Heath Ledger and the Sensitive Actor

The death of Aussie actor Heath Ledger has a familiar and sad ring to it. Ledger has established himself as an actor of depth and range. One has only to compare his roles in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and CASANOVA as proof. As the reluctant gay cowboy in Ang Lee's heartbreakingly honest film, Ledger gave his finest and most wrenching performance. As Casanova, Ledger underplayed the famous roue and gave the character a winning sympathy the real Casanova probably doesn't deserve.
One thinks of other troubled but promising young actors--River Phoenix, Sal Mineo, and, especially Montgomery Clift. Clift gave a series of brilliant performances that seemed wrenched from his tortured personal life: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, RED RIVER, and A PLACE IN THE SUN. Though Clift lived longer than Ledger and the others, he basically died when he crashed his car during the filming of RAINTREE COUNTY. He was never the same again.
No matter what the circumstances of their deaths, these young actors lived in a time when sensitivity and self-expression are more and more difficult.