Remembering Heath Ledger: A look back at how the world lost the Oscar-winning actor to drugs

As we sit tight waiting for the Academy Awards to announce its nominations list for 2019 ceremony, there’s one actor who deserves a special mention today -- Heath Ledger.

The Oscar-winning actor died at a tender age of 28 in the year 2008 on this date from an accidental intoxication from prescription drugs. The brilliant actor had just finished work on his critically raved film ‘The Dark Knight’ that also won him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The late actor played the iconic villainous character of the Joker in the superhero film.

He went on to win Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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Heath died in the middle of filming for his role as Tony in ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’.

The actor first starred in the 1999 Shakespeare-inflected teen comedy ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ that was a box office hit and went on to do some great cinema including path-breaking film ‘Brokeback Mountain’ with Jake Gyllenhaal in which they played gay lovers. He also starred in films like ‘The Patriot’ in which she played Mel Gibson’s son in the 2000 Revolutionary War epic film, ‘A Knight's Tale’ and many more.

With his last film, he also went into production on Gilliam’s, ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’. The last few months were said to be tough for the actor as his relationship with partner Michelle Williams was falling apart. He began to complain of difficulty in sleeping which led him to take prescribed pills.

We miss you Heath!