Ledger acted in the role of the comic book villain The Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight". This movie follows the 2005 movie "Batman Begins". The movie was released on July 18, 2008. He was given respect and many awards for how well he acted in this movie, even though he died six months before it was shown in movie theaters. Some of these awards were the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.