Heath Ledger

Thu 22nd Jan - 7:00PM

Australian born actor Heath Ledger tread the delicate line between Hollywood movie-star and brooding artist until his tragic death at the age of 28.

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Heath Ledger
born: 04-04-1979
birth place: Perth, Western Australia
died: 22-01-2008

Australian born actor Heath Ledger tread the delicate line between Hollywood movie-star and brooding artist until his tragic death at the age of 28 in January 2008. Launched to success as a teen heartthrob in his early films such as ‘Ten Things I hate about you’ (1999), Ledger’s career progressed to more challenging roles including gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar in ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and the Joker in the latest Batman offering ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008). Refusing to be defined solely by his good looks, Ledger pursued new challenges with each role he took on and his untimely death has extinguished a rising star that looked set to break the mould.

On 4th April 1979 French teacher Sally Ledger Bell gave birth to her second child, Heath Andrew Ledger, in Perth, Western Australia. Sally’s first child to then-husband, racing car driver and mining engineer Kim Ledger, had been named Catherine, shortened in time to Kate, after the heroine of Emily Bronte’s classic ‘Wuthering Heights’. Continuing in this fashion, she named her son after the other main character of the novel, Heathcliff.

Later, after Sally and Kim were to separate, Ledger gained two half sisters, Ashleigh from his mother’s second marriage and Olivia from that of his father. He was very always very close to his family and even had KAOS, the initials of his mother and 3 sisters, tattooed onto his wrist.

Throughout his youth Ledger excelled in a variety of sports including Australian Rules Football, hockey, surfing, skateboarding and go-karting. He was also a keen chess player, winning the Western Australian Junior Chess Championships at only ten years old, a hobby he would later revisit going to play chess in Washington Square Park.

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