Heath Ledger - His Beautiful Life and Mysterious Death

by John McShane

Young, cocksure, handsome and absurdly talented, Australian actor Heath Ledger shot to prominence with his first Hollywood film "10 Things I Hate About You": and a star was born.With huge charisma and smouldering looks lighting up the screen in a series of subsequent films, Heath was soon established as Hollywood A-list, dating a series of beauties such as Heather Graham and Naomi Watts, and living every young man's dream.But it was his award-winning and controversial role as Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain" that cemented his place in the pantheon of acting greats - he was one of the youngest people ever to be nominated for an Oscar. And it was on the set of this film that he fell in love with his co-star Michelle Williams. Though the relationship wasn't to last, the couple had a daughter in 2005.With the world at his feet and a film-stealing turn in the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", in the can, there was worldwide shock and disbelief when the news broke that he had been found dead in his New York apartment on 22 January 2008. Prescription drugs, found next to his dead body, were thought to be the cause, but mystery surrounded the circumstances. Was it an accidental death? Or were the pressures of life in the spotlight too great to bear?What is certain is that this young man, who touched the lives of so many people, leaves behind a grief-stricken public and family, including a two-year-old daughter. This is the tragic story of the brilliant actor whose light shone so brightly but all too briefly upon the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2008

Reviews

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with a great sadness, knowing how the last few pages would pan out. Heath Ledger was a kind and caring Aussie, with such huge potential and a maturity far beyond his age. Yet he never forgot his roots, or his friends from school, as he progressed through the movie world. His role in Brokeback Mountain is given quite a large portion in this book, ground-breaking as it was. But I will always remember him for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight - if ever an actor deserved an Oscar for a role, this was it. Just a shame it came too late for him. Enormous talent that was sadly to end prematurely. A lovely human being; what a sad day when he left us.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incorrect punctuation and repeated quotes everywhere..
It made me feel like this novel was quickly written within a couple of weeks.
Film plot lines were described for pages and pages, which eventually became a bore and seemed unnecessary. And Heath's dedication towards his role in The Dark Knight is hardly recognised (the Oscar win not even mentioned).
It's nice to read the long quotes from Heath and Jake about Brokeback though.
I might try out a different novel on Heath that has a higher rating.

[Mia Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 - mangler virkelig at nævne at han vandt en Oscar efterfølgende🤔

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge Heath Ledger fan, and when I saw this book, I just had to have it. But as soon as I started reading, I realised that this wasn't going to be the book I wanted it to be. I wanted to learn a lot more about Heath's life, about his films, about his career. But in the end I only learned a couple of new random facts, but no real new information. It was all pretty well known, and there wasn't much about his films. They were mostly reviews taken from newspapers or magazines. It was alright to read, even though the writing was pretty bad. But it just wasn't great.

[Kirsty McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ledger was the first actor I ever felt drawn to. You know? When you've seen one of his movies (Casanova, for me) and then you just know that you have to see them all? God he was spectacular.

This book had a tendency to tangent off into the life stories and histories of other actors etc. mentioned in it, rather than it's full focus being on Heath, but I guess it's hard not to comment on Michelle Williams' life or Heather Graham's.

3⭐️

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I strongly recommend reading this book!

I think this was such a beautiful book! He has worked so hard, was in the prime of his life and yet he lost it by accident.
I know that he will always be remembered for who he was and for his work. He truly was one of the most talented actors out there.

I genuinely believe he was kind, unique and beautiful inside and out.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's quite obvious that this book was to be published as fast as possible after his death. On the one hand the chapter about The Dark Knight is nearly non-existent even if it was such an important role and on the other hand there are just things like quotes which are used twice or the lack of a chronological order.
Despite that: I enjoyed reading the book. It's the first one I read about him and I was rather young when he died, so most of the information was new to me. I loved to read so much said by and about him, showing his passion and determination.

[Kalle Wescott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read /Heath Ledger: His Beautiful Life and Mysterious Death/, by John McShane:

http://adamferguson.blogspot.com/2013...

I knew essentially nothing about Heath Ledger before reading this book.

[Lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a brilliant and well written story of such a fantastic actor. I definitely recommend reading this book if you want to read about the films he was in and his life. I definitely recommend this book that I found on libby.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tragic ending to the Hollywood /Australian playboy 'priviledged' lifestyle that was equal to a Shakespearian play....such an shocking early ending for a such a talented actor

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm reminded why I dislike biographies so much.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sad story about a very gifted actor and an old soul.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this book so much and annoyed I didn't finish it sooner! His story has been told so well

[Piia]

Pokkari alkoi hyvin pian maistumaan kiireessä kasatulta rahastukselta. Ledger menehtyi tammikuussa 2008, ja kuten kävi mm. Michael Jacksonin kohdalla, miehen nimeä kantavia teoksia alkoi ilmestyä kirjakauppojen hyllyille kuin sieniä sateella pian traagisen tapahtuneen jälkeen.

Kuinka ollakaan, John McShanen kyhäämä “elämäkerta” on julkaistu ensimmäistä kertaa Lontoossa jo huhtikuussa samana vuonna…no, sen kyllä huomaa. Sisältö on rakenteeltaan kehno, copy+pasten runtelema väkerrys maustettuna täysin turhilla täyteteksteillä. Ledgerin sitaatit, ohjaajien ja kanssanäyttelijöiden kommentit sekä lehtien leffa-arviot juoksevat sivuilla yksi toisensa jälkeen tönkköjen selittelylauseiden värittäminä. Miehen elämään kuuluneiden naisten taustoja on myös lähdetty avaamaan tavalla joka saa lukijan tuntemaan kuin olisi vaihtanut kirjaa lennosta. Halusin silti kahlata teoksen loppuun silkasta uteliaisuudesta, ja mielenkiintoa riitti erityisesti Brokeback Mountainin aikaisiin seikkoihin ja näyttelijän omiin ajatuksiin. Muutama ennestään tuntematon Ledgerin elokuva täytyy myös katsoa kirjan herättämän mielenkiinnon vuoksi. Muutoin His beautiful life and mysterious death on silkkaa nippelitietoa faneille. Toivon kovasti, että miehen elämästä on tehty edes hieman kunnianarvoisempi teos.

“It wasn’t that painful to leave and head for Sydney, not at that age. No matter how good your family life is, you just want out. Perth is the most isolated city on the world, but it’s beautiful. I just had to move on- – - “

[Natalie Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was never going to be an indepth journey into the great man but for what it is (mainly a self indulgant jaunt into heathville in order to fan the flames of my love for him!), this delivers. it is not literary genius- it was quite clearly written in a hurry in order to capitalise on heath's untimely and tragic death (lines were repeated throughout the book and there was no attention payed to flow or structure).

however, for fans of heath this will fill in a gap between watching his movies or googling pics of him!

RIP
x

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Checked this out from the library because I was always a fan of Heath Ledger, and WOW, it was terrible. The writing was awful: typos and grammatical mistakes all over the place, enormous quotes (some of which were repeated and/or attributed to different people in different places), and a TON of irrelevant book-report-style information. It felt like a novel-length tabloid article. I finished reading it because I don't usually stop a book in the middle, but I definitely consider it a giant waste of however many hours it took.

[Sian Wadey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a massive fan of Heath Ledger, and I was given this as a present, because I wanted to know more about him after his premature death. I'm sure John McShane is a good writer, but there's something about biographies that I just can't connect too. I think it's because autobiographies have that personal touch, whereas biographies are just displaying the facts, there was no humour or anecdotes. However, as he is no longer with us, this is as good as it's going to get.

[Michael White · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has been on my 'must read' list for a while. I'm glad the delay didn't wet my apatite for a climax because this book was dull. The book contains a couple of factual errors and seems constructed entirely from newspaper reports. The result makes the whole book feel detached from the reader and leaves me wondering whether it was simply published to cash in on Ledger's death.

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this book! I've always LOVED Heath Ledger but never really knew his full story. The book was graphic, daring and attractive all rolled into one. I can say for sure, Matilda (Heath's daughter) had one of the best daddies in the world. Hopefully one day she will be just as great an inspiration as he is!

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was enough of a tragedy to lose Heath but there were large parts where this book read like an obituary crafted by Hallmark cheese merchants. I'm not too sure how comfortable he would have been with this. Interesting enough though.

[Dionne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book. Obviously, I learned an incredible amount about Heath's life, but also about Australia, the acting realm and many other things. I appreciated learning about an amazing actor's life that was cut way too short.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dissapointing

[Jennifer]

RIP Heath.... this was an interesting read.

[Laura Edminson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did love this book, as I was (am) a Ledger fan - I am going to admnit, it did bring a tear to my eye!

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay be it didn't go deep enough. I'm gonna try another biography on Heath. Also poor writing

[Tiia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book put me in sleep for so many nights. Reading was slow and I only manage to read ten pages at the time. Still I did like it and wanted to finish it. I never followed Heaths career or personal life at the time. I've always loved his films and performances, he truly was incredibly talented actor. I wish he would still be here to bring joy to our lives with remarkable movies. And what I really liked about this book was the way it gave a pretty good picture of his career, character development and not only his view also comments by directors, coworkers and close ones. I still dislike the way publicity treats Heath and other stars, how paparazzis ruin their private moments. But that's all on us, it's gone worse and probably won't get any better. So there were good things on this book, even it wasn't most enjoyable reading experience.