| Son of Kim Ledger and Sally Bell, Heath Andrew Ledger, named
after the brooding hero of Wuthering Heights, was born on April 4,
1979 in Perth, Western Australia. When he was ten, his father left
the family to live with Emma Brown (then marrying Inis Rosa in 2006)
and his mum married Roger Bell. Commenting about the divorce, Heath
shared, "The point I got to very quickly after my parents' divorce
was to realise they were just human". During his time in the
all-boys Guilford Grammar School, Heath Ledger, whose nickname was
Heathy, was a talented student. He was a brilliant sportsman who
played on the school hockey team and won several awards. Heath also
led his schoolmates to become the winner of the national dance
competition. Heath got his first taste of acting when he went on an
audition with his older sister Kate, and ended up cast. Shortly
after, he sharpened his acting talent by performing on stage
with the Globe Shakespeare Company and the Guildford Theatre Company
in his native Australia. At age 16, Heath decided he wanted to go
out on his own and pursue his acting career. As soon as he passed
his early graduation exams, he moved to Sydney with his best friend
Trevor DiCarlo.
 During his early years in Sydney, he was cast as gay
bicyclist Snowy Bowles in the TV series Sweat (1996). Though he
thought it was a unique character, Heath did not receive much
attention. When the show was quickly cancelled, he had a chance to
seek another role in the low budget film Blackrock (1997, as Toby
Ackland). He had a very brief role as Oberon in Paws (1997) and
portrayed surfer Scott Irwin, who was romantically linked to a
summer bay girl, in Home and Away (1997, TV). Heath then went on to
star in the drama series Roar (1997, playing the role of medieval
Celtic Prince Conor). Like his first series, the show was quickly
axed. However, the young actor gained his first fans from the show.
Heath comments "I did Roar, was dating a girl in the show (Lisa
Zane), she went back to LA and I had to go with her. I lived with
her for two years and stayed there with her". Then he landed his
first major film role - back in Australia - Two Hands.
After his successful performance in 10 Things I Hate About You,
ledger did not want to be typecast, refused all teen movie offers
and ended up not working for almost a year. In that time he lived in
Laurel Canyon with some Aussie friends and dated Christina Cauchi. He
received a role in the serious revolutionary war drama
The Patriot (2000), playing Mel Gibson's son Gabriel Martin. His spectacular
performance sealed Ledger's fate and brought him a ShoWest Award for Male Star
of Tomorrow in 2001.
Heath met and feel in love with Heather Graham [October 2000 - June 2001] while
filming A Knights Tale in Prague. When he split from Heather he went back to
Christina, and was living in New York's West Village with her. He split from
Christina before going back to Australia to film Ned Kelly, where he met and
started dating Naomi Watts (August 2002 - April 2004), and after deciding to end
their relationship, Heath generously allowed Naomi to continue
living in his Los Angeles home, even helping her house-hunt, until
she found a place of her own. " By the time their split made the
tabloid press, several weeks later, Heath was already in Canada for
his next film. Once, when asked if there was anything positive he
could say about older women. He smiled, and his face transformed
from gangly boy to matinee idol. He murmured a one-word answer,
"Tons".
True to his character, Heath stayed focused on his
aims and launched into a rapid succession of deliberately varied
roles. Lords of Dogtown, Brothers Grimm, Brokeback Mountain and
Candy. It was while making Brokeback he met his true love - Michelle
Williams. On the first day of filming, Michelle hurt her knee - and
the pair have been inseparable since. Heath says about falling in
love with Michelle, "What happened between us was out of our
control. It was just something very beautiful and deep". They now
live in Brooklyn and have a daughter - Matilda Rose.
In 2005, he joined that elite group of Oscar
nominees for his sensitive and much acclaimed performance in
Brokeback Mountain. Looking back, Heath is genuinely surprised that
the film took off like it did. "I was definitely surprised and my
expectation for the film were really down here," he says laughingly,
moving his hands towards the floor. "I was really pleasantly
surprised and so grateful to have been given that opportunity and
really proud of it but I'm really happy it's all over too, because
it was really exhausting," he says, recalling the awards season and
the lead up to the Oscars. But he also admits almost shyly, that his
nomination has opened up even more doors.
On life - "Matilda is just awesome and being a
father has also helped me become even more selective now with work
because for me, to go away from home for a day, let alone five, is
tough." Now Heath says he's at his happiest, both professionally and
personally. "When you're this happy everything seems to fall into
place."
Sadly, Heath and Michelle have split. |
