Heath Ledger Biography

Heath LedgerAcademy Award nominated Australian Heathcliff Andrew Ledger, who is better known as Heath, first came to the public's attention in 1999 as a pretty boy heartthrob.He was born on April 4, 1979, in Perth, Australia, and grew up in Western Australia where he went to Mary's Mount Primary School in Gooseberry Hill. He later attended Guildford Grammar School and sat for early graduation exams when he was sixteen, then left school to pursue an acting career.Ledger drove to Sydney with his best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, in hopes of making it big as an actor. Finding acting jobs turned out to be more difficult than he anticipated. He didn t get his first real acting job until 1997, when he landed the very small role of Toby Ackland in the low budget teenage drama, Blackrock.Following this unimpressive clich movie, Ledger auditioned for a part in the television drama series, Sweat, about a group of young Olympic hopefuls. He landed the role of Snowy Bowles, a gay elite cyclist. In the summer of 1997 he landed the starring role of Conor in the FOX television series Roar, where his character and his followers try to unite the tribes of in the forth century against the Roman Empire. His next role was as surfer Scott Irwin in the television show Home and Away. He also briefly appeared in the film Paws in 1997, as a student involved in the stage production of a Shakespeare play.In 1999 Ledger starred in the Hollywood teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, as a teen hunk, following his lead role in the acclaimed Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan. Also starring in 10 Things I Hate About You were Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, and Andrew Keegan. He followed those two roles with more substantial performances as the son of Mel Gibson's character in the serious war drama The Patriot in 2000, and as the son of Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball in 2001.Ledger has also acted in A Knight's Tale; Ned Kelly, with Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and Naomi Watts; The Order; The Brothers Grimm, co-starring Matt Damon; and Brokeback Mountain, with Jake Gyllenhaall, Randy Quaid, and Michelle Williams.In 2001 Ledger was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 2003 he was named one of Australian GQ's Men of the Year for Acting. For his starring role in the controversial film Brokeback Mountain he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Lead Actor, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama, a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Lead Actor, and a SAG nomination for Best Lead Actor, Best Ensemble Cast.On July 31, 2006, Ledger was confirmed to play The Joker in the superhero film The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins. He will be the first non-American actor to play The Joker. The film is due out in 2008.Ledger is currently engaged to actress Michelle Williams, whom he met on the set of Brokeback Mountain . They have a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on October 28, 2005.After selling his Australian home in Bronte, New South Wales, for $7 million, Ledger moved to the and now lives in Brooklyn, New York .

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