Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia on April 4, 1979, where his mother was a French teacher and his father a mining engineer and race car driver. Throughout his younger schooling years, Ledger showed much interest in drama, and when he turned seventeen years old he and a close friend made the decision to leave school and move to Sydney, where everyone goes for their 'big break.' After numerous small roles in low-budget films and TV shows, he finally got a break and was cast as the male lead for the Hollywood movie, "10 Things I Hate About You." The film solidified Ledger as "teen heartthrob," but critics wrote him off as having no real talent. In 2000, a little over a year after "10 Things I Hate About You" he accepted a role in "The Patriot," a more dramatic and mature war drama where he worked alongside Mel Gibson. The film was fairly well received by critics and a major hit at the box office banking more than $100 million.

Despite the success of "The Patriot," Ledger did not continue on with similar films, instead he decided to dabble in a variety of genres. In the years to follow he filmed the medieval comedy "A Knights Tale," the dramatic thriller "Monsters Ball," also starring Halle Barry, and "The Lords of Dogtown," which was a film that followed the surf and skateboarding trends that originated in Venice, California during the 1970's, just to name a few. But, perhaps the movie he has been most well-known for in recent years is the hit movie "Brokeback Mountain," a gay western romance, where he shared the screen with friend and fellow thespian Jake Gyllenhaal.

At the time of his death, Ledger had just completed filming the highly anticipated Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" (directed by Christopher Nolan), playing the intense and twisted role of The Joker. He had just begun production on "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which is being directed by Terry Gilliam. Both directors intend for their films to celebrate and pay tribute to Ledger's hard work and dedication to his craft. Although Gilliam temporarily suspended production on his project, he has expressed determination to 'salvage' it. He plans to do this through computer-generated images of Ledger throughout the film. And, actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell have also agreed to take over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of his character. "The Dark Knight" hit theaters on July 18th and is quickly becoming the biggest movie in Hollywood history. Heath Ledger was one of the most talented actors of our time, and he will be terribly missed by all.

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