Heath Ledger

Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) reprised the role of the Joker in the box office hit “The Dark Knight” – the sequel to “Batman Begins”, director Christopher Nolan’s Batman series adaptation – in 2008, creating one of the greatest superhero villain performances in the history of the genre, to which he won an Academy Award. Unfortunately, Ledger passed away during the editing of the film, having never seen the final cut and was posthumously presented with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar award. Heath appeared in a handful of films during the 1990s, but did not break through until the 2000s beginning with some supporting roles in The Patriot (2000) and Monster’s Ball(2000), then eventually as the lead in A Knight’s Tale (2001), Casanova (2003), The Brothers Grimm (2005) and the Lords of Dogtown (2005).  In 2005, the Australian-born actor earned numerous accolades including Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the critically acclaimed and highly controversial Brokeback Mountain – the story of ranch hand and a rodeo rider’s romantic homosexual love affair. The film earned both Ledger and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal credibility as serious actors in Hollywood and opened doors for much more significant roles.

Heath Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker in The Dark Knight was one of the most spectacular villainous roles ever created in the long history of super hero films. Ledger portrayed the sinister villain as a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” Previous interpretations depicted The Joker with a sense of style and meticulously painted-on make-up, whereas Ledger’s performance as Jack Napier’s alter ego appeared disheveled, with his make-up running and showed signs of his own personal apathy. Heath suffered an accidental overdose of prescription medication in New York, six months prior to the release of The Dark Knight in his native Australia. The film is one of the highest grossing films of all time with a little more than $1 billion dollars worldwide and secured Ledger’s place in the annuls of Academy Award history as only person to posthumously earn the Best Supporting Actor award in Oscar history. Due to Heath Ledger’s untimely demise, his signatures have become prized relics in the autograph world and have realized hundreds, even thousands of dollars.