The Joker

Heath Ledger’s Family Will Rob Matilda of Oscar

Yesterday as they were landing at LAX, the family of the late Heath Ledger was asked if daughter Matilda Ledger would get the Oscar for his inevitable win as supporting actor for his role of the Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

Per The Envelope:

“Oh, yeah, down the line. We’ll keep it for her forever!” Said Heaths’ father Kim.

Um… what? The academy requires that posthumously bestowed Oscars go to the late person’s spouse or a child of legal age. Therefore, that award technically will belong to Matilda, and her mother Michelle Williams should accept the award on her daughters behalf. Although, that would create a sticky situation given the fact that Williams and Ledger were estranged at the time of his death and the two never married. The only thing stopping little Matilda from going up there on stage to accept that award is the fact that she is only 3 years old. You can bet your bottom dollar if she was older, she’d proudly go up there and accept that award on behalf of her father. Keeping the award will break the agreement the Ledgers made with the academy.

Per The Envelope:

“It’s complicated, because there are two different questions that have to be answered. First, we have to decide who gets the job of accepting the award onstage on the night of the ceremony. And then there’s the question of the eventual disposition of the posthumous statuette, which may not stay with the person who accepts it.” says Bruce Davis, Academy Executive Director. “In the event that Heath Ledger should be selected as the supporting actor recipient, the statuette will be held in trust for his daughter by her mother, Michelle Williams, until Matilda reaches the age of 18. At that point, she may execute what we call an heir’s agreement and keep the statuette forever — or, if she chooses not to do that, it will return to us.”

So what about the actors Screen Actors Guild Award that was won not too long ago? According to SAG Awards producer Kathy Connell, they are still holding it until the proper paperwork can be filled out. And what about his Golden Globe award? The Hollywood Foreign Press Association says they shipped Heath’s Golden Globe over to the office of his publicist Mara Buxbaum. Or what about his Critics Choice award? Supposedly, it was shipped to Warner Bros. awards office. But when asked, they claimed they don’t have it, and to ask Ms. Buxbaum for an official statement. Hmmm… so all of Heath’s awards are nowhere to be found… Interesting.

So why is the Ledger family being so shady with his awards? His daughter is his sole heir, and therefore should have her father’s belongings. With the way Heath obviously loved his daughter, you can assume he’d want her to have them. Matilda lost her daddy at such a young age – shouldn’t she at least have things to remember him by?

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Images Via: Pacific Coast News

Oscar Nominations Full List – Heath Ledger Gets a Nod

The Academy Award nominations are in! At the crack of dawn today the 2009 Oscar contenders were announced.

One year ago Heath Ledger passed away at the height of his career. January 22, 2008 was a viscously sad day as the burning talent of Ledger was gone all too soon. It is bittersweet that his role in “The Dark Knight” as the Joker has earned him an Oscar nomination. Today, a year later, friends and family are still grieving and healing. Let’s hope that this recognition can give them something to further their pride in Heath and provide a small light to focus on.

The nomination predictions for big categories like Best Picture were theorized to go to “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button“. Actresses like Kate Winslet (who won 2 Golden Globes this year) and Angelina Jolie were also up for accolades in early predictions. So how did they fair?

2009 Academy Award Nominees:

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz – “Vicky Cristna Barcelona”
Viola Davis – “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei – “The Wrestler”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin – “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr. – “Tropic Thunder”
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – “Doubt”
Heath Ledger – “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon – “Relolutionary Road”

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway – “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie – “The Changeling”
Melissa Leo – “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep – “Doubt”
Kate Winslet “ The Reader”

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins – “The Visitor”
Frank Langella – “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn – “Milk”
Brad Pitt – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke – “The Wrestler”

Best Director
David Fincher – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard – “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant – “Milk”
Stephen Daldry – “The Reader”
Danny Boyle – “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Screen Play
Courtney Hunt – “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh – “Happy Go Luck”
Martin McDonough – “In Bruge”
Dustin Lance Black – “Milk”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter – “Wall-E”

Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord – “Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley – “Doubt”
Peter Morgan – “Frost/Nixon”
David Hare – “The Reader”
Simon Beaufoy – “Slumdog Millionaire”

Foreign Language
“Der Baader Meinhof Komplex”
“The Class”
“Departures”
“Revanche”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Animated Film
“Bolt”
“Kung Fun Panda”
“WALL-E”

The Rest of the 2009 Academy Award Nominations List After the Fold – Click “Read More…”

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