Heath Ledger 04/04/79-01/22/08
It's sad to write this, to have an actor at the top of his game. Yet it all apparently had gone wrong for him somewhere and we lost him quite possibly in his prime.
Heath Ledger was always one of the hardest working actors whenever he shared the screen. Even though he was first known for light-hearted flare like 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale he still was giving it his all, clearing knowing he still had places to go. I remember him fondly in The Patriot and The Brothers Grimm as well. In fact he was working with Terry Gilliam again.
Then came Ang Lee and Brokeback Mountain. And while it was not the kind of movie intended for myself, his performance was considered worthy enough for nominations at the Oscars and the Golden Globes, and he had made it.
I think that I'll remember Heath Ledger though this summer, when the film reel will put him up on that screen again, this time as the iconic villain, the Joker, in The Dark Knight. The very idea of it is startling. I once heard that the key to the Joker was that he was undead, not human and with a flippancy and ferociousness far from humane. And now knowing that the Joker will be undead on the screen is somewhat unnerving and an unfortunate side effect of a tragic loss.
Heath Ledger was always one of the hardest working actors whenever he shared the screen. Even though he was first known for light-hearted flare like 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale he still was giving it his all, clearing knowing he still had places to go. I remember him fondly in The Patriot and The Brothers Grimm as well. In fact he was working with Terry Gilliam again.
Then came Ang Lee and Brokeback Mountain. And while it was not the kind of movie intended for myself, his performance was considered worthy enough for nominations at the Oscars and the Golden Globes, and he had made it.
I think that I'll remember Heath Ledger though this summer, when the film reel will put him up on that screen again, this time as the iconic villain, the Joker, in The Dark Knight. The very idea of it is startling. I once heard that the key to the Joker was that he was undead, not human and with a flippancy and ferociousness far from humane. And now knowing that the Joker will be undead on the screen is somewhat unnerving and an unfortunate side effect of a tragic loss.