Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger, star of such films as "Brokeback Mountain", "10 Things I Hate About You", and "A Knight's Tale" was found dead in his New York apartment Tuesday afternoon. He was only 28 years old. According to reports, Ledger's body was found shortly after 3:30pm by his housekeeper and masseuse, who entered the bedroom to find him unconscious in bed, surrounded by pills. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office said that an autopsy is planned for Wednesday.Ledger's untimely death comes exactly one week after the demise of fellow actor Brad Renfro. Because of Renfro's well-publicized bouts with substance abuse, his death wasn't a total surprise to me. However, the loss of Heath Ledger has me truly shocked. It is reminiscent of the tragic death of River Phoenix back in 1993. It's weird because I had just referenced Ledger earlier this morning in the comments section of my post in which I asked readers to vote in the "Favorite Batman Villain" poll. Because a fellow blogger (DoubleDeckerBusGuy) voted for The Joker in the poll, I responded by saying that I was interested in seeing how Ledger would handle the role in the upcoming Batman installment titled "The Dark Knight" (scheduled to be released in the U.S. on July 18th, 2008). Ledger leaves behind his 2 yr old daughter Matilda Rose (the child he had with "Brokeback Mountain" co-star and ex-fiance' Michelle Williams).
Below are clips from Heath Ledger's too short career:
11 comments:
I have to say that this is the first time one of those CNN "breaking news" e-mails literally made my jaw drop. Usually my co-workers and I make fun of what CNN considers "breaking news" but this one truly surprised me.
My heart goes out to his little girl - she's the same age as my little one.
I am very very sad about this one...and it might even be an accident .
This was a shock...partly because he seemed kind of like one of the less needy actors for attention and humble...maybe even a sensible young man.
I loved him in Lords of Dogtown, Brokeback Mountain, A Knights Tale and 10 Things.
Artists including actors, musicians are a sensitive crowd on a good day it's an occupational hazzard and this is sad...
This news is so sad and so unexpected. That kid was so talented.
TMZ is reporting that he was being treated for pneumonia, too. I'm wondering if even a normal dose of sleeping pills could compromise your respiratory system if you have something like pneumonia. Scary.
I feel badly for his family and his daughter. Such a tragedy.
Jessica
We were so shocked and saddened to hear of this news last night. I'm hoping that it truly accidental, and that's what I'm choosing to believe. If he was sick, and he was also suffering from insomnia, he probably just took more sleeping pills than his compromised system could handle. I guess we'll find out soon whether or not he had anything else in his system. Truly tragic.
www.mamapj.com
I still can't get over this. He wasn't one of those guys splashed all over the news b/c he was out getting into trouble.
He was two years older than me, so you'd better believe that this girl was following his career (especially in high school, lol).
I think the last time I was truly shocked over a celebrity death was when Dale Earnhardt died.
Aaliyah and Left Eye were shocks as well.
Celebrity will always equal tragedy, I'm afraid.
I got the news via a breaking news email too and I gasped. Then one of my co-workers made a horrible comment about Heath and I felt like vomitting on her.
Its tragic, he was/is a beautiful man, a great actor and way too young to die.
While the movie Brokeback Mountain is a disgusting pile of filth, I liked the dude and am sad for his family and friends.
I am a big Julia Stiles fan and I remember Ledger fondly as her love/hate interest in "10 Things I Hate About You". I was trying to name some of his films for Brian and interestingly I could only remember him as Billy Bob Thornton son in "Monsters Ball" and of course the cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain". I know a lot of men didn't see the later film but it was a beautifully done. I hate to hear about young people passing on and I hope he is peaceful.
The story's been dominating the press here. It'll be curious to see how it plays out.
Interesting that you should mention River Phoenix's death, for I plan to post about it in a few weeks. Have any insights? Opinions? Heard any gossip about it that only a pop culture expert like yourself would know?
Book Mama: When I got home that evening, I signed on to Yahoo and the news of Heath's death was on the home page. My jaw nearly hit my keyboard.
Candy: I heard some good things about "A Knight's Tale" and when I saw some of the clips on You Tube, it makes me want to see the whole thing.
Jessica: I'm not a doctor (hell, I don't even play one on TV), but you might be right about a normal dose having an effect on a pneumonia sufferer's respiratory system. Truly a shame.
Holly: I'm leaning towards accidental based on what I've heard so far. It looks like they should have more answers next week.
Samantha: Although I knew that Dale Earnhardt was famous, I'm not a auto racing fan so I didn't realize exactly how huge he was until he died. One of my co-workers at the time of Dale's death referred to him as the Michael Jordan of auto racing. Aaliyah and Left Eye were also shockers too. I think it's because like Heath, they were so young and still in the spotlight when they died.
Barbara: You've got me curious about your co-worker's comments about Heath. However, I understand if you would rather not repeat them. When I was looking for clips on You Tube to add to this post, somebody had already made a joke about Heath's death. I'll admit it was funny, but it wouldn't have hurt if they had waited a bit before cracking jokes about his death.
Frigga: I have been meaning to see "Brokeback Mountain", but have never got around to it. However, your description of it as a "disgusting pile of filth" REALLY makes me want to see it now.
Pjazzy: I remember when "Brokeback Mountain" came out, some of the hosts/listeners on a sports radio station that I listen to were of the attitude that there was no way they would watch the film. Some of us straight men can be really silly and insecure sometimes. We act as if people will think we are gay if we do watch it. I doubt if these same men worried about people mistaking them for cannibals if they admitted to seeing "Silence of the Lambs".
X. Dell: Sorry, but I probably don't have an insights about River's death that you haven't already heard. When looking for info on Heath Ledger the other day, I also did some research on River. According to Wikipedia, he was abused as a small child by members of the cult Children of God. If you haven't already, you might want to check out his Wikipedia page as well as some of his fansites to get some more insight on his life. I am looking forward to reading your post(s) about him.
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