Heath Ledger: Life In Photos

GONE TOO SOON
"Heath Ledger was a courageous actor and a great soul", James Schamus, producer of Brokeback Mountain said of the star, who was found dead Tuesday in New York City. "He gave us the gift of sharing his fearless and beautiful love – of his craft, and of all who worked with him –for which all of us will be eternally grateful".


FAMILY LIFE
At 28, Ledger was already an Oscar-nominated actor – and a father. Daughter Matilda (with actress Michelle Williams) was born 28th October 2005. "It's what I've always wanted. She's just adorable. A beautifully observant, wise little kid".


DARK SIDE
More recently, Ledger had caused a stir, stepping into the macabre role of the Joker in this summer's The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. "It's the most fun I've had with a character and probably will ever have", he said. "The movie itself is far exceeding my expectations. I think it's going to be a really fun movie to watch".


CHASING A DREAM
Ledger's rise on the screen started as a teen: at 16, he left his hometown of Perth, Australia, and headed to Sydney, where he appeared on the Aussie TV show Sweat and made his feature film debut in Blackrock. He then took the lead in the FOX series Roar, a warrior drama that filmed in Queensland and co-starred Keri Russell.


HEART-THROB STATUS
Ledger landed his first Hollywood lead in 1999's 10 Things I Hate About You, opposite Julia Stiles. The teen comedy raked in more than $50 million, but Ledger admitted he was unhappy being labelled a heartthrob. "I was a young kid from Australia, and that was the only movie someone was willing to put me in, so what do you do?"


NEARLY GOLDEN
By the time he starred in 2005's Brokeback Mountain (right), Ledger had already worked opposite Billy Bob Thornton (Monster's Ball) and Mel Gibson (The Patriot). In his Oscar-nominated role of Ennis Del Mar, director Ang Lee gushed to PEOPLE that Ledger's performance was reminiscent of "a young Marlon Brando".


DEFINING ROLE
"I would have been crazy to turn it down", Ledger (above left, with his Brokeback co-stars Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal) told Entertainment Weekly of breaking barriers in the gay cowboy drama. "Any anxiety toward doing it was manufactured through the industry. It obviously wasn't as big a deal for us, because we did it".


HOLLYWOOD ROMANCE
On the Brokeback Mountain set, Ledger started a three-year romance with co-star Williams, producing a daughter, Matilda. Of an early encounter, he told Rolling Stone, "On the fifth take, Michelle and I are tobogganing down the hill, and Michelle... twisted her knee – she was pretty much on crutches for the rest of the shoot. And I felt I always had to look after her after that".


SO PROUD
Ledger (with a radiant Williams at the New York premiere of Brokeback Mountain) called meeting the actress the turning point of his career. "I'm so proud," he told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. "I just fall deeper and deeper in love with both my girls".


NEIGHBOURHOOD GUY
Ledger and Williams planted their new family in Brooklyn, where the actor easily blended with the locals. Ledger, who moved to Manhattan after their split, was an unassuming fixture in his brownstone neighbourhood, often spotted taking the baby for walks, skateboarding or stopping by local restaurants.


LOVE LOST
Ledger and Williams (at the 2007 Film Independent's Spirit Awards in Santa Monica) called it quits in September. "It was rocky for a while," a source told PEOPLE. "They did what they could to make it work." Ledger later became a regular at New York City nightclubs and was even spotted with model Helena Christensen, but another source said he was "bummed" about the break-up.


'A TRAGIC LOSS'
"I had such great hope for him," said former co-star Mel Gibson, a fellow Australian. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss".