Heath Ledger is dead
 

What the fukc kind of crazy shiitte is this :confused:

January 22, 2008, 4:42 pm

Actor Heath Ledger Is Found Dead

By Sewell Chan

The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment building at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, according to the New York City police. Mr. Ledger was 28.
At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body.
Mr. Ledger, a native of Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain”, a 2005 film. The film, based on a novel by Larry McMurtry about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.”

Thomas J. Lueck contributed reporting.

www.nytimes.com

holy sh*t! :distress:

crickey! he has a small child, no? that's awful.

WHAT?!?!?!

jesus. i just watched brokeback again the other night. wtf.

O_O

holy crap!

holy **** is all i can say~he was a wonderful actor:(~

I agree. Also, I remember hearing that he had a serious drug problem and that it caused problems with his relationship with Michelle Williams. Also, I saw a few really bad pics of him last year.

Just so sad.

I'm in shock! So much going for him and his little girl...:(

I just read about this. That's... :distress:

I am shocked and sadded. He was a very talented young man. So sad:(

OMG.. I just was told about this, and am in total shock! I SOOO agree that he had SO much going for him.. and he has his little year old daughter, Matilda. What a sad day...:shocked::(

I just saw this on Yahoo news and couldn't believe my eyes. It is shocking and I thought I was too jaded for anything Hollywood to shock me. He was so dreamy in A Knight's Tale, I had a huge crush on him. RIP Heath. :angel:

I don't believe I have ever seen any of his movies, but there is no ignoring his reputation as a great actor at such a young age. So sad for the family. The whole drug thing (if that is indeed the cause) gives flashbacks of River Phoenix's death, and too many others.

- Jake

I've only seen two of his, I think... Broke Back and Casanova... Both great films. It's really too bad!

i'm wondering if this won't be ruled an accidental overdose. it's kind of seeming as though it is. absolutely horrible.

Just terrible. He was a fabulous actor. I feel so bad for his little girl and all who loved him. :distress::distress:

^^

Police are saying it's a possible suicide :distress:

It's very shocking and sad.

2 bottles of sleeping pills were found. One of them Ambien, another an over-the counter brand.

Really sad. He was a great actor, a handsome guy and way too young to go.

rbs

Now flashbacks to Owen Wilson.:distress:

- Jake

Yeah we're lucky he survived. I just can't believe Heath did not. So incredibly sad. :(

No illegal drugs were found and there was no evidence he had been drinking. So, that weighs against any addict behaviour. There, were, however, the sleeping pills, but no evidence he took too many. It also is reported that he had pneumonia.
__________________________________________________

January 22, 2008

Heath Ledger, Actor, Is Found Dead at 28

By JOHN SULLIVAN and SEWELL CHAN

The actor Heath Ledger was found dead in a Manhattan apartment on Tuesday afternoon, the New York City police said.

The police said Mr. Ledger, 28, was discovered facedown in bed in an apartment at 421 Broome Street in SoHo. Police officials said that a bottle of prescription sleeping pills were found on a nearby night table, but that they did not know whether they played a role in Mr. Ledger’s death.

Mr. Ledger, the star of “Brokeback Mountain” and other films, was discovered by a housekeeper and a masseuse, the police said. The housekeeper had been in the apartment for some time before Mr. Ledger’s body was discovered, and she let the masseuse in when she at the apartment for a 3:31 p.m. appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. They said they did not know when Mr. Ledger scheduled the appointment.

When Mr. Ledger did not respond to a knock on the bedroom door, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities and moved Mr. Ledger to the floor, the police said.

“There was no indication of a disturbance,” Deputy Police Commissioner Paul J. Browne said. He said officers who checked the apartment found other prescription medications it in the bathroom. He said that there was no sign that Mr. Ledger had been drinking and that no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city’s chief medical examiner, said that investigators were on the scene on Tuesday afternoon and that an autopsy would be performed on Wednesday to determine the cause of death. His body was removed from the apartment at 6:30 p.m.

Julie McIntosh, a stylist in a neighboring salon, said she saw Mr. Ledger once or twice a week and thought had been living in the apartment for about six months.

“I think it’s really sad,” she said. “He’s a really nice guy. He seemed happy.”

A native of Perth, Australia, Mr. Ledger, known for his wry grin and uncontrolled blondish hair, defied typecasting throughout his career. Mr. Ledger, who was born on April 4, 1979, gained roles in children’s television after he first appeared in a play for a local theater company. He decided to pursue acting as a career, appearing in Australian soap operas before moving to Hollywood in pursuit of a girlfriend.

The relationship did not last, but the move led to his first major role, opposite Julia Stiles in the teenage romance “10 Things I Hate About You,” and Mr. Ledger seemed poised for a future as a heartthrob. But Mr. Ledger defied that expectation and, although he still appeared in light romantic roles in such films as “A Knight’s Tale,” he sought out darker, more substantive work, appearing as a prison guard in “Monster’s Ball,” and a heroin addict spiraling out of control in “Candy.”

“People always feel compelled to sum you up, to presume that they have you and describe you,” Mr. Ledger told The New York Times in an interview last year. “But there are many stories inside of me and a lot I want to achieve outside of one flat note.”

Mr. Ledger’s more recent films were also his most notable. His appearances as a reluctantly gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain” and as Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There” were both received with critical acclaim. The films were also important personally. Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams during the filming of “Brokeback Mountain.” The couple have a daughter, Matilda. Although they have since separated, they appeared together in “I’m Not There” and Mr. Ledger praised Ms. Williams’s performance in the film.

Elliott Puckett, an artist who lives near Ms. Williams’s apartment in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, said she saw the couple walking in the neighborhood.

“I used to see them with their dry cleaning and their baby,” she said.

Mr. Ledger told The Times last November that his favorite thing to do was hang out at home with his daughter. Leaving her for work, he said, was “kind of like your body has a lump in his throat.”

Reporting was contributed by Thomas J. Lueck, Al Baker, John Eligon and David Hirschman.

www.nytimes.com

Such a great loss. He filmed parts of Lords of Dogtown here in Imperial Beach. It's so sad that someone who loved acting but tried to keep his personal life private is now on every news station with rumors and speculation about the cause of his death. May he rest in peace.

I never saw that, but I saw Stacy Peralta's followup, Riding Giants, which I consider a contemporary classic & one of the most suspenseful, beautiful films in recent times.

This is such a tragedy...my brother is the same age and has a 4 year old...I cannot even imagine what his family is going through.....my God...

I don't think I've seen any Heath Ledger movies except "Casanova," with its stultifying production design for Venice. The color of interiors & sunlit objects (like billowing sails) & the play of light seemed to me more Vermeer than Age of Enlightenment (Casanova's time). But it was so florid & elaborate that the effect was like being choked. I think the production designer wanted to make some sort of statement against the contemporary trend to magnify society's squalid underbelly (for example, "La Reine Margot").

A terrible and tragic waste ..I always liked him but was blown away by his Ennis Delmar in Brokeback .so sad and it for some reason it came as a shock to me as well.

a reporter for the new york times had interviewed him 6 weeks ago about his joker role & heath said the darkness of the role was disturbing him along w/ the roll he was filming at the moment~ the reporter was very shocked at his appearance, it looked as if he hadn't bathed in days & he was jumpy, but the reporter chalked up the jumpiness to him being a chain smoker & needing a smoke~ but the reporter did say that heath had had trouble sleeping as of late & was taking ambien, stating once he took 2 of them & he only slept an hour~ they also said he had been in 3 different time zones in the past week & possibly was suffering from pnemonia~ i'm leaning more & more towards an accidental overdose~ it is till so surreal & sad~ you know i was sad for brad renfro, but his death wasn't shoking w/ the heroin abuse & such~ but heath's death is heartbreaking~ i keep thinking of poor michelle & their little matilda~

i watching the news when i found out. that is so sad. i was a fan of his and he will be missed. his family will be in my prayers.

I agree they took license with the use of props. But, I thought the sets themselves were nice, save for the masked ball.

I am literally speechless - but not surprised at this unChristianlike fool and those that follow him:

The "Reverend" Fred Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church announced plans to protest at the funeral of Heath Ledger.

Why?

The "God Hates Fags" hatemongers will picket the decease Aussie actor's funeral because he is a pervert who promoted homosexuality by appearing as a gay man in Brokeback Mountain.

We wish we could laugh at this stupidity, but it just makes us angry!

Heath may not have been perfect, but he doesn't deserve this.

www.perezhilton.com

I feel like shooting this man. What a menace to society.

That makes me so angry but also makes me lol thinking of what will go down. I've lived in Australia long enough to know that they won't take as much **** as yanks have had to tolerate. In a morbid way I'd like to see the Aussies give it to that crowd of wackos 'cause there's a few nutty people everywhere but nothing like this group down here. They don't see the likes of hate groups like this one in such a public way.

The reaction here is very strong, people are devastated as it is and that just won't be tolerated. It wouldn't be surprising to see them pelted by beer cans into submission just by landing at the airport. If they have to fly here and come into Melbourne first I'd happily be one of those out there throwing whatever objects I could at them.

The whole thing is so sad and then this? A whole 28 years (short as that may be) of life and because he appeared in one 2 hour film that promoted love they want to put his family and friends through that? I'm telling you though, Aussies won't put up with that.

For real. I have half a mind to fly to Australia to drink some beer and pelt some cans with you.

Those assholes threatened to come to my town a long time ago, but they never showed up. I definitely would have started some trouble.

Heath Ledger Autopsy Inconclusive
Jan. 23, 2008, 10:01 AM EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- An autopsy on Heath Ledger was inconclusive, and more tests are needed, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday, a day after the 28-year-old actor was found dead with sleeping pills nearby.

Video:http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=...m1201054123472

It will take about 10 days to complete the investigation, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.

Earlier, police said the death was caused by a possible drug overdose and appeared to be accidental.

Fans left flowers and candles outside the apartment building in Manhattan's SoHo where the body of the Oscar-nominated star of "Brokeback Mountain" was found.

Khaled Ali, 41, a stage manager for a Broadway show, dropped off a candle on his way to work. He said he and his fellow cast members were devastated by the news of Ledger's death.

Search for more on Ledger
View results for:
Heath LedgerHeath Ledger moviesHeath Ledger photos"I felt a connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater community," he said. "With 'Brokeback Mountain' he touched me personally in telling the story of my community. It was very touching."

Ledger was known for grueling, intense roles that became his trademark after he got his start in teen movies like "10 Things I Hate About You."

The Australian-born actor was found dead Tuesday by his housekeeper and masseuse — lying naked and face-down at the foot of his bed, with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said.

It was a shocking end to a career built on unpredictability. Ledger avoided the safe path in favor of roles that forced him to bury his Australian accent and downplay his leading-man looks: a tormented gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," a drug addict in "Candy," an incarnation of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

In what may be his final finished performance, he took a rare role in a guaranteed summer blockbuster, playing Batman's nemesis, the Joker, in the upcoming "The Dark Knight." But the role was nothing he could phone in; it forced him to rebrand a character last played on the big screen by Jack Nicholson.

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

Ledger split last year with Michelle Williams, who played his wife on the set of "Brokeback Mountain." The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda, and had lived together in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill neighborhood.

Early Wednesday, Williams and Matilda left Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.

"She received the news at her hotel late last night," Stromberg said, adding he had not spoken to the actress after she learned of Ledger's death.

The actor's personal strife was accompanied by professional anxiety.

Ledger said in an interview in November that "Dark Knight" and last year's "I'm Not There," took a heavy toll. He said 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 New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour.

News of Ledger's death spread quickly, from the crowd of 300 people that gathered Tuesday outside his Manhattan apartment to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where those with close ties to the actor included Naomi Watts, who dated him after they met on the set of "Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized story about the birth of modern skateboarding.

Ledger was born in 1979 in the western Australian city of Perth to a mining engineer and a French teacher, and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 at 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."

Speaking in Perth, Ledger's father called the actor's death "tragic, untimely and accidental."

Kim Ledger called his son "down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish" and "extremely inspirational to many."

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life," he said. "Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately."

After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and starred opposite Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You," a reworking of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Offers for other teen flicks 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.'"

He began to gravitate toward more independent films after roles in "Monster's Ball," "The Patriot" and "A Knight's Tale." His work in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain" earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

In the 2006 film "Candy," Ledger played a poet wrestling with a heroin addiction along with his girlfriend. Neil Armfield, who directed Ledger in the film, said the actor had "handled his career incredibly well," steering himself toward more challenging roles.

"He made a decision about four years ago to stop being led by producers and managers and to forge his own way," Armfield told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

He brought the same intensity to "Dark Knight." Glimpsed in early teaser trailers, Ledger is more depraved and dark than comical. The film's 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 was a widely recognized figure in his SoHo neighborhood, where Michelle Vella said she frequently saw him carrying his 2-year-old daughter on his shoulders, or having ice cream with her.

"It's a shock; he's so young," said Taren Dolbashian, who also had seen Ledger with his daughter. "He always seems so happy."

Near the entrance to the building housing his loft, about two dozen bouquets and a dozen candles formed a makeshift memorial.

He's NOT dead !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_Wilson

OMG.. I SOO can't believe I'm even reading something like this...

Here's their press release. These people are disgusting.

^^^

That is just creepy. It is worded like a fifth grader so angry that they cannot speak the limited English they know in any coherent manner.

The world scares me often these days.

^^^
amen

oh and...amen

^^^ Let's do it. I haven't reallylost my temper in about 2 or 3 years... I could stand to rage on at least one of these fools. Get rid of some of that.. tension. :mad: