Heath Ledger
The Australian actor and director died in 2008 at the age of 28 from an overdose of prescription medication. He'd had his breakout performance in the 1999 romantic comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" and went on to star in "The Patriot" and "Brokeback Mountain". Unfortunately, he never got to see his final project on the big screen, since he died before the release of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight". What a pity, it probably was the best performance of his career...