TheTVObserver: Tribute To Heath Ledger

TheTVObserver's Movie Report and StarSpread would like to pay a special tribute to one of the most talented actors, Heath Ledger.

Previously considered to be a shallow actor, he had displayed such memorable performances to eventually gain people's acknowledgment of the great talent and intelligence he really possessed.

A man of Irish and Scottish descent, he was born on April 4, 1979 at Subiaco Hospital in Perth, Australia with the name Heath Andrew Ledger to Kim and Sally Ledger. At the age of 10, his parents, however, decided to have divorce and each later remarried with someone else, giving him two more sisters, Ashleigh Bell and Olivia Ledger, aside from the older one, Kate.

The early period in Sydney was quite tough for him to undergo as he only obtained minor roles in "Blackrock" and "Paws" which both came up in 1997 while went with a notice through a short-lived TV series entitled "Sweat" (1996). His hope rose when he successfully landed the lead role in a U.S. small screen production of "Roar" (1997), but this optimism quickly vanished for the medieval series garnered poor ratings so that the network concluded to stop its airing. Despite the show's brief run, it delightfully managed to bring him into the attention of American audiences, particularly the younger one.

Heath's star started to glow when he was cast in Buena Vista's "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) which led him to be nominated at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards in the category of Best Musical Performance. Subsequently showered with a lot of offers to star in many other teen movies, he firmly rejected them although it meant that he had to waste his time in finding a desirable part. "There's little depth in those scripts," he explained his refusal. "You can only take the psyche of a teenager to a certain level."

Fortunately, his wait for the right role was worthy as he successfully defeated almost 200 other actors to star alongside Mel Gibson as Gabriel Martin in Roland Emmerich's excellent war drama movie, "The Patriot" (2000).

Not only praised by the critics, "The Patriot" also collected a tremendous income of more than 215 million U.S. dollar in the international market, directing Heath to encounter considerable popularity all over the world.

He played roles ranging from "A Knight's Tale" (2001), "Monster's Ball" (2001), "The Four Feathers" (2002) and "Ned Kelly" (2003). By 2005, he had really become one of the most frequent actors to appear at the cinemas as four of his films were released in the year which included "Lords of Dogtown," "The Brothers Grimm," "Brokeback Mountain" and "Casanova."

Thanks to the critical and commercial success of "Brokeback", Heath finally could emerge as one of Hollywood's A-listers in the film industry. Not only scored a remarkable worldwide gross of over $178 million, the bittersweet drama also brought him some film award nominations, culminating in that of Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role at the 2006 Academy Awards.

Brokeback was an awesome movie. Here are some lines which we consider memorable:
Ennis Del Mar: You ever get the feelin'... I don't know, er... when you're in town and someone looks at you all suspicious, like he knows? And then you go out on the pavement and everyone looks like they know too?
Jack Twist: [Casually] Well... maybe you oughta get out of there, you know? Find yourself someplace different. Maybe Texas.
Ennis Del Mar: [Sarcastically] Texas? Sure, maybe you can convince Alma to let you and Lureen to adopt the girls. And we can just live together herding sheep. And it'll rain money from LD Newsome and whiskey'll flow in the streams - Jack, that's real smart.
Jack Twist: Go to hell, Ennis. If you wanna live your miserable fuckin' life, then go right ahead.
Ennis Del Mar: Fine.
Jack Twist: I was just thinkin' out loud.
Ennis Del Mar: Yep, you're a real thinker there. Goddamn. Jack fuckin' Twist; got it all figured out, ain't ya?

Jack Twist: My momma, she believes in the Pentecost.
Ennis Del Mar: What exactly is the Pentecost? I mean, my folks, they was Methodists.
Jack Twist: The Pentecost... I don't... I don't know what the pentacost is. I guess it means the world ends and guys like you and me march off to hell.
Ennis Del Mar: Speak for yourself. You may be a sinner, but I ain't yet had the opportunity.

Ennis Del Mar: I'm gonna tell you this one time, Jack fuckin' Twist, an' I ain't foolin'. What I don't know - all them things that I don't know - could get you killed if I come to know them. I ain't jokin'.
Jack Twist: Yeah well try this one, and I'll say it just once!
Ennis Del Mar: Go ahead!
Jack Twist: Tell you what, we coulda had a good life together! Fuckin' real good life! Had us a place of our own. But you didn't want it, Ennis! So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain! Everything's built on that! That's all we got, boy, fuckin' all. So I hope you know that, even if you don't never know the rest! You count the damn few times we have been together in nearly twenty years and you measure the short fucking leash you keep me on - and then you ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needing somethin' I don't hardly never get. You have no idea how bad it gets! I'm not you... I can't make it on a coupla high-altitude fucks once or twice a year! You are too much for me Ennis, you sonofawhoreson bitch! I wish I knew how to quit you.
Ennis Del Mar: [crying] Well, why don't you? Why don't you just let me be? It's because of you Jack, that I'm like this! I'm nothin'... I'm nowhere... Get the fuck off me! I can't stand being like this no more, Jack.

After leaving such a mark on the face of motion picture art, he secured another prestigious part as Batman's nemesis the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008), the sequel to 2005's hit movie "Batman Begins."

Here are some memorable lines from “The Dark Knight”:
The Joker: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment! I only have one question. Where is Harvey Dent?
[nobody responds; The Joker walks around the room pointing with his shotgun at everyone]
The Joker: You know where Harvey is? You know who he is?
[grabs a man's face]
The Joker: You know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to him about something. Just something, a little.
[turns the man's face away]
The Joker: No...

Batman: What did you do?
The Joker: I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!
[the Joker laughs hysterically as Batman races off and the cops come to take the Joker into custody]

The Chechen: What are you going to do with all your money?
The Joker: See, I'm a man of simple tastes. I like dynamite, and gunpowder...
[the Chechen watches, appalled, as Joker's thugs pour gasoline on his mountain of cash]
The Joker: And gasoline! Do you know what all of these things have in common? They're cheap!

Some interesting facts about the star.

• On October 28, 2005 his welcomed his baby, Matilda Rose.
• He had the L.A.-based organization Australians in Film (AIF) launched the Heath Ledger Scholarship Fund in May 2008 as a tribute to him which was meant to help wannabe Australian actors to expand their careers in the U.S.
• Had his final portrait titled "Heath", which was painted by Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo at his family's Perth home in December 2007, won the People's Choice Award at the 2008 Australia's Archibald Prize Exhibition.
• Had his role of Joker in movie "The Dark Knight" (2008) being immortalized in the form of a toy doll by toy giants Mattel (February 2008).
• Had the shirts he and Jake Gyllenhaal wore in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005) up for sale on eBay as part of an auction to benefit Variety, the Children's Charity of Southern California (February 2006).
• Was slated to play the Devil in "End of Days" (1999) opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger but he later was replaced.
• Had two dogs: a Yorkshire Terrier named Bob and a Cocker Spaniel named Ned.
• Liked reading, writing, snowboarding, surfing, walking around outdoors, climbing, playing tennis, and doing photography.
• Voted the Best Performer in the Take Seven critics poll conducted by New York's The Village Voice for his action in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain".
• Loves black-and-white movies, rainy days, and musical theater, especially those performed by Fosse's Cabaret and All That Jazz.
• Was among the lucky stars set to receive the invitations to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (July 2006).
• Was the candidate to portray the title character in Oliver Stone's "Alexander" (2004) before it was taken over by Colin Farrell.
• His first celebrity crush was Judy Garland.

Sadly, On January 22, 2008 around 3:30 P.M. EST, the actor was shockingly discovered dead at his apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, said in a statement that "It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life."

A special tribute by TheTVObserver to the talented Mr. Heath Ledger.

By TheTVObserver
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