Heath Ledger was born April 4th, 1979 in Perth, Western Australia. He began acting at age 10 in a local theatre company. While acting in such theatre groups as the Globe Shakespeare Company and the Midnight Youth Acting Company, Ledger also started to pick up roles on several Australian television series. In 1997 he made his first appearance in the USA, starring in the TV series 'Roar.' After the show was cancelled due to bad ratings, Ledger took on a role in the independent film 'Paws', but it would be two more years before he caught his big break when, in 1999, he took on the lead role in the hit movie '10 Things I Hate About You'. The movie brought him a lot of recognition which led to his even bigger 2000 role as Gabriel Edward Martin in the blockbuster 'The Patriot'.

from www.starpulse.com