Ledger Gets Posthumous Oscar Nomination

NEW YORK -- One year after his death, Heath Ledger earned an Oscar nomination for his role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight."

Ledger had long been a favorite in the best supporting actor category throughout the awards season even though the "The Dark Knight" was shut out of all other major categories by the Motion Picture Academy.

If Ledger wins, he will join Sidney Howard and Peter Finch as Oscar winners who were awarded posthumously. Howard won for his screenplay "Gone With The Wind" in 1939 and Finch won the best actor award for his role in the 1976 movie "Network."

One year ago, Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan apartment by a housekeeper. The New York City medical examiner's office eventually ruled the actor's death as an accidental overdose of prescription medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills.

The Australian-born actor was 28.

Ledger left behind his daughter, Matilda, who he fathered with actress Michelle Williams. The couple lived in Brooklyn together until they split up in 2007.

"My heart is broken," Williams said in a statement a week after Ledger's death. "I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day."

Ledger's roles included the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball" and he had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot." He was nominated for an Oscar for the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain."

Ledger appeared in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan.

Ledger told The New York Times in an interview that he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the newspaper. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said.

Ledger's death affected the production Terry Gilliam's forthcoming film “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” Gilliam temporarily suspended production but expressed determination to "salvage" the film. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell signed on to take over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of his character, Tony. The three actors donated their fees for the film to Ledger's daughter.

Ledger posthumously won a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in the second Batman film. Nolan accepted the award on his behalf.