Biography of Heath Ledger

Heath Andrew Ledger was born on April 4, 1979 in Perth, Western Australian, the son of Sally Ledger Bell, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a race car driver and mining engineer.

After appearing in television roles in the early 1990s, Ledger began a movie career appearing in nearly 20 films. He starred in both critical and box-office successful movies, such as The Patriot, Monster's Ball, and Brokeback Mountain. With his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Moutain, Ledger was nominated in 2005 for an "Best Actor in a Leading Role" at the Academy Awards. Heath Ledger was also nominated and won "Best Actor" awards for the same role from BAFTA, Australian Film Institute, and the New York Film Critics Circle.

Heath Ledger completed his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight shortly before dying on January 22, 2008 from an accidental prescription drug overdose. His final performance, uncompleted at the time of his death, was the role of Tony in Terry Gillia's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Pamassus.

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