Short Resume:

Many accomplished artists would use a certain phrase when remembering their path to fame, glory and fortune: 'the long and winding road'. It so appears that this is not the case for Aussie-born Heath Ledger. I mean, yes, maybe winding, but under no circumstance long. At only 27 years of age, the young actor has pretty much 'been there and done that'. A multivalent sportsman since his early youth, multi versed actor, good-looking hunk of a surfer dude, and four gorgeous females in his romantic resume, one can pretty much take one's hat (cap, hood, high-hat or coif, whatever) in front of him. From enraged Celtic warrior to the tormented love-stricken ranger, Heath has gone amok in experimenting with many a type of characters. And not without amazing results, I might add.

The Oscar-winning Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia, from a wealthy and influential family. He was sent to one of the best schools in the country, mainly the private all-boy Guildford Grammar School, a 100 hectare-spanning multipurpose academy. Ever since high-school, Heath was interested in acting, and when faced with the option of choosing between cooking and drama, he immediately chose the latter. And he was pretty good at it, even though at that time he was given no credit. At 17, he quit school and headed for Sydney, to pursue a career in acting. In 1996, he auditioned and was offered a small role in a TV series, 'Sweat', where he played the role of a gay cyclist. Following were a number of small parts in various B-rated movies, until he managed to get his big break in teen comedy '10 Things I Hate About You'. Not happy because his image was that of a young stud instead of that of a talented actor, Heath auditioned for a serious part in the war drama 'The Patriot', starring the much more famous Aussie mate Mel Gibson.

The already mediated young actor soon took up a frenzy of roles, each of them completely different from the one before. Heath mentioned at some point that he doesn't have an acting system and likes to act radically different characters every time. Soon after 'The Patriot', there followed a series of turn-downs, but he was finally given a part in the mock-medieval romantic comedy 'A Knight's Tale'. Although rather silly, the movie was a great hit and it also facilitated Ledger's meeting Heather Graham, that soon became his girlfriend. 'Four Feathers', Heath's next movie, saw him as a reluctant character who refuses to go to war for the British army, choosing instead to stay with his girlfriend. When everybody around him starts throwing names at him (including calling him chicken for his behavior), Ledger's character takes matters in his own hands and becomes a hero in the Sudan war, saving all of his regiment and taking all the laurels.

Even if it was a complete financial disaster, the movie actually proved extremely lucky for Heath, since co-star Wes Bentley needed some time-off from acting and gave Ledger his part in the drama 'Monster's Ball'. Although a small part, the character played by Heath proved of paramount importance in his career, showing the actor had what it took to be taken seriously. Still avoiding being labeled as having 'a particular predilection for certain roles', Ledger turned down the part offered in 'Alexander', instead starring in the religious thriller 'The Sin Eater' and later in the Australian made movie 'Ned Kelly', where he played alongside Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Naomi Watts (that soon became his next girlfriend). But the movie that most clearly proved the immense acting capacities of Heath Ledger is definitely Ang Lee's 'Brokeback Mountain', a deep and introspective story that takes place in a world of contrasts. On the set of 'Brokeback...', he met gorgeous actress Michelle Williams with whom he has, Matilda Rose, born in October 2005. The couple (presumably married, officially not confirmed) currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Biography:

The Ledgers are a family whose name has deep resonance in the lives of many Australian denizens. Heath's forefathers were the owners of a foundry that supplied the building materials used in the making of irrigation pipelines that stretched far into the Western Australian fields. They were also renowned patrons and supporters of higher education, offering grants and paying for lectures. Heath's parents were also very educated people. Both romantic aficionados, they named him and his sister after the two famous characters from Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights', mainly Heathcliff and Catherine.

At the school that he was sent to (a sort of private high-school/academy for boys), Heath was a rover and refused to train in the use of weaponry like most of the other boys, instead choosing a wide variety of sports, all of which he proved proficient at. Due to the Renaissance legacy that he inherited from his family, Heath was also very keen on arts, taking up drama, painting and dancing classes. Acting, especially, was something that he really wanted to do from way before school, having seen his sister Kate on stage. It's no surprise that, given the choice of cooking classes over acting classes in school, Heath immediately chose the latter.

At the age of 16, Ledger decided to quit school and pursue his interest in acting somewhere else. After appearing as an extra in a couple of movies that were shot in Perth, Heath was offered a part in an Australian sitcom, somewhat similar to the American 'Happy Days'. His debut in Perth was as an extra in 1992 movie 'Clowning Around'. Some time after that, he appeared in the family sitcom 'Ship to Shore' that was also filmed in Perth. 'Sweat' would offer Ledger his first serious role, as being part of a group of kids studying at an elite sports academy. Heath was given the option to choose from playing a swimmer or a cyclist. He took the cyclist part, as this character was gay and offered Heath the chance to prove his acting talent. After this, Ledger moved to Sydney for good. He took a minor part in the soap 'Home and Away', where he was a surfer dude with an eerie past.

His real breakthrough, though, came with medieval fantasy series 'Roar', where Ledger starred as a Celtic prince that struggles to rid Britain of the Roman invaders, while still finding time to save the damsel in distress. While not a major success, the series were a blessing to Heath, as he was given the chance to gain experience in front of the camera; and also to get together with co-star Lisa Zane (a mere twelve years older than Heath). At this point, Ledger decided to get himself an American agent and follow sweetheart Zane to the States. An inspired choice, we might add, since not long after this, he was offered the leading part in the romantic teen comedy '10 Things I Hate About You', a purely American remake of Shakespeare's 'The Taming of the Shrewd'. Again playing the role of popular school heart-breaker hunk, Heath and co-star Julia Stiles turned the movie into a box-office hit.

Although offers were now rolling on the conveyor belt, most of them were High school-type of gigs and this was not what Ledger was looking for. He really wanted to be taken seriously and, after about a year of inactivity, he auditioned for a part in the war drama production 'The Patriot' where he played as Mel Gibson's freedom-fighter son. The movie was a smash and did a huge amount of good to both Ledger's career and self-esteem. On he went with his refusal streak, turning down parts in 'End of Days' (replaced by Gabriel Byrne), 'Spiderman' (taken by Tobey Maguire) and 'Moulin Rouge' (his character was ultimately played by Ewan McGregor). Instead, he took another leading role, in the hype medieval comedy 'A Knight's Tale'. Although highly inaccurate from a historical point-of-view and having a (be still, my heart!) rock soundtrack, the movie still scored big and so did Heath, who met his next honey Heather Graham, who happened to be around on the set.

The movies to come - 'Four Feathers', 'Monster's Ball' and 'The Sin Eater' were all totally underrated although Heath's performance in each of them was laudable, to say the least. And then came... the shot! In 2005, together with old friend and actor Jack Gyllenhall, Heath starred in Ang Lee's romance/drama 'Brokeback Mountain', a movie based on the short story by E. Annie Proulx. Many actors were either afraid or reluctant to take the leading roles in this movie, but Heath had no second thoughts about it. The weirder the part, the better, seems to be Ledger's motto. Dealing with a repressed love-affair between two (male) cowboys in the mountains of Wyoming, and worse, in 1963, the movie pushed the actors' abilities of interpretation to the limit. But they fared well, the movie was a total hit and, most importantly, Heath Ledger went up a few points in the actors chart. And, by all means, he made a new girlfriend on the set, but this time the girlfriend managed to become a fixture in his life and even have his child. By 'fixture', I mean Australian actress Michelle Williams and by child, Matilda Rose (your every day Aussie name).

What is special about Heath Ledger (except for his acting, his looks and all the beauties he's been with, that is) is his one-of-a-kind relationship with the press. Unlike most actors who really like being in the public eye 24/7 (or like some of them who don't), Heath is not very keen on the press. Word has it that he spat at a few journalists while on the 'Brokeback...' set and that one of his relatives has allegedly done that too. Obviously, the media fought back, calling him 'some sort of gay spoof' when he was nominated for the 'Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture' at the SAG Awards. Soon after that, he angered the good American citizens by stating that lynchings in West Virginia did not stop until 1980 (oh, the shock). Archivists and historians (American, that is) immediately literally went up in flames and strove to prove that these actions ceased in the 1930s (which is obviously better).

OK, it is easy to shoot off one's mouth and go about saying that Heath Ledger is not one of the best Australian actors that ever lived, but, then again, maybe it's too soon to credit him with this honor. His acting career is still in bloom, many more movies are (hopefully) still to come and, to be sure, he will be given the due appreciation once the time comes. Right? Right? So, is Heath IN or OUT? What do you think?

* On January 22, 2008, Heath's dead body was found in one of his New York residences. The actor was unconscious and unresponsive and was pronounced dead on arrival of the paramedics. He was 28. Rest in peace, Heath. We will miss you.

Filmography:

• 'The Dark Knight' [aka 'Batman: The Beginning 2'] (2008) (filming)

• 'I'm Not There' (2007)

• 'Candy' (2006)

• 'Casanova' (2005)

• 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005)

• 'The Brothers Grimm' (2005)

• 'Lords of Dogtown' (2005)

• 'The Order' (2003)

• 'Ned Kelly' (2003)

• 'The Four Feathers' (2002)

• 'Monster's Ball' (2001)

• 'A Knight's Tale' (2001)

• 'The Patriot' (2000)

• 'Roar' (13 episodes, 1997-2000)

• 'Two Hands' (1999)

• '10 Things I Hate About You' (1999)

• 'Home and Away' (1988) TV Series

• 'Paws' (1997)

• 'Blackrock' (1997)

• 'Clowning Around' (1992)