Heath Ledger

Acting

Heath Ledger

Born 1979-04-04 · Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career further. His work consisted of twenty 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), Candy (2006), I'm Not There (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two being posthumous releases. He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director. For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the Best International Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute; he was the first actor to win the latter award posthumously. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award, 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. 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. Ledger died on 22 January 2008 as a result of an accidental overdose of medications. A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. At the time of his death, The Dark Knight was in post-production, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, in which he was playing his last role as Tony, was in the midst of filming. His death affected the subsequent promotion of The Dark Knight. His performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight earned him universal acclaim and popularity from fans and critics alike. Ledger also received numerous posthumous awards for his work on The Dark Knight, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards, the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Acting credits

The Dark Knight poster
8.5

Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

The Dark Knight

2008

10 Things I Hate About You poster
7.6

On the first day at his new school, Cameron instantly falls for Bianca, the gorgeous girl of his dreams. The only problem is that Bianca is forbidden to date until her ill-tempered, completely un-dateable older sister Kat goes out, too. In an attempt to solve his problem, Cameron singles out the only guy who could possibly be a match for Kat: a mysterious bad boy with a nasty reputation of his own.

10 Things I Hate About You

1999

Brokeback Mountain poster
7.8

In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.

Brokeback Mountain

2005

A Knight's Tale poster
6.9

William Thatcher, a knight's peasant apprentice, gets a chance at glory when the knight dies suddenly mid-tournament. Posing as a knight himself, William won't stop until he's crowned tournament champion—assuming matters of the heart don't get in the way.

A Knight's Tale

2001

The Patriot poster
7.2

After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.

The Patriot

2000

The Brothers Grimm poster
5.9

Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. However, they are put to the test when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.

The Brothers Grimm

2005

I'm Not There poster
6.5

Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.

I'm Not There

2007

Monster's Ball poster
6.8

A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.

Monster's Ball

2001

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus poster
6.4

After a carnival troupe saves his life, a man agrees to help its immortal leader collect five souls and win a bet with the devil.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2009

Lords of Dogtown poster
7.1

The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a bunch of nobodies until they create a new style of skateboarding that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. But when their hobby becomes a business, the success shreds their friendship.

Lords of Dogtown

2005

The Order poster
5.7

For centuries, a secret Order of priests has existed within the Church. A renegade priest, Father Alex Bernier, is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of one of the Order's most revered members. Following a series of strangely similar killings, Bernier launches an investigation that forces him to confront unimaginable evil.

The Order

2003

Casanova poster
6.5

With a reputation for seducing members of the opposite sex, regardless of their marital status, a notorious womanizer discovers a beauty who seems impervious to his charms. However, as he continues to pursue the indifferent lady, he finds himself falling in love.

Casanova

2005

Ned Kelly poster
6.0

After getting threatened by Kelly's friends and family, Constable Fitzpatrick places the blame on Ned Kelly and exaggerates what happened. With the biggest ever award available, Kelly and his gang set into the wild, to remain hidden from everyone who seeks them. Even if it means having his family arrested, the members of the Kelly Gang stay hidden and plan a way to get their names cleared.

Ned Kelly

2003

The Four Feathers poster
6.6

A young British officer resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers as symbols of what they view as his cowardice. To redeem his honor, he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves their lives.

The Four Feathers

2002

Candy poster
7.1

A poet falls in love with an art student, who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle — and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.

Candy

2006

I Am Heath Ledger poster
7.4

The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.

I Am Heath Ledger

2017

Two Hands poster
6.6

19-year-old Jimmy is just scraping by in the red-light district of Sydney. When local crime lord Pando offers him a shot at working for his syndicate, Jimmy jumps at the chance to deliver a costly package. But, when Jimmy gets jacked by a couple of kids, he's indebted to the dangerous gangster for $10,000. Running out of time, he schemes to rob a bank to save himself and a beautiful girl he desires from a gruesome demise.

Two Hands

1999

The Brothers Grimm: Bringing the Fairytale to Life poster
7.1

Behind the scenes of The Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm: Bringing the Fairytale to Life

2005

Joker: Put on a Happy Face poster
8.0

Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why The Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic-book supervillain of all time.

Joker: Put on a Happy Face

2020

Paws poster
4.6

A talking Terrier with impressive computer skills teams up with two youngsters to stop a million dollars from falling into the wrong hands.

Paws

1997

Blackrock poster
5.5

In New South Wales, Jared surfs with his mates and has a first girl. He hosts a beach party for his older pal, Ricko, and witnesses four of his mates gang-rape a 15 year old. He does nothing, and the next day, she's found murdered. At school, the boys and the girls react: the girls with anger at the perpetrators, the boys with jeering at the dead girl's morality. The students' parents have their own responses. Jared retreats into angry silence, disgusted that he did nothing to help the dead girl. Meanwhile, his mother wants to talk to him about her impending cancer surgery, the police want to know what he saw, and his friend Ricko wants an alibi. Jared's cracking under the pressure.

Blackrock

1997

A Knight's Tale: Making Of poster
10.0

A closer look into the filmmaking of Brian Helgeland's "A Knight's Tale".

A Knight's Tale: Making Of

2002

Clowning Around poster
7.4

Follows a boy who realizes there is more to being a clown, than just clowning around.

Clowning Around

1991

Clowning Around poster
7.4

Follows a boy who realizes there is more to being a clown, than just clowning around.

Clowning Around

1991