Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia in April 1979. His first movie was the 1997 low budget teen flick, Black Rock. The same year that Black Rock was released, Heath also starred in the American tv series, Roar, a fantasy-historical genre series along the lines of Xena and Hercules, which aired on Fox during the summer of 1977 before being axed after 8 episodes.

In 1999, Heath Ledger appeared in the first movie I saw him in, 10 Things I hate About You, which is a contemporary teen version of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. That same year he was also the lead in the Australian crime flick, Two Hands.

In 2000, Heath co-starred in The Patriot with Mel Gibson, playing Gibson’s son in the movie and this film was probably the first really significant impact Heath would have had on an American movie-going public.

The Patriot was shortly followed by Monster’s Ball, A Knight’s Tale, Ned Kelly, The Order and The Brother’s Grimm. With the exception of Monster’s Ball, none of these films are particularly noteworthy and Ned Kelly and The Order are rather awful, but Ledger made up for it all in 2005 when he appeared as co-lead in the film, Brokeback Mountain, as Ennis Del Mar. Heath won rave reviews all around for his performance as the ranch hand in love with the rodeo rider, Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Heath Ledger won the Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance and was also nominated for an Academy Award.

In the same year as Brokeback Mountain, Heath also starred in the romantic comedy Casanova.

In 2008, Heath co-starred in the Bob Dylan bio flick, I’m Not There, in which Ledger will play one version of the singer (along with a bunch of other A-list actors, including Cate Blanchett) and we are still waiting for the movie and the role everyone will be talking about, the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight, with Heath playing The Joker.

Sadly, Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and sleeping pills in his New York City apartment on January 22, 2008. He was 28 years old at the time of his death.

Heath Ledger has a daughter (Matilda Rose) with his ex-girlfriend and fellow Brokeback actress, Michelle Williams.

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