Saturday, December 6, 2008

Heath Ledger gets posthumous film award

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The late Australian actor Heath Ledger was awarded one of his country's most prestigious film awards on Saturday for his final role as The Joker in the Batman movie " The Dark Knight."

Ledger, 28, who died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and other medicines in his New York apartment 11 months ago, was posthumously awarded the AFI (Australian Film Institute) international award for best actor .

Guests at a packed awards ceremony in Melbourne's Princess Theater rose to their feet clapping, but with some in tears, to pay tribute to the actor who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a taciturn gay cowboy in 2005's " Brokeback Mountain ".

The AFI, celebrating its 50th-annual award ceremony, paid tribute to Ledger, describing him as "ground-breaking actor trapped in the body of a leading man ".

"He was the untamed spirit many of us wish we could be. May the legend live on," an AFI tribute said.


*(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Michael Roddy )

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Watching Ledger's performance in the 'Dark Knight' was bittersweet. He did a phenomenal job and it's so sad that the young man passed on so soon. Why must the good die so young?

G-Breezy's Favorite Movies

  • Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum
  • Die Hard series
  • Do the Right Thing
  • Fracture
  • Idlewild
  • Imitation of Life
  • Inside Man
  • James Bond series
  • Love Jones
  • Malcolm X