Heath Ledger’s father speaks about son’s posthumous Oscar win for The Dark Knight
With the 2016 Oscars this weekend, it’s a good time for looking back at the rich history of the awards ceremony. Some of the memories aren’t all happy, of course, as Kim Ledger recalls his son’s posthumous Oscar win for The Dark Knight in 2009.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the delicate subject, 66 year-old Kim revealed his family’s thoughts and feelings at the time of the win, when Heath Ledger was awarded the Best Supporting Actor statuette for his role as the infamous Batman villain, the Joker, and for which they accepted the award on his behalf.
‘Bittersweet is probably the best way I can describe that night… It was only a year and a month since his passing. We hadn’t got our heads around the tragedy of losing him, but at the same time, he was receiving such accolades for what he knew was his best work… It was peer recognition that was important to Heath and the Oscar was the epitome of that.’
Kim also explained that the golden statuette itself, which usually resides at the Western Australian Museum in Perth but has temporarily been ‘retrieved’, will eventually make its way to Ledger’s 10 year-old daughter Matilda.