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Awards rain down on `forever young' Heath Ledger

(AP/Dima Gavrysh) Twenty-nine-year-old Heath Ledger still had so far to go, as a man, as a father and as an actor

Cynthia Webb (The Jakarta Post)
GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA
Sun, February 15, 2009

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Awards rain down on `forever young' Heath Ledger

(AP/Dima Gavrysh)

Twenty-nine-year-old Heath Ledger still had so far to go, as a man, as a father and as an actor. As everybody knows, he died of an accidental overdose of a combination of prescription drugs in New York City on Jan. 22 last year.

He had been quoted as saying that his work playing the Joker in The Dark Knight had "really worn him down". He had been suffering badly from lack of sleep, unable to still his mind, and sleeping tablets had not helped.

Watching the soulless, anarchic Joker as created by Ledger is a terrifying experience - all the more so for our knowing that he had immersed himself in this dark energy during the period leading up to his tragic death.

Now Australia, Hollywood and the world are paying tribute to this gifted young actor who had not yet fully developed his acting career, although he had made around 20 films.

For his performance as The Joker, he has already won Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTAs (United Kingdom), The Golden Globe Awards and The Screen Actors' Guild Awards, and Best Actor at the Australian Film Institute Awards, as well as a few other accolades from critics' circles and film festivals

Now we await the results of his nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, which will be announced on Sunday, Feb. 22. If he wins he'll be only the second person to win a posthumous Oscar in an acting category. The previous one was awarded to another Australian, Peter Finch, for his performance in Network (1976).

Ledger demonstrated his acting prowess in his outstanding performance as the tragic Ennis in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. For this role he won many of the acting world's major awards, and a nomination for the Best Actor Academy Award.

Ang Lee called his heart-rending portrayal of the anguished homosexual "miraculous", and New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden compared him to the young Marlon Brando, and to Sean Penn.

Director Ang Lee has said, "Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis Del Mar more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love and for truth and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him, loves him. His death is heartbreaking."

At the time of release of Brokeback Mountain, Ledger talked about his acting technique on a national radio program in Australia. He explained that he came to rehearsal already thoroughly prepared and having "captured" his character.

"I may go home and walk around like a madman in my room, finding posture, stance, finding voice and the breath within the voice. Once you have the breath you can start breathing as a character. This is very important."

He also spoke of how Annie Proulx's writing in the short story helped him and how he explored Ennis, to find a reason in his fictional past for why he was so unable to express himself and his love. This was his way of finding the very being of his character.

"We are after something as close to honesty as possible. I am a curious person and acting is learning about the person that you are and the life around you than the actual tools and techniques of acting. You can learn all the techniques in the world, but if you know nothing about life and yourself you are at a loss. And it's the ability to recognize your flaws as an actor. It's been a process of self improvement."

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger, named after the hero in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, was born on April 4, 1979, and grew up in Perth, Western Australia. He always liked drama at school and headed for Sydney when he left school. He never studied acting, but he studied people closely and was an instinctive actor.

He picked up some acting roles in television series and small budget Australian movies. In 1997 he had a part in Black Rock, but it was in 1999's Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan, a successful crime thriller, that he was noticed by audiences and by the industry.

He headed off to Hollywood at age 19, where he landed a lead role in 10 Things I Hate About You. He also auditioned with 500 young hopefuls, winning the important role of Mel Gibson's son in a major film, The Patriot (2000), directed by Roland Emmerich.

As a hot young star, Ledger was followed by the paparazzi and reports frequently talked more about his love life than his work.

He was mentioned among the "Fifty Most Beautiful People" by People magazine, and named one of the world's sexiest 100 movie stars by Empire magazine. For a couple of years he dated Australia's Naomi Watts, who is also a big star in Hollywood. He met Michelle Williams, mother of his daughter Matilda, on the set of Brokeback Mountain.

Ledger had wanted to avoid getting typecast by his youth and good looks as the romantic lead in a string of insignificant roles. He always sought out a variety of character parts, but in between did some lighter fare, such as the medieval comedy A Knight's Tale (2001).

Back in Australia, he starred as Ned Kelly (2003) directed again by Gregor Jordan, but this one flopped at the box office. Another light role in Lasse Hallstrom's Casanova followed in 2005, in which he seemed to be having a lot of fun.

His filmography shows that his strategy was a success, as he was directed by several of the world's best directors. Some of the best films he appeared in were Marc Forster's Monster's Ball (2001), The Four Feathers (2002) by Shekhar Kapur, The Brothers Grimm (2005) by Terry Gilliam, Australian-made Candy (2006) by Neil Armfield, and Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee), which shot Ledger to world fame.

The film won three Oscars including Best Director at the 2005 Academy Awards; although nominated for Best Actor, Heath missed out to Philip Seymour Hoffman. He was also seen as one of the "Bob Dylan archetypes" in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There (2007).

We still have Heath Ledger's legacy in the films he made, while he has joined the number of talented and beautiful people who captured the world's attention and imagination, then died too soon, leaving us wondering about their lost futures - their image in our minds forever young.

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