Heath Ledger BIO

Heath Ledger (born April 4th, 1979) was an accomplished Hollywood movie actor who got his start working in television and movies in his native Australia.  His life was tragically cut short on January 22nd, 2008 due to an accidental overdose on prescription drugs.  Some of his early credits include the 1993 Australian TV show "Ship to Shore" and the 1997 movies Blackrock and Paws.  It didn't take long for Heath Ledger to break down Hollywood's doors as he starred in a string of movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000) with Mel Gibson, Monster's Ball (2001) with Halle Berry, A Knight's Tale (2001), Ned Kelly (2003) with Orlando Bloom, Cassanova (2005) with Sienna Miller and The Brothers Grimm (2005) with Matt Damon.  Heath Ledger's career would catapult to the coveted A-list arena with his Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominated performance opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005's Brokeback Mountain.  Heath Ledger's final roles were playing The Joker in the Christopher Nolan directed Batman movie The Dark Knight (2008) and a role shared with Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell in the Terry Gilliam directed fantasy The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger in Lords of Dogtown Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger in Lords of Dogtown

Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish in Candy Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish in Candy

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain

Heath Ledger in CandyHeath Ledger in Candy

Heath Ledger in I'm Not There Heath Ledger in I'm Not There

Heath Ledger and Lily Cole in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Heath Ledger and Lily Cole in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger in The Four Feathers Heath Ledger in The Four Feathers

Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Heath Ledger in The Order Heath Ledger in The Order

Heath Ledger in The Patriot Heath Ledger in The Patriot

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain

Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller in Casanova Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller in Casanova

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight