HIS sad passing drew the curtain on his promising film career but Heath Ledger is poised for his first Oscar after his role as in the upcoming Batman movie scored him the most influential praise yet.

In his critique this week of the upcoming flick The Dark Knight, Rolling Stone magazine's film editor Peter Travers has called for Ledger to be awarded the ultimate acting gong for his performance.

Describing his portrayal of The Joker as "mad-crazy-blazing brilliant," Travers flagged an Academy push for the posthumous prize.

"It's typical of Ledger's total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I'm Not There that he did nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked."

"Ledger's Joker has no gray areas - he's all rampaging id," he writes. "He creates a Joker for the ages."

The Aussie actor, who died from an accidental drug overdose in January, had been nervous over the anticipation for the film and the role most famously portrayed by the great Jack Nicholson.

Comparisons aside, Travers has championed Ledger for his own Oscar gold.

"If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's Network, then sign me up."

Ledger and a special-effects technician, who also died before the superhero movie's release, will be remembered with a joint, onscreen dedication.

The four-line tribute, "In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe," will roll in the end credits, Warner Bros said yesterday.

The Dark Knight opens next month.

Source: The Daily Telegraph