2009 Academy Awards, the USA and Golden Globes, USA winner, Heath Ledger was one of the great Australian actor and director. He was popular for his work in The Dark Knight, The Brothers Grimm, Lords of Dogtown, Brokeback Mountain and many more. He is famed as The Joker of The Dark Knight with his dialogue "Why so serious?".
Heath Ledger was born in the upper-middle-class family born as Heath Andrew Ledger in Perth, Western Australia, Australia to Sally Ledger (née Ramshaw) and Kim Ledger. He was an Australian and was of English, Irish, and Scottish descent.
His parents separated when he was 10 and divorced when he was 11. Along with his elder sister Kate Ledger, he also has 2 half-sisters: Ashleigh Bell from his mother's second husband (his stepfather) Roger Bell, and sister Olivia Ledger from his father's another marriage to Emma Brown.
Industrious Heath Ledger began his acting career since he was ten and at that time, he was enrolled at Guildford Grammar School. For his school graduation, he sat for an early examination but later called it off and began focusing on his acting career.
When he was in his early teens, he moved across Australia and that time, he also appeared in the movie, Clowning Around. After his school days, he played his role in 1997 movie, Blackrock. He got worldwide recognizance in 2005 after appearing in the movie, Brokeback Mountain and for that role he also won Best Actor of 2005. He also began his directorial career since 2006. For his role in the 2001 movie, A Knight's Tale, he earned the salary of $3,000,000.
He displayed his incredible acting in the films like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), Monster's Ball (2001), Lords of Dogtown (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. He has worked alongside the stars like Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Emile Hirsch, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini and many others.
After 15 years of his acting career, Heath died on January 22, 2008, in New York City, New York, United States. The cause of death was reported to be Cardiac arrest brought on by prescription drug intoxication.
Talking about his personal life, Heather Ledger was never married in his life but has a daughter. In 2004, he started dating American actress Michelle Williams and within a year, they welcomed their first child daughter, Matilda Rose on October 28, 2005, in New York City.
They shared a house in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn from 2005 till their split in 2007, confirmed by Williams' father to Sydney's Daily Telegraph. Soon after his break up, he dated Mary-Kate Olsen and Gemma Ward briefly and in 2008, before his death, he was linked in a romantic relationship with Lindsay Lohan.
Also, Heath was not immune to past affairs as he was in a relationship with Naomi Watts (2002 - 2004), Heather Graham (2000 - 2001), Christina Cauchi (2000 - 2002) and Lisa Zane (1997 - 1998).
His net worth before his death was around $16.3 million.
