One of Heath Ledger’s estranged uncles claims that the late actor may have fathered a love child when he was a teenager, according to a report in Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

When he was just 17 years old, Ledger reportedly dated a 25-year-old woman – who discovered she was pregnant after the relationship ended and later gave birth to baby girl. Although the woman was living with another man at the time, Ledger’s uncle Hadyn claimed to the paper, “There is a very real possibility that Heath was the father.”

The actor – who died in January at the age of 28, following an accidental overdose of prescription drugs – has a daughter, Matilda, with actress Michelle Williams.

His will, written before Matilda’s birth, left his entire estate to his parents and three sisters. Although his father, Kim, has promised Williams and the 2-year-old “will be taken care of,” the uncertainty surrounding the will has reignited a family feud between Kim and his three estranged brothers.

The long-simmering tensions date back more than 15 years, when Kim was made executor of his grandfather Sir Frank Ledger’s $2-million estate. “It plunged into enormous debt,” Mike Ledger, one of Kim’s brothers, told People. (According to Australia’s The Sunday Times, a Supreme Court judge eventually removed Kim from overseeing the estate.)

The brothers now claim Kim is not capable of managing the late Oscar nominee’s considerable assets.

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Michelle Williams’ father has cast doubt on the handling of Heath Ledger’s estate by the late star’s dad Kim, and has called for the family to publicly state the true value of the actor’s personal fortune.

The Brokeback Mountain actor left all of his assets to parents Kim and Sally and older sister Kate, having filed his will in Australia in April 2003 – two years prior to birth of his daughter, Matilda, with then-girlfriend, actress Williams. Kim has since assured that both Williams and two-year-old Matilda will be financially “taken care of”, but Larry Williams wants to know exactly how much Heath was worth at the time of his death so that his girls are not cheated out of any money.

A series of documents filed in Manhattan, New York’s Surrogate’s Court earlier this month shows Ledger had less than $145,000 worth of assets in New York at the time, including a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture. But Larry is sure Heath had other riches, which the family have yet to declare.

Speaking to Australia’s The Sunday Telegraph, Larry says, “It’s real simple: just come clean with everything. It’s so easy to resolve this. “He just has to say where the income went and where the assets are. I’m certain that there is grieving in the Ledger family but (lawyers for) Kim have already filed papers in New York, so it seems like it’s time to be transparent about it. I have no idea what Heath Ledger was worth (but) they certainly haven’t stated all of the assets to the court.”

The Ledger family has yet to respond to Larry’s calls and actress Williams has also remained tight-lipped about her ex-fiance’s will. Larry’s demand comes just days after Heath’s uncles expressed fears about Kim’s ability to manage Heath’s estate adequately, citing his bad track record of financial management.

Heath Ledger’s uncles are speaking out against his father Kim’s handling of the actor’s assets, saying Kim has a bad track record of estate management.

Ledger’s father so mishandled the management of their grandfather’s estate 15 years ago in Australia that Kim was removed as executor, the uncles claim.

“It plunged into enormous debt,” Mike Ledger, one of Kim’s brothers, tells People.

Heath died in January at age 28 of an accidental mixture of prescription drugs – leaving behind a daughter, Matilda, by his ex, actress Michelle Williams. His will, written before his relationship with Williams, leaves everything to his parents and sisters.

Ledger’s uncle Mike insists the family has nothing to gain by removing Kim: “Our only vested interest is to assure that Matilda is well looked after.”

Mike added that Kim’s recent statement that Matilda “will be taken care of” was not enough assurance. “When you are talking about large sums of money like this,” he says, “it should be an independent executor, but Kim hasn’t chosen that way.”

Williams’s Father Raises Questions
Another of Kim’s brothers, Hayden, tells People that Williams’s father, Larry, asked him if Kim was capable of managing the actor’s estate. “I just said, ‘No, not if he handles it like ours,’ ” he says.

The bitter dispute among the brothers dates back more than 15 years, when Kim became an executor of their grandfather Sir Frank Ledger’s estate, which they estimate was worth about $2 million in the mid 1980s. The family patriarch was a respected engineer in Perth.

According to the newspaper The Australian, Frank’s daughters filed a motion in Supreme Court asking to have Kim removed as the executor. The submission to the court stated that Kim’s handling of his grandfather’s estate “placed the assets at risk.” A report in Australia’s The Sunday Times says that a Supreme Court judge eventually removed Kim from overseeing the estate.

Ledger Family Friend Defends Kim
Robert John Collins – an Australian executor of Heath’s will who has known the Ledger family for 30 years – said last week that Mike and Hayden’s allegations about Kim were “rubbish.”

Kim and his brothers have remained estranged since the dispute. In fact, Mike says that 17 family members weren’t even invited to attend Heath’s memorial and funeral in Perth.

“I’m his godfather,” Mike says. “We didn’t even have the ability or the opportunity to pay our last respects to Heath. And I tell you, that is terrible – that is so sad.”

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Echoing what other friends and co-workers have said about Heath Ledger, Dark Knight star Christian Bale says the late actor was “a joy” to work with.

“You know, I don’t like kind of trivializing the tragedy in conjunction with an interview to do with the movie, which is clearly far less important. But Heath was a joy,” the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. “He really was like that, because he was a very unique man. I enjoyed watching him work, working with him.”

Bale, who plays Batman opposite Ledger’s Joker, says that he appreciated his costar’s professionalism and dedication to the comic book tale.

“What was so great to see with Heath is just how seriously he took it,” says Bale. “And we don’t mean in any way to sound sort of pretentious with that, but just in the fact that if we don’t take it seriously, then how can any audience ever take it seriously? And he did one hell of a job.”

After watching a recent Warner Bros. presentation with clips from the film, which hits theater July 18, Bale added, “It gave me goose bumps throughout, looking at Heath up there. And I just hope that this can celebrate him, celebrate his work.”

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Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts, Ellen DeGeneres and several of Heath Ledger’s other close industry friends share fond memories of the late actor in the April issue of Interview magazine. Written as a conversation, the tribute remembers Ledger’s work ethic, his off-screen persona and his love of chess. Below are some excerpts from the article:

• Naomi Watts: “He was a huge, obsessive, chess freak – and very, very good at it.”

• Michelle Williams: “He had uncontrollable energy. He buzzed … His mind was turning, turning, turning – always turning.”

• Ellen DeGeneres: “He didn’t try to be something that he wasn’t. And I appreciated that.”

• Phillip Seymour Hoffman: “Whenever Heath talked about something he liked, he did it in the way that any fan would. He wasn’t somebody trying to cover up his excitement about something, or someone.”

• Todd Haynes: “That performance in Brokeback Mountain was such a sensitive, understated, controlled interpretation of this character. The entire emotional power of that film, which is enormous, resides in that performance, and how much Heath holds in.”

People

Producers working on Heath Ledger’s final film have vowed not to alter the tragic star’s last performance, even though the actor never got the chance to complete the project before his untimely death.

Work on The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus resumed on Monday after the Brokeback Mountain star’s death halted filming on the project earlier this year.

In his honor, Hollywood superstars Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law have signed up to feature in the film, which is due for release next year.

However, the film’s director Terry Gilliam and its producers have promised to preserve every detail of Ledger’s final performance, and that the hiring of the three new stars will not affect his work.

A statement released by the movie’s producers reads, “Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology. Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.”

Gilliam adds, “I am delighted that Heath’s brilliant performance can be shared with the world. “We are looking forward to finishing the movie and, through the film, with a modicum of humility, being able to touch people’s hearts and souls as Heath was able to do.”

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Heath Ledger’s family moved quickly to speak out Saturday after details of the late actor’s will were released – showing he had not updated it since his relationship with Michelle Williams and the 2005 birth of their daughter Matilda Rose.

“Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family,” Heath’s father Kim Ledger says in a statement. “They will be taken care of and that’s how Heath would want it to be.”

Ledger’s will – filed in Australia in April 2003, before Williams and before his Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain – left everything he owned to his parents and sister, New York’s Daily News reported Saturday. A series of documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court revealed that the actor had less than $145,000 in New York assets at the time, including a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture and fixtures.

Ledger’s rep quickly squashed any speculation that Williams and 2-year-old Matilda would not be provided for. “The story is getting taken out of context and media is speculating that this means Matilda and Michelle will not be taken care of. I want to make it very clear nothing could be farther from the truth.”

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