Actor Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Australia on April 4, 1979. At the age of 10, he was cast in a local theater company's production of "Peter Pan". This led to parts on the television programs "Clowning Around" and "Ship to Shore." He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1999 and soon started appearing in movies. His film credits include the following: "10 Things I Hate About You," "The Patriot," "Monster's Ball," "Brokeback Mountain," "I'm Not There" and "The Dark Knight." He received a ShoWest Award for the Male Star of Tomorrow in 2001 and Best Actor of 2005 awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Ctirtics Circle for his role in "Brokeback Mountain." He had one daughter Matilda Rose with actress Michelle Williams. He died in Manhattan, New York on January 22, 2008.

(Bowker Author Biography)