Heath Ledger Has Died!

[SlayerLV]

From Eonline

On a day like this two years ago, Heath Ledger was an Oscar nominee. On Tuesday, the 28-year-old leading man was found dead in his Manhattan home.

Police said that drugs were found on scene and may have played a role in his death.

Ledger, whose tutelage as a Hollywood star came as he worked alongside the likes of Mel Gibson and Billy Bob Thornton, is a star in this coming summer's new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Ledger plays the Joker to Christian Bale's Caped Crusader.

In 2006, Ledger earned what would be his first and last Oscar nomination for playing the emotionally tormented gay rancher in Ang Lee's breakthrough drama, Brokeback Mountain.

Other key credits included: Monster's Ball; The Patriot; and, his breakout hit, 10 Things I Hate About You.

With Brokeback costar Michelle Williams, the Australian-born Ledger was the father of a daughter. Ledger and Williams ended their romantic relationship last year.


*This is such a shock to me!! I love Heath as an actor and I just don't understand how this could happen, I mean he has the new Batman movie coming out in July and he has a daughter. As more news comes out please post it here.

[roguewarrior]

OMG I can't believe it.... thats soooooo sad.

[Melissa]

This is truly shocking. My mom told me and I said "Heath Ledger?!?" It just seems so random. Its hard to believe. First Brad Renfro and now this. They are just too young to die.

[BuffyFanOne]

This is so sad. He is such an amazing actor and he has that little girl

I hate to say it but I almost expected something like this with Brad Renfro, given his history. But I didn't even think Heath was a drug user....well sure he struck me as the pot smoking type but nothing more.

So sad.

[commandercool]

That's really tragic. Fortunately for us Batman fans, he did finish shooting "The Dark Knight". I don't mean to be insensitive, but it is the sequel to perhaps my favorite movie ever, and judging by the previews he's excellent in it. It would have been a real shame if they had to re-shoot and we never got to see his portrayal of the Joker.

[SlayerLV]

Here's the newest from Aol.com

No Obvious Indication of Suicide, Police Say; Acclaimed Actor Was 28
By TOM HAYS, AP
Posted: 2008-01-22 23:00:03
Filed Under: Star Obituaries, Movie News
NEW YORK (Jan. 22) - Heath Ledger, the talented 28-year-old actor who gravitated toward dark, brooding roles that defied his leading-man looks, was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment, facedown at the foot of his bed with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said.
There was no obvious indication that the Australian-born Ledger had committed suicide, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the SoHo apartment that is believed to be the home of the "Brokeback Mountain" actor, Browne said. The massage therapist and a housekeeper found his naked body at about 3:30 p.m. They tried to revive him, but he was already dead.

"We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident," Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement Tuesday night. "This is an extremely difficult time for his loved ones and we are asking the media to please respect the family's privacy and avoid speculation until the facts are known."

Outside the building on an upscale street, paparazzi and gawkers gathered, and several police officers put up barricades to control the crowd of about 300. Onlookers craned their necks as officers brought out a black bodybag on a gurney, took it across the sidewalk and put it into a medical examiner's office van.

As the door opened, bystanders snapped pictures with camera phones, rolled video and said, "He's coming out!"

An autopsy was planned for Wednesday, medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was an award-winning actor who chose his roles carefully rather than cashing in on big-money parts. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain." During filming, he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two had a daughter, now 2-year-old Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.

"I feel good about dying because I feel alive through her," Ledger said of his daughter in a recent interview with WJW FOX in Cleveland.
It was a shocking and unforeseen conclusion for one of Hollywood's bright young stars. Though his leading man looks propelled him to early stardom in films like "10 Things I Hate About You" and "A Knight's Tale," his career took a notable turn toward dramatic and brooding roles with 2001's "Monster's Ball."

"I had such great hope for him," said Mel Gibson, who played Ledger's vengeful father in "The Patriot," in a statement. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."

In the Australian city of Perth, where Ledger was born and raised, his father called the actor's death "tragic, untimely and accidental."

"He was (a) down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual, extremely inspirational to many," Kim Ledger said, reading from a prepared statement. "Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life."

Ledger eschewed Hollywood glitz in favor of a bohemian life in Brooklyn, where he became one of the borough's most famous residents. "Brokeback" would be his breakthrough role, establishing him as one of his generation's finest talents and an actor willing to take risks.
Ledger began to gravitate more toward independent fare, including Lasse Hallstrom's "Casanova" and Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," both released in 2005. His 2006 film "Candy" now seems destined to have an especially haunting quality: In a particularly realistic performance, Ledger played a poet wrestling with a heroin addiction along with his girlfriend, played by Abbie Cornish.

But Ledger's most recent choices were arguably the boldest yet: He costarred in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan — as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

And in what may be his final finished performance, Ledger proved that he wouldn't be intimidated by taking on a character as iconic as Jack Nicholson's Joker. Ledger's version of the "Batman" villain, glimpsed in early teaser trailers, made it clear that his Joker would be more depraved and dark.

Curiosity about Ledger's final performance will likely stoke further interest in the summer blockbuster. "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan said this month that Ledger's Joker would be wildly different from Nicholson's.

"It was a very great challenge for Heath," Nolan said. "He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic."
Ledger told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the newspaper. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which worked for only an hour, the paper said.

Ledger was a widely recognized figure in his Manhattan neighborhood, where he used to shop at a home and children's store. Michelle Vella, an employee there, said she had frequently seen Ledger with his daughter — carrying the toddler on his shoulders, or having ice cream with her.

"It's so sad. They were really close," Vella said. "He's a very down-to-earth guy and an amazing father."

Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on "The Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004.

Ledger was born in 1979 to a mining engineer and a French teacher and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 in a local theater company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, "Seat."

After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and starred opposite Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You." Offers for other teen flicks soon came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.

"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat.'"

Associated Press Writer Sara Kugler contributed to this report.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

And the newest from Eonline

Many of those approached to comment on the sudden death of Heath Ledger were too distraught to speak. But all are in agreement on the magnitude of the loss.

Perhaps avoiding the obvious questions awaiting her, Naomi Watts has canceled all her press appearances for Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival, where her dark comedy Funny Games is slated to premiere at midnight.

She and Ledger met on the set of Ned Kelly in 2002 and dated for nearly two years. The late actor accompanied her to the Academy Awards in 2004, when she was up for Best Actress for 21 Grams.

A rep for Michelle Williams, Ledger's ex-fiancée and mother of his two-year-old daughter, Matilda, declined immediate comment.

"We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident," Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement Tuesday night. "This is an extremely difficult time for his loved ones and we are asking the media to please respect the family's privacy and avoid speculation until the facts are known."

Grief will no doubt be expressed in different ways as the details surrounding Ledger's death continue to unfold.

Ledger, who was known more as a teen heartthrob before his breakout, Oscar-nominated turn in Brokeback Mountain three years ago, was found dead Tuesday morning in his New York apartment. The cause of death is unknown, but police are speculating that drugs were involved because sleeping pills were found near the body. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

"The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news," Warner Bros. execs Alan Horn and Jeffery Robinov said of the 28-year-old Aussie, who had recently wrapped the studio's Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, and was already winning raves for his reincarnation of the Joker.

"The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent. Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."

I'm Not There director Todd Haynes, who helmed Ledger's performance as one of six incarnations of Bob Dylan in the unconventional biopic, called his death "an unimaginable tragedy.

"Heath was a true artist, a deeply sensitive man, an explorer, gifted and wise beyond his years. There is no finer person on this earth,” the filmmaker said in a statement.

James Schamus, CEO of Focus Features and a producer on Brokeback Mountain, got to know the actor during the filming of Ang Lee's at-first controversial—and then merely critically acclaimed—romance epic.

"Heath Ledger was a courageous actor, and a great soul," Schamus said in a statement. "He gave us the gift of sharing his fearless and beautiful love—of his craft, and of all who worked with him—for which all of us will be eternally grateful."

Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan shared similar thoughts about Ledger's acting prowess earlier this month, saying the young thespian wasn't afraid to fully immerse himself in a challenging role.

"It was a very great challenge for Heath," Nolan said of Ledger's role as the Joker, the modern-day incarnation of which was originated by Jack Nicholson in 1989. "He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic."

And the role apparently took its toll on Ledger, whose character the actor described as a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the New York Times in November. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said that he took two Ambien to sleep, but that they only worked for about an hour.

"I had such great hope for him," Mel Gibson, who played Ledger's father in the Revolutionary War drama The Patriot, said in a statement to E! News. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

Shortly after news of Ledger's death broke, hundreds of people swarmed around the SoHo apartment building where he lived, both people from the neighborhood and fans who immediately hopped on the subway to visit the scene.

*I'm thinking that if he hadn't been sleeping lately and took pills it could just be an accidental overdose.

[matthewblake]

I feel strangely affected by his death. He was a great actor and seemed like a cool guy.

Also, I was disgusted to hear that a church group plans to picket his funeral because he portrayed a homosexual on film. I'm very disturbed that these people even exist.

[roguewarrior]

matthewblake said:

I feel strangely affected by his death. He was a great actor and seemed like a cool guy.

Also, I was disgusted to hear that a church group plans to picket his funeral because he portrayed a homosexual on film. I'm very disturbed that these people even exist.

Christian's give themselves a bad name. it's so sad.

[shondrasu]

roguewarrior said:

matthewblake said:

I feel strangely affected by his death. He was a great actor and seemed like a cool guy.

Also, I was disgusted to hear that a church group plans to picket his funeral because he portrayed a homosexual on film. I'm very disturbed that these people even exist.

Christian's give themselves a bad name. it's so sad.

I hadn't heard about this, so I went to look it up and it's being reported as a "Hate group" masquerading as a church. They don't really represent christians or christianity.

[CowboyGuy]

matthewblake said:

I feel strangely affected by his death. He was a great actor and seemed like a cool guy.

Also, I was disgusted to hear that a church group plans to picket his funeral because he portrayed a homosexual on film. I'm very disturbed that these people even exist.

I feel the same way. This is very sad news.

The picketing makes me sick, I don't care what group they are or what religion they claim to be. It's disgusting...gross.

Picketing at events like that is ANYTHING BUT Christ-like. Don't these people see that?

[SlayerLV]

admin said:

I feel the same way. This is very sad news.

The picketing makes me sick, I don't care what group they are or what religion they claim to be. It's disgusting...gross.

Picketing at events like that is ANYTHING BUT Christ-like. Don't these people see that?

I totally agree with you on that Phil.

[spikeluv13]

Heath was my favorite actor under James Marsters...and that tells you how much I loved him. Very very sad. I cried. My husband called and told me at about 4 pm Tues. I thought he was full of it. I yelled at him that that kind of joke was not funny. He urged me to look it up online. There it was..Heath, dead, found only a half hour before that. Very tragic. Very sad.

as far as the protesters....all I can say is, Very christian. Aren't christian sup. to love as they want to be loved, forgive, be understanding...etc etc. CHRISTian. as in christ like. yeah. very kind.

And Brad, too? I hadn't even heard about that. What are these guys doing? Heath was on prescriptions, but Brad, and the others (ie Brittany, etc). They have so much. So many have nothing. And they waste it and waste themselves with this crap. So very very sad....

[roguewarrior]

spikeluv13 said:

as far as the protesters....all I can say is, Very christian. Aren't christian sup. to love as they want to be loved, forgive, be understanding...etc etc. CHRISTian. as in christ like. yeah. very kind.

just because people say they are christians dosnt mean that they are. people can go to church all they want, but it's how they act outside the church walls that really counts.

[mandikaye]

I'm a Christian...and that group makes me sick. Please don't look at them and assume that all of us are like that. Heath's death was a tragedy... I nearly cried when I heard the news!

[commandercool]

matthewblake said:

I feel strangely affected by his death. He was a great actor and seemed like a cool guy.

Also, I was disgusted to hear that a church group plans to picket his funeral because he portrayed a homosexual on film. I'm very disturbed that these people even exist.

Oh, that's disgusting. Imagine how his family must feel. All of the gossip in the media, and now this. The idiots on the radio today spent fifteen minutes perpetuating rumors about him immediately after reading his family's statement requesting privacy. I hate people.

[BuffyFanOne]

I think what Anderson Cooper said sums up my feelings perfectly!

[commandercool]

mikey said:

They also picket the funerals of soldiers, claiming that our men and women died in Iraq because God is punishing America for loving f*ggots. They say the same about 9/11 and Katrina.

The muslim extremists said the same thing. All natural disasters are magical. Science, on the other hand, which is REAL, tells us that air temperature is responsible for hurricanes.

[matthewblake]

Buffyfanone, what did Anderson Cooper say?

[CowboyGuy]

I want you all to hear this:






It's an interview with Shirley Phelps-Roper. Shirley is one of the daughters of Fred Phelps, the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church.

She believes 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina is the wrath of god on our planet!! She also heads the site http://www.godhates****.com

This is some crazy, EVIL stuff. I'm shocked.

[BuffyFanOne]

WOW. Wow. Thats all I can thing to say about that. I didn't even make it all the way through. I don't need to hear that dreck. It blows my mind that I share oxygen with someone that aweful.