Heath Ledger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heath Ledger in 2006

Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979 in Perth , Western Australia , † January 22, 2008 in New York City , New York ) was an Australian actor . He was posthumously awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009 for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight .

Life

Heath Ledger was born the second child of Sally Ledger Bell (nee Ramshaw) and Kim Ledger at Subiaco Hospital in Perth. His mother, a French teacher, is from Scotland, and his father, a mining engineer and racing driver, comes from a respected family in the Perth iron casting industry. Heath and his older sister Katherine Kate were named after the two main characters from the novel Storm Heights by British writer Emily Brontë . Ledger first attended Marys Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill and later the Guildford Grammar School, where he became a member of the Drama Club. In 1989 when Heath was ten years old, his parents divorced. His mother married Roger Bell and his father Emma Brown. In 1989 and 1997, his half-sisters Ashleigh Bell and Olivia Ledger were born.

Ledger at the presentation of his film Candy at the Berlinale 2006

At seventeen, Ledger left school and went to Sydney , where he wanted to work as an actor. He made a conscious decision against attending an acting school. Ledger made his first appearance in 1992 in the Australian television series The Dream of the Clown (Clowning Around) . He also played on the television series Leinen los! (Ship to Shore) in 1993 and Sweat - The Road to Victory (1996). Then he moved to Hollywood . After other roles, including one in The Patriot by Roland Emmerich alongside Mel Gibson , Ledger made his breakthrough in 2001 with the lead role in Knights from Passion .

After his first television roles, Ledger established himself as a Hollywood actor in the late 1990s . He celebrated success with audiences and critics with The Patriot , Monster's Ball with Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry and as a homosexual cowboy in the drama Brokeback Mountain , for whose portrayal he was nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for best actor .

Films like 10 Things I Hate About You made Ledger more of a teenage film. The film Sin Eater - The Soul of Evil starring Benno Fürmann was a commercial failure . Ledger then turned down other offers in the teen film genre . His role change was already announced with Monster's Ball and the remake of The Four Feathers . By 2005 at the latest, Heath Ledger was established in the serious role subject with his appearance in Brothers Grimm and Brokeback Mountain .

Another project was the Bob Dylan biography I'm Not There . There Ledger played one of the six roles that embodied the rock musician. In the Batman - filming The Dark Knight Ledger put the Joker is in this film, he simultaneously played his last full role..

The last film Ledger hit theaters was in 2009 The Cabinet of Dr. Parnassus .

Heath Ledger was dating Naomi Watts from 2002 to 2004 . In summer 2004 he met actress Michelle Williams while filming Brokeback Mountain , with whom he lived in Brooklyn from 2005 to 2007. The two have a daughter, Matilda (born October 28, 2005), whose godfather is Jake Gyllenhaal . In September 2007, Williams' father announced the couple's separation. In the months leading up to his death, Heath Ledger was accused of various romances by the press, including the Danish model Helena Christensen , the actress Mary-Kate Olsen and the Australian model Gemma Ward .

Ledger's standard German speaker was Simon Jäger . On three occasions, however, Ledger's German voice was taken over by other voice actors : Ledger was spoken by Philipp Brammer in Die vier Federn and the television series Conor, der Kelte , and in 10 Things I Hate About You by Torsten Sense .

Ledger was a strong advocate for marine conservation. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and was keen to play the role of Paul Watson in a film about the life and work of the captain. He directed the video King Rat . However, he died before he could finish the video and so The Masses , in collaboration with Modest Mouse, finished his work. For the first month after its release, all proceeds from the iTunes sales went to Sea Shepherd.

death

On January 22, 2008, Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 28. The court-ordered autopsy and toxicological examination revealed that the actor died from an intensifying interaction of several painkillers and sedatives he had taken. The police assume an accident. Ledger's funeral took place on February 9, 2008 in Perth close to the family. Actress Cate Blanchett gave the speech at the memorial service.

Posthumous honors

After the film The Dark Knight was released in the summer of 2008, Ledger posthumously won numerous awards for his portrayal of The Joker, including the Golden Globe Award and the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actor . On January 22, 2009, a year after his death, the nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor was announced for his performance in the role of The Joker; the award was accepted by his family at the 81st Academy Awards on February 22, 2009. Heath Ledger is thus the second actor after Peter Finch to be awarded the Oscar posthumously and the first who could no longer watch the corresponding film (Peter Finch died almost two months after the premiere, Heath Ledger almost six months before the premiere) . In addition, he was subsequently awarded the prize for Best Villain in connection with The Dark Knight at the MTV Movie Awards 2009 in May 2009 . Ledger said: "Playing the joker was like eating raw meat". In 2009 Ledger received the PETA Award for his work against whaling.

Filmography

Heath Ledger and Charlotte Gainsbourg at the 2007 Venice Film Festival

Awards and nominations

Nominations

Awards

  • 2001: Blockbuster Entertainment Awards - "Favorite Male - Newcomer" ( The Patriot )
  • 2005: New York Film Critics Circle - for its performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2005: Phoenix - for his portrayal in Brokeback Mountain
  • 2005: San Francisco Film Critics Circle - for its performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2006: MTV Award - "Best Kiss" together with Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain)
  • 2006: Australian Film Institute Awards - for Candy - Journey of the Angels
  • 2006: Santa Barbara International Film Festival "Breakthrough Performance of the Year" - for its performance at Brokeback Mountain
  • 2006: Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award "Best Actor" - for his performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2006: Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor of the Year - for his performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2006: Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award "Best Actor" - for his performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2006: St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor - for his performance on Brokeback Mountain
  • 2007: Bronze Bravo Otto - Category "Actor" ( Casanova )
  • 2008: AFI Award - "Best Actor" (posthumously for The Dark Knight )
  • 2008: Spike Scream Awards - "Best Fantasy Actor" (posthumously for The Dark Knight)
  • 2008: Spike Scream Awards - "Best Villain" as Joker (posthumously for The Dark Knight)
  • 2008: Spike Scream Awards - “Bester Spruch” as a joker for the sentence “I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you stranger” (posthumously for The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Boston Critic Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Los Angeles Critics Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: San Francisco Critic Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Washington DC Area Film Critics Association - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Screen Actors Guild Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: People's Choice Awards - "Best Onscreen Match-Up: Christian Bale & Heath Ledger" (The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Golden Globe - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Critic's Choice Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Jupiter - "Best International Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: British Academy Film Award - "Best Supporting Actor" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: Oscar - " Best Supporting Actor " (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)
  • 2009: MTV Movie Awards - "Best Villain" (posthumously for the role as Joker in The Dark Knight)

Others

  • He was considered one of the most hopeful talents in Australian field hockey and was voted into the U17 All-Star Team while he was in high school.

literature

Web links

Commons : Heath Ledger  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Zander: Heath Ledger died a lonely death . In: The world . January 23, 2008.
  2. ^ Brian J. Robb: Heath Ledger - Hollywood's Dark Star . ISBN 0-85965-427-3 , pp. 28f.
  3. ↑ Stern: I feel ready for death [1] , accessed March 5, 2011
  4. ↑ tz.de : Jake Gyllenhaal celebrates his 30th birthday , accessed on March 20, 2014
  5. ↑ The Daily Telegraph: [2] , accessed March 5, 2011
  6. ↑ Daily Record: [3]
  7. ↑ Frank Siering: Mary-Kate Olsen breaks her silence . In: Stern . August 6, 2008.
  8. ↑ Modest Mouse “King Rat” Directed by Heath Ledger | We are the masses. September 15, 2010, accessed June 1, 2020 .
  9. ^ A b Heath Ledger and Isaac Brock Receive PETA Award. August 6, 2009, Retrieved June 1, 2020 (American English).
  10. ↑ Spiegel: Hollywood star Heath Ledger found lifeless in bed , January 22, 2008.
  11. ↑ Cause of death: Heath Ledger died of a drug overdose . In: Stern.de . February 6, 2008.
  12. ^ New York Times : Heath Ledger's Death is Ruled an Accident , February 6, 2008
  13. ↑ orf.at ( Memento from July 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  14. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/news/ni0252488
  15. ↑ Heath Ledger posthumously receives MTV Movie Award . In: tt.com , June 1, 2009
  16. ↑ Ledger on his role ( Memento from March 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), In: TV14.de
  17. ↑ From field hockey to actor . In: happylifestylejournal.com . (English)
personal data
SURNAME Ledger, Heath
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ledger, Heath Andrew
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 4th 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Perth , Western Australia, Australia
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 2008
Place of death New York City , New York, United States