Matilda inherits father’s legacy

HEATH LEDGER’S POSTHUMOUS Golden Globe for his performance in Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight will be given to his daughter, People magazine reported Monday.

By (Reuters)

Published: Wed 14 Jan 2009, 9:12 PM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 11:30 PM

Ledger’s mother, Sally Bell, said in an interview on the magazine’s website that her son’s award for his portrayal of arch-villain Joker would be a ‘fantastic legacy’ for three-year-old Matilda.

“I should imagine that eventually it will be going to Matilda,” Bell was quoted as saying from her home in Perth, Australia, a day after Ledger was honored in Beverly Hills.

“At this stage she is only so young, but down the track she will have all these things. It will belong to her because she is part of him.”

“It is such a fantastic and wonderful legacy for his daughter. Matilda will have so many people who will be able to speak to her about her father’s abilities and (the) respect he had in the industry.

“That is such a wonderful legacy to leave,” she said.

Ledger, who died of an accidental drugs overdose last year aged 28, is now regarded as the odds-on favourite to win the best supporting actor Oscar at the Academy Awards on February 22.

On Sunday, The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan accepted Ledger’s award saying the actor’s death had “ripped a hole in the future of cinema.”

“All of us who worked with Heath on ‘The Dark Knight’ accept this with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride,” Nolan said.

“For any of us lucky enough to work with him, I think for any of us lucky enough to enjoy his performances, he will be eternally missed, but he will never be forgotten,” he added.