“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t talk about him.”
Heath Ledger’s sister Kate has paid an emotional tribute to the late actor ahead of the tenth anniversary of his death.
The Australian actor tragically passed away in January 2008 from an accidental overdose. He was 28 years old.
Kate told how her family keeps the A Knight’s Tale star’s memory preserved, and how he is “very much alive in our house.”
She told WHO magazine:
“Heath is hugely important in the lives of my children. There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t share stories or talk about him. He is very much alive in our house.
“It’s especially difficult to see his moving images on screen and hear his voice, something which we as a family have had to learn to cope with constantly.
“But it’s a blessing that we have all the images and footage so that we can share a part of him with our girls.”
Kate said that the Ledger family keep “in constant contact” with Heath’s former partner Michelle Williams, with whom he shared his daughter, Matilda.
On their relationship with the pair, she said:
“We keep in constant contact with Michelle and Matilda and visit frequently. She is an amazing girl and a source of delight to us all.”
She recalled how she spoke to her brother every day, no matter where in the world they were, after he moved to California in the ’90s.
She added:
“We spoke almost every day regardless of where Heath was in the world or what he was doing.
“Our conversations ranged from talking about projects to what we were having for dinner. Nothing was off limits.”
Since his death in 2008, the Ledger family have set up the Heath Ledger Scholarship – which is awarded annually to a promising Australian actor.
On the scholarship, which was created through the organisation Australians In Film, Kate added:
“The Heath Ledger Scholarship supports young Australian actors making their international career transition to Hollywood.
“Heath himself helped so many of his Aussie actor mates by letting them stay at his house when in L.A. It is with this same generosity we continue the legacy.”
