Heath Ledger Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 197922 January 2008) was an Australian actor and director. After performing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger left for the United States in 1998 to further develop his film career. His work comprised nineteen films, including "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999), "The Patriot" (2000), "A Knight's Tale" (2001), "Monster's Ball" (2001), "Lords of Dogtown" (2005), "Brokeback Mountain" (2005), "Casanova" (2005), "The Dark Knight" (2008), and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (2009), the latter two being posthumous releases. He also produced and directed music videos and
Heath Ledger Hands", directed by Gregor Jordan. From 2000 to 2005, he starred in supporting roles as Gabriel Martin, the eldest son of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), in "The Patriot" (2000), and as Sonny Grotowski, the son of Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), in "Monster's Ball" (2001); and in leading or title roles in "A Knight's Tale" (2001), "The Four Feathers" (2002), "The Order" (2003), "Ned Kelly" (2003), "Casanova" (2005), "The Brothers Grimm" (2005), and "Lords of Dogtown" (2005). In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow". Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New