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I'm not sure how I managed to live so long before Heath was finally brought to my attention in the the 1999 movie "10 Things I Hate About You." He played a mysterious rebel with long, dirty brown hair and it was impossible to take your eyes off him.
It was just a simple teenage romantic comedy that was based loosely off Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew," but Heath turned it into a classic, at least for teenage girls such as myself at the time.
As his star started to rise in the ranks of Hollywood, in each of his movies he managed to top his last performance.
Heath was the best kind of young actor. The heartthrob who didn't want to be a heart throb. The good looking male lead who picked roles only that interested him. Heath was swiftly following in the footsteps of other wickedly talented actors that walked to the beat of their own drums, such as Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt.
And then it all came to a crash ing end on Jan. 22 when he was discovered dead in his apartment. And the mourning reached heights that had not been seen since James Dean's death.
It was almost too tragic to be real. Working in the news industry, I come across many stories that are tragic, but this one affected me even after I had turned off my computer and gone home for the day. Heath was dead? It just couldn't be.
For weeks, it was all Hollywood could talk about. But try as the media might to dig up some dirt on him, of drug abuse, womanizing, or mental instability, they still couldn't taint Heath's legacy. Because for whatever happened that infamous night, it doesn't change the fact that Heath was a rarity in Hollywood, an actor that comes along but once every great while. An actor who took his craft to ever-higher levels and seemed to be above the typical movie star pettiness.
Today, Heath will be brought back to life if only temporarily in his last role as The Joker as "The Dark Knight" premieres across the country. It's a role that was already getting buzz even before his death.
For many of us, this is a bitter sweet moment. This role will most likely be one of Heath's best, and yet, we will never know what else he was capable of.
But dwelling on what could have been has never changed what is. And so all we can do is sit back, enjoy our popcorn and let Heath do what he always did best: transport us to another world through his talent.
We'll miss you Heath. And you will forever remain in our hearts.
Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at VictoriaAdvocate.com.