who did heath ledger based the joker off of
The Joker (The Dark Knight) The Joker is a fictional supervillain from American comic book publisher DC Comics and the main antagonist in Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight. He was portrayed by late Australian actor Heath Ledger. Ledger's interpretation of the character is specifically influenced by the graphic novels Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. In the film, he wears the character's traditional color palette, while his facial appearance includes clown makeup that covers facial scars of a Glasgow smile.
Heath Ledger Ledger died on 22 January 2008[5][1] from an accidental intoxication from prescription drugs.[7][8][9] A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. His death occurred during editing of The Dark Knight and in the midst of filming his last role as Tony in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. His untimely death cast a shadow over the subsequent promotion of the $185 million Batman production.[10] Ledger received numerous posthumous accolades for his critically acclaimed performance in the film, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards (for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously),[11] the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture,[12] and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.[4]