Ledger was born on 4 April 1979 inPerth, Western Australia, to Sally Ramshaw, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver and mining engineer whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry.[12] The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfatherFrank Ledger.[12] He had English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.[13] Ledger attended Mary's Mount Primary School inGooseberry Hill,[14] and laterGuildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production asPeter Pan at age ten.[4][12] His parents separated when he was ten and divorced when he was eleven.[15] Ledger's older sister Kate, an actress and later a publicist, with whom he was very close, inspired his acting on stage; and his love ofGene Kelly inspired his successful choreography, leading to Guildford Grammar's 60-member team's "first all-boy victory" at theRock Eisteddfod Challenge.[12][16] Ledger's two half-sisters are Ashleigh Bell (born 1990), his mother's daughter with her second husband Roger Bell; and Olivia Ledger (born 1996), his father's daughter with his second wife Emma Brown.[17]
Career
1990s
After sitting for early graduation exams at age 16 to get his diploma, Ledger left school to pursue an acting career.[15] With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since the age of three, Ledger drove across Australia from Perth to Sydney, returning to Perth to take a small role inClowning Around (1991), the first part of a two-part television series, and to work on the TV seriesSweat (1996), in which he played a cyclist.[12] From 1993 to 1997, Ledger also had parts in the Perth television seriesShip to Shore (1993); Ledger also had parts in the short-livedFox Broadcasting Company fantasy-dramaRoar (1997); inHome and Away (1997), one of Australia's most successful television shows; and in the Australian filmBlackrock (1997), his feature film debut.[12] In 1999, he starred in the teen comedy10 Things I Hate About You and in the acclaimed Australian crime filmTwo Hands, directed byGregor Jordan.[12]
AfterBrokeback Mountain, Ledger costarred with fellow AustralianAbbie Cornish in the 2006 Australian filmCandy, an adaptation of the 1998 novelCandy: A Novel of Love and Addiction, as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played byGeoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of theFilm Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release ofCandy, Ledger was invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[27] As one of six actors embodying different aspects of the life ofBob Dylan in the 2007 filmI'm Not There, directed byTodd Haynes, Ledger "won praise for his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Dylan, but says accolades are never his motivation".[28] Posthumously, on 23 February 2008, he shared the2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the film's ensemble cast, its director, and its casting director.[29]
Ledger (far right) posing with the cast and the director ofI'm Not There at the 64thVenice Film Festival in September 2007, just four months before his death
Ledger had aspirations to become a film director and had made some music videos with his production companyThe Masses, which directorTodd Haynes praised highly in his tribute to Ledger upon accepting theISP Robert Altman Award, which Ledger posthumously shared, on 23 February 2008.[29][36] In 2006, Ledger directed music videos for the title track on Australianhip hop artistN'fa's CD debut solo albumCause An Effect[37] and for the single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)".[38][39] Later that year, Ledger inaugurated a new record label,The Masses Music, with singerBen Harper and also directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".[30][40]
At a news conference at the 2007Venice Film Festival, Ledger spoke of his desire to make a documentary film about the British singer-songwriterNick Drake, who died in 1974, at the age of 26, from an overdose of anantidepressant.[41] Ledger created and acted in a music video set to Drake's recording of the singer's 1974 song about depression, "Black Eyed Dog" — a title "inspired byWinston Churchill's descriptive term for depression" (black dog);[42] it was shown publicly only twice, first at the Bumbershoot Festival, in Seattle, held from 1 to 3 September 2007; and secondly as part of "A Place To Be: A Celebration of Nick Drake", with its screening ofTheir Place: Reflections On Nick Drake, "a series of short filmed homages to Nick Drake" (including Ledger's), sponsored byAmerican Cinematheque, at theGrauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, on 5 October 2007.[43] After Ledger's death, his music video for "Black Eyed Dog" was shown on the Internet and excerpted in news clips distributed via YouTube.[41][44][45][a]
He was working with Scottish screenwriter and producerAllan Scott on an adaptation of the 1983 novelThe Queen's Gambit byWalter Tevis, which would have been his first feature film as a director. He also intended to act in the film, with Canadian actorElliot Page proposed in the lead role.[2][46][47] Ledger's final directorial work, in which he shot two music videos before his death, premiered in 2009.[48] The music videos, completed forModest Mouse andGrace Woodroofe,[49] include an animated feature for Modest Mouse's song "King Rat", and the Woodroofe video for her cover ofDavid Bowie's "Quicksand".[50] The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 August 2009.[51]
Press controversies
Ledger's relationship with the Australian press was sometimes turbulent, and it led to his abandonment of plans for his family to reside part-time in Sydney.[52][53] In 2004, he strongly denied press reports alleging that "he spat at journalists on the Sydney set of the filmCandy", or that one of his relatives had done so later, outside Ledger's Sydney home.[52][53] On 13 January 2006, "Several members of thepaparazzi retaliated ... squirting Ledger and Williams with water pistols on thered carpet at the Sydney premiere ofBrokeback Mountain".[54][55]
After his performance on stage at the2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards, when he had giggled in presentingBrokeback Mountain as a nominee forOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, theLos Angeles Times referred to his presentation as an "apparent gay spoof".[56] Ledger called theTimes later and explained that his levity resulted fromstage fright, saying that he had been told that he would be presenting the award only minutes earlier; he stated: "I am so sorry and I apologise for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers."[57][58]
After learning that two cinemas in Utah refused to showBrokeback Mountain, Ledger said: "I don't think the movie is [controversial] but I think maybe theMormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society".[59] In the same interview with theHerald Sun newspaper, Ledger mistakenly claimed thatlynchings had occurred in West Virginia as recently as the 1980s; state scholars disputed his statement, asserting that no documented lynchings had occurred in West Virginia since 1931.[60]
In 2004, Ledger began a relationship with actressMichelle Williams after meeting her on the set ofBrokeback Mountain. Their daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger,[67] was born on 28 October 2005 in New York City.[68] Matilda's godparents areBrokeback Mountain co-starJake Gyllenhaal and Williams'sDawson's Creek co-starBusy Philipps.[69] In January 2006, Ledger listed his residence inBronte, Sydney, for sale[70] and returned to the US, where he shared a house with Williams inBoerum Hill, Brooklyn from 2005 to 2007.[71] In September 2007, Williams's father confirmed toThe Daily Telegraph that Ledger and Williams had broken up.[72]
After Ledger's breakup with Williams, the press linked him romantically with supermodelHelena Christensen, actressKate Hudson,[73] and modelGemma Ward.[74] Ward later stated that she had begun dating Ledger in November 2007 and that they and their families had spent that year's Christmas together in their hometown of Perth.[75]
Health problems and drug use
In an interview withSarah Lyall, published inThe New York Times on 4 November 2007, Ledger stated that he often could not sleep when taking on roles, and that the role of the Joker inThe Dark Knight (2008) was causing his usual insomnia: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."[76] At that time, he told Lyall that he had taken twoAmbien pills, after taking just one had not sufficed, and those left him in "a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing".[30]
Prior to his return to New York City from his last film assignment in London, in January 2008, while he was apparently suffering from some kind ofrespiratory illness, he reportedly complained to hisThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus co-starChristopher Plummer that he was continuing to have difficulty sleeping and taking pills to help with that problem: "Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadn't been feeling well on set, Plummer said: 'we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with theantibiotics.... I think what he did have was thewalking pneumonia.' [...] On top of that, 'He was saying all the time, 'dammit, I can't sleep'... and he was taking all these pills to help him'".[77]
Speaking toInterview magazine after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams confirmed reports that the actor had experienced trouble sleeping: "For as long as I'd known him, he had bouts with insomnia. He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning, turning – always turning".[78]
Ledger was "widely reported to have struggled with substance abuse".[79] Following Ledger's death,Entertainment Tonight aired video footage from 2006 in which Ledger stated that he "used to smoke fivejoints a day for 20 years"[80][81] and news outlets reported that his drug abuse had prompted Williams to request that he move out of their apartment in Brooklyn.[82] Ledger's publicist asserted that reports of Ledger's alleged drug use had been inaccurate.[80]
According to police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for a 3 p.m. appointment with Ledger, telephoned his friendMary-Kate Olsen for help. Olsen, who was in Los Angeles at the time, directed her New York City private security guard to go to the scene. At 3:26 p.m., "less than 15 minutes after she first saw him in bed and only a few moments after the first call to Ms. Olsen", Wolozin dialed 911 "to say that Mr. Ledger was not breathing". At the urging of the 911 operator, Wolozin administeredCPR, which was unsuccessful in reviving him.[84]
Paramedics and emergency medical technicians arrived seven minutes later, at 3:33 p.m. but were also unable to revive him.[6][84][85] At 3:36 p.m., Ledger was pronounced dead, and his body was removed from the apartment.[6][84] He was 28 years old.
Although theAssociated Press and other outlets reported that police estimated Ledger's death occurred between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on 22 January 2008,[88] the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not publicly disclose the official estimated time of death.[89][90] The official announcement of the cause and manner of Ledger's death heightened concerns about the growing problems ofprescription drug abuse or misuse andcombined drug intoxication (CDI).[8][87][91]
In 2017, Jason Payne-James, a forensic pathologist, asserted that Ledger might have survived if hydrocodone and oxycodone had been left out of the combination of drugs that the actor took just prior to his death. He furthermore stated that the mixture of drugs, combined with a possible chest infection, caused Ledger to stop breathing.[92]
Federal investigation
Late in February 2008, aDEA investigation of medical professionals relating to Ledger's death exonerated two American physicians, who practice in Los Angeles andHouston, of any wrongdoing, determining that "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger other medications – not the pills that killed him."[93][94]
On 4 August 2008, Mary-Kate Olsen's attorney Michael Miller issued a statement denying that Olsen supplied Ledger with the drugs causing his death and asserting that she did not know their source.[95][96] In his statement, Miller said specifically, "Despite tabloid speculation, Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs found in Heath Ledger's home or his body, and she does not know where he obtained them."[97]
After a flurry of further media speculation, on 6 August 2008, theUS Attorney's Office in Manhattan closed its investigation into Ledger's death without filing any charges and renderingmoot itssubpoena of Olsen.[98][99] With the clearing of the two doctors and Olsen, and the closing of the investigation because the prosecutors in the Manhattan US Attorney's Office "don't believe there's a viable target," it is still not known how Ledger obtained the oxycodone and hydrocodone in thelethal drug combination that killed him.[99][100]
Estate
Ledger'swill was filed in New York City on 28 February 2008.[101][102] His father, Kim Ledger, said that he considered the financial well-being of Heath's daughter Matilda Rose an "absolute priority," whilst also stating that her mother, Michelle Williams, was "an integral part of our family". He added, "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be".[103] Ledger's will was signed in 2003, prior to his involvement with Williams and the birth of their daughter; the will divided half of hisestate between his parents and half between his siblings.[104][105]
A 31 March 2008 report asserted that Ledger may have fathered another child.[106][107][108] The mother and stepfather of the child in question dismissed the claim.[109][110]
On 27 September 2008, Kim Ledger stated that the family had agreed to leave Ledger's US$16.3 million estate to Matilda Rose Ledger.[111][112]
Legacy
Memorial tributes and services
Memorial for Ledger, outside 421 Broome Street,SoHo, Manhattan, 23 January 2008
As the news of Ledger's death became public, throughout the night of 22 January 2008, and the following day, media crews, mourners, fans, and other onlookers began gathering outside his apartment building, with some leaving flowers or other memorial tributes.[113][114]
Several actors made statements expressing their sorrow at Ledger's death, includingDaniel Day-Lewis, who dedicated hisScreen Actors Guild Award to him, saying that he was inspired by Ledger's acting; Day-Lewis praised Ledger's performances inMonster's Ball andBrokeback Mountain, describing the latter as "unique, perfect".[120][121]Verne Troyer, who was working with Ledger onThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the time of his death, had a heart shape, an exact duplicate of a symbol that Ledger scrawled on a piece of paper with his email address, tattooed on his hand in remembrance of Ledger because Ledger "had made such an impression on [him]".[122] On 1 February, in her first public statement after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams expressed her heartbreak and described Ledger's spirit as surviving in their daughter.[123][124]
After attending private memorial ceremonies in Los Angeles, Ledger's family members returned with his body toPerth.[125][126] On 9 February, a memorial service attended by several hundred invited guests was held atPenrhos College, attracting considerablepress attention; afterward Ledger's body was cremated atFremantle Cemetery,[127] followed by a private service attended by only 10 of his closest family members,[128][129][130] The ashes were taken from Fremantle for interment at an unspecified location.[131] Later that night, his family and friends gathered for awake onCottesloe Beach.[132][133][134]
TheEskimo Joe song "Foreign Land" was written as a tribute to Ledger.[135] The band were in New York at the time of his death.
Bon Iver's "Perth" was inspired by Heath Ledger.[137]Justin Vernon, the lead singer and songwriter of the American indie folk band, revealed in 2011 that he had begun working on the song in 2008 and was scheduled to meet with a music video director who was good friends with Ledger, Matt Amato. "The first thing I worked on, the riff and the beginning melodies, was the first song on the record, 'Perth,'" Vernon toldExclaim!.[138] Amato was directing the band's "The Wolves (Act I & II)" music video the day that Ledger died. "It was no longer about just making a Bon Iver music video anymore," Vernon says. "This was now our chance to be there with Matt as he grieved. It was a three-day wake." Amato told Vernon stories about Ledger that eventually became the inspiration for "Perth," the opening track to the band's second studio albumBon Iver, Bon Iver (2011).[137]
"You know when you see the preachers down South? And they grab a believer and they go, 'Bwoom! I touch you with the hand of God!' And they believe so strongly, they're on the ground shaking and spitting. And fuck's sake, that's the power of belief... Now, I don't believe in Jesus, but I believe in my performance. And if you can understand that the power of belief is one of the great tools of our time and that a lot of acting comes from it, you can do anything."
—Ledger, during the interview withRolling Stone in 2006, on belief, power and acting[139]
Portraying a variety of roles, fromromantic heroes totragic characters, Ledger created a hodgepodge of characters that are deliberately unlike one another, stating: "I feel like I am wasting my time if I repeat myself". He also reflected on his inability to be happy with his work, "I feel the same thing about everything I do. The day I say, 'It's good' is the day I should start doing something else."[140] Ledger liked to wait between jobs so that he would start creatively hungry on new projects.[141] In his own words, acting was about harnessing "the infinite power of belief,"[139] thus using belief as a tool for creating.
Directors who have worked with the actor praised him for his creativity, seriousness, and intuition. "I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents,"The Dark Knight directorChristopher Nolan has written, expressing amazement over the actor's working process, genuine curiosity and charisma.[141]Marc Forster, who directed Ledger inMonster's Ball, complimented him as taking the job "very seriously", being disciplined, observant, understanding, and intuitive. In 2007, director Todd Haynes compared Ledger's presence to actorJames Dean, casting Ledger as Robbie Clarke, a fictive personification ofBob Dylan inI'm Not There. Drawing on the similar characteristics between the actors, Haynes further highlighted Ledger's "precocious seriousness" and intuition. He also felt that Ledger had a rare maturity beyond his years."[140] Ledger, however, disconnected himself and acting from perfectionism. "I'm always gonna pull myself apart and dissect [the work]. I mean, there's no such thing as perfection in what [actors] do.Pornos are more perfect than we are, because they're actually fucking."[139]
"Some people find their shtick," Ledger reflected on the categorisation of style. "I never figured out who 'Heath Ledger' is on film: 'This is what you expect when you hire me, and it will be recognisable'... People always feel compelled to sum you up, to presume that they have you and can describe you. That's fine. But there are so many stories inside of me and a lot I want to achieve outside of one flat note."[140]
Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign forChristopher Nolan'sThe Dark Knight (2008)[11][33] and also both the production and marketing ofTerry Gilliam's filmThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, with both directors intending to celebrate and pay tribute to his work in these films.[33][34][142][143] Although Gilliam temporarily suspended production on the latter film,[34] he expressed determination to "salvage" it, perhaps usingcomputer-generated imagery (CGI), and dedicated it to Ledger.[77][144][145] In February 2008, as a "memorial tribute to the man many have called one of the best actors of his generation,"Johnny Depp,Jude Law, andColin Farrell signed on to take over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of his character, Tony, transformed in this "magical re-telling of theFaust story".[146][147][148] The three actors donated their fees for the film to Ledger's and Williams's daughter.[149]
Speaking of editingThe Dark Knight, on which Ledger had completed his work in October 2007, Nolan recalled, "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day. ... But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish."[143] All of Ledger's scenes appear as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no "digital effects" to alter Ledger's actual performance posthumously.[150] Nolan dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory, as well as to the memory of technician Conway Wickliffe, who was killed during a car accident while preparing one of the film's stunts.[151]
Released in July 2008,The Dark Knight broke several box office records and received both popular and critical accolades, especially with regard to Ledger's performance as the Joker.[152] Even film criticDavid Denby, who does not praise the film overall in his pre-release review inThe New Yorker, evaluates Ledger's work highly, describing his performance as both "sinister and frightening" and Ledger as "mesmerising in every scene", concluding: "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."[153] Attempting to dispel widespread speculations that Ledger's performance as the Joker had in any way led to his death (as Denby and others suggest), Ledger's co-star and friendChristian Bale, who played opposite him asBatman, has stressed that, as an actor, Ledger greatly enjoyed meeting the challenges of creating that role, an experience that Ledger himself described as "the most fun I've ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character".[11] Terry Gilliam also refuted the claims that playing the Joker made him crazy, calling it "absolute nonsense" and going on to say, "Heath was so solid. His feet were on the ground and he was the least neurotic person I've ever met."[154]
Ledger received numerous awards for his Joker role inThe Dark Knight. On 10 November 2008, he was nominated for twoPeople's Choice Awards related to his work on the film, "Best Ensemble Cast" and "Best Onscreen Match-Up" (shared with Christian Bale), and Ledger won an award for "Match-Up" in the ceremony aired live on CBS in January 2009.[155]
Film critics, co-starsMaggie Gyllenhaal andMichael Caine and many of Ledger's peers in the film community joined Bale in calling for and predicting a nomination for the 2008Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's achievement inThe Dark Knight.[156] Ledger's subsequent nomination was announced on 22 January 2009, the anniversary of his death.[157]
Ledger went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second person to win a posthumous Academy Award for acting (after fellow Australian actorPeter Finch, who won for 1976'sNetwork), as well as the first comic-book movie actor to win an Oscar for their acting. Ledger's family attended theceremony on 22 February 2009, with his parents and sister accepting the award onstage on his behalf.[158][32] Following talks with the Ledger family in Australia, the academy determined that Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose, would own the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she would not gain full ownership of the statuette until her eighteenth birthday in 2023.[159] Her mother, Michelle Williams, would hold the statuette in trust for Matilda until that time.[160]
On 4 April 2017, a trailer was released for the documentaryI Am Heath Ledger, which was released on 3 May 2017.[161] It features archival footage of Ledger and interviews.[162]
^abcdefgWills, Dominic (2008)."Heath Ledger Biography". US: Tiscali TV. Archived fromthe original on 16 April 2008. Retrieved22 April 2008.The Ledger name was well-known in Perth, the family having run a foundry that provided much of the raw material for the famous Perth to Kalgoorlie Pipeline ... The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust, named after Heath's great-grandfather, was renowned for granting funds to the area's universities, paying for visiting lecturers and scholarships for gifted students.
^'Heath: A Family's Tale' by Janet Fife-Yeomans (2009), p.32: "Ledger was a descendant of the Ledger family of Leeds, Yorkshire who arrived in Western Australia from England in 1880."
^abLipsky, David (23 March 2006)."Heath Ledger's Lonesome Trail".Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved21 April 2008.His dad wanted him to race cars. Hollywood wanted him to play Spider-Man. Now he's a huge star, and he's not happy about it.
^Honie Stevens (18 November 2007)."Squaring the Ledger".The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Archived fromthe original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved24 July 2008.
^"Egyptian Theatre Programming"(PDF).American Cinematheque Film Calendar. americacinematheque.com. 5 October 2007. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 February 2009. Retrieved18 March 2008.This very special evening celebrating [Drake's] life and music includes films, guests and a unique art and photographic exhibit. It includes the World Theatrical Premiere of 'Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake', 2007, Bryter Music, 30 min. Various Directors – a series of short filmed homages to Nick Drake – created by admirers including Heath Ledger,Jonas Mekas andTim Pope. (NOT ON DVD!) ...
^Daniel Kreps (29 February 2008)."Footage from Heath Ledger's Nick Drake Video Surfaces".Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on 4 March 2008. Retrieved18 March 2008.The video, for Drake's posthumously released song 'Black Eyed Dog,' was filmed by the actor in late 2007 and included in a multimedia instalment about Drake called 'A Place to Be.' The project was only screened publicly twice before the actor's death, and the Ledger family said the 'Black Eyed Dog' video would not be released.
^"A Place To Be: Reflections Of Nick Drake".A Place To Be. Archived fromthe original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved18 March 2008.A Place To Be: a collection, a celebration, in film, photography, painting, drawing and prose, of the impact the music ofNick Drake has had on other artists ("Introductory film" includes excerpts of the music video,Black Eyed Dog, by Heath Ledger, among others.)
^Rob Sharp andAllan Shiach (18 March 2008)."Heath Ledger–A Prophetic Tragedy".The Independent. UK.Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved20 March 2008.Until last month [January 2008] he [Allan Schiach, akaAllan Scott,] was working with the late Heath Ledger on a film adaptation of Walter Tevis's 1983 novel The Queen's Gambit, about achess prodigy's chequered history.
^abWENN (World Entertainment News Network) (12 January 2006)."Ledger Slams Spitting Claims".San Francisco Chronicle. Archived fromthe original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved23 January 2008.
^"Sprayed Heath Flies Out".The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 14 January 2006.Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved5 February 2008.
^Emily Dunn and Richard Jinman (24 January 2008)."How a Triumphant Return Turned Sour".The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1.Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved5 February 2008.
^Tapper, Christina; Stoyoff, Natasha (26 January 2008)."Heath Ledger's Passion for Chess".People. Archived fromthe original on 4 February 2009. Retrieved3 February 2008.No stranger to the New York Washington Square Park chess world, Heath Ledger found joy by screaming the occasional 'checkmate!'
^King, Kiki; Simpson, Eva; Hedley, Caroline (3 March 2006)."The Heath Is On".Daily Mirror. UK. p. 16. Archived fromthe original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved7 February 2008.
^"Home deaths from Drug Errors Soar". CNN.Associated Press. 28 July 2008. Archived fromthe original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved4 August 2008.Deaths from medication mistakes at home, such as actor Heath Ledger's accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds. ... The findings, based on nearly 50 million U.S. death certificates, are published in Monday [4 August 2008]'s Archives of Internal Medicine. Of those, more than 224,000 involved fatal medication errors, including overdoses and mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or street drugs. ... Deaths from medication mistakes at home increased from 1,132 deaths in 1983 to 12,426 in 2004. Adjusted for population growth, that amounts to an increase of more than 700 percent during that time.
^"Autopsy: The Last Hours of Heath Ledger".Autopsy. Season 5. Episode 2. 5 October 2017.Reelz.
^WENN (World Entertainment News Network) (29 February 2008)."Heath Ledger Doctors Cleared".Hollywood.com.Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved5 March 2008.
^Heath Ledger (27 March 2008)."Last Will & Testament"(PDF).aolcdn.com (reposted on 12 April 2008). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 27 May 2008. Retrieved23 April 2008.
^"Ledger's Uncles: Michelle Williams May Have to Fight for Matilda's Inheritance". Fox News. 10 March 2008.Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved23 April 2008.Kim Ledger moved quickly to deny his granddaughter and Michelle Williams would be left without an inheritance and said Matilda was his family's absolute priority. 'Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family ... They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be,' Kim Ledger says in the statement. ... The uncles estimated their nephew's estate would be worthAustralian $20 million after his earnings from the latest 'Batman' movie were calculated.
^Gemma Jones and Janet Fife-Yeomans (31 March 2008)."Did Heath Ledger Father a Secret Love Child?".The Daily Telegraph. Archived fromthe original on 2 April 2008. Retrieved25 July 2008.The April will lists only [US]US$145,000 in assets and names the late actor's father, Kim, mother Sally Bell, sister Kate Ledger and half sisters Olivia Ledger and Ashleigh Bell as the only beneficiaries. The New York documents also acknowledge Matilda Rose, as Ledger's only known child, as an interested party.
^Maddox, Garry (29 March 2009)."Good Will Hunting".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved30 March 2008.Beyond the tangled web of Heath Ledger's estate, two final films and his celebrated Brokeback performance ensure the money will keep flowing.
^Nick Squires (1 April 2008)."Heath Ledger 'fathered a secret love child'".The Daily Telegraph. Archived fromthe original on 1 June 2008. Retrieved6 August 2008.If the claims are proved to be true, Ledger's multi-million pound estate would have to be divided between the child he fathered in his teens and his two-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose, whose mother is Hollywood actress Michelle Williams. ... The actor's parents, Kim and Sally Ledger, have declined to comment on the reports [based on comments by other family members, including his uncle Haydn Ledger].
^Boucher, Geoff; Gold, Matea; Lieberman, Paul (23 January 2008)."Ledger's death is a shock to Hollywood, fans".Los Angeles Times.Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved2 April 2009.Minutes after the news of Ledger's death broke, several hundred people gathered outside the Broome Street apartment building where Ledger had been living ... television crews and area residents were joined by fans, including some Brooklyn acting students.
^"Stars pay tribute to Heath Ledger".BBC News. 23 January 2008.Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved2 April 2009.Fans have been leaving flowers and candles outside Ledger's apartment in the SoHo district.
^"Dark Knight Dedicated to Ledger".BBC News. 27 June 2008.Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved27 June 2008.The special tribute reads: 'In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe'.
^Denby, David."The Current Cinema: Past Shock: 'The Dark Knight' and 'WALL-E'".The New Yorker. No. 21 July 2008. pp. 92–93.Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved17 July 2008.When Ledger wields a knife, he is thoroughly terrifying (do not, despite thePG-13 rating, bring the children), and, as you're watching him, you can't help wondering—in a response that admittedly lies outside film criticism—how badly he messed himself up in order to play the role this way. (Postdated)
Norris, Chris."(Untitled Heath Ledger Project)Archived 7 August 2010 at theWayback Machine: In Which the Protagonist Dies Mysteriously, and the Audience Analyzes His Final Days for Clues to His Real Character".New York,nymag.com, 18 February 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
.jpg)
.jpg)
_revised.jpg)
