The Legends of tomorrow .......
.......are today's stars who carry on the legacy
of the past
and keep the promises
of the future.
Legends
of the Golden Age…. the golden age is now a part of history. It
began with Edison and Eastman and ended with the collapse of the studio
system and the rapid rise of television. The stars of that age are almost
gone now and it is time to pass the torch.
Legends
of the New Age…….Those fabulous actors who came after the
golden age had passed but who have gone on, leaving behind a remarkable
body of work. They have now become legends in our time and deserve their
own place in history.
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Legends
of tomorrow………..They are the talented actors of
today piling up treasures to insure their place in cinematic history.
You have chosen them to be in this honored group. ( also read “What Makes a Legend” Issue #19, Readers Page)
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In Memoriam…
Heath Ledger |
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He was a young man in a hurry. At 16 he took his graduation exams early and left school to follow his dream. Did he sense even then that his time on earth would be so tragically short?
Heath Andrew Ledger was born on April 11th, 1979 in Perth, Western Australia, the second child and only son of Kim and Sally Ledger. Both he and his older sister Catherine were named for their mother’s favorite Emily Bronte characters in “Wuthering Heights”. Sally was a French teacher and Kim was a mining engineer in his family’s business when he wasn’t racing cars. They divorced when Heath was 11 and both remarried giving Heath 2 half-sisters …Ashleigh (Bell) and Olivia.
When he was only 10 years old, our young man in a hurry had his first encounter with a dream that would last a lifetime. He starred in the Guildford Grammar School production of “Peter Pan” (he also won the state junior chess championship that same year). At 16 he took his graduation exams early and left school with his pal Trevor DiCarlo to drive cross country to Sydney looking for acting jobs but they returned to Perth a few months later where Heath picked up a role as a gay cyclist in the television series “Sweat”. In 1996 not long after his 17th birthday, Shaun Cassidy gave him the role of Conor, a young Irish chieftain in the Fox television fantasy-drama “Roar” being filmed in Queensland. While the show was short-lived with only 13 episodes, Heath’s performance won favorable reviews.In 1997, he made his big-screen debut in the Australian film “Blackrock” and ,in 1999, he won the Australian Film Institute nomination as Best Leading Actor for his role as Jimmy in “Two Hands”.
 "A Knight's Tale" |
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From 2000 to 2005 Heath starred in one hit movie after another, gaining attention for his performances and covering a lot of territory at the same time. He shone as Gabriel Martin, Mel Gibson’s son in “The Patriot” (curiously filmed in part at the Botany Bay Plantation in South Carolina), “Monster’s Ball” on location in Louisiana, “Four Feathers” done in London, “A Knight’s Tale” and “The Brothers Grimm” filmed in the Czech Republic and then back home to Victoria, Eastern Australia for “Ned Kelly” (he was nominated for the Australian Film Institute Best Actor award for that one). Then in May, 2004, Heath went to Canada to begin filming his most memorable film, “Brokeback Mountain”.
 "Brokeback Mountain" |
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It was on the set of “…Mountain” that Heath met and fell in love with actress Michele Williams. Their relationship only lasted 3 years but gave Heath, his greatest joy….daughter Matilda Rose born October 28th, 2005. He sold his home in Bronte, New South Wales and moved to Brooklyn, New York with Michele to await the birth of their baby. Even after the break-up Heath spent as much time as he could with Matilda.
 Heath and Matilda |
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“Brokeback Mountain” was released to the public in December, 2007 but the buzz was already thunderous. It was controversial enough to get audiences to the theater and exceptional enough to keep them coming back. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said… “Ledger’s magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides”. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote: “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character…a great screen performance as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn”. Heath was nominated for a 2005 Best Actor Oscar for the film, one of the youngest actors to do so. He was 26…but he hadn’t done all he wanted to do.
 Heath and Michele at the Oscars |
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 "The Dark Knight" |
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By mid-2007 Heath had several more films ready to be released and had just finished “The Dark Knight” ( a Batman sequel with Christian Bale as Batman and Heath as the Joker). He also had another dream….he wanted to be a film director someday and had started down that road with music videos and one short film. And watching Matilda grow was now his greatest dream of all. But tragically time had run out.
On January 22nd, 2008 Heath Andrew Ledger was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. A light in cinema’s heavens suddenly burned out…and our young man in a hurry had become, much too soon, a legend in our time.
 Neighborhood memorial |
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Note: “The Dark Knight” is finished and set for release in July, 2008. However, heath was not able to complete his last project “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”. Director Terry Gilliam has proposed using 3 actors to take over the same role ....Johnny Depp, Colin Firth and Jude Law to protect Heath’s last performance. This would be an innovative approach if it is approved.
The “Watch” Box….. |
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Alex O’Loughlin |
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Born: August 24th, 1976 in Canberra, Australia. Thank you Australia!
Graduated from: The National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney
 Alex and Sophia Myles..star-crossed lovers |
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Alex is currently playing the sexy vampire Mick St. John in the television series “Moonlight” opposite British actress Sophia Myles, But he has an impressive acting resume. His film debut came in 2004 as Jack Flange in “The Oyster Farmer” and, in 2005 he was nominated for the Australian Film Institute’s “Best Lead Actor in Television” Award for his role as Will in the mini-series “The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant”. Now living in Los Angeles , his latest film is “August Rush” while his next one “Whiteout” with Kate Beckinsale is waiting release. This young actor is a candidate for some of those heart-stopping romantic movies like they used to make! Thank you, Sydney, Australia!
David Conrad |
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Born: August 17th, 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Graduated from: Brown University and Juilliard
 They talk to ghosts! |
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He is that hunky paramedic who is married to a gal that talks to ghosts on the television series “Ghost Whisperer”. The gal, of course, is Jennifer Love Hewitt. David has done 10 feature films as well as oodles of stage and television roles. He was Tony Croft in :Return to Paradise” (1998), Capt. Hanks in “Men of Honor” (2000), Dr. Philip Reed in “Anything Goes” (2003), Trap in “the Wedding Crashers” (2005) and Ryan Bradford in “Crazy” (2007). He was also a vampire in “Darkness” in 1993 (what is it about vampire roles?). When he has free time, he goes back to his hometown (Arabella’s hometown, too) to work on a documentary he is producing and help out with community projects. David’s another candidate for romantic leading man. Be still my heart!