Matilda will get Heath Ledger’s Oscar

Matilda Ledger, the three-year-old daughter of late Australian actor Heath Ledger, will be the eventual owner of an Academy Award if her father emerges triumphant at the Oscars for his maniacal performance as The Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Night this Sunday. While his family would accept the award on the night, Matilda would get keeps of the gong when she turns 18.

The award is widely expected to be given posthumously to Ledger, who died last year of a prescription drug overdose at age 28.

Among those certain he will get it is the American statistics guru Nate Silver, who accurately predicted the results of last year's US election. According to Silver’s scientific calculations, which take into account factors such as genre, release date, opening-weekend box office (adjusted for inflation), and other awards won, Ledger (pictured) is firm favourite.

If this proves so, he would be only the second actor to receive a posthumous award, following Peter Finch who won in 1976 for Network. However, Ledger is not the only one up for a posthumous Oscar this Sunday: the co-producers of The Reader, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both died this year, and The Reader is in contention for best film – though almost everyone in Hollywood is agreed that Slumdog Millionaire has it in the bag.