Actor Heath Ledger picked up the only major Acadamy Award nomination for last summer’s biggest hit, “The Dark Knight” when nominations were announced this morning. Many thought “Dark Knight” could be in the running for best picture and best director for Christopher Nolan, but was shut out in both categories.

Ledger’s nomination is the seventh posthumous nomination in the history of the Acadamy Awards and comes a year to the day since his death of an accidental drug overdose.

The other actors who left the scene before their work scored nominations include Jeanne Eagels (best actress, “The Letter,” 1929) to Spencer Tracy (actor, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” 1967), Ralph Richardson, (supporting actor, “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,” 1984) and Massimo Troisi (“Il Postino,” 1994, best actor). Ledger’s career most closely resembles that of James Dean, another charismatic young actor whose unexpected death shocked his fans.

Dean, in fact, became a posthumous nominee not once, but twice. Following his death in a car crash on Sept. 30, 1955, he was nominated in the best actor category in two subsequent years — first for 1955’s “East of Eden” and then for 1956’s “Giant.”

The animated picture “Wall-E” was also submitted for best picture, but failed to get a nomination.  It did get a nod for best animated picture of the year along with “Kung Fu Panda” and “Bolt.”

The sci-fi themed drama, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” led the nominations with thirteen overall including best picture, best director and best actor for Brad Pitt. A full list of all the nominees can be found below.

Best picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire”

Actor
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Actress
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

Director
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Foreign-language film
“The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel

Adapted screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Original screenplay
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E”

Animated feature film
“Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E”