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
Brokeback Mountain (short story) numerous awards, including Academy Awards (for 2005) for Best Adapted Screenplay (McMurtry and Ossana), Best Director (Ang Lee), and Best Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla). It was nominated for a total of eight awards (the most that year), including Best Picture, Best Actor (Heath Ledger as Ennis), and Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack). Its loss of Best Picture to "Crash" was not generally expected, though predicted by some. Charles Wuorinen, a contemporary American composer, became interested in the story, and Proulx wrote the libretto to adapt her work. Their work was commissioned by Mortier of the New York City