R.I.P. Heath Ledger

As many of you have already heard, Heath Ledger passed away yesterday afternoon in New York City at the age of 28, leaving behind family, a young daughter and legions of fans.

Heath began acting at the age of 10 in a local theater company in Perth, playing Peter Pan. Several years later he moved his career from Australia to Hollywood, and began rising in the public eye with attention grabbing roles in The Patriot and Monster's Ball.

He then starred in many period pieces and began to forge a career as a potentially brilliant character actor, following in the footsteps of people like Gary Oldman, one of the great character actors of our day. And this more than anything is what set him apart.
In this day and age in Hollywood tired veterans like Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson etc, are still hailed as masters despite the fact that they have essentially not done anything but play the same role in each movie they are in for the last 15 years and young Hollywood seems more concerned with getting in the tabloids for behaving like brats in front of The Roosevelt rather than honing acting careers.
In this regard Heath stood out, which is why I think his sudden departure has grabbed so many peoples attention. He stood out for being dedicated to the art of acting, and had already shown impressive talent in the field, choosing roles that were complicated and challenging, like his recent role in Brokeback Mountain.
And then there is what will be his final role as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie, which was already being hailed by comic book and movie fans as the penultimate interpretation of the character. If a career is going to end in a tragic way, then you could say it couldn't end better with being known for playing one of the biggest icons in pop culture history.

But rather than continue to make this an editorial on the loss of what he could be, let's just show off how deviantART, the community, pays tribute best. With art.