Heath Ledger was known for helping out young Australian actors hoping to make it big in Hollywood. He'd offer them a couch to sleep on in his Hollywood Hills home or advice over a beer.

Ledger's helping hand will continue, despite the 28-year-old's shock death in January in Manhattan from an accidental prescription drug overdose.

Hollywood-based organisation, Australians in Film (AIF), along with Ledger's family, have created a scholarship.

The Heath Ledger Scholarship Fund will be presented annually to a young Australian-based actor to help them pursue their dream in Hollywood.

"Los Angeles is a tough place to break through and can be daunting for young Aussies," AIF president Susie Dobson told AAP on Wednesday.

"Heath was always ready to help out young Aussies and his family is extremely happy that this scholarship will continue do so in his name."

AIF, a seven-year-old organisation for expatriate Australians in the US entertainment industry, boasts Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush and Mel Gibson among its 30 ambassadors.

The first scholarship recipient will be announced in 2009.

Its financial worth is still to be finalised, but Dobson said it could help the actor pay for acting classes, rent or other significant costs.

AIF also honours young Australian actors each year at its annual Breakthrough Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills.

Australian actresses Abbie Cornish, 25, and Mia Wasikowska, 17, will be honoured at this year's ceremony on June 5.

Cornish was first recognised in the US for her award-winning role in the 2004 independent Australian film, Somersault, and has gone on to star in Elizabeth: the Golden Age, with Cate Blanchett; the Iraq war drama Stop Loss, opposite Ryan Philippe; and will soon be seen in Jane Campion's new film, Bright Star.

Wasikowska, from Canberra, first appeared in the Australian hit television series All Saints.

Her Hollywood breakthrough role came in the HBO psychotherapist TV drama In Treatment and her upcoming movies include, Defiance, alongside Daniel Craig and the biopic, Amelia, about legendary pilot Amelia Earhart and co-starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.

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Australians in Film, the L.A.-based organization for ex-pat Australians in the entertainment industry, has established the Heath Ledger Scholarship Fund, to be given annually to a young Australian-based actor to help them pursue a career in Hollywood. Ledger was an AIF ambassador before his tragic loss in January (08).

The scholarship fund in Ledger's name has the full support of Ledger's family. Gregor Jordan, a longtime friend of Heath's who directed the young actor in "Ned Kelly" and "Two Hands," will read statements of support from Heath's family at AIF's 4th annual Breakthrough Awards on June 5.

The Breakthrough Awards will be held at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. Mira Wasikowska (HBO's "In Treatment") and Abbie Cornish ("Stop Loss"), who starred with Ledger in "Candy" (2006), will receive the awards, Golden Boomerangs, that night.

Ironically, long before AIF was founded, Susie Dobson, AIF president, met Heath Ledger at the Avalon during an InStyle party in 2000.

"Someone told me that there was a young and very, very shy Australian actor sitting on a couch by himself, and they suggested I go over and talk to him and try to make him feel at home," Dobson recalls. "It was Heath Ledger, and he was here to promote his first big U.S. film, 'The Patriot,' with Mel Gibson. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and was incredibly sweet, shy and soft-spoken."

Heath was already broken completely through and had become a major movie star by the time the Breakthrough Awards began. But he would definitely have approved of the scholarship and the awards which will be given out on June 5.

“We're so pleased to recognize the efforts and talents of Australia’s newest faces who are already proving they are on their way to join the ranks of the high-profile Australian talent working in Hollywood,” comments Dobson. “We are also thrilled that, through Heath's scholarship, we will be able to assist burgeoning Australian talent launch their careers in the U.S. to become potential future recipients of a Breakthrough Award.”


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