When he was twenty-six, Jack Nicholson's best movie role had been in Roger Corman's The Raven. Robert De Niro had starred in one movie, a goofy satire called Greetings, and Mean Streets was still four years away. Dustin Hoffman had appeared in a couple of forgotten television shows. Al Pacino had no screen credits at all.

When he was twenty-six, Heath Ledger played Ennis in Brokeback Mountain.

This is a major loss.