Ledger Wins Oscar
February 23, 2009 by Amber
Filed under Awards, Celebrity, Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger has been given the perfect closing curtain over his stellar career, winning a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance as the Joker in the film The Dark Knight.
The late actor’s win has also been written into the history books, as only the second person in Oscars history to win a posthumous gong. Ironically enough, the only other actor to achieve such a feat was fellow Australian Peter Finch, who won for The Network in 1982.
Ledger’s family – father Kim, mother Sally Bell and sister Kate Ledger – accepted the honour on behalf of their son, who passed away from a drug overdose in early 2008.
“This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath’s quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here — his peers within an industry he so loved,” a very emotional Kim Ledger told the crowd.
Sally Bell said that the family was “truly overwhelmed by the honour and respect bestowed on him with [the] award.” She added that her son was a “compassionate and generous soul who had greatly inspired their lives.”
The Brokeback Mountain actor had long been a favourite to win the award, with some punters betting as much as $110, 000 on the near-certainty.
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