what career did ledgers father want him to pursue

"I never had money, and I was very happy without it. When I die, my money'south not gonna come with me. My movies volition live on for people to judge what I was as a person. I just want to stay curious." —Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger left an astonishing body of work in his tragically short life. Sadly, Ledger died of accidental intoxication on January 22, 2008. We still miss him dearly. Here are 45 facts that you may non take known about Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger Facts

45. Cold as Ice

When he was 11 years quondam, Ledger played field hockey for the Kalamunda Hockey Club. He was and so serious about hockey that from 1990 to 1992, his own dad became the president of the lodge. People even thought he might have a hazard as a professional person field hockey player—but he ultimately chose interim.

44. Oi, Oi, Oi

Ledger was born in Perth, Australia. Some of his first films were shot there, for instance Clowning Around, which was his debut picture. He had a pocket-sized function playing an orphan clown. Eerily though, this means that his showtime and last completed film roles were playing clowns.

43. Diverse

While he was born in Australia, Ledger's family heritage is really a mix of Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Sephardi, and even a sprinkle of Judaism.

42. This Is How Stereotypes Are Made

In example you doubt his Australian heritage: when he was a child, his mother found a Kangaroo and, taking compassion on the poor creature, she decided to give it to her son to raise as a pet.

41. No Boys Immune

Growing up, Heath was the only son in the family unit. He was particularly close with his elder sister Kate, who was an actress and sparked his love of interim. His parents divorced when he was 11, and he also has ii half-sisters, Ashleigh and Olivia, from their other marriages.

40. Heathcliff, It'due south Me, Cathy

Heath's mom, Sally, was a French teacher, and she loved to read classic literature. In fact, she named her first 2 children Kate and Heath subsequently the dark, disturbed couple in Emily Bronte'due south Wuthering Heights, Catherine and Heathcliff.

39. Lying in Wait

Ledger's most iconic function is certainly his take on the archetype Batman villain The Joker in Christopher Nolan'southwardThe Dark Knight. His co-stars in the pic often mention his remarkable restraint. He would never practice the Joker vocalism or laugh like the villain unless the cameras were rolling, keeping his truly disturbing behavior locked in until the right moment.

38. Smile for the Photographic camera

The distinctive wounds on The Joker's confront in The Night Knight actually accept a specific name: they are called a "Glasgow Smile."

37. Checkmate

Ledger was something of a Renaissance man, and his interests didn't but cease at playing field hockey and acting. He was also an avid chess fan, and played in many tournaments from a young age. As an adult, you could even sometimes find him playing chess in Washington Square Park in New York Urban center.

36. I Believe in Fairies

When he was only 13 years old, Ledger starred in his beginning function equally Peter Pan in a local school production in Perth. Everybody'due south gotta start somewhere, correct?

35. Decisions, Decisions

He went to a individual university called Guildford Grammar, and there wasn't enough fourth dimension to participate in both sports and drama club afterward schoolhouse. He chose drama.

34. Book Smrt

Heath was eager to go out of Loftier Schoolhouse and pursue his acting career every bit soon equally possible. When was was 17, he sat in for the exams that would give him a diploma. When the scores came back high enough, he left school for practiced and started interim. It was a brave move: aside from school plays, Ledger was never classically trained as an actor.

33. Singin' in the Rain

Ledger actually loved to dance. He was inspired past Gene Kelly, the famous thespian, singer, and tap dancer who starred in musicals during the 1940s and 50s. While he never starred in a musical, Ledger shows off some of his moves in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale, and even has a little number in10 Things I Detest About You.

32. His Favorite

Peradventure unsurprisingly, Ledger admitted that the film role he was almost proud of was playing The Joker inThe Dark Knight.

31. Almost Spider Man

By 2002, Ledger was famous enough to be offered the role of Peter Parker in Spider Man. In movement that would all the same probably daze people today, especially with the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he turned the role down.

30. Leave Ledger Solitary!

Ledger admitted to being an introvert, and was painfully shy effectually new people. He explained that while he could pretend to exist outgoing while acting, he had a hard time when only existence himself.

29. Matilda, I Am Your Father

Over the class of his life, Ledger was romantically linked to a bevy of beautiful actresses, including Naomi Watts, Heather Graham, and even hisx Things I Hate Almost Youco-star Julia Stiles. But it was with some other co-star, Michelle Williams, that he had ane of his nigh important relationships. They met on the set ofBrokeback Mountain, and lived together until 2007. In 2005, they too had a child together, Matilda Rose Ledger.

28. Love Hurts

By 2007, however, Williams and Ledger had concluded their relationship. At the time, the media reported that Williams had asked Ledger to go out their New York City apartment considering of his drug apply. Whether this is true or non, it does fit into the dark pattern that would emerge.

27. Ever Improving

When asked which role of his he liked the to the lowest degree, Ledger admitted that he was most disappointed in himself with his portrayal of the famous lover Casanova in the 2005 film of the same name.

26. Open-Minded

During an interview, Ledger was asked if he felt nervous or uncomfortable playing the role of a homosexual for Brokeback Mountain. He replied that the only thing that bothered him was that he wished he was a more mature player, because he was afraid he would not do the story of Ennis Del Mar justice.

25. The Scholarship

Later on his expiry, the Australians in Film club created a scholarship in Heath Ledger's proper noun. It is awarded to promising immature Australian actors living in the U.s. in order to help their careers. Ledger's male parent donates money to the scholarship every yr.

24. Real Deal

Before filming Brokeback Mountain, the producers wanted Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal to attend a cowboy training camp. Ledger told them that he didn't demand it: Since he grew up in Australia, he already had the skills of a cowboy.

23. Superhero Bias

When Christopher Nolan was castingBatman Begins, he was in talks with Ledger to go him to play the office of Bruce Wayne and therefore Batman. Maybe Ledger had a thing against superheroes; as with Spider Human being, he turned the function down. Simply when Ledger saw the concluding product, he immediately regretted it, and chased downwards Nolan to sign on for the role of The Joker inThe Night Knight.

22. Method Man

If you ever thought that infamous interrogation scene in The Dark Knight looked oddly realistic, it's considering it was. Ledger asked Christian Bale to actually hit him. As Bale put it, He was kinda egging me on. I was saying, "You lot know what, I really don't need to actually hitting you. It's going to look just as good if I don't." And he'south going, "Become on. Get on. Go on…." He was slamming himself effectually … His commitment was full."

21. Scaredy Caine

Michael Caine, who played Alfred in The Dark Knight, was terrified when he saw Ledger in the Joker makeup for the kickoff time. During a rehearsal for the film, Ledger walked out of the lift to wreak havoc on the party scene, and Caine was and so distressed to see him similar that, he promptly forgot his lines.

20. I'm the Joker, Mate

Ledger's Joker set a lot of high bars for the Batman franchises. He was the first non-American actor to play the character, the youngest actor at the time to don the white makeup, and, of course, the office likewise made him the first person to win a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

19. They're Non Going to Take It Anymore

Ledger was also only the 2d person in history, menses, to receive an Oscar after his death. Peter Finch, who died in 1977, was the first. Finch won for the filmNetwork, in which he gives a memorable, crazed rant as anchorman Howard Beale.

eighteen. Makeover, Makeover

Afterwards his death, at that place was a surge of made stories nigh Ledger, including i that stated he designed his makeup for The Joker. Although this is non the example, he was an active function of the design process. For example, when the makeup artists were putting on his makeup, Ledger would contort his confront into clownish expressions, letting the makeup pucker and creating the impression that it had been caked on for days.

17. Hanging out

Although Ledger was very devoted to the role of The Joker inThe Dark Knight, people on set besides revealed how kind and heartwarming he was to bandage and coiffure. John Caglione Jr., the man behind The Joker'southward iconic makeup, said that Ledger would joke and smoke cigarettes between takes, and would often skateboard around the shooting location.

16. Winging It

During the filming of The Dark Knight, Ledger would go off-script if he thought it was something The Joker would really do. This led to some of the picture show'due south virtually iconic moments, including when The Joker is sitting in a cell and slowly claps, with a menacing smile, at Commissioner Gordon'due south promotion. Likewise, the moment where the bomb doesn't get off and The Joker mumbles to himself earlier making it detonate was totally improvised; this was actually just a pyrotechnic error that Ledger worked with to produce a hilarious, character-defining moment.

15. Going Stir Crazy

Ledger was known for his almost unsafe delivery to his roles. Probably the nigh famous, and darkest, example of his dedication came with his piece of work in The Dark Knight. In lodge to get a sense of what information technology'southward like to be insane like The Joker, Ledger locked himself in a hotel room for weeks on end.

14. Mad Heath

Since the original Mad Max was an Australian picture starring Mel Gibson, the producers of the 2015 remake had been because their new star for a very long time. They wanted to cast Ledger, since he was also Australian, and patently a great actor. Of course, Tom Hardy somewhen took on the role years after Ledger's tragic passing.

13. Action!

Since he was shy, it was thought that Ledger secretly liked being behind the camera more than than he liked being in front of information technology. 1 of his hobbies was making home movies, and he would usually bear a video camera around.

In the documentaryI Am Heath Ledger, one of his shut friends commented that for Ledger, acting was just a means to get into directing. He worked on a few music videos, merely his dream was to direct the picture show accommodation of the novel The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis.

12. Alert Signs

Earlier Ledger'due south tragic decease on Jan 22, 2008, there were a few devastating warning signs. Ledger had always had trouble sleeping and struggled with bouts of insomnia, only it was peculiarly bad but earlier his death, and he began regularly taking sleeping pills.

11. Working Overtime

Ledger'southward co-star onThe Imaginarium of Md Parnassus, Christopher Plummer, besides noted that Ledger was having other health bug just before his decease, and driving himself into the ground. Every bit he said, "we all defenseless colds considering we were shooting outside on horrible, clammy nights. Just Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with information technology immediately with the antibiotics."

ten. Not Making Too Much of It

In an interview withThe New York Times just a couple of months earlier his decease, Ledger told journalist Sarah Lyall that his recently-completed roles inI'm Non At that place andThe Dark Knight were wearing on him and giving him insomnia. As he said, "Concluding week I probably slept an average of 2 hours a night. … I couldn't stop thinking. My body was wearied, and my mind was withal going."

In a chillingly prophetic passage, he admits in the interview to recently taking two Ambien pills because just 1 wouldn't let him sleep.

ix. Sudden Death

At 3:00 in the afternoon Jan 22, 2008, Heath Ledger's body was found by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, inside his Manhattan apartment. He was lying unresponsive in his bed, and the attempts Wolozin made to perform CPR on the role player proved unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:36 pm.

8. Dial an Olsen

Curiously, when Wolozin plant Ledger's lifeless trunk, the kickoff person she called was none other than child star Mary-Kate Olsen. As foreign as this sounds, Olsen was a close friend of Ledger's—and in fact, there was some speculation that she supplied the thespian with the drugs that would eventually kill him. Even so, Olsen refused to talk to investigators unless she was given immunity, and her representative released a statement denying her knowledge of the origin of the drugs as well equally her involvement in the expiry.

seven. Troubled Souls

Surprisingly, Lindsay Lohan and Heath Ledger allegedly had a shut bond. The details are blurry, but her diary reveals she was in love with Ledger around the fourth dimension of his tragic death. On the twenty-four hours he died, Lohan wrote about how he was the dearest of her life, and how he taught her and then much. She goes on to explain that he'south all she's ever wanted and that she wants to hear him laugh and for him hold her. Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, claims they had been seeing each other around this time. And when Lohan'due south infamous document of intimate partners was leaked in 2014, Heath Ledger was on the list.

6. Family First

It'south articulate that Ledger never thought he would dice at only 29 years erstwhile. He never wrote his girl, Matilda, into his concluding will and testament; it was written before she was born. All the same, Ledger's family gave Matilda his $16.iii million fortune anyway, saying, "There is no claim. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda."

v. Calling Cut

Ledger's death also cut brusque his role in a film he had been working on, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. In the film, the final line he says is, "Don't shoot the messenger," which he improvised himself.

4. It's All for You lot

If you go back and sentinelThe Dark Knight advisedly, you lot can actually see a heartbreaking tribute Ledger left for his daughter. When The Joker is disguised as a nurse in the infirmary, look at his name tag closely: information technology says "Matilda," his daughter's name.

iii. Complete Professional

When Ledger tragically died, his ex-partner (and the female parent of his kid) Michelle Williams was busy filming the movieMammoth in Sweden. The rest of filming, according to Williams, was "horrible," and she admitted that she couldn't even "recall most of it."

2. Home for a Rest

When Ledger died, he was cremated, and his ashes were returned back to Perth, Commonwealth of australia. They were scattered beyond his family plot, where his grandparents are buried, in Karrakatta Cemetery.

1. The Diary

One of the means Ledger got into character was by putting together a scrapbook filled with inspiration for The Joker, which he made in part during his time isolated in the hotel room. The contents of this journal accept been much discussed in the media—but they truly are disturbing. In its pages, Ledger wrote from the perspective of The Joker, who finds humor in geniuses who become mentally handicapped, among other horrific things. The journal also contained stills from Stanley Kubrick'due south eerie thrillerA Clockwork Orange, photos of clown makeup, and pictures of hyenas. On the final page of the chilling "Joker diary," he scrawled the words "BYE BYE."

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5, vi, 7, viii, 9, 10, eleven, 12, 13, fourteen, fifteen, 16, 17

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