Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor.
Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia. He is of Irish and Scottish descent, and lived in Western Australia. He attended Marys Mount Primary School, in Gooseberry Hill, and later Guildford Grammar School and its preparatory school of the same name. At 16, Ledger sat for early graduation exams, and left school to pursue an acting career with girlfriend Jenna Sorrell. With his best friend, Trevor DiCarlo, Ledger made the cross-country drive to Sydney. He returned to Perth for the TV series Sweat (1996), in which he played a gay cyclist. He then starred in the American television series Roar.
In 1997, Ledger made his film debut in the Australian movie Blackrock. In 1999, Ledger starred in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate about You and also had the lead role in the acclaimed Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan. Since then he has starred in The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight...
Created by dipity on Jan 23, 2008
Last updated: 03/05/10 at 04:09 AM
Heath Ledger died in Manhattan, New York, New York
I'm Not There is a biographical film reflecting the life of musician Bob Dylan. The iconic singer-songwriter will be depicted through six distinct stages of his life by six different actors (Marcus Carl Franklin, Ben Whishaw, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett) . It was co-written and directed by Todd Haynes.
The film is said to tell its story using rather non-traditional techniques, much like the poetic narrative style utilized in Dylan's songwriting. "The film is going be inspired by Dylan's music and his ability to re-create and re-imagine himself time and time again," according to key producer, Christine Vachon.
The title I'm Not There is a reference to the Dylan outtake recorded during The Basement Tapes (Sessions). It was not included in the studio album The Basement Tapes and can only be found on the CD bootleg set The Genuine Basement Tapes and the later remastered version (still considered a bootleg) of that set A Tree With Roots. I'm Not There is...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368794
Candy is a 2006 Australian romantic drama film, adapted from Luke Davies' novel entitled Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction. Candy was directed by debut film-maker Neil Armfield and stars Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush.
Candy was released in Australia on 25 May 2006 and subsequently released around the world.
A poet (Heath Ledger) falls in love with an art student (Abbie Cornish) who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle - and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.
The film is organized in three acts of roughly 7 scenes each, titled Heaven, Earth, and Hell. In Heaven, sex and drugs are experienced ecstatically by the young lovers. In Earth they are married and confront the reality of the untenablity of addiction and family life. In Hell they experience the dissolution of their relationship and the recovery of one of the characters.
Won:
Nominated...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424880
Casanova is a 2005 comedy film directed by Lasse Hallström based on the life of Giacomo Casanova.
In 1753, in Venice, Casanova (Heath Ledger) is famous/notorious for his success and promiscuity with women. The Doge, the ruler of the city, is sympathetic to Casanova, but cannot be too lenient, to avoid trouble with the church. He warns Casanova that he must soon marry or be exiled from the city.
Casanova is in love with Francesca (Sienna Miller), who writes illegal feminist books under the name of a man. However, her mother (Lena Olin) pushes her to marry Paprizzio (Oliver Platt), a corpulent rich man from Genoa, whom she has never seen. When Paprizzio arrives in Venice, Casanova lies to him that the hotel he booked is closed and lets him stay at his house. Casanova also lies that he is the author of the feminist books. While Paprizzio, preparing to visit Francesca, stays at Casanova's house, Casanova visits Francesca, pretending to her to be Paprizzio.
Later he confesses to her who...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402894
Brokeback Mountain is an Academy Award-winning 2005 LGBT romantic drama film that depicts the relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.
The film is directed by Taiwanese director Ang Lee from a screenplay by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, which they adapted from the short story Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx. The film stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams.
Brokeback Mountain won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and was honored with Best Picture and Best Director accolades from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards among many other organizations and festivals. Brokeback Mountain had the most nominations (eight) for the 78th Academy Awards, where it won three: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The film was widely considered to be a front-runner for the Academy Award for Best Picture, though...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795
The Brothers Grimm is a 2005 feature film directed by Terry Gilliam.
This film was supposed to be released in November 2004 in theaters, but it was delayed, with the new release date being August 26, 2005. The film was in the competition at the Venice Film Festival 2005.
Tagline:Eliminating Evil Since 1812.The film starts at the end of the 18th century and begins with a scene of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm as children. Their sister is dying and Jacob has been sent to sell the cow in order to have money for a doctor. However, when Jacob returns, he innocently explains that he has traded the cow for "magic" beans. Will is furious with Jacob, and it is implied that their sister died as a result of his mistake.
The story jumps ahead fifteen years (into the early 19th century) with Will and Jake riding into a town in "French occupied Germany," to rid the town of a witch's ghost. However, after killing the "ghost," it is revealed that the Brothers Grimm are actually con artists, setting up...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355295
Lords of Dogtown is a 2005 film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, written by Stacy Peralta. The film is based on the story of "The Z-Boys", an influential group of skateboarders who revolutionized the sport. Comedian Mitch Hedberg, who appears in the movie, died before the film was released. The movie is dedicated to his memory.Tagline : "They came from nothing to change everything."In the 1970’s, a group of teen surfers from a rough neighborhood known as "Dogtown" in Santa Monica, California, created a cultural revolution by transforming skateboarding from a recreational activity into an extreme sport.When a shipment of urethane wheels arrives at Santa Monica's Zephyr Surf/Skate Shop (traded by [1]Mitch Hedberg's character to the owner of the shop for weed) the owner, Skip Engblom, played by Heath Ledger, puts together a team of local layabout skaters to compete.Known as the Zephyr Skateboard Team, the boys transferred their surf skills to drain pipes and empty swimming pools...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355702
Ned Kelly is an Australian film directed by Gregor Jordan. The movie portrays the life of Ned Kelly who is a well-known bushranger in Australia. The film is mainly based on Robert Drewe's book Our Sunshine.
The film tells his life as a bushranger in north-east Victoria, where he lived all his life. He, his brother Dan, and two other men — Steve Hart and Joe Byrne — formed a gang of Irish Australians in response to Irish and English tensions that arose in 19th century Australia. The film starts out with a mysterious setting of a young Ned Kelly, rescuing a young boy from drowning. The film then pans to the beautiful Australian wild and Ned Kelly talking about his father. He then wakes up from sleeping in the Australian wilderness, to see a beautiful white mare. He rides the horse into town, only to be arrested for supposed horse stealing. The horse, that he supposedly stole, was actually stolen by Wild Wright, Ned's friend, but wandered off until Ned found it and was...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277941
The Order, also known as The Sin Eater, is a 2003 film about a religious order, written and directed by Brian Helgeland and starring Heath Ledger, Benno Fürmann, and Shannyn Sossamon.The film revolves around the mysterious death of an excommunicated priest, which, during the subsequent investigation, leads to the discovery of a sin eater.The plot involves the premise that there is another way to Heaven than the Church, that is, the sin eater. Naturally the Catholic church considers this heresy. Heath Ledger plays the priest, Alex Bernier, who recalls another priest telling him about the sin eater ritual. The head of Alex's order has died in an unusual way, and Alex goes to see the body. After seeing strange markings on the body, he heads to the Vatican, who tells him that sin eaters don't exist and that the priest who died had been excommunicated for his beliefs.Meanwhile, Alex has recruited his friend Thomas, a fellow priest, to help him out. A girl who Alex once conducted an...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0304711
Monster's Ball is a 2001 American drama/romance film directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lions Gate and Lee Daniels Entertainment. The title comes from a custom in medieval England where prisoners awaiting execution were called monsters. The night before their execution, their jailers would hold a feast known as a monster's ball as their final farewell.Hank Grotowski (Thornton), a widower, and his son, Sonny (Ledger) are employed as correctional officers. They reside in Georgia with Hank's ailing father, Buck (Boyle), an unwavering racist whose wife committed suicide. Buck influenced Hank's hateful attitude towards others, which resulted in Hank's hatred of his father, his son and members of the neighboring community.As Hank and Sonny assist in the execution of convicted murderer Lawrence Musgrove (Combs), the proceedings prove too intense for Sonny, who begins to vomit as he is leading Lawrence to the electric chair. Hank humiliates...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285742
A Knight's Tale (2001) is a film written and directed by Brian Helgeland; the title, though not the plot, is taken from The Knight's Tale, one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.The film combines action, comedy, and romance, and is notable for its deliberate use of anachronisms, such as the use of classic rock songs like Queen's "We Will Rock You", War's "Low Rider", David Bowie's "Golden Years", Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" and AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long", (and many others) in the soundtrack of a film that notionally takes place during the Middle Ages. The film was also one of several movies that became subjects of controversy involving a fictitious movie critic, David Manning.Set in late medieval Europe, the plot centers on a young peasant squire called William Thatcher, played by Heath Ledger, who, after the death of his knight, Sir Ector, joins the jousting circuit, an act forbidden to those not of noble birth. Thatcher travels around Europe under...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183790
The Patriot is a 2000 film starring Mel Gibson and directed by Roland Emmerich. Produced by the Mutual Film Company and Centropolis Entertainment, it was written by Robert Rodat and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film mainly takes place in South Carolina and depicts the fictional account of a war hero swept into the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened.
It is the late 18th century, in South Carolina. Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is a veteran of the French and Indian Wars and a widower raising seven children on his farm. Gabriel, the eldest, played by Heath Ledger, is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the Revolutionary War, without his father's permission. Martin, who knows from first-hand experience the horrifying carnage that war presents, is anxious to discourage his son from participating.
Against his father's wishes, Gabriel does join up only to return home wounded as he is carrying dispatches between commanders. Martin's...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393
10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz, Larisa Oleynik, and Larry Miller. A loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in a modern American high school, the screenplay was written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith. The movie's title is a twist on The Taming of the Shrew (see below) but is also a reference to a poem written by the film's female lead to describe her bittersweet romance with the male lead. The film was released March 31, 1999 and was a breakout success for stars Stiles and Ledger.On his first day at Padua High, new-kid-in-school Cameron James falls in love with Bianca Stratford, a beautiful sophomore student. However, Cameron is faced with the problem of Bianca being forbidden to date, due to a family rule set by her strict father, an obstetrician paranoid about Bianca getting pregnant. Cameron is...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147800
Two Hands is a 1999 Australian crime film, written and directed by Gregor Jordan. The film stars Heath Ledger as Jimmy, a young man in debt to Pando, a local gangster, played by Bryan Brown and also stars Mairel McClorey, Evan Sheaves, Susie Porter, and Rose Byrne. It won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film in 1999.Two Hands is set in locations around Sydney, starting in the red light district of Kings Cross. Jimmy, while working at a strip club, is approached by local mob boss Pando who says he has work for him. Pando gives Jimmy $10,000 to deliver to a woman in Bondi, and when she appears not to be home, he goes for a swim on the beach. Unfortunately the $10,000 is stolen by street kids while he is swimming, leaving him heavily indebted to the understandably furious Pando and his gang.The car Jimmy was using on the job - belonging to Pando's associate Acko - is stolen by a young man and taken to a car dealer. The dealer happens to be a friend of Acko's, who, displeased...,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145547
Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, Australia
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