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Obituary: Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

Obituary by Jack Foley

HEATH Ledger was frequently hailed as one of the most talented young actors to emerge from Australia for some time.

He received an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain and was only pipped to the accolade by Capote star Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And last year, he surprised many in Hollywood by landing the coveted role of The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel, The Dark Knight – early footage of which suggests Ledger has created another classic character.

His death in New York on January 22, 2008, at the age of 28, has come as a shock to everyone who knew or watched him over the years. It is a terrible tragedy.

Born on April 4, 1979, in Perth, Western Australia, Ledger took to acting at an early age, opting to pursue a drama course instead of cooking while still at junior high.

At the age of 17, he moved to Sydney and began looking for work, securing early appearances in films such as Blackrock and Paws as well as the short-lived TV series Sweat.

He also enjoyed a brief stint as a love-struck surfer in long-running TV soap Home & Away, as Scott Irwin.

His Hollywood break came when he was cast alongside Julia Stiles in Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About You, an acclaimed contemporary remake of Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew.

And he followed that up by being cast by Mel Gibson to play his son in historical action epic The Patriot and landing the lead role of Sir William Thatcher in bawdy jousting hit A Knight’s Tale.

At that time, Ledger could have gone one of two ways with his career by opting to cash-in on his good looks and easy charisma, or by trying the more difficult route to establishing himself as a serious actor. He chose the latter path and developed a habit for picking challenging roles.

In Monster’s Ball he played a suicidal son alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry for director Marc Forster, and then won widespread acclaim for his portrayal of the infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.

There was the odd misfire, such as religious thriller The Order and period flop The Four Feathers, but Ledger always seemed to bounce back and once again landed strong reviews for his performance in skateboard drama The Lords of Dogtown.

In 2005, he then landed the role that propelled him onto Hollywood’s A-list and confirmed him as one of Tinseltown’s most talented – that of gay sheep-hand Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee’s Oscar winning adaptation of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain.

It was a performance of simmering intensity that earned Ledger many accolades. It also led to the start of his relationship with co-star Michelle Williams, with whom he had a daughter, and which ended last September.

Ledger was well-known for striving to avoid the celebrity limelight and preferred to concentrate on his work, following up his Brokeback Mountain performance with roles in Casanova and Candy.

Most recently, he starred as Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, and had just finished shooting Batman sequel The Dark Knight for release this summer.

His performance as The Joker has already generated plenty of buzz on the internet and is said to at least equal the portrayal of the same character by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton’s gothic original.

His talent will be sorely missed by an industry now struggling to come to terms with news of his untimely death.