By now, the untimely passing of Heath Ledger yesterday has been widely reported everywhere; all that’s left at this point is for the details about his death to emerge, to cast a negative light on an actor who – I thought, at least – had done a better job than most in-demand young stars at keeping his off-screen private life private.

Whatever happened to cut his life so tragically short, though, the fact remains that Ledger did some amazing work in what ended up being an unfortunately brief career. Comfortable playing both charismatic action heroes (A Knight’s Tale, The Patriot) and fraught, conflicted dramatic characters (Brokeback Mountain, Monster’s Ball), Ledger lent appeal and gravity to even his less successful projects. I’ll admit I was pretty skeptical when he was unexpectedly chosen to play The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Dark Knight, but from everything I’ve seen so far, even that iconic and challenging role – one of the only villains Ledger ever played – seemed to be well within his range. It’s a performance I’m still very much looking forward to seeing, although now the surefire summer blockbuster will be emotionally affecting in ways the filmmakers definitely didn’t intend.

I’d like to think Ledger’s death might be some kind of wake-up call to other talented performers with great careers still ahead of them, but somehow I doubt it will be – so all I can say, pretty much, is what a shame.