Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born on 4 April 1979, in Perth, Western Australia, of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. He was an actor, best known for his performances in the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain”, and the 2008 film “The Dark Knight”. After his death in January 2008, he received numerous posthumous awards for his performances, which was a signifier of how great his net worth had already risen prior to his passing.
How rich was Heath Ledger? As of early-2016, sources estimate that his net worth was at $16 million, mostly earned through a very successful acting career, as he had numerous films under his name both in Australia and in Hollywood. He also aspired to work as a director, making music videos and planning to work on a film and documentary.
Heath Ledger Net Worth $16 Million
Heath started his acting career while attending Guildford Grammar School – his first role had him playing as Peter Pan at the age of 10. His sister Kate, who was an actor and then publicist, helped and inspired him on stage. At the age of 17, Ledger decided to leave school in pursuit of an acting career. He started to work on local series like “Sweat” and “Clowning Around”, and eventually found a role in the successful television show “Home and Away”. His film debut was in the 1997 movie “Blackrock”. In 1998, Heath decided to leave for the United States to further his career in acting. His net worth was already rising.
One of the first films he was featured in after his move was the comedy “10 Things I Hate About You”. By the year 2000, he started to get numerous offers and began working on various films, appearing in titles like “The Patriot” alongside Mel Gibson. He also became the lead role for films like “The Knight’s Tale”, “Casanova”, “The Brothers Grimm”, and “The Order”. One of the most acclaimed performances he made was for the film “Brokeback Mountain” in which he starred as ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, who had an affair with character Jack Twist portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal. He received Best Actor of 2005 awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, making him the ninth youngest actor to be nominated in the category. After “Brokeback Mountain”, Heath returned to Australia to work on the film “Candy” which was based on the novel “Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction”, and which starred in with Geoffrey Rush, and was given three best actor awards for his performance.
One of his final performances, and one of the roles that solidified Heath’s career as an actor, was the role of The Joker for Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”. Six months before the release of “The Dark Knight”, Heath was found unconscious in his bed in his apartment in Manhattan. Autopsies discovered that his death was caused by intoxication of prescription drugs. Before his death, he was constantly complaining about the lack of sleep he was getting. He won the Academy Award and also the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Along with these awards came numerous others, received by Christopher Nolan and other members of his family.
During his life, Heath was linked with various actresses like Heather Graham, Naomi Watts, and Lisa Zane. On the set of “Brokeback Mountain”, Heath met Michelle Williams and they had a daughter together. They lived together and were even set to marry before the relationship ended in 2007. After his relationship with Williams, he was linked with supermodels like Gemma Ward and Helena Christensen.
