A year ago today

On January 22, 2007 Heath Ledger died.  With Heath dying the world lost one of the greatest actors ever.  Every time he appeared on film he captivated the audience.  Not only did he have the typical Hollywood good looks, he also had the natural gift of acting.  It never seemed like Heath was acting.  He was just living.  I first saw him in Ten things I hate about you.  The movie isn’t that good but of course he owned every scene he was in.  Over the next few years he starred in A Knight’s Tale, The Patriot, Four Feathers, and The Brothers Grimm.  For the most part, these films were panned but He was also praised for his role.  In 2005 he made history by playing a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain.  The world finally saw Heath at his best.  He was nominated for best actor and in my opinion he should have won.

The Dark Knight

In 2006, it was announced that Heath Ledger would be portraying The Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins.  I was thrilled.  I never once considered him for the role but looking back I can’t imagine anyone else filling those clown shoes.  Early buzz on the film was crazy.  Everyone was talking about how amazing Heath’s performance was gonna blow everyone away.  It did more then that.  Sadly, Heath would never get to see his masterpiece.  He died 7 months before the release of the film.  I will always have the image of his body being rolled out of his hotel burnt into my memory.  Seeing photos of him and his daughter walking down the street just enrage me to think of what was lost on January 22, 2007.  Ironically, on the anniversary of his death, the academy announced that Heath Ledger is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of The Joker.  No doubt will he win, and no doubt will it be one of the most emotional moments in academy history

We all said goodbye to Heath a year ago, so today we should just remember how good he really was and how missed he is.