Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger

Born Heathcliff Andrew Ledger
(1979-04-04)4 April 1979
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Died 22 January 2008(2008-01-22) (aged 28)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of death Cardiac arrest brought on by prescription drug intoxication
Occupation Actor, music video director
Years active 1993–2008
Partner(s) Michelle Williams (2004–07)
Children 1

Heathcliff Andrew "Heath" Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and director. After performing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger left for the United States in 1998 to develop his film career. His work comprised nineteen films, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two being posthumous releases.[1] He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.[2]

For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and Best International Actor from the Australian Film Institute, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role[3] and for the Academy Award for Best Actor.[4] Posthumously he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director for the film I'm Not There, which was inspired by the life and songs of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In the film, Ledger portrayed a fictional actor named Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of Dylan's life and persona.[5]

Ledger died on 22 January 2008[4][6] from an accidental intoxication from prescription drugs.[7][8][9] A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. His death occurred during editing of The Dark Knight and in the midst of filming his last role as Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. His untimely death cast a somber shadow over the subsequent promotion of the $185 million Batman production.[10] Ledger received numerous posthumous accolades for his critically acclaimed performance in the film, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards (for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously),[11] the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture,[12] and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.[3]

Early life

Ledger was born on 4 April 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, the son of Sally Ledger (née Ramshaw), a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racecar driver and mining engineer whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry.[13] The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfather.[13] He had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[14][15] Ledger attended Mary's Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill,[16] and later Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production as Peter Pan at age 10.[4][13] His parents separated when he was 10 and divorced when he was 11.[17] 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.[13][18] Ledger's two half-sisters are Ashleigh Bell (b. 1990), his mother's daughter with her second husband and his stepfather Roger Bell, and Olivia Ledger (b. 1996), his father's daughter with second wife and his stepmother Emma Brown.[19]

Career

1990s

After sitting for early graduation exams at age 17, Ledger left school to pursue an acting career.[17] With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since he was three years old, 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 gay cyclist.[13] From 1993 to 1997, Ledger also had parts in the Perth television series Ship to Shore (1993); 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.[13] 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.[13]

2000s

From 2000 to 2005, 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 (2000); and in 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).[20] In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow".[21]

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,[22][23] 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.[24] He also received a nomination for Golden Globe Best Actor in a Drama and a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for this performance,[25][26] making him, at age 26, the ninth-youngest nominee for a Best Actor Oscar. 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."[27] 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."[28]

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.[29] 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."[30] 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.[31]

Ledger posing with Charlotte Gainsbourg at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007.

In his penultimate film performance, Ledger played the Joker in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film The Dark Knight, 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".[32] For his work on The Dark Knight, Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor with his family accepting it on his behalf, as well as numerous other posthumous awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, which Christopher Nolan accepted for him.[33][34] At the time of his death on 22 January 2008, Ledger had completed about half of the work for his final film performance as Tony in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.[35][36] Gilliam chose to adapt the film after his death by having fellow actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell play "fantasy transformations" of his character so that Ledger's final performance could be seen in theatres.

Directorial work

Ledger had aspirations to become a film director and had made some music videos, 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.[31] 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, Masses Music, with singer Ben Harper and also directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".[32][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][46]

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 actress Ellen Page proposed in the lead role.[2][47][48] Ledger's final directorial work, in which he shot two music videos before his death, premiered in 2009.[49] The music videos, completed for Modest Mouse and Grace Woodroofe,[50] include an animated feature for Modest Mouse's song, "King Rat", and the Woodroofe video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand".[51] The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 August 2009.[52]

Personal life

The best villain of the world

Ledger was an avid chess player, winning Western Australia's junior chess championship at the age of 10.[53] As an adult, he often played with other chess enthusiasts at Washington Square Park.[54] Allan Scott's film adaptation of the chess-related 1983 novel The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, which at the time of his death he was planning to both perform in and direct, would have been Ledger's first feature film as a director.[2][47]

Relationships

Ledger had relationships with actresses Lisa Zane, Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. In 2004, he met and began dating actress Michelle Williams on the set of Brokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on 28 October 2005 in New York City.[55] Matilda's godparents are Brokeback co-star Jake Gyllenhaal and Williams' Dawson's Creek castmate Busy Philipps.[56] In January 2006, Ledger put his residence in Bronte, New South Wales up for sale,[57] and returned to the United States, where he shared a house with Williams, in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, from 2005 to 2007.[58] In September 2007, Williams' father confirmed to Sydney's Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had ended their relationship.[59]

After his break-up with Williams, in late 2007 and early 2008, the tabloid press and other public media linked Ledger romantically with supermodels Helena Christensen and Gemma Ward. On 30 January 2011, Ward stated that the pair began dating in November 2007 and their families spent Christmas together in their home town of Perth.[60][61][62][63][64][65]

Press controversies

Ledger's relationship with the press in Australia was sometimes turbulent, and it led to his abandonment of plans for his family to reside part-time in Sydney.[66][67] 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.[66][67] 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."[68][69]

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."[70] 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."[71][72]

Ledger was quoted in January 2006 in Melbourne's Herald Sun as saying that he heard that West Virginia had banned Brokeback Mountain, which it had not; actually, a cinema in Utah had banned the film.[73] He had also referred mistakenly to West Virginia's having had lynchings as recently as the 1980s, but state scholars disputed his statement, observing that, whereas lynchings did occur in Alabama as recently as 1981, according to "the director of state archives and history" quoted in The Charleston Gazette, "The last documented lynching in West Virginia took place in Lewisburg in 1931."[74]

Health issues

In their New York Times interview, published on 4 November 2007, Ledger told Sarah Lyall that his recently completed roles in I'm Not There (2007) and The Dark Knight (2008) had taken a toll on his ability to sleep: "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."[75] 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."[32]

Prior to his return to New York 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 co-star from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 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 says, '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.' "[76]

In talking with Interview magazine, after his death, Ledger's former fiancée Michelle Williams also confirmed reports 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."[77]

Death

At about 2:45 pm (EST), on 22 January 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, in his fourth-floor loft apartment at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan.[4][6]

According to the police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for a 3:00 pm appointment with Ledger, called Ledger's friend Mary-Kate Olsen for help. Olsen, who was in California, directed a New York City private security guard to go to the scene. At 3:26 pm, "less than 15 minutes after she first saw him in bed and only a few moments after the first call to Ms. Olsen", Wolozin telephoned 9-1-1 "to say that Mr. Ledger was not breathing". At the urging of the 9-1-1 operator, Wolozin administered CPR, which was unsuccessful in reviving him.[78]

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians arrived seven minutes later, at 3:33 pm ("at almost exactly the same moment as a private security guard summoned by Ms. Olsen") but were also unable to revive him.[6][78][79] At 3:36 pm, Ledger was pronounced dead, and his body was removed from the apartment.[6][78]

Autopsy and toxicology report

Two weeks later on 6 February 2008, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York released its conclusions, based on an initial autopsy of 23 January 2008 and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis.[7][80][81] The report concludes, in part, "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." It states definitively: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, 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 (doxylamine) symptoms, the vast majority of physicians in the US are extremely reluctant to prescribe multiple benzodiazepines (e.g., diazepam, alprazolam, and temazepam) to a single patient, let alone prescribe the same to a patient already taking a mix of oxycodone and hydrocodone. Although the Associated Press and other media reported that "police estimate Ledger's time of death between 1 pm and 2:45 pm" (on 22 January 2008),[82] the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not be publicly disclosing the official estimated time of death.[83][84] 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][81][85]

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."[86][87]

On 4 August 2008, citing unnamed sources, Murray Weiss, of the New York Post, first reported that Mary-Kate Olsen had "refused [through her attorney, Michael C. Miller] to be interviewed by federal investigators probing the accidental drug death of her close friend Heath Ledger ... [without] ... immunity from prosecution" and that, when asked about the matter, Miller at first declined further comment.[88][89] Later that day, after the police confirmed the gist of Weiss's account to the Associated Press, Miller issued a statement denying that Olsen supplied Ledger with the drugs causing his death and asserting that she did not know their source.[90][91] 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," emphasising that media "descriptions [attributed to an unidentified source] are incomplete and inaccurate."[92]

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.[93][94] 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.[94][95]

Impact on fans

Eleven months after Ledger's death, on 23 December 2008, Jake Coyle, writing for the Associated Press, announced that "Heath Ledger's death was voted 2008's top entertainment story by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by The Associated Press" because it resulted in "shock and confusion" about "the circumstances", the ruling of the death as an accident caused by "a toxic combination of prescription drugs", and the continuation of "his legacy... [i]n a roundly acclaimed performance as the Joker in the year's biggest box office hit The Dark Knight."[96]

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,[97][98] and his daughter's access to his financial legacy, his father, Kim Ledger, said that he considered the financial well-being of his granddaughter Matilda Rose the Ledger family's "absolute priority" and her mother, Michelle Williams, "an integral part of our family", adding "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be".[99] 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.[100][101] 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.[102]

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."[103][104][105] 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.[106][107]

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...."[108] According to this report by Fife-Yeomans, earlier reports citing Ledger's uncles,[99] 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."[108][109][110]

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."[109][110][111] 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."[112]

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 next day, media crews, mourners, fans, and other onlookers began gathering outside his apartment building, with some leaving flowers or other memorial tributes.[113][114]

The next day, at 10:50 am Australian time, 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.[115] Within the next few days, memorial tributes were communicated by family members; the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd; the Deputy Premier of Western Australia, Eric Ripper; Warner Bros. (distributor of The Dark Knight) and thousands of Ledger's fans around the world.[116][117][118][119]

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".[120][121] 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]."[122] British indie band Kasabian paid tribute to Ledger in their song 'Vlad the Impaler', with the line "Joker, meet you on the other side". Singer Tom Meighan often changes the word "Joker" to either "Ledger", or the names of recently deceased celebrities.

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.[123][124]

After attending private memorial ceremonies in Los Angeles, Ledger's family members returned with his body to Perth.[125][126]

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, followed by a private service attended by only 10 closest family members,[127][128][129] with his ashes interred later in a family plot at Karrakatta Cemetery, next to two of his grandparents.[126][130][131] Later that night, his family and friends gathered for a wake on Cottesloe Beach.[132][133][134]

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.[135]

Method and style

"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 (in 2006) on belief, power and acting.[136]

Portraying a variety of roles, from romantic heroes to the reluctantly oppressed, Ledger created a hodgepodge of characters that are deliberately unlike one another. "I feel like I am wasting my time if I repeat myself", the actor explained. 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."[137] Ledger liked to wait between jobs so that he would start creatively hungry on new projects.[138] In his own words, acting was about harnessing "the infinite power of belief,"[136] 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 for the actor's working process, genuine curiosity and charisma[138] Mark Foster, who directed Ledger in Monster's Ball, complemented him as taking the job "very seriously", being disciplined, observant, and 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."[137] 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."[136]

"Some people find their shtick," Ledger reflected on the categorization 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 recognizable'... 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."[137]

Posthumous films and awards

Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008)[10][35] 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.[35][36][139][140] Although Gilliam temporarily suspended production on the latter film,[36] he expressed determination to "salvage" it, perhaps using computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dedicated it to Ledger.[76][141][142] 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".[143][144][145] The three actors donated their fees for the film to Ledger's and Williams's daughter.[146]

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."[140] 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.[147] 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.[148]

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.[149] 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."[150] 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."[10][151] 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."[152]

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.[153]

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.[12][33]

Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine and many of Ledger's colleagues 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.[154] Ledger's subsequent nomination was announced on 22 January 2009, the anniversary of his death;[155] Ledger went on to win the award, becoming the second person to win a posthumous Academy Award for acting, after fellow Australian actor Peter Finch, who won for 1976's Network, and the first comic-book movie to win an Oscar for acting. The award was accepted by Ledger's family.[34]

Filmography

Film and television
Year Title Role Notes
1993–1994 Ship to Shore Cyclist TV series (3 episodes)
1996 Sweat Snowy Bowles TV series (26 episodes)
1997 Blackrock Toby Ackland
1997 Home and Away Scott Irwin TV series (10 episodes)
1997 Roar Conor TV series (13 episodes)
1997 Paws Oberon
1999 10 Things I Hate About You Patrick Verona
1999 Two Hands Jimmy
2000 The Patriot Gabriel Martin
2001 A Knight's Tale William Thatcher
2001 Monster's Ball Sonny Grotowski
2002 The Four Feathers Harry Faversham
2003 Ned Kelly Ned Kelly
2003 The Order Alex Bernier
2005 Lords of Dogtown Skip Engblom
2005 The Brothers Grimm Jacob Grimm
2005 Brokeback Mountain Ennis Del Mar Nominated-Academy Award for Best Actor
2005 Casanova Giacomo Casanova
2006 Candy Dan Carter
2007 I'm Not There Robbie Clark
2008 The Dark Knight The Joker Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (awarded posthumously)
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor
Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
People's Choice Award for Favorite Cast
Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Tony Shepard Released posthumously

Music videos

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Heath Ledger". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  2. 1 2 3 Dawtrey, Adam (23 January 2008). "'Parnassus' Team Faces Dilemma". Variety. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  3. 1 2 "Awards Database". British Academy of Film and Television Awards. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Savage, Michael (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger: The Times Obituary". The Times. UK. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  5. ↑ "Heath Ledger Honored at Independent Spirit Awards". Entertainment Tonight. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Barron, James (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger, Actor, Is Found Dead at 28". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  7. 1 2 3 Chan, Sewell and James Barron (contributing) (6 February 2008). "City Room: Heath Ledger's Death Is Ruled an Accident". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  8. 1 2 "Ledger's Death Caused by Accidental Overdose". CNN. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Heath Ledger Died of Accidental Overdose: 28-Year-Old Actor Had Oxycodone, Anti-Anxiety, Sleep Aids in His System". MSNBC. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  10. 1 2 3 Halbfinger, David M. (9 March 2008). "Batman's Burden: A Director Confronts Darkness and Death". The New York Times. pp. 1, 16. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  11. ↑ "Ledger Honoured at AFI Awards". ABC. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
  12. 1 2 "Golden Globes: Heath Ledger's Family 'So Proud' of Globe Nod". People. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wills, Dominic (2008). "Heath Ledger Biography". Tiscali TV. US. 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.
  14. ↑ "Heath Ledger". Ethnic Celebs. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  15. ↑ '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."
  16. ↑ "Heath Ledger among WA's Finest Sons, Says Eric Ripper". The Sunday Times. Australia. 22 January 2008. 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.
  17. 1 2 Lipsky, David (23 March 2006). "Heath Ledger's Lonesome Trail". Rolling Stone. 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.
  18. ↑ Sessums, Kevin. "We're Having a Heath Wave". Vanity Fair (August 2000). Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  19. ↑ "Heath Ledger Biography". Yahoo! Movies. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
  20. ↑ http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/heath-ledger/credits/153347/
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "'Brokeback Mountain' leads Golden Globe nominations". CNN. 13 December 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  23. ↑ "The San Francisco Film Critics Circle". San Francisco Film. splicedwire.com. 12 December 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  24. ↑ Jen Chaney (15 December 2005). "'Mountain' Man Ledger's Steady Climb to the Top". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  25. ↑ "HFPA – Awards Search". Golden Globes Official Website. goldenglobes.org. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  26. ↑ "Results Page – Academy Awards Database". Awards Database. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  27. ↑ Holden, Stephen (9 December 2005). "Film Review – Brokeback Mountain – Riding the High Country, Finding and Losing Love". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  28. ↑ Travers, Peter (1 December 2005). "Review: Brokeback Mountain". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  29. ↑ "Academy of Motion Picture Arts, Sciences invites 120 new members". USA Today. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  30. ↑ Honie Stevens (18 November 2007). "Squaring the Ledger". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
  31. 1 2 "Todd Haynes Dedicates Robert Altman Award to Heath Ledger". YouTube. 23 February 2008. Archived from the original (video clip) on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  32. 1 2 3 Lyall, Sarah (4 November 2007). "Movies: In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  33. 1 2 Abramowitz, Rachel (12 January 2009). "Accolades flow after Heath Ledger's 'Dark Knight' win". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  34. 1 2 "'Slumdog Millionaire' fulfills its Oscar destiny". MSNBC. Associated Press. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  35. 1 2 3 David M. Halbfinger (25 January 2008). "Actor's Death May Mean Film's End". The New York Times. p. 12. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  36. 1 2 3 Christine Kilpatrick (24 January 2008). "Production Suspended on Heath Ledger's Latest Movie". People. Retrieved 24 January 2008.
  37. ↑ "Rapper N'FA to Release Heath Ledger-Directed Video | SPIN". 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  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. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  40. ↑ "Heath Ledger Teams Up with Ben Harper to Launch New Record Label". Starpulse Entertainment News Blog. starpulse.com. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  41. 1 2 3 Jim Fraenkel and Rodrigo Perez (22 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Video for Nick Drake Song: Eerie Postscript to Actor's Death". MTV. 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. 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. 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. 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. ↑ Drake's song "Black Eyed Dog" is featured as track number five on the soundtrack album for the 1974 film Practical Magic, directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
  47. 1 2 Cazzulino, Michelle (29 March 2008). "Heath Ledger's Gambit to Be a Director". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2008. It was an opportunity tailor-made for Ledger, Scott said. 'The movie is about chess, and what is a little known fact is Heath was very close to being on the grandmaster level. He was a chess whiz, and he intended to get his grandmaster rating before he started shooting the picture.'
  48. ↑ Rob Sharp and Allan Shiach (18 March 2008). "Heath Ledger–A Prophetic Tragedy". The Independent. UK. 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.
  49. ↑ Michaels, Sean (16 March 2009). "Heath Ledger-directed music video to be released". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  50. 1 2 "Ledger music videos to be aired". BBC News. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
  51. ↑ "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.
  52. ↑ "Heath Ledger's Video For Modest Mouse's "King Rat" Premieres". Rolling Stone. 4 August 2009. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  53. ↑ "Heath Ledger obituary: An actor of promise". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2009. At the same time he showed promise in other areas, as a junior go-kart racing champion and, aged only 10, as Western Australia's junior chess champion.
  54. ↑ Tapper, Christina; Stoyoff, Natasha (26 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Passion for Chess". People. Retrieved 3 February 2008. No stranger to the New York Washington Square Park chess world, Heath Ledger found joy by screaming the occasional 'checkmate!'
  55. ↑ 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.
  56. ↑ Balogh, Stefanie (24 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's ex-fiancee Michelle Williams home with baby Matilda". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  57. ↑ "Ledger Hopes for $3m Profit on Beach House". The Age. Melbourne. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  58. ↑ Williams, Alex (30 September 2007). "Brooklyn's Fragile Eco-System". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  59. ↑ Grant, Sarah (4 September 2007). "Michelle Williams' dad confirms split with Heath Ledger". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  60. ↑ Whitworth, Melissa (31 January 2011). "Fashion shoots". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  61. ↑ "Supermodel's Last Call to Heath". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  62. ↑ Stansfield, Robert (24 January 2008). "Helena Christensen Was on Way to See Heath Ledger". Scottish Daily Record. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  63. ↑ Byrnes, Holly; Grant, Sarah; Saurine, Angela (3 January 2008). "Are Gemma Ward and Heath Ledger Dating?". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  64. ↑ Fife-Yeomans, Janet (25 January 2008). "Sorrow of Heath Ledger's Secret Love". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  65. ↑ "Lindsay Lohan after Heath Ledger's death: 'I'm in love with him'". Fox News. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  66. 1 2 WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (12 January 2006). "Ledger Slams Spitting Claims". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  67. 1 2 Hawley, Janet (23 January 2008). "Tale of an untrained homeboy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  68. ↑ AAP (14 January 2006). "Sprayed Heath Flies Out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  69. ↑ Emily Dunn and Richard Jinman (24 January 2008). "How a Triumphant Return Turned Sour". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  70. ↑ 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.
  71. ↑ 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.
  72. ↑ "Ledger in Damage Control". The Age. Melbourne. 12 February 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  73. ↑ Walls, Jeannette (10 January 2006). "Ledger lashes out at Utah, West Virginia". MSNBC. Associated Press. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  74. ↑ 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.
  75. ↑ Lyall, Sarah (4 November 2007). "In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down". The New York Times (Arts & Leisure Desk). Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  76. 1 2 Stoynoff, Natasha (28 January 2008). "Show Will Go on for Heath's Last Movie, Says CoStar". People. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  77. ↑ UPI (16 March 2008). "Williams Recalls Ledger As Vulnerable". NewsTrack/Entertainment. upi.com. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  78. 1 2 3 Andy Newman and Al Baker (24 January 2008). "Autopsy on Actor Is Inconclusive As Calls for Help Are Revealed". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  79. ↑ "News: Housekeeper, Masseuse Found Ledger's Body". WNBC. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008. (As updated 25 January 2008.)
  80. ↑ "Ledger's Death Caused by Accidental Overdose". SHOWBIZ, Movies. CNN. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  81. 1 2 Larry King (6 February 2008). "Video: Larry King Live: Ledger Death" (Video clip). Larry King Live. CNN. Retrieved 5 February 2008. CNN's Larry King talks to guests about the finding that actor Heath Ledger died from an accidental drug overdose.
  82. ↑ Chris Harris (24 January 2008). "Heath Ledger's Last Hours: New Details Emerge". MTV Movie News. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
  83. ↑ AAP (6 February 2008). "Heath Ledger's Family Returns to Perth". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  84. ↑ Dowd, Kathy Ehrich (5 February 2008). "Heath Ledger Toxicology Test Results Delayed". People. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  85. ↑ "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.
  86. ↑ WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (29 February 2008). "Heath Ledger Doctors Cleared". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  87. ↑ Nicole Weisensee Egan (28 February 2008). "Report: Doctors Cleared in Ledger Investigation". People. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
  88. ↑ Murray Weiss (4 August 2008). "Olsen to Heath Feds: Let's Deal: Demands Immunity from Probers". New York Post. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
  89. ↑ "Official: Mark-Kate Olsen silent on Ledger OD". MSNBC. Associated Press. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  90. ↑ Staff and Agencies (5 August 2008). "Mary-Kate Olsen Denies Supplying Heath Ledger with Drugs". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  91. ↑ "Olsen Seeks Immunity over Ledger". BBC News. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  92. ↑ "Lawyer: Mary-Kate Olsen Had 'Nothing to Do' with Heath Ledger's Drugs". People. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
  93. ↑ Nicole Weisensee Egan (6 August 2008). "Source: Feds Officially Close Heath Ledger Investigation". People. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  94. 1 2 Shawn Adler (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. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  95. ↑ "Investigation into Heath Ledger's Death Closed". Fox News. Associated Press. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  96. ↑ Coyle, Jake (23 December 2008). "Ledger's Death Voted Top 2008 Entertainment Story". MSNBC. Retrieved 24 December 2008. The Top 10: 1. Heath Ledger Dies.
  97. ↑ Heath Ledger (27 March 2008). "Last Will & Testament" (PDF). aolcdn.com (reposted on 12 April 2008). Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  98. ↑ TMZ staff (27 March 2008). "Celebrity Justice: Heath's Will – No Joke". tmz.com. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  99. 1 2 "Ledger's Uncles: Michelle Williams May Have to Fight for Matilda's Inheritance". Fox News. 10 March 2008. 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.
  100. ↑ Sean Cowan (15 March 2008). "Ledger Feud Grows Over 'second' Will". The Age. Melbourne. 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.
  101. ↑ Mitchell, Peter (3 September 2008). "Ledger's Estate Sells His Hollywood Hills Home". news.com.au. News Limited. 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].
  102. ↑ 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. Retrieved 30 March 2008.
  103. ↑ Gemma Jones and Janet Fife-Yeomans (31 March 2008). "Did Heath Ledger Father a Secret Love Child?". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 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.
  104. ↑ Garry Maddox (29 March 2009). "Good Will Hunting". The Sydney Morning Herald. 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.
  105. ↑ Nick Squires (1 April 2008). "Heath Ledger 'fathered a secret love child' ". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 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].
  106. ↑ "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.
  107. ↑ "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.
  108. 1 2 Janet Fife-Yeomans (15 July 2008). "Entertainment: Heath Ledger's Daughter Matilda's Estate Claim Decision". news.com.au. News Limited. 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.
  109. 1 2 Joyce Eng (29 September 2008). "Heath Ledger's Daughter to Inherit Estate". TV Guide. OpenGate Capital. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  110. 1 2 "Ledger's Daughter to Inherit Late Actor's Estate". AOL Australia Celebrity Channel. Associated Press. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  111. ↑ Daily Mail Reporter (24 October 2008). "First Photos of Tragic Heath Ledger in His Last Film". The Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
  112. ↑ Michelle Nichols (29 October 2008). "Elvis Ranked Top-earning Dead Celebrity". Thomson Reuters. Reuters.com. 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).
  113. ↑ Boucher, Geoff; Gold, Matea; Lieberman, Paul (23 January 2008). "Ledger's death is a shock to Hollywood, fans". Los Angeles Times. 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.
  114. ↑ "Stars pay tribute to Heath Ledger". BBC News. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 2 April 2009. Fans have been leaving flowers and candles outside Ledger's apartment in the SoHo district.
  115. ↑ "Heath Ledger Loved Life, Family Tell". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  116. ↑ Office of the Prime Minister of Australia (22 January 2008). "Media Release". Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  117. ↑ Pendrill, Lisa (25 January 2008). "Heath's Family Writes of Heartache". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  118. ↑ Warner Bros. (25 January 2008). "Heath Memorial". Warner Brothers. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  119. ↑ "Online Community Pays Tribute to Heath Ledger". 901am.com. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
  120. ↑ Diluna, Amy; Neumaier, Joe (27 January 2008). "Daniel Day-Lewis Honors Heath Ledger during Screen Actors Guild Awards". New York Daily News. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  121. ↑ Elsworth, Catherine (28 January 2008). "Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Christie win at Screen Actors Guild Awards". The Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  122. ↑ "Celebrity Big Brother". Celebrity Big Brother 2009. Season 2009. Episode Day 4. 2009-01-06.
  123. ↑ "Michelle Williams: Heath Ledger Has Broken My Heart". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  124. ↑ "Michelle Williams Breaks Silence on Heath's Death". People. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  125. ↑ Silverman, Stephen M. (4 February 2008). "Heath Ledger's Family Heads Home". People. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  126. 1 2 Rodriguez, Brenda (5 February 2008). "A Sorrowful Return to Australia for Heath Ledger's Family". People. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  127. ↑ Kent, Melissa (9 February 2008). "Tears, Tributes Accompany Heath Ledger to His Final Rest". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
  128. ↑ "Heath Ledger Farewelled at Perth Funeral". news.com.au. 9 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  129. ↑ "Reports: Michelle Williams Arrives in Perth for Heath Ledger's Funeral". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
  130. ↑ Cazzalino, Michelle; Connolly, Ellen (10 February 2008). "Last, Sad Farewell for Heath". The Sunday Telegraph. Australia. p. 5.
  131. ↑ "Summary of Record Information: Heath Andrew Ledger". Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, Western Australia. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  132. ↑ Cazzulino, Michelle; Corby, Stephen (10 February 2008). "Star Swim at Heath Ledger's Farewell: Ledger Wake Held in Perth". news.com.au. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  133. ↑ Caccetta, Wendy; Cox, Nicole (10 February 2008). "Beach Tribute to Heath Ledger". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  134. ↑ Cazzulino, Michelle; Corby, Stephen (10 February 2008). "Michelle Williams Swims at Heath Ledger's Wake". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  135. ↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/arts-books/state-theatre-centre-opens-in-perth-honouring-heath-ledger/story-fn7euh6j-1225996093685
  136. 1 2 3 Lipsky. David. Heath Ledger's Lonesome Trail, ROLLINGSTONE. From Mars 23, 2006. Retrieved on 02 Mars 2016.
  137. 1 2 3 Lyall, Sarah (2007-11-04). "Heath Ledger – I'm Not There -". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  138. 1 2 Nolan. Christopher. CHARISMA AS NATURAL AS GRAVITY. Published Jan. 26. 2008.
  139. ↑ "Ledger's Death Puts Last Films in a Bind". CNN. 24 January 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  140. 1 2 Carroll, Larry (18 March 2008). "'Dark Knight' Stars, Director Want Film To 'Celebrate' Heath Ledger's Work". MTV. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  141. ↑ WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (28 January 2008). "Gilliam Trying to Save Last Ledger Film". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  142. ↑ Brady, Matt (23 January 2008). "Heath Ledger Dies". Newsarama. Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  143. ↑ "Moriarty" (15 February 2008). "AICN exclusive! We Know Who's Paying Tribute To Heath Ledger in Dr. Parnassus Now!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  144. ↑ 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.
  145. ↑ "Arts Briefly: Three Actors Replace Heath Ledger". The New York Times. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  146. ↑ "Trio Give Fees to Ledger's Child". BBC News. 19 August 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  147. ↑ Brown, Scott. "Dark Knight Director Shuns Digital Effects for the Real Thing". Wired (24 June 2008). Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  148. ↑ "Dark Knight Dedicated to Ledger". BBC News. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008. The special tribute reads: 'In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe'.
  149. ↑ Gray, Brandon (23 July 2008). "News: 'Dark Knight' Begins Smashingly". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  150. ↑ Denby, David. "The Current Cinema: Past Shock: 'The Dark Knight' and 'WALL-E'  ". The New Yorker (21 July 2008): 92–93. 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)
  151. ↑ Halbfinger, David (8 March 2008). "Could it be any darker?". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  152. ↑ Terry Gilliam: "Things Happen" – The Talks
  153. ↑ Herndon, Jessica (10 November 2008). "Britney Spears, Heath Ledger Get People's Choice Nods". People. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  154. ↑ Smith, Nina Hämmerling (28 July 2008). "Movie News: Ledger's Knight Costars Call for Posthumous Oscar". TV Guide. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
  155. ↑ 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.
  156. ↑ Heather Adler (10 April 2007). "(Not So) Modest Mouse Speaks". dose.ca. Canwest Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.