Though Heath Ledger‘s posthumous Oscar is currently housed at the Western Australian Museum in Perth, one day it will belong to the late actor’s daughter, Matilda.
“At the end of the day, everything is there for Matilda, and when she can take possession of it, it’s all hers,” Heath’s father, Kim Ledger, revealed in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Heath and Matilda in 2007 (left) and Matilda in 2014 (right).
Matilda, now 10, was just a toddler when Heath sadly passed away at age 28 from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January 2008. The Brokeback Mountain star and his then-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, 35, dated from 2004 until 2007 and welcomed daughter Matilda in October 2005.
The actor’s dad, Kim, 66, previously accepted Heath’s posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar — awarded for his performance as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight — at the 2009 Academy Awards.
Kim (center) with Heath’s mother and sister at the 2009 Oscars.
“Bittersweet is probably the best way I can describe that night,” Kim said. “It was only a year and a month since [Heath’s] 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,” he added.
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