When a young, hunky 20 year old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of not much depth. He has spent the past five years trying desperately to sway this image away, but this has indeed been a double-edged sword. But that comes much later in his story. Heath Ledger was born on the fourth of April 1979, in Perth, Western Australia. As the story goes, in junior high it was compulsory to do one of two electives, either cooking or drama, and as Heath could honestly not see himself in a cooking class, he tried his hand at drama. Heath was talented, there was no denying that. However, the rest of the class did not acknowledge his talent, possibly out of jealousy. When he was 17, he and a friend, decided to pack up, leave school, take a car and rough it to Sydney. Heath believed Sydney to be the place where dreams are made, or at least, where actors can possibly get their big break. However, upon arriving in Sydney with a purported 69 cents to his name, Heath tried everything to get a break. His first real acting job came in a low budget movie called Blackrock, a largely unimpressive cliche; a teen angst film about one boy's struggle when he learns his best mate raped a girl. He did not have a large part in this movie. In fact, it was a very small one. The only thing of notice in his role is you get to see him get his lights punched out. After that small role, Heath auditioned for a role in a TV show called Sweat about a group of young Olympic hopefuls. He got offered one of two roles, one as a swimmer, another as a gay cyclist. Heath accepted the latter because he felt to really stand out as an actor one had to accept unique roles that stood out from the bunch. It got him small notice, but unfortunately the show was quickly axed, which led him to look for other roles. He was in Home and Away for a very short period, in which he played a surfer who falls in love with one of the girls of Summer Bay. Then came his very brief role in Paws. Paws was a film which existed solely to cash in on guitar prodigy Nathan Cavaleri's brief moment of fame, where he was the hottest thing in Australia. Heath played a student in the film, involved in a stage production of a Shakespeare play, in which he played "Oberon". A very brief role, this did nothing other than give him a small paycheck, but nothing to advance his career. Then came Two Hands. He went to America trying to audition for film roles, showcasing his brief role in Roar. He could not find any American roles but then Australian director Gregor Jordan auditioned him for the lead in Two Hands, which he got. An in your face Aussie crime thriller, Two Hands was outstanding and helped him secure a role in 10 Things I Hate About You. After that, it seemed Heath was being typecast as a teen hunk, which he did not like, so he accepted a role in a very serious war drama The Patriot.

What followed was a stark inconsistency of roles, Heath accepting virtually every single character role, anything to avoid being typecast. Some met with praise, like his short role in Monster's Ball, but his version of Ned Kelly was an absolute flop, which led distributors hesitant to even release it outside Australia. The Order was absolutely terrible, and A Knight's Tale was just light entertainment. Heath has had such a wide variety of roles that he seems unsure what to do with himself next. Despite being a very talented comedic actor, he seems to only want serious roles, which has hindered his career. He is by no means one of the greatest actors out of Australia, but in his brief career to date has suggested he could become one, if only he accepts the right role.


Ned Kelly (2003): $50,000
The Four Feathers (2002): $2,000,000
A Knight's Tale (2001): $3,000,000
10 Things I Hate About You (1999): $100,000

He and his older sister, Kate Ledger, are named after the two main romantic characters of the Emily Brontë novel, "Wuthering Heights". Auditioned for the part of Max on the TV show "Roswell" (1999). However, the show was originally developed for Fox and since he had already starred in "Roar" (1997), which was unsuccessful for Fox, they did not want to hire him. Mother was Sally Ramshaw (daughter of John and Jackie Ramshaw) and father was Kim Ledger (son of Colin and Es Ledger). Stepfather was Roger Bell and stepmother was Emma Brown. His great-grandfather was Sir Frank Ledger, son of Edson Leger. Dated Heather Graham. [October 2000 - June 2001] Was a men's-fashion judge at the Melbourne Cup Carnival in November 2001. Was considered for the role of Kar in Bulletproof Monk (2003) but eventually turned it down. The role later went to Seann William Scott. He and Naomi Watts broke up for the 2nd time in April 2004. Most of his wardrobe was designed by his friend Shem. Starred in 3 films which screened at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. They included Brokeback Mountain (2005), The Brothers Grimm (2005) and the out-of-competition Casanova (2005). Met Michelle Williams on the set of Brokeback Mountain (2005). Jake Gyllenhaal is the godfather of his daughter Matilda Ledger. Invited to join AMPAS in 2006. Set to star in Baz Luhrmann's pre-WWII drama, but backed out to play The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008). When he was cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), rumors circulated that his Brokeback Mountain (2005) cast mate Jake Gyllenhaal would be playing district attorney Harvey Dent. Instead, Jake's sister Maggie Gyllenhaal was cast as assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes. Was one of seven godparents of Elizabeth Hurley's son Damien. Chosen by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world (#79) 2007. Was found dead in his apartment at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighborhood in New York City at 3:26 p.m. EST by his housekeeper and a massage therapist, finding him face down and unconscious in his bed with sleeping pills on a nearby table. [22 January 2008] Was painfully shy. Lived in Roman Way, Islington while filming his last movie ever in London in 2007. Was considered for a role in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). Owned a pet kangaroo that was found by his mother as a child. Was good friends with Ben Harper. The youngest actor to play the Joker in a Batman movie The Dark Knight (2008), as oppose to Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero. On February 9, 2008, a memorial service attended by several hundred invited guests was held at Penhros College in Perth, Western Australia followed by a private wake on Cottesloe Beach with his family and friends. Before appearing with Christian Bale in The Dark Knight (2008), the two of them both played incarnations of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. (2007). This makes Ledger the second Joker actor to share a role with a Batman actor. Previously, Cesar Romero shared the role of lawman John "Doc" Holliday with Adam West and Val Kilmer. Was good friends with Joaquin Phoenix. In an interview shortly before his death, he stated that his favorite role so far in his career had been his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008). Played the character of Scott Irwin in the long-running Australian soap opera "Home and Away" (1988) for 10 episodes in 1997. Scott was a local bad boy who took advantage of Sally Fletcher. It is said that the producers wanted to extend his stay with the show but Heath opted not to. When actress Nell Campbell moved back to her homeland of Australia, she sold her house to Ledger in 2005. He is not only the first and only actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker, but the first and only actor to secure an acting nomination for a Batman film. The day after he died, he was supposed to meet with 'Steven Spielberg' to explore the idea of playing Tom Hayden in a movie about the Chicago 7. Was awarded the 2009 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008). This made him the first person to win a posthumous acting Oscar in this category. Very first performer to win an Oscar for acting in a comic movie-adaptation. The second person to win a posthumous acting Oscar. The first was Peter Finch. Is one of 8 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004/I), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007), Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009).