993); Ledger also had parts in the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama Roar (1997); in Home and Away (1997), one of Australia's most successful television shows; and in the Australian film Blackrock (1997), his feature film debut.[12] In 1999, he starred in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You and in the acclaimed Australian crime film Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan.[12]

2000s

In the early 2000s, he starred in supporting roles as Gabriel Martin, the eldest son of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), in The Patriot (2000), and as Sonny Grotowski, the son of Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), in Monster's Ball (2001); as well as leading or title roles in A Knight's Tale (2001), The Four Feathers (2002), The Order (2003), Ned Kelly (2003), Casanova (2005), The Brothers Grimm (2005), and Lords of Dogtown (2005).[18] In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow".[19]

Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New 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 hand Ennis Del Mar, who has a love affair with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.[22] He also received the nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor — Motion Picture Drama, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and an Academy Award for Best Actor for this performance,[23] making him, at age 26, the eighth-youngest nominee in the category.[24] In The New York Times review of the film, critic Stephen Holden writes: "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 great screen performance, 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 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."[26]

After Brokeback Mountain, Ledger costarred with fellow Australian Abbie Cornish in the 2006 Australian film Candy, an adaptation of the 1998 novel Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction, as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played by Geoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release of Candy, Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[27] As one of six actors embodying different aspects of the life of Bob Dylan in the 2007 film I'm Not There, directed by Todd Haynes, Ledger "won praise for his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Dylan, but says accolades are never his motivation".[28] Posthumously, on 23 February 2008, he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the film's ensemble cast, its director, and its casting director.[29]

In his penultimate film role, Ledger played the Joker in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight, which was released nearly six months after his death. While working on the film in London, Ledger told Sarah Lyall in their New York Times interview that he viewed The Dark Knight's Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".[30] For his performance in The Dark Knight, Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (becoming the fourth-youngest winner of the award) which his family accepted on his behalf, as well as numerous other posthumous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, which Nolan accepted for him.[31][32] At the time of his death on 22 January 2008, Ledger had completed about half of the work for his final film role as Tony in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.[33][34] Gilliam chose to adapt the film after his death by having fellow actors (and friends of Ledger) Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell play "fantasy transformations" of his character so that Ledger's final performance could be seen in theatres.[35]

Directorial work

Ledger (far right) posing with the cast and the director of I'm Not There at the 64th Venice Film Festival in September 2007

Ledger had aspirations to become a film director and had made some music videos with his production company The Masses, which director Todd Haynes praised highly in his tribute to Ledger upon accepting the ISP Robert Altman Award, which Ledger posthumously shared, on 23 February 2008.[29][36] In 2006, Ledger directed music videos for the title track on Australian hip hop artist N'fa's CD debut solo album Cause An Effect[37] and for the single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)".[38][39] Later that year, Ledger inaugurated a new record label, The Masses Music, with singer Ben Harper and also directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".[30][40]

At a news conference at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, Ledger spoke of his desire to make a documentary film about the British singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974, at the age of 26, from an overdose of an antidepressant.[41] Ledger created and acted in a music video set to Drake's recording of the singer's 1974 song about depression, "Black Eyed Dog" — a title "inspired by Winston Churchill's descriptive term for depression" (black dog);[42] it was shown publicly only twice, first at the Bumbershoot Festival, in Seattle, held from 1 to 3 September 2007; and secondly as part of "A Place To Be: A Celebration of Nick Drake", with its screening of Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake, "a series 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 2007.[43] After Ledger's death, his music video for "Black Eyed Dog" was shown on the Internet and excerpted in news clips distributed via YouTube.[41][44][45][a]

He was working with Scottish screenwriter and producer Allan Scott on an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis, which would have been his first feature film as a director. He also intended to act in the film, with Canadian actor Elliot Page proposed in the lead role.[2][46][47] Ledger's final directorial work, in which he shot two music videos before his death, premiered in 2009.[48] The music videos, completed for Modest Mouse and Grace Woodroofe,[49] include an animated feature for Modest Mouse's song "King Rat", and the Woodroofe video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand".[50] The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 August 2009.[51]

Personal life

Ledger at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006

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

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

Relationships

Ledger had relationships with Lisa Zane, Christina Cauchi, Heather Graham, and Naomi Watts.[56][57]

In 2004, he began a relationship with actress Michelle Williams after meeting her on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on 28 October 2005 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] In January 2006, Ledger listed his residence in Bronte, New South Wales for sale[60] and returned to the US, where he shared a house with Williams in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn from 2005 to 2007.[61] In September 2007, Williams' father confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had broken up.[62]

After his breakup with Williams, the tabloid press and other public media linked Ledger romantically with supermodels Helena Christensen and Gemma Ward. In 2011, Ward stated that the pair had begun dating in November 2007 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 turbulent, and it led to his abandonment of plans for his family to reside part-time in Sydney.[69][70] In 2004, he strongly denied press reports alleging that "he spat at journalists on the Sydney set of the film Candy", or that one of his relatives had done so later, outside Ledger's Sydney home.[69][70] On 13 January 2006, "Several members of the paparazzi retaliated ... squirting Ledger and Williams with water pistols on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain".[71][72]

After his performance on stage at the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards, when he had giggled in presenting Brokeback Mountain as a nominee for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the Los Angeles Times referred to his presentation as an "apparent gay spoof".[73] Ledger called the Times later and explained that his levity resulted from stage fright, saying that he had been told that he would be presenting the award only minutes earlier; he stated: "I am so sorry and I apologise for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers."[74][75]

After learning that two cinemas in Utah refused to show Brokeback Mountain, Ledger said: "I don't think the movie is [controversial] but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society".[76] In the same interview with the Herald Sun newspaper, Ledger mistakenly claimed that lynchings had occurred in West Virginia as recently as the 1980s; state scholars disputed his statement, asserting that no documented lynchings had occurred in West Virginia since 1931.[77]

Health problems and drug use

In an interview with Sarah Lyall, published in The New York Times on 4 November 2007, Ledger stated that he often could not sleep when taking on roles, and that the role of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) was causing his usual insomnia: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."[78] At that time, he told Lyall that he had taken two Ambien pills, after taking just one had not sufficed, and those left him in "a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing".[30]

Prior to his return to New York City from his last film assignment in London, in January 2008, while he was apparently suffering from some kind of respiratory illness, he reportedly complained to his The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus co-star Christopher Plummer that he was continuing to have difficulty sleeping and taking pills to help with that problem: "Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadn't been feeling well on set, Plummer said: 'we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics.... I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia.' [...] On top of that, 'He was saying all the time, 'dammit, I can't sleep'... and he was taking all these pills to help him'".[79]

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

Ledger was "widely reported to have struggled with substance abuse".[81] Following Ledger's death, Entertainment Tonight aired video footage from 2006 in which Ledger stated that he "used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years"[82][83] and news outlets reported that his drug abuse had prompted Williams to request that he move out of their apartment in Brooklyn.[84] Ledger's publicist asserted that reportage regarding Ledger's alleged drug use had been inaccurate.[82]

Death

At around 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, 22 January 2008, a naked and lying facedown Ledger was found unresponsive in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his massage therapist, Diana Wolozin, in his loft at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan.[6][4][85]

According to police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for a 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 York City private security guard to go to the scene. At 3:26 p.m., "less than 15 minutes after she first saw him in bed and only a few moments after the first call to Ms. Olsen", Wolozin dialed 911 "to say that Mr. Ledger was not breathing". At the urging of the 911 operator, Wolozin administered CPR, which was unsuccessful in reviving him.[86]

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians arrived seven minutes later, at 3:33 p.m. but were also unable to revive him.[6][86][87] At 3:36 p.m., Ledger was pronounced dead, and his body was removed from the apartment.[6][86] He was 28 years old.

Autopsy and toxicology report

On 6 February 2008, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York released its conclusions. Those conclusions were based on an initial autopsy that occurred 23 January 2008, and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis.[7][88][89] The report concluded that Ledger died "as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine". It added: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident[al], resulting from the abuse of prescribed medications."[7][9]

While the medications found in the toxicological analysis may be prescribed in the United States for insomnia, anxiety, pain or common cold symptoms (doxylamine), the vast majority of the country's physicians would be extremely reluctant to prescribe multiple benzodiazepines (e.g. diazepam, alprazolam and temazepam) to a single patient, let alone to prescribe such medications to a patient already taking a mix of oxycodone and hydrocodone. Use of opioids with benzodiazepines, which depress the central nervous system, creates a serious risk of slowed breathing and death.[90] Although the Associated Press and other outlets reported that police estimated Ledger's death occurred between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on 22 January 2008,[91] the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not publicly disclose the official estimated time of death.[92][93] The official announcement of the cause and manner of Ledger's death heightened concerns about the growing problems of prescription drug abuse or misuse and combined drug intoxication (CDI).[8][89][94]

In 2017, Jason Payne-James, a forensic pathologist, asserted that Ledger might have survived if hydrocodone and oxycodone had been left out of the combination of drugs that the actor took just prior to his death. He furthermore stated that the mixture of drugs, combined with a possible chest infection, caused Ledger to stop breathing.[95]

Federal investigation

Late in February 2008, a DEA investigation of medical professionals relating to Ledger's death exonerated two American physicians, who practice in Los Angeles and Houston, of any wrongdoing, determining that "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger other medications – not the pills that killed him."[96][97]

On 4 August 2008, Mary-Kate Olsen's attorney Michael Miller issued a statement denying that Olsen supplied Ledger with the drugs causing his death and asserting that she did not know their source.[98][99] In his statement, Miller said specifically, "Despite tabloid speculation, Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs found in Heath Ledger's home or his body, and she does not know where he obtained them."[100]

After a flurry of further media speculation, on 6 August 2008, the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan closed its investigation into Ledger's death without filing any charges and rendering moot its subpoena of Olsen.[101][102] With the clearing of the two doctors and Olsen, and the closing of the investigation because the prosecutors in the Manhattan US Attorney's Office "don't believe there's a viable target," it is still not known how Ledger obtained the oxycodone and hydrocodone in the lethal drug combination that killed him.[102][103]

Controversy over will

After Ledger's death, in response to some press reports about his will, filed in New York City on 28 February 2008,[104][105] and his daughter's access to his financial legacy, his father, Kim Ledger, said that he considered the financial well-being of Heath's daughter Matilda Rose an "absolute priority," whilst also stating that her mother, Michelle Williams, was "an integral part of our family". He added, "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be".[106] Some of Ledger's relatives may be challenging the legal status of his will signed in 2003, prior to his involvement with Williams and the birth of their daughter and not updated to include them, which divides half of his estate between his parents and half among his siblings; they claim that there is a second, unsigned will, which leaves most of that estate to Matilda Rose.[107][108] Williams' father, Larry Williams, has also joined the controversy about Ledger's will, as it was filed in New York City soon after his death.[109]

On 31 March 2008, stimulating another controversy pertaining 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 family members, who "believe the late actor may have fathered a secret love child" when he was 17, and stating that "If it is confirmed that Ledger is the girl's biological father, it could split his multi-million dollar estate between ... Matilda Rose ... and his secret love child."[110][111][112] A few days later, reports citing telephone interviews with Ledger's uncles Haydn and Mike Ledger and the family 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 stepfather describing them as unfounded "rumors" distorted and exaggerated by the media.[113][114]

On 15 July 2008, Fife-Yeomans reported further, via Australian News Limited, that "While Ledger left everything to his parents and three sisters, it is understood they have legal advice that under Western Australia law, Matilda Rose is entitled to the lion's share" of his estate; its executors, Kim Ledger's former business colleague Robert John Collins and Geraldton accountant William Mark Dyson, "have applied for probate in the West Australian Supreme Court in Perth, advertising for 'creditors and other persons' having claims on the estate to lodge them by 11 August 2008 ... to ensure all debts are paid before the estate is distributed...."[115] According to this report by Fife-Yeomans, earlier reports citing Ledger's uncles,[106] and subsequent reports citing Ledger's father, which do not include his actual posthumous earnings, "his entire fortune, mostly held in Australian trusts, is likely to be worth up to $20 million."[115][116][117]

On 27 September 2008, Ledger's father Kim stated that "the family has agreed to leave the US$16.3 million fortune to Matilda," adding: "There is no claim. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda."[116][117] In October 2008, Forbes estimated Ledger's annual earnings from October 2007 through October 2008 — including his posthumous share of The Dark Knight's gross income of "US$1 billion in box office revenue worldwide" — as "US$20 million".[118]

Legacy

Memorial tributes and services

Dark doorway and doorstep with section of footpath. On the lower part of the dark door is a partly obscured Australian flag with dark blue background; red and white crosses on top left, large white star underneath and three white stars at the right with others obscured. Obscuring the right side of the flag is a white sheet with light blue writing, "Love + Miss You Always Heath" with two red hearts nearby, other writing includes "I'll never quit you" in darker blue, more writing is indistinct. This sheet also has six photos of a man. Above the flag, on the door is a smaller sheet with a photo of a man and indistinct writing below. On the doorstep and section of footpath are some 14 groups of flowers wrapped in plastic or paper, together with nine or so cards, five or six lit candles, and more photos. On the right side is a straw hat.
Memorial for Ledger, outside 421 Broome Street, SoHo, Manhattan, 23 January 2008

As the news of Ledger's death became public, throughout the night of 22 January 2008, and the following day, media crews, mourners, fans, and other onlookers began gathering outside his apartment building, with some leaving flowers or other memorial tributes.[119][120]

The following day, at 10:50am AWST, Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside his mother's house in Applecross, a riverside suburb of Perth, and read a short statement to the media expressing their grief and desire for privacy.[121] Within the next few days, memorial tributes were communicated by family members; Kevin Rudd (then-Prime Minister of Australia); Eric Ripper (then-Deputy Premier of Western Australia); Warner Bros. (distributor of The Dark Knight) and thousands of Ledger's fans around the world.[122][123][124][125]

Several actors made statements expressing their sorrow at Ledger's death, including Daniel Day-Lewis, who dedicated his Screen Actors Guild Award to him, saying that he was inspired by Ledger's acting; Day-Lewis praised Ledger's performances in Monster's Ball and Brokeback Mountain, describing the latter as "unique, perfect".[126][127] Verne Troyer, who was working with Ledger on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the time of his death, had a heart shape, an exact duplicate of a symbol that Ledger scrawled on a piece of paper with his email address, tattooed on his hand in remembrance of Ledger because Ledger "had made such an impression on [him]".[128] On 1 February, in her first public statement after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams expressed her heartbreak and described Ledger's spirit as surviving in their daughter.[129][130]

After attending private memorial ceremonies in Los Angeles, Ledger's family members returned with his body to Perth.[131][132] On 9 February, a memorial service attended by several hundred invited guests was held at Penrhos College, attracting considerable press attention; afterward Ledger's body was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery,[133] followed by a private service attended by only 10 of his closest family members,[134][135][136] The ashes were taken from Fremantle for interment at an unspecified location.[137] Later that night, his family and friends gathered for a wake on Cottesloe Beach.[138][139][140]

The Eskimo Joe song "Foreign Land" was written as a tribute to Ledger.[141] The band were in New York at the time of his death.

In January 2011, the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia in Ledger's home town of Perth named a 575-seat theatre the Heath Ledger Theatre after him. For the opening of the theatre, Ledger's Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor was on display in the theatre's foyer along with his Joker costume.[142]

Bon Iver's "Perth" was inspired by Heath Ledger.[143] Justin Vernon, the lead singer and songwriter of the American indie folk band, revealed back in 2011 that he had begun working on the song in 2008 and was scheduled to meet with a music video director who was good friends with Ledger, Matt Amato. "The first thing I worked on, the riff and the beginning melodies, was the first song on the record, 'Perth,'" Vernon told Exclaim!.[144] Amato was directing the band's "The Wolves (Act I & II)" music video the day that Ledger died. "It was no longer about just making a Bon Iver music video anymore," Vernon says. "This was now our chance to be there with Matt as he grieved. It was a three-day wake." Amato told Vernon stories about Ledger that eventually became the inspiration for "Perth," the opening track to the band's second studio album Bon Iver, Bon Iver (2011).[143]

Method and style

Ledger on the March 2006 cover of Rolling Stone

"You know when you see the preachers down South? And they grab a believer and they go, 'Bwoom! I touch you with the hand of God!' And they believe so strongly, they're on the ground shaking and spitting. And fuck's sake, that's the power of belief... Now, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe in my performance. And if you can understand that the power of belief is one of the great tools of our time and that a lot of acting comes from it, you can do anything."

—Ledger, during the interview with Rolling Stone in 2006, on belief, power and acting[145]

Portraying a variety of roles, from romantic heroes to tragic characters, Ledger created a hodgepodge of characters that are deliberately unlike one another, stating: "I feel like I am wasting my time if I repeat myself". He also reflected on his inability to be happy with his work, "I feel the same thing about everything I do. The day I say, 'It's good' is the day I should start doing something else."[146] Ledger liked to wait between jobs so that he would start creatively hungry on new projects.[147] In his own words, acting was about harnessing "the infinite power of belief,"[145] thus using belief as a tool for creating.

Directors who have worked with the actor praised him for his creativity, seriousness, and intuition. "I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents," The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has written, expressing amazement over the actor's working process, genuine curiosity and charisma.[147] Marc Forster, who directed Ledger in Monster's Ball, complimented him as taking the job "very seriously", being disciplined, observant, understanding, and intuitive. In 2007, director Todd Haynes compared Ledger's presence to actor James Dean, casting Ledger as Robbie Clarke, a fictive personification of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Drawing on the similar characteristics between the actors, Haynes further highlighted Ledger's "precocious seriousness" and intuition. He also felt that Ledger had a rare maturity beyond his years."[146] Ledger, however, disconnected himself and acting from perfectionism. "I'm always gonna pull myself apart and dissect [the work]. I mean, there's no such thing as perfection in what [actors] do. Pornos are more perfect than we are, because they're actually fucking."[145]

"Some people find their shtick," Ledger reflected on the categorisation of style. "I never figured out who 'Heath Ledger' is on film: 'This is what you expect when you hire me, and it will be recognisable'... People always feel compelled to sum you up, to presume that they have you and can describe you. That's fine. But there are so many stories inside of me and a lot I want to achieve outside of one flat note."[146]

Posthumous films and awards

Further information: List of accolades received by The Dark Knight

Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008)[11][33] and also both the production and marketing of Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with both directors intending to celebrate and pay tribute to his work in these films.[33][34][148][149] Although Gilliam temporarily suspended production on the latter film,[34] he expressed determination to "salvage" it, perhaps using computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dedicated it to Ledger.[79][150][151] In February 2008, as a "memorial tribute to the man many have called one of the best actors of his generation," Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to take over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of his character, Tony, transformed in this "magical re-telling of the Faust story".[152][153][154] The three actors donated their fees for the film to Ledger's and Williams's daughter.[155]

Speaking of editing The Dark Knight, on which Ledger had completed his work in October 2007, Nolan recalled, "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day. ... But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish."[149] All 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 actual performance posthumously.[156] Nolan dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory, as well as to the memory of technician Conway Wickliffe, who was killed during a car accident while preparing one of the film's stunts.[157]

Released in July 2008, The Dark Knight broke several box office records and received both popular and critical accolades, especially with regard to Ledger's performance as the Joker.[158] Even film critic David Denby, who does not praise the film overall in his pre-release review in The New Yorker, evaluates Ledger's work highly, describing his performance as both "sinister and frightening" and Ledger as "mesmerising in every scene", concluding: "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."[159] Attempting to dispel widespread speculations that Ledger's performance as the Joker had in any way led to his death (as Denby and others suggest), Ledger's co-star and friend Christian Bale, who played opposite him as Batman, has stressed that, as an actor, Ledger greatly enjoyed meeting the challenges of creating that role, an experience that Ledger himself described as "the most fun I've ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character".[11] Terry Gilliam also refuted the claims that playing the Joker made him crazy, calling it "absolute nonsense" and going on to say, "Heath was so solid. His feet were on the ground and he was the least neurotic person I've ever met."[160]

Ledger received numerous awards for his Joker role in The Dark Knight. On 10 November 2008, he was nominated for two People's Choice Awards related to his work on the film, "Best Ensemble Cast" and "Best Onscreen Match-Up" (shared with Christian Bale), and Ledger won an award for "Match-Up" in the ceremony aired live on CBS in January 2009.[161]

On 11 December 2008, it was announced that Ledger had been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight; he subsequently won the award at the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony telecast on NBC on 11 January 2009, with Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan accepting on his behalf.[10][31]

Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine and many of Ledger's peers in the film community joined Bale in calling for and predicting a nomination for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's achievement in The Dark Knight.[162] Ledger's subsequent nomination was announced on 22 January 2009, the anniversary of his death.[163]

Ledger went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second person to win a posthumous Academy Award for acting (after fellow Australian actor Peter Finch, who won for 1976'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 2009, with his parents and sister accepting the award onstage on his behalf.[164][32] Following talks with the Ledger family in Australia, the academy determined that Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose, would own the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she would not gain full ownership of the statuette until her eighteenth birthday in 2023.[165] Her mother, Michelle Williams, would hold the statuette in trust for Matilda until that time.[166]

On 4 April 2017, a trailer was released for the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, which was released on 3 May 2017.[167] It features archival footage of Ledger and interviews.[168]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Blackrock Toby Ackland
Paws Oberon
1999 10 Things I Hate About You Patrick Verona
Two Hands Jimmy
2000 The Patriot Gabriel Martin
2001 A Knight's Tale William Thatcher
Monster's Ball Sonny Grotowski
2002 The Four Feathers Harry Faversham
2003 Ned Kelly Ned Kelly
The Order Alex Bernier
2005 Brokeback Mountain Ennis Del Mar
The Brothers Grimm Jacob Grimm
Casanova Giacomo Casanova
Lords of Dogtown Skip Engblom
2006 Candy Dan Carter
2007 I'm Not There Robbie Clark / Bob Dylan
2008 The Dark Knight The Joker Posthumous release
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Tony Shepard Posthumous release; final film role

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Clowning Around Orphan clown TV movie; debut role (uncredited)
1993 Ship to Shore Cyclist Seasons 1–2 (3 episodes)
1996 Sweat Snowy Bowles Season 1 (26 episodes)
1997 Home and Away Scott Irwin Season 10 (9 episodes)
Roar Conor Season 1 (13 episodes)
2017 I Am Heath Ledger Himself Posthumous release; archive footage

Music videos

Year Title Performer Notes
2006 "Cause an Effect" N'fa Also director
"Seduction is Evil (She's Hot)"
"Morning Yearning" Ben Harper
2007 "Black Eyed Dog" Nick Drake Also director and featuring himself[41]
2009 "Quicksand" Grace Woodroofe Also director
"King Rat" Modest Mouse Animated video; conceived by himself[49]

Accolades

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

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Drake's song "Black Eyed Dog" is featured as track number five on the soundtrack album for the 1998 film Practical Magic, directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.

References

  1. ^ "Heath Ledger". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b Dawtrey, Adam (23 January 2008). "'Parnassus' team faces dilemma". Variety. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Awards Database". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Awards. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d Savage, Michael (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger: The Times Obituary". The Times. UK. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  5. ^ "Heath Ledger Honored at Independent Spirit Awards". Entertainment Tonight. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d Barron, James (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger, actor, Is Found Dead at 28". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Chan, Sewell and James Barron (contributing) (6 February 2008). "City Room: Heath Ledger's Death Is Ruled an Accident". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Ledger's Death Caused by Accidental Overdose". CNN. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Heath Ledger Died of Accidental Overdose: 28-Year-Old Actor Had Oxycodone, Anti-Anxiety, Sleep Aids in His System". Today.com. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  10. ^ a b "Golden Globes: Heath Ledger's Family 'So Proud' of Globe Nod". People. 11 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  11. ^ a b c Halbfinger, David M. (9 March 2008). "Batman's Burden: A Director Confronts Darkness and Death". The New York Times. pp. 1, 16. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Wills, Dominic (2008). "Heath Ledger Biography". US: Tiscali TV. Archived from the original on 16 April 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008. The Ledger name was well-known in Perth, the family having run a foundry that provided much of the raw material for the famous Perth to Kalgoorlie Pipeline ... The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust, named after Heath's great-grandfather, was renowned for granting funds to the area's universities, paying for visiting lecturers and scholarships for gifted students.
  13. ^ 'Heath: A Family's Tale' by Janet Fife-Yeomans (2009), p.32: "Ledger was a descendant of the Ledger family of Leeds, Yorkshire who arrived in Western Australia from England in 1880."
  14. ^ "Heath Ledger among WA's Finest Sons, Says Eric Ripper". The Sunday Times. Australia. 22 January 2008. Archived from the original on 28 July 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2012. 'I understand he was a former student at both Mary's Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill and later at Guildford Grammar,' Mr Ripper said.
  15. ^ a b Lipsky, David (23 March 2006). "Heath Ledger's Lonesome Trail". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2008. His dad wanted him to race cars. Hollywood wanted him to play Spider-Man. Now he's a huge star, and he's not happy about it.
  16. ^ Sessums, Kevin (23 January 2008). "We're Having a Heath Wave". Vanity Fair (August 2000). Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  17. ^ "Heath Ledger Biography". Yahoo! Movies. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  18. ^ "Heath Ledger". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Showest Awards: Past Award Winners". showest.com. ShoWest (Nielsen Business Media Film Group). Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  20. ^ "'Brokeback Mountain' leads Golden Globe nominations". CNN. 13 December 2005. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  21. ^ "The San Francisco Film Critics Circle". splicedwire.com. 12 December 2005. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  22. ^ Chaney, Jen (15 December 2005). "'Mountain' Man Ledger's Steady Climb to the Top". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  23. ^ "HFPA – Awards Search". Golden Globes Official Website. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  24. ^ "Results Page – Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  25. ^ Holden, Stephen (9 December 2005). "Film Review – Brokeback Mountain – Riding the High Country, Finding and Losing Love". The New York Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  26. ^ Travers, Peter (1 December 2005). "Review: Brokeback Mountain". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  27. ^ "Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Sciences invites 120 new members". USA Today. 5 July 2006. Archived from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  28. ^ Honie Stevens (18 November 2007). "Squaring the Ledger". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
  29. ^ a b "Todd Haynes Dedicates Robert Altman Award to Heath Ledger". 23 February 2008. Archived from the original (video clip) on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2008 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ a b c Lyall, Sarah (4 November 2007). "Movies: In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  31. ^ a b Abramowitz, Rachel (12 January 2009). "Accolades flow after Heath Ledger's 'Dark Knight' win". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 18 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  32. ^ a b "'Slumdog Millionaire' fulfills its Oscar destiny". Today.com. Associated Press. 23 February 2009. Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  33. ^ a b c Halbfinger, David M. (25 January 2008). "Actor's Death May Mean Film's End". The New York Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  34. ^ a b c Christine Kilpatrick (24 January 2008). "Production Suspended on Heath Ledger's Latest Movie". People. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
  35. ^ "Terry Gilliam: The 'Imaginarium' That Almost Wasn't". NPR. 19 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  36. ^ ROBERTS, RANDALL (9 July 2008). "Heath Ledger's Final Days Among the Masses". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  37. ^ "Rapper N'FA to Release Heath Ledger-Directed Video | SPIN". 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  38. ^ "Seduction Is Evil". Inertia Catalogue. inertia.net. 28 October 2006. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  39. ^ Andrew Drever (21 August 2006). "N'Fa: Frontman for 1200 Techniques May Be Doing Solo Work, But Everything's Cool". The Age. Melbourne. p. 2. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  40. ^ "Heath Ledger Teams Up with Ben Harper to Launch New Record Label". Starpulse Entertainment News Blog. 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  41. ^ a b c Jim Fraenkel and Rodrigo Perez (22 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Video for Nick Drake Song: Eerie Postscript to Actor's Death". MTV. Archived from the original on 28 December 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  42. ^ Anthony Storr (1990). Churchill's Black Dog and Other Phenomena of the Human Mind. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-637566-1.
  43. ^ "Egyptian Theatre Programming" (PDF). American Cinematheque Film Calendar. americacinematheque.com. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2008. This very special evening celebrating [Drake's] life and music includes films, guests and a unique art and photographic exhibit. It includes the World Theatrical Premiere of 'Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake', 2007, Bryter Music, 30 min. Various Directors – a series of short filmed homages to Nick Drake – created by admirers including Heath Ledger, Jonas Mekas and Tim Pope. (NOT ON DVD!) ...
  44. ^ Daniel Kreps (29 February 2008). "Footage from Heath Ledger's Nick Drake Video Surfaces". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2008. The video, for Drake's posthumously released song 'Black Eyed Dog,' was filmed by the actor in late 2007 and included in a multimedia instalment about Drake called 'A Place to Be.' The project was only screened publicly twice before the actor's death, and the Ledger family said the 'Black Eyed Dog' video would not be released.
  45. ^ "A Place To Be: Reflections Of Nick Drake". A Place To Be. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2008. A Place To Be: a collection, a celebration, in film, photography, painting, drawing and prose, of the impact the music of Nick Drake has had on other artists ("Introductory film" includes excerpts of the music video, Black Eyed Dog, by Heath Ledger, among others.)
  46. ^ Cazzulino, Michelle (29 March 2008). "Heath Ledger's Gambit to Be a Director". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 3 April 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  47. ^ Rob Sharp and Allan Shiach (18 March 2008). "Heath Ledger–A Prophetic Tragedy". The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2008. Until last month [January 2008] he [Allan Schiach, aka Allan Scott,] was working with the late Heath Ledger on a film adaptation of Walter Tevis's 1983 novel The Queen's Gambit, about a chess prodigy's chequered history.
  48. ^ Michaels, Sean (16 March 2009). "Heath Ledger-directed music video to be released". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  49. ^ a b "Ledger music videos to be aired". BBC News. 17 March 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  50. ^ "Heath Ledger music videos on the way". The Hollywood Reporter. 17 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  51. ^ "Heath Ledger's Video For Modest Mouse's "King Rat" Premieres". Rolling Stone. 4 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 August 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  52. ^ "He played younger groups ... and may have played in the state tournaments, even the state championship," Norbert Muller, a spokesman for the Perth Chess Club, said. But, he added, "I don't really remember him performing that well." Heath Ledger In Retrospect: '10 Things' You Didn't Know About The Actor Archived 4 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, MTV, 24 January 2008.
  53. ^ Tapper, Christina; Stoyoff, Natasha (26 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Passion for Chess". People. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2008. No stranger to the New York Washington Square Park chess world, Heath Ledger found joy by screaming the occasional 'checkmate!'
  54. ^ Flanagan, Martin (25 January 2008). "Ledger another great who died too young". The Age. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  55. ^ Desta, Yohana (4 May 2017). "A Rare Look at Heath Ledger's Exclusive Artwork". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  56. ^ Newman, Jason (18 May 2017). "'I Am Heath Ledger': 10 Things We Learned From Spike TV Doc". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  57. ^ "The truth about Heath Ledger's women". News.com.au. 1 September 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  58. ^ King, Kiki; Simpson, Eva; Hedley, Caroline (3 March 2006). "The Heath Is On". Daily Mirror. UK. p. 16. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  59. ^ Balogh, Stefanie (24 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's ex-fiancee Michelle Williams home with baby Matilda". Herald Sun. Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  60. ^ "Ledger Hopes for $3m Profit on Beach House". The Age. Melbourne. 11 February 2006. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  61. ^ Williams, Alex (30 September 2007). "Brooklyn's Fragile Eco-System". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  62. ^ Grant, Sarah (4 September 2007). "Michelle Williams' dad confirms split with Heath Ledger". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  63. ^ Whitworth, Melissa (31 January 2011). "Gemma Ward breaks her silence on Heath Ledger". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  64. ^ "Supermodel's Last Call to Heath". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  65. ^ Stansfield, Robert (24 January 2008). "Helena Christensen Was on Way to See Heath Ledger". Scottish Daily Record. Archived from the original on 22 August 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  66. ^ Byrnes, Holly; Grant, Sarah; Saurine, Angela (3 January 2008). "Are Gemma Ward and Heath Ledger Dating?". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  67. ^ Fife-Yeomans, Janet (25 January 2008). "Sorrow of Heath Ledger's Secret Love". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  68. ^ "Lindsay Lohan after Heath Ledger's death: 'I'm in love with him'". Fox News. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  69. ^ a b WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (12 January 2006). "Ledger Slams Spitting Claims". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  70. ^ a b Hawley, Janet (23 January 2008). "Tale of an untrained homeboy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  71. ^ "Sprayed Heath Flies Out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 14 January 2006. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  72. ^ Emily Dunn and Richard Jinman (24 January 2008). "How a Triumphant Return Turned Sour". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  73. ^ Elizabeth Snead (30 January 2006). "The Dish Rag – Ledger's Strange SAG Behavior". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  74. ^ Elizabeth Snead (3 February 2006). "The Dish Rag – Heath Explains His SAG Giggles". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  75. ^ "Ledger in Damage Control". The Age. Melbourne. 12 February 2006. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  76. ^ Walls, Jeannette (10 January 2006). "Ledger lashes out at Utah, West Virginia". Today.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 November 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  77. ^ Joe Morris (16 January 2006). "'Brokeback' Actor Has W. Va. All Wrong". The Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  78. ^ Lyall, Sarah (4 November 2007). "In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down". The New York Times (Arts & Leisure Desk). Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  79. ^ a b Stoynoff, Natasha (28 January 2008). "Show Will Go on for Heath's Last Movie, Says CoStar". People. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  80. ^ "Williams Recalls Ledger As Vulnerable". NewsTrack/Entertainment. United Press International. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  81. ^ "Lawsuit says paparazzi gave Heath Ledger drugs". Reuters. 12 April 2008. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  82. ^ a b "Video Shows Ledger at Hollywood Drug Party". ABC News. 14 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  83. ^ "'Entertainment Tonight' Won't Run Video of Heath Ledger at Drug Party". Fox News. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  84. ^ Leonard, Tom (29 January 2008). "Heath Ledger 'refused help for heroin abuse'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  85. ^ "Mary-Kate Olsen's Connection To Heath Ledger Death Revealed | Access Hollywood". 18 April 2014. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  86. ^ a b c Newman, Andy; Baker, Al (24 January 2008). "Autopsy on Actor Is Inconclusive As Calls for Help Are Revealed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  87. ^ "News: Housekeeper, Masseuse Found Ledger's Body". WNBC. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008. (As updated 25 January 2008.)
  88. ^ "Ledger's Death Caused by Accidental Overdose". CNN. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  89. ^ a b King, Larry (6 February 2008). "Video: Larry King Live: Ledger Death". Larry King Live. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2008. CNN's Larry King talks to guests about the finding that actor Heath Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose.
  90. ^ "FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA warns about serious risks and death when combining opioid pain or cough medicines with benzodiazepines; requires its strongest warning". FDA.gov. 31 August 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  91. ^ Harris, Chris (24 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Last Hours: New Details Emerge". MTV Movie News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  92. ^ "Heath Ledger's Family Returns to Perth". The Sunday Telegraph. Australian Associated Press. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  93. ^ Dowd, Kathy Ehrich (5 February 2008). "Heath Ledger Toxicology Test Results Delayed". People. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  94. ^ "Home deaths from Drug Errors Soar". CNN. Associated Press. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2008. Deaths from medication mistakes at home, such as actor Heath Ledger's accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds. ... The findings, based on nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates, are published in Monday [4 August 2008]'s Archives of Internal Medicine. Of those, more than 224,000 involved fatal medication errors, including overdoses and mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or street drugs. ... Deaths from medication mistakes at home increased from 1,132 deaths in 1983 to 12,426 in 2004. Adjusted for population growth, that amounts to an increase of more than 700 percent during that time.
  95. ^ "Autopsy: The Last Hours of Heath Ledger". Autopsy. Season 5. Episode 2. 5 October 2017. Reelz.
  96. ^ WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (29 February 2008). "Heath Ledger Doctors Cleared". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  97. ^ Egan, Nicole Weisensee (28 February 2008). "Report: Doctors Cleared in Ledger Investigation". People. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  98. ^ "Mary-Kate Olsen Denies Supplying Heath Ledger with Drugs". The Guardian. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  99. ^ "Olsen Seeks Immunity over Ledger". BBC News. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  100. ^ "Lawyer: Mary-Kate Olsen Had 'Nothing to Do' with Heath Ledger's Drugs". People. 4 August 2008. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  101. ^ Nicole Weisensee Egan (6 August 2008). "Source: Feds Officially Close Heath Ledger Investigation". People. Archived from the original on 8 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  102. ^ a b Adler, Shawn (6 August 2008). "Heath Ledger Investigation Reportedly Closed; Mary-Kate Olsen Won't Have to Testify: U.S. Attorney's Office Filed No Charges Before Closing Probe into Actor's Overdose Death". MTV. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  103. ^ "Investigation into Heath Ledger's Death Closed". Fox News. Associated Press. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  104. ^ Heath Ledger (27 March 2008). "Last Will & Testament" (PDF). aolcdn.com (reposted on 12 April 2008). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  105. ^ "Celebrity Justice: Heath's Will – No Joke". tmz.com. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  106. ^ a b "Ledger's Uncles: Michelle Williams May Have to Fight for Matilda's Inheritance". Fox News. 10 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2008. Kim Ledger moved quickly to deny his granddaughter and Michelle Williams would be left without an inheritance and said Matilda was his family's absolute priority. 'Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family ... They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be,' Kim Ledger says in the statement. ... The uncles estimated their nephew's estate would be worth Australian $20 million after his earnings from the latest 'Batman' movie were calculated.
  107. ^ Cowan, Sean (15 March 2008). "Ledger Feud Grows Over 'second' Will". The Age. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 15 March 2008. Some of Heath Ledger's relatives may be planning a legal challenge against his will after it emerged the actor may have written a second will after his daughter was born, leaving most of his multimillion-dollar fortune to her. ... Ledger's second will, which is understood to be unsigned, was reportedly drawn up after Matilda's birth. ... The looming battle over which of Ledger's wills should be used to divide his estate ... has caused waves on this side of the Pacific, with his uncles Mike and Haydn Ledger accusing their brother – and Heath's father – Kim of mismanaging their late grandfather's [A] $2 million estate. ... Kim Ledger hit back this week, issuing a statement claiming his estranged brothers did not know what they were talking about. ... Under the terms of the first will, the division of the estate will be managed by Kim Ledger's former business colleague Robert John Collins and Geraldton accountant William Mark Dyson.
  108. ^ Mitchell, Peter (3 September 2008). "Ledger's Estate Sells His Hollywood Hills Home". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008. [According to Los Angeles County public records], Heath Ledger's estate has sold ... [his] Hollywood Hills home ... for [US]US$2.5 million (A$2.99 million) [in May 2008].
  109. ^ Melissa Castellanos (24 March 2008). "Williams' Dad Questions Ledger's Will: Larry Williams Wants Kim Ledger To Explain Why Estate Is Valued At Only US$145,000". Showbuzz. Archived from the original on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  110. ^ Gemma Jones and Janet Fife-Yeomans (31 March 2008). "Did Heath Ledger Father a Secret Love Child?". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2008. The April will lists only [US]US$145,000 in assets and names the late actor's father, Kim, mother Sally Bell, sister Kate Ledger and half sisters Olivia Ledger and Ashleigh Bell as the only beneficiaries. The New York documents also acknowledge Matilda Rose, as Ledger's only known child, as an interested party.
  111. ^ Maddox, Garry (29 March 2009). "Good Will Hunting". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2008. Beyond the tangled web of Heath Ledger's estate, two final films and his celebrated Brokeback performance ensure the money will keep flowing.
  112. ^ Nick Squires (1 April 2008). "Heath Ledger 'fathered a secret love child'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008. If the claims are proved to be true, Ledger's multi-million pound estate would have to be divided between the child he fathered in his teens and his two-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose, whose mother is Hollywood actress Michelle Williams. ... The actor's parents, Kim and Sally Ledger, have declined to comment on the reports [based on comments by other family members, including his uncle Haydn Ledger].
  113. ^ "Denied: No Love Child for Heath Ledger". okmagazine.com (OK! Magazine, Northern & Shell North America Ltd.). 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 June 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  114. ^ "Heath Ledger's Uncle: Love Child Reports Are 'Absolutely Berserk'". usmagazine.com (Wenner Media LLC). 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  115. ^ a b Fife-Yeomans, Janet (15 July 2008). "Entertainment: Heath Ledger's Daughter Matilda's Estate Claim Decision". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008. [Matilda Rose's] mother, actor Michelle Williams, will have to officially lodge a claim with the court supported by an affidavit which could end up in the public domain, legal experts said.
  116. ^ a b Joyce Eng (29 September 2008). "Heath Ledger's Daughter to Inherit Estate". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  117. ^ a b "Ledger's Daughter to Inherit Late Actor's Estate". AOL Australia Celebrity Channel. Associated Press. 29 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  118. ^ Nichols, Michelle (29 October 2008). "Elvis Ranked Top-earning Dead Celebrity". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008. Forbes.com said it spoke to experts and sources inside the dead celebrities' estates and researched gross earnings, before taxes, management fees and other costs, from the period of October 2007 to October 2008 to come up with the rankings. Based on its estimates, Nichols reports, Forbes.com ranks Ledger as third among the world's highest-earning deceased celebrities for that year, following Elvis Presley (1) and Charles M. Schulz (2).
  119. ^ Boucher, Geoff; Gold, Matea; Lieberman, Paul (23 January 2008). "Ledger's death is a shock to Hollywood, fans". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2009. Minutes after the news of Ledger's death broke, several hundred people gathered outside the Broome Street apartment building where Ledger had been living ... television crews and area residents were joined by fans, including some Brooklyn acting students.
  120. ^ "Stars pay tribute to Heath Ledger". BBC News. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2009. Fans have been leaving flowers and candles outside Ledger's apartment in the SoHo district.
  121. ^ "Heath Ledger Loved Life, Family Tell". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  122. ^ Office of the Prime Minister of Australia (22 January 2008). "Media Release". Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  123. ^ Pendrill, Lisa (25 January 2008). "Heath's Family Writes of Heartache". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  124. ^ Warner Bros. (25 January 2008). "Heath Memorial". Warner Brothers. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  125. ^ "Online Community Pays Tribute to Heath Ledger". 901am.com. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  126. ^ Diluna, Amy; Neumaier, Joe (27 January 2008). "Daniel Day-Lewis Honors Heath Ledger during Screen Actors Guild Awards". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  127. ^ Elsworth, Catherine (28 January 2008). "Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Christie win at Screen Actors Guild Awards". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  128. ^ "Celebrity Big Brother". Celebrity Big Brother 2009. Season 2009. Episode Day 4. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 10 February 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  129. ^ "Michelle Williams: Heath Ledger Has Broken My Heart". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  130. ^ "Michelle Williams Breaks Silence on Heath's Death". People. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  131. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (4 February 2008). "Heath Ledger's Family Heads Home". People. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  132. ^ Rodriguez, Brenda (5 February 2008). "A Sorrowful Return to Australia for Heath Ledger's Family". People. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  133. ^ "Heath Ledger's death record". Metropolitan Cemeteries Board. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  134. ^ Kent, Melissa (9 February 2008). "Tears, Tributes Accompany Heath Ledger to His Final Rest". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  135. ^ "Heath Ledger Farewelled at Perth Funeral". news.com.au. 9 February 2008. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  136. ^ "Reports: Michelle Williams Arrives in Perth for Heath Ledger's Funeral". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  137. ^ "Summary of Record Information: Heath Andrew Ledger". Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, Western Australia. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  138. ^ Cazzulino, Michelle; Corby, Stephen (10 February 2008). "Star Swim at Heath Ledger's Farewell: Ledger Wake Held in Perth". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  139. ^ Caccetta, Wendy; Cox, Nicole (10 February 2008). "Beach Tribute to Heath Ledger". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  140. ^ Cazzulino, Michelle; Corby, Stephen (10 February 2008). "Michelle Williams Swims at Heath Ledger's Wake". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived from the original on 11 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  141. ^ Te Koha, Nui (19 August 2009). "Eskimo Joe write Foreign Land as a tribute to Heath Ledger". News.com.au. Retrieved 15 May 2020.[permanent dead link]
  142. ^ "Act of love for Ledger theatre". Herald Sun. 28 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012.
  143. ^ a b Newman, Jason (18 May 2017). "'I Am Heath Ledger': 10 Things We Learned From Spike TV Doc". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  144. ^ Brayson, Johnny (25 April 2017). "Bon Iver's 'Perth' Was Inspired By Heath Ledger & It Makes The Song So Much More Poignant". Bustle. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  145. ^ a b c Lipsky, David (23 March 2016). "Heath Ledger's Lonesome Trail". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  146. ^ a b c Lyall, Sarah (4 November 2007). "Heath Ledger – I'm Not There -". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  147. ^ a b Nolan, Christopher (26 January 2008). "Charisma as Natural as Gravity". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  148. ^ "Ledger's Death Puts Last Films in a Bind". CNN. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  149. ^ a b Carroll, Larry (18 March 2008). "'Dark Knight' Stars, Director Want Film To 'Celebrate' Heath Ledger's Work". MTV. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  150. ^ WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (28 January 2008). "Gilliam Trying to Save Last Ledger Film". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  151. ^ Brady, Matt (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger Dies". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  152. ^ "AICN exclusive! We Know Who's Paying Tribute To Heath Ledger in Dr. Parnassus Now!". Ain't It Cool News. 15 February 2008. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  153. ^ Adler, Shawn (15 February 2008). "Heath Ledger's Final Film To Go Forward – With Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell in His Role". MTV. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
  154. ^ "Arts Briefly: Three Actors Replace Heath Ledger". The New York Times. 19 February 2008. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  155. ^ "Trio Give Fees to Ledger's Child". BBC News. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  156. ^ Brown, Scott (23 June 2008). "Dark Knight Director Shuns Digital Effects for the Real Thing". Wired. No. 24 June 2008. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  157. ^ "Dark Knight Dedicated to Ledger". BBC News. 27 June 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008. The special tribute reads: 'In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe'.
  158. ^ Gray, Brandon (23 July 2008). "News: 'Dark Knight' Begins Smashingly". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  159. ^ Denby, David. "The Current Cinema: Past Shock: 'The Dark Knight' and 'WALL-E' ". The New Yorker. No. 21 July 2008. pp. 92–93. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2008. When Ledger wields a knife, he is thoroughly terrifying (do not, despite the PG-13 rating, bring the children), and, as you're watching him, you can't help wondering—in a response that admittedly lies outside film criticism—how badly he messed himself up in order to play the role this way. (Postdated)
  160. ^ "Terry Gilliam – The Talks". the-talks.com. 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  161. ^ Herndon, Jessica (10 November 2008). "Britney Spears, Heath Ledger Get People's Choice Nods". People. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  162. ^ Smith, Nina Hämmerling (28 July 2008). "Movie News: Ledger's Knight Costars Call for Posthumous Oscar". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  163. ^ Kreps, Daniel (22 January 2009). "Heath Ledger Remembered on First Anniversary of His Death". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 January 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  164. ^ Johnson, Reed (23 February 2009). "For Heath Ledger, a bittersweet salute". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  165. ^ Pond, Steve (18 February 2009). "If Ledger Wins, Oscar Goes To Daughter". CBS News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  166. ^ Gornstein, Leslie (19 February 2009). "Why Can't Li'l Matilda Have Heath's (Potential) Oscar?". E!. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  167. ^ France, Lisa Respers (5 April 2017). "Heath Ledger as you've never seen him". CNN. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  168. ^ Lee, Ashley (5 April 2017). "Heath Ledger Documentary Trailer Previews Footage Shot by Late Actor". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to Heath Ledger.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heath Ledger.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heath_Ledger&oldid=1235941742"