Mumbai, April 4: Heath Ledger would have celebrated his 39th birthday today. The actor, who is most remembered for his roles in films like "10 Things I Hate About You", "Brokeback Mountain", and of course, "The Dark Knight", has left an impressive body of work in a dazzling career that was tragically cut short by his untimely death. It is ironical that we must speak of his death on a piece written on him when he would have turned 39. But that is the thing with Heath: You just cannot avoid mentioning about his "exit" from the world even if you are talking about his life. It seems, that like his roles, he also managed to ace the entry and exit aspect of life. However, it is a day to celebrate the bold and daring actor who made the role of "Joker" immortal in the Christopher Nolan directed "The Dark Knight" and is still the poster boy for actors around the world. Chances of you spotting a poster of Heath "Joker" Ledger in a room of a struggling actor is as high in Bollywood's capital Mumbai as in Heath's Australia.

Heath Ledger was born in Australia, Perth, on April 4, 1979. He was an actor but his heart was in directing too. Ledger, who left school to pursue acting at the age of 17, and was part of one of Australia'a most famous shows called "Home and Away" (1997). He made his feature film debut in a movie named "Blackrock" that released in 1997 and starred in teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999. The young actor played supporting roles in films such as "The Patriot", "Monster's Ball" and lead roles in other films like "A Kinight's Tale", "The Four Feathers" and "The Order". But his breakthrough role was in 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain" in which he played the role of Ennis Del Mar and shared screen space with actor Jack Gyllenhaal. He also received Golden Globe and The Academy Award for Best Actor Nominations for the role and went on to win the New York Film Critics Circle award for his performance in the film in which he has a love affair with Jack Gyllenhaal's character. Here is a scene from the film that got him rave reviews:

The movie was praised for its quality and depiction of the deep emotions that the two men felt for each other as they were in love. Both Heath and Jack Gyllenhaal's performance touched audiences worldwide.

In his most popular and remarkable movie performance, which also turned out to be his second-last role, Heath took on the role of "Joker" in the Batman franchise film, a role that was previously played by an actor of Jack Nicholson's caliber. But Heath managed to add a dimension to the role that had never been seen before and gave a performance which has become a benchmark for actors since then. Here is a work of genius from the actor, his best scenes as joker from the film "The Dark Knight":

Heath Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role and many other posthumous awards as he had died before the release of the film due to cardiac arrest brought on by over dosage of prescription drug intoxication. He was only 28 when he passed away, but by then he had ensured that the world will forever remember "The Joker", who took on the Knights of acting and emerged victorious.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2018 12:08 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).