Never one of my favourites, it still is a pity he died so young. Heath(cliff) Ledger (1979-2008) started his acting career playing Peter Pan on stage at age ten. Alternating between TV and the cinema, he moved into the world of big-budget films when he was cast as Mel (Ugh!) Gibson’s eighteen-year-old son in The Patriot (2000), soon followed by the teen-idol vehicle A Knight’s Tale (2001). However, it wasn’t until his role as Billy Bob Thornton’s son in Monster’s Ball (2001) that he succeeded in showing his genuine talent for the performing arts, which eventually led to being nominated twice for the Academy Awards and winning a posthumous Oscar.

Here’s a brief eulogy by journalist Belinda Luscombe, which appeared on TIME magazine on February 4, 2008. For Advanced students.

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