In fact, I've only seen him in three movies.

He was good in "The Patriot," and "10 Things I Hate About You" was fine.

But I just didn't know a lot about him.

But now I can say -- after adding "The Dark Knight" to the list of Ledger films I've seen -- that he was indeed a brilliant actor.

People always hear about how actors immerse themselves into roles. For example, Robert DeNiro is famous for so getting into roles.

If Ledger delved deep for the role of The Joker in "The Dark Knight," it was a good thing.

I'm old enough to actually remember going to a theater to see the first "Batman" movie.

I was a teenager when the movie came out.

I remember why I wanted to see it so badly.

I had been a fan of the television show. I was (and still am) a huge fan of Prince music and with him doing the soundtrack, it just sounded like it would be a really cool movie to check out before the end of summer.

I think it was 1989, but I'm not really sure on that.

The original movie was good.

Prince's soundtrack was excellent.

Michael Keaton was good as Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Kim Baysinger was good as Vickie Vale.

But Jack Nicholson as The Joker stole the show. In practically every scene he was in, the camera gravitated to him as if he were a magnet.

In "The Dark Knight," the same thing happened.

Unlike Ledger, I actually am a fan of Christian Bale, although I've only seen him in six movies.

"The Dark Knight," "Batman Begins," "Equilibrium," "Reign of Fire," "American Psycho," and "Velvet Goldmine," are the films I've seen Bale in.

He was good in all of them.

His turn as Bruce Wayne/Batman is arguably the best yet on the big screen.

Keaton was good, but only good. Val Kilmer took the reigns from Keaton and did well. George Clooney? Well, he should have probably have passed as his version was arguably the worst Batman portrayal ever.

But -- even as good as Bale is -- Ledger stole the movie.

If there is one disappointing element to "The Dark Knight," it's that Ledger isn't on the screen enough. There's simply not enough of The Joker.

Nicholson added the campiness of the television show to his version of The Joker.

But Ledger, well, his version is clearly more psychopathic. In "The Dark Knight," the best part of The Joker is you really feel how sinister this villain truly is. He is sadistic.

That's what makes Ledger's performance worth talking about. Worth remembering. He delved completely into the role, submersed himself into purple, white face makeup and lots of green and red lipstick.

It was and is a fitting swan song.