Officials in Heath Ledger’s Australian hometown have named a theater after him.

The $87 million, 575-seat Heath Ledger Theater in Perth will honor the late actor’s commitment to acting, Western Australia state Premier Alan Carpenter said at a naming ceremony Tuesday.

“Heath Ledger was totally dedicated to the craft of being an actor and that’s what made him successful,” Carpenter said, according to the Associated Press. “I think what we’re doing is continuing that support for young people who want to make a career in the arts and acting, stage and in film, whatever it happens to be.”

Kim Ledger — the actor’s father who attended Tuesday’s ceremony — said “there’s not a lot of things [Heath] would put his name to, but he’d put his name to that.”

Kim added that his family plans to attend The Dark Night premiere in NYC later this month. (A rep for Michelle Williams recently denied reports that the actress is boycotting the film’s premiere because she is feuding with Ledger’s family.)

Ledger — who died of an accidental prescription drug overdose at age 28 in January — is already generating Oscar buzz for his role as the Joker.

“If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976′s Network, sign me up,” Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers writes.

In the film’s credits, Ledger will be acknowledged with Conway Wickliffe, a special-effects technician on the film who died in a stunt in September.

“In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe,” the credit reads, according to Warner Bros. publicity Web site.

Co-star Christian Bale recently told Details Ledger was “a good man, and I was glad to have spent time with him.”

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Christian Bale has said that he knew he and Heath Ledger “connected on a deep level” before they had even finished shooting their first scene together.

The Dark Knight co-stars had never worked together before they started shooting the new Batman movie.

But Bale told Britain’s Mail On Sunday newspaper that they immediately shared an “incredibly intense” scene — before collapsing into uncontrollable giggles!

“I knew Heath’s work and I thought he was good,” he told the paper. “But you can’t really judge an actor until you work with them.

“Our first scene together was an interrogation between Batman and the Joker.

“We were put into this small room with all these two-way mirrors. It was just us. It was incredibly intense and everything we did we could see reflected in the mirrors.

“There was an unbelievable amount of energy and tension in the room, and then out of nowhere came this hysterical laughter.

“Both of us were laughing madly. Looking back on it, I think it was because we both had this feeling that we connected on a deep level.

“We had this very similar approach – completely intense – and there was something so extreme it just came out as laughter.”

The American Psycho star dismissed the calls for the movie to be shelved out of respect for Heath, who died on January 22.

“I know there are a lot of people out there who don’t think this movie should be shown,” he said. ‘But if you’re asking my opinion, I think that’s bloody insane. I also think it’s an insult to Heath and everything he stood for.”

The Dark Knight is released July 18.

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One of the first reviews of The Dark Knight hails Heath Ledger’s performance of the Joker as Oscar-worthy.

“I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker,” Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers writes.

“It’s typical of Ledger’s total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I’m Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked,” Travers continues.

“Ledger’s Joker has no gray areas — he’s all rampaging id,” the critic says. “He creates a Joker for the ages”

“No plastic mask for Ledger,” Travers describes. “His face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell.”

Travers says the performance makes him an Oscar contender.

“If there’s a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976′s Network, sign me up,” he writes.

The actor – who died at age 28 of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January – will be honored in the end credits of the film.

Ledger will be acknowledged along with Conway Wickliffe, a special-effects technician on the film who died in a stunt in September.

“In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe,” the credit reads, according to Warner Bros. publicity Web site.

Dark Knight star Christian Bale opens up about working with Ledger in the new issue of Parade.

“He was a unique character, a very infectious character,” Bale says. “He was a good man, and I was glad to have spent time with him.”

The film opens July 18.

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Michelle Williams has dismissed reports she is snubbing the premiere of The Dark Knight because of a bust-up with her late boyfriend Heath Ledger’s parents.

Reports suggest Williams wouldn’t attend the screening of Ledger’s last complete film, because she is angry with Ledger’s father Kim’s handling of the actor’s estate.

But her representative Mara Buxbaum insists the claim is “absurd”.

She tells People.com, “The presumption that Michelle ever intended to attend The Dark Knight premiere is unfounded, but to say she is ‘boycotting’ due to a rift with Heath’s family is absurd. It is time to allow this family to go about their lives without this continued scrutiny and speculation.”

Ledger’s parents and sister will jet to New York from their home in Australia to attend the premiere on July 14th – six months after Ledger took a fatal overdose of prescription drugs at his Manhattan home.

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WENN

Heath Ledger’s former girlfriend Michelle Williams is snubbing the premiere of his final complete film, after reportedly falling out with the actor’s family over her daughter’s inheritance.

The actor’s family is scheduled to make the trip from Australia back to New York – where the star died from an accidental overdose in January – for the screening of Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight on July 14th.

But Williams, the mother of his two year old daughter Matilda, won’t be with them, according to the New York Post.

The newspaper claims Williams has fallen out with Ledger’s father Kim, who is the executor of the late actor’s estate.

A source tells the newspaper, “Michelle is furious with Heath’s family and threatening to boycott the premiere. Matilda is supposed to be the beneficiary of the will, but Michelle has seen nothing from them. Heath didn’t have much in cash, but there was a big house in LA and a back-end deal for ‘Dark Knight’ (that) could reap millions.”

Ledger left just $145,000 when he died, but recent reports claimed he created a trust for his daughter that includes a $3.1 million home in Los Angeles, a $2 million property nearby and a duplex in Brooklyn, New York – currently valued at $4.5 million.

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A heart symbol tragic Heath Ledger scribbled on a letter to director Terry Gilliam’s daughter Holly has been turned into a tribute tattoo by the cast and crew of his final film.

Gilliam brought the letter to the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus shortly after the Aussie actor died of an accidental overdose in January. Ledger was shooting the fantasy film when he passed away.

And Mini-Me Verne Troyer and select castmates decided to get Ledger’s heart symbol duplicated and turned into a tattoo.

Troyer, who wears his heart on his right hand, says, “A lot of us went and copied that heart and had it tattooed in remembrance to Heath. We had it copied identical to how he scribbled it.”

He reveals one of the people who chose to honor Ledger with the tattoo was the recipient of his heartfelt letter, Gilliam’s daughter.

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Sienna Miller has a special way of remembering her late pal Heath Ledger – she wears a pair of pajamas the actor once gave to her.

The British beauty starred opposite Ledger in 2005′s Casanova and the pair became close, socializing with each other after the film had wrapped.

And Ledger gave Miller the comfortable bedwear when she got soaked after falling in the rain after a night out with him and her mother in Venice.

She tells Britain’s Telegraph magazine, “Heath and I had this amazing night out in Venice with my mother. It had been pouring with rain. Heath ran out in the middle of St. Mark’s square and we were running around, and I slipped over.

“We all ran back to his (apartment) and he gave me these dry pajamas to get home in.”

And the star repaid the favor two years later, when the Brokeback Mountain star struggled to sleep while staying at her house.

She explains, “When he came over to my house last November, and he was having trouble sleeping, I gave them back, to help him sleep.”

Ledger, who was found dead at his New York apartment in January, was said to have struggled with sleeping, which led him to overdose on the prescribed medication which killed him.

And Miller was so devastated after hearing about Ledger’s death earlier this year, she asked his father Kim to send the pyjamas to her so she would have a keepsake to remember him by.

She adds, “When he died, I was so sad that I didn’t have these stupid pajamas anymore, so his father found them to give to me.”

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