Anniversary of Heath Ledger's Death
Brokeback Mountain Actor’s Appeal Endures - Posthumous Oscar Likely
Jan 12, 2009
Now, nearly one year after Ledger, 28, died from an accidental prescription drugs overdose in Manhattan, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 2008, he has generated just as much — if not more — buzz than when he was alive. But why?
Ledger up for awards
The native of Perth, Australia, had talent. He was posthumously awarded a Golden Globe Award this past Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009, for best supporting actor for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger's work in that movie has also been recognized by the Australian Film Institute, which also recently posthumously awarded him the prize for best actor.
Ledger's previous accolades include a 2006 Oscar nomination for best performance by an actor in a leading role for his part as Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain.
The 2009 Oscar nominations will be announced, coincidentally, on the anniversary of Ledger’s death, and it will come as no surprise to fans and some movie critics if he garners yet another nomination.
Ledger's private life
Then there was Ledger the “regular guy,” who was appealing and relatable. He didn't seem interested in the Hollywood lifestyle. Media reports have said he lived in New York in order to escape the paparazzi’s glare in Los Angeles, the city he arrived in at 19.
His humanity came through in an interview with the New York Times in late 2007, when he said he had been having trouble sleeping.
An issue of People magazine showed him on daddy duty, out with his daughter, Matilda (mom is his former fiancée, Michelle Williams), riding on his shoulders. Family mattered to him.
”I miss Australia, I miss my family, I miss being a big brother,” Leger said in an interview with www.tiscali.co.uk when he was 22. “I tend to detach myself (from fame) and realize that my life is my five best friends and my 20 friends beyond that and my family.”
Ledger's tragic death
Perhaps, even more than Ledger’s talent and his appeal, is the fact that, generally speaking, 28-year-olds don’t just drop dead. It’s a scary prospect, because it’s uncontrollable. Therefore, by talking about it and analyzing it, Ledger’s fans, film critics and entertainment industry insiders are, in their own ways, exercising some control over the tragedy.
In Ledger’s case, the tragedy lies in the facts he will be unable to finish raising his daughter, he will no longer entertain movie audiences or achieve whatever hopes and plans he had mapped out for his future.
With decades left to live, a young life cut short is a reminder of its fragility.
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